1952 Football Team

The 1952 football team was a mystery as the season unfolded. Neither a band of ragamuffin players nor, it seemed, a team of destiny, they eventually became one of the most successful UNM teams ever.

Coach Dudley DeGroot had assembled a mix of veteran players – military veterans that is – and two years’ worth of good recruits that included 25 lettermen.

When the year was over, the Lobos had the stingiest defense in major college football, having allowed just 46 points to nine opponents. That included five shutouts over New Mexico State, Wyoming, Denver, Colorado State and Utah State on the way to a 7-2 record. Sadly, they lost a chance at the Skyline Conference title in the first game of the season when a touchdown play in the final seconds was nullified because of an offside penalty. BYU won the opener 14-10 in Provo.

Some of these young players went on to outstanding careers on the playing field – Larry White, Jim Bruening, Bobby Lee, A.L. Terpening, to mention a few. Others became doctors, engineers, space scientists, businessmen, developers, teachers, airline pilots, ministers, artists and career military men.

That came as no surprise because the 1952 football team had the highest grade point average of any men’s group on the UNM campus.