1956 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

American college football season

1956 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
OVC champion
Refrigerator Bowl, L 13–27 vs. Sam Houston State
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record7–3 (5–0 OVC)
Head coach
  • Charles M. Murphy (10th season)
CaptainT. Sweeney, Ben Hurt
Home stadiumHorace Jones Field
Seasons
← 1955
1957 →
1956 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
  • v
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Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Middle Tennessee $ 5 0 0 7 2 0
Murray State 4 1 0 6 4 0
Western Kentucky 2 3 0 5 4 0
Tennessee Tech 2 3 0 5 4 1
Eastern Kentucky 2 3 0 4 5 0
Morehead State 0 5 0 2 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1956 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team represented the Middle Tennessee State College—now known as Middle Tennessee State University—as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 1956 college football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Charles M. Murphy, the Blue Raiders compiled a record an overall record of 7–3 with a mark of 5–0 in conference play, winning the OVC title. Middle Tennessee was invited to the Refrigerator Bowl, where they lost to Sam Houston State. The team's captains were T. Sweeney and Ben Hurt.[1]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 15at Morris Harvey*Charleston, WVL 0–6
September 21Austin Peay*W 38–20
September 29at Western KentuckyBowling Green, KY (rivalry)W 7–6
October 6Eastern Kentucky
  • Horace Jones Field
  • Murfreesboro, TN
W 26–19
October 13Morehead State
  • Horace Jones Field
  • Murfreesboro, TN
W 20–12
October 27at Vanderbilt*L 13–23[2]
November 3Murray State
  • Horace Jones Field
  • Murfreesboro, TN
W 39–7
November 10at East Tennessee*
W 20–6
November 22at Tennessee Tech
W 26–6
December 1vs. Sam Houston State*L 13–273,000[3]
  • *Non-conference game

[4]

After the season

NFL draft

The following Blue Raiders were selected in the National Football League draft following the season.[5]

Round Pick Player Position NFL club
7 84 Jerry DeLucca Tackle Chicago Bears
10 116 Jerry Hurst End San Francisco 49ers

References

  1. ^ "Middle Tennessee Football 2021 Media Guide" (PDF). Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Middle Tennessee State University. 2021. p. 145. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Vanderbilt wins, 23–13, over MTSC". Kingsport Times-News. October 28, 1956. Retrieved October 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Sam Houston defeats Middle Tenn. 27–13". The Paducah Sun. December 2, 1956. Retrieved January 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Brief Summary Of Cumulative Football Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "1957 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
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Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football
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Seasons
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Ohio Valley Conference football champions
Pre-divisional
NCAA College Division
Division II
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National championships in bold
† WKU claims a co-championship, while both the OVC and Tennessee Tech state it is not shared