1954 Navy Midshipmen football team

Navy Midshipmen football
	1954 Navy Midshipmen football
Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy ; Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 21–0 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
1954 record	8–2
Head coach	Eddie Erdelatz (5th season)
Home stadium	Thompson Stadium
	Seasons ← 1953 1955 →

The 1954 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) during the 1954 college football season. Navy competed as an independent with no conference affiliation. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Eddie Erdelatz.^[1]^[2] The team acquired the nickname "Team Named Desire" during the press conference following the Stanford game when Erdelatz said "Every man on this team is full of desire." ^[3]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 25	William & Mary		Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 27–0
October 2	at Dartmouth		Memorial Field Hanover, NH	W 42–7
October 9	at Stanford	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 25–0
October 9	at Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 19–21
October 23	at Penn		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 52–6
October 30	No. 6 Notre Dame	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	L 0–6	60,000
November 6	vs. Duke	No. 19	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	W 40–7
November 13	Columbia	No. 10	Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 51–6
November 27	vs. Army	No. 6	Municipal Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 27–20
January 1, 1955	vs. Ole Miss	No. 5	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 21–0	82,000
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel[]

1954 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	Name	Class
OL	Aronis, AlexAlex Aronis
E	Beagle, RonRon Beagle
OL	Bendrick, FrankFrank Bendrick
OL	Benzi, LeonardLeonard Benzi
OL	Davis, RobertRobert Davis
HB	Garrow, JackJack Garrow	7.0 !Sr
FB	Gattuso, JoeJoe Gattuso	7.0 !Sr
HB	Monahan, PhilPhil Monahan (C)
HB	Weaver, JohnJohn Weaver
QB	Welsh, GeorgeGeorge Welsh	5.0 !Jr
OL	Whitmire, WilsonWilson Whitmire

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Eddie Erdelatz

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries[]

Sugar Bowl vs Ole Miss[]

Welsh 8/14 passing
Gattuso (MVP) 111 rush yds, 2 TD
Weaver 106 rush yds, TD

^[3]

References[]

↑ "Football History". United States Naval Academy. p. 192. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/navy/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/misc_non_event/History-2014-Guide.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
↑ "Navy Yearly Results (1950-1954)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/n/navy/1950-1954_yearly_results.php. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 [1]. Retrieved 2019-Jan-22.

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[FH-1] "Football History". United States Naval Academy. p. 192. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/navy/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/misc_non_event/History-2014-Guide.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2015.

[CFDW-2] "Navy Yearly Results (1950-1954)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/n/navy/1950-1954_yearly_results.php. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

[Desire-3] 3.0 ^3.1 [1]. Retrieved 2019-Jan-22.

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