1946 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1946 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1946 college football season.[1] The team was coached by Bob Higgins and played its home games in New Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania. The team is notable for voting to cancel a scheduled game against the Miami Hurricanes rather that playing without African American players.[2]

1946 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Conference	Independent
1946 record	6–2
Head coach	Bob Higgins (17th season)
Home stadium	New Beaver Field

1946 Eastern college football independents records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Army			–					9	–	0	–	1
Muhlenberg			–					9	–	1	–	0
Yale			–					7	–	1	–	1
Buffalo			–					7	–	2	–	0
Harvard			–					7	–	2	–	0
Massachusetts State			–					6	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Penn			–					6	–	2	–	0
Penn State			–					6	–	2	–	0
Boston College			–					6	–	3	–	0
Columbia			–					6	–	3	–	0
NYU			–					5	–	3	–	0
Cornell			–					5	–	3	–	1
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	0
Boston College			–					7	–	3	–	0
Hofstra			–					4	–	3	–	0
Colgate			–					4	–	4	–	0
Syracuse			–					4	–	5	–	0
Drexel			–					3	–	4	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					3	–	4	–	0
Brown			–					3	–	5	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	5	–	1
Princeton			–					3	–	5	–	0
Temple			–					2	–	4	–	2
Bucknell			–					3	–	6	–	0
Dartmouth			–					3	–	6	–	0
Tufts			–					1	–	6	–	0
Carnegie Tech			–					0	–	6	–	0
Fordham			–					0	–	7	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 5	Bucknell	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 48–6
October 12	at Syracuse	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	W 9–0
October 19	Michigan State	New Beaver Field State College, PA (rivalry)	L 16–19
October 26	at Colgate	Colgate Athletic Field Hamilton, NY	W 6–2
November 2	Fordham	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 68–0
November 9	Temple	New Beaver Field State College, PA	W 26–0
November 16	at Navy	Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 12–7
November 23	at Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	L 7–14
November 29	at Miami (FL)	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL	canceled
Homecoming

The scheduled game against the Miami Hurricanes was cancelled in early November by unanimous vote of the Penn State team.[2] Miami officials felt that Penn State fielding their African American players Wallace Triplett and Dennis Hoggard in Miami could have led to "unfortunate incidents",[3] and the team chose to cancel the game rather than playing without Triplett and Hoggard.[2]

Miami reportedly invited Syracuse to replace Penn State. This invitation was promptly declined and rebuked in an editorial in The Daily Orange, titled "No Thanks, Miami".[4]

References

1. "Penn State Yearly Results (1945-1949)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
2. "Football team stood against racism, broke barriers in 1946-47". psu.edu. February 14, 2006. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
3. "Penn State-Miami U. Grid Game Is Latest Victim of 'Racial Problem'". The Gazette and Daily. York, Pennsylvania. AP. November 6, 1946. p. 25. Retrieved January 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
4. "Syracuse Turns Down Miami Offer to Sub for Penn State". The Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. 13 November 1946. p. 17. Retrieved 29 November 2020 – via Newspapers.com .