October
October 6 #1 Oklahoma registered another shutout, beating Kansas State 66-0. #2 Michigan State met #5 Michigan in the rain before a crowd of 101,001 at Ann Arbor, and MSU Coach Duffy Daugherty's "umbrella defense" forced two Michigan turnovers that led to their 9-0 win #3 Georgia Tech was idle, and #4 Ohio State won 32-20 at home before 82,881 over Stanford. The poll saw Michigan drop to 12th, while #8 TCU (which beat Arkansas 41-6 on national television) returned to the top five: 1.Oklahoma 2.Michigan State 3.Georgia Tech 4.TCU 5.Ohio State
October 13 At Dallas, #1 Oklahoma beat Texas 45-0, having outscored its opposition 147-0 in three games. A commentator of the day wrote, "The overpowering charge of the big red-shirted Oklahoma line ahead of adroit Quarterback Jimmy Harris is just one of the reasons bhy Oklahoma may be the greatest college football team of all time... They showed it in the sudden, lifting charge of a line which moved all of a piece, like a wave breaking evenly along a beach." #2 Michigan State defeated Indiana 53-6 at home. #3 Georgia Tech beat LSU, 39-7. #4 TCU won at Alabama 23-6, and #5 Ohio State won 26-6 at Illinois. The poll remained unchanged: 1.Oklahoma 2.Michigan State 3.Georgia Tech 4.TCU 5.Ohio State
October 20 #1 Oklahoma gave up its first points of the season, but registered its fourth win, 34-12, at Kansas. #2 Michigan State stayed unbeaten with a 47-14 win at Notre Dame. #3 Georgia Tech beat Auburn 28-7. In a game that would ultimately determine the SWC championship, #4 TCU lost at #14 Texas A&M, 7-6. #5 Ohio State lost to Penn State by the same 7-6 score. #7 Tennessee, which had beaten Alabama 24-0 rose to 4th, and #8 Michigan returned to the Top 5 after its 34-20 win over Northwestern. The poll: 1.Michigan State 2. Oklahoma 3.Georgia Tech 4.Tennessee 5.Michigan.
October 27 The new #1, Michigan State went to Champaign, and had a 13-0 lead over the unranked Illini at halftime. Abe Woodson plunged for a score to cut the lead to 13-6 after three quarters. In the fourth, Woodson ran 70 yards from scrimmage to help tie the game 13-13. After an MSU field goal was short, Woodson ran the ball up to the Illini 18. Woodson, who had once held the world record in the 50 yard high hurdles, took a short pass and dashed 82 yards for a touchdown, leaping over State's Art Johnson 30 yards from goal, to pull off the 20-13 upset.
#2 Oklahoma was determined to prove itself number 1, and Coach Bud Wilkinson directed the team to six touchdowns for a 40-0 win at Notre Dame. #3 Georgia Tech beat #15 Tulane by the same 40-0 marvgin. #4 Tennessee beat Maryland 34-7 to stay unbeaten. #5 Michigan had its second loss, falling to unranked Minnesota at home, 20-7. #7 Texas A&M, which had extended its record to 5-0-1 with a 19-13 win at #8 Baylor, replaced the Wolverines. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.Georgia Tech 3.Tennessee 4.Michigan State 5.Texas A&M.
Read more about this topic: 1956 College Football Season