October 3 With the exception of No. 4 Michigan, which beat Tulane 26–7 at home, the other top teams won on the road: No. 1 Notre Dame at Purdue, 37–7, No. 2 Michigan State at Minnesota 21–0, No. 3 Maryland at Clemson, 20–0, and No. 5 UCLA defeated Oregon 12–0 in an away game. No. 6 Ohio State, which won 33–19 at California, rose to third in the next poll, knocking UCLA down to sixth. The Big Ten had three of the spots in the top five: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Maryland, and No. 5 Michigan.
October 10 No. 1 Notre Dame was idle, but stayed at No. 1 after No. 2 Michigan State's 26–19 win over TCU. No. 4 Maryland won 40–13 over Georgia and No. 5 Michigan edged Iowa 14–13. The night before, No. 3 Ohio State had lost 40–21 to Illinois, while No. 6 UCLA returned to the top bracket with a 13–0 win over visiting Wisconsin. The next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Michigan.
October 17 No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 15 Pittsburgh 23–14. No. 2 Michigan State defeated Indiana 47–18. No. 3 Maryland won 26–0 at North Carolina. No. 4 UCLA lost at Stanford, 21–20.
No. 5 Michigan beat Northwestern 20–12. No. 6 Georgia Tech, which beat Auburn 36–6, took UCLA's place in the next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 Georgia Tech, and No. 5 Michigan.
October 24 No. 1 Notre Dame stayed unbeaten with a 27–14 win over No. 4 Georgia Tech.
No. 2 Michigan State lost 6–0 at Purdue and No. 5 Michigan lost at Minnesota 22–0.
No. 3 Maryland won a Friday game at Miami, 30–0. Coming into the Top Five were No. 6 Baylor (14–13 over No. 15 Texas A&M), No. 7 Illinois (20–13 over Syracuse), and No. 8 West Virginia (52–20 over VMI). The next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 Illinois, and No. 5 West Virginia.
October 31 No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 20 Navy 38–7. No. 2 Maryland beat South Carolina 24–6.
No. 3 Baylor beat TCU 25–7. No. 4 Illinois defeated Purdue 21–0. No. 5 West Virginia won at Penn State 20–19. No. 6 Michigan State, which beat Oregon State 34–6, rose to fifth. The next poll: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3.Baylor, No. 4 Illinois, and No. 5 Michigan State.
November 7 No. 1 Notre Dame won 28–20 at Penn. No. 2 Maryland beat George Washington University 27–6 at a game in Washington, DC. No. 3 Baylor lost at No. 19 Texas, 21–20. No. 4 Illinois beat No. 17 Michigan 9–3. No. 5 Michigan State won 28–13 at No. 16 Ohio State, and No. 6 Georgia Tech beat Clemson 20–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Michigan State, and No. 5 Georgia Tech.
November 14 No. 1 Notre Dame won at North Carolina, 34–14, and No. 2 Maryland beat No. 11 Mississippi 38–0 as both stayed unbeaten and untied. No. 4 Michigan State beat Michigan 14–6. On the other hand, No. 3 Illinois lost to Wisconsin, 34–7 and No. 5 Georgia Tech fell 13–6 to Alabama in a game at Birmingham. Returning to the Top Five to take their place were No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 UCLA, which had defeated Iowa State (47–0) and Washington (22–6), respectively. The next ranking was No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 UCLA.
November 21 Number one since the season began, No. 1 Notre Dame played to a 14–14 tie with No. 20 Iowa in a controversial game where Notre Dame's players were accused of faking injuries to stop the clock and gain time for a final touchdown.[4] No. 2 Maryland closed its season with a 21–0 win over No. 11 Alabama to finish the season unbeaten and untied at 10–0–0. No. 3 Michigan State closed with a 21–15 win over Marquette. No. 4 Oklahoma beat Nebraska 30–7, and No. 5 UCLA beat No. 9 USC, 13–0. The next poll featured No. 1 Maryland, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Oklahoma, and No. 5 UCLA.
November 28 The new No. 1, Maryland had already finished its season. No. 2 Notre Dame, with a 48–14 win at No. 20 USC, and No. 4 Oklahoma (42–7 over Oklahoma A&M) were the only Top Five members who hadn't closed their seasons.
November 30 The final AP Poll ranked Maryland, the only unbeaten and untied team, No. 1 with 187 first place votes. Unbeaten, once-tied, and one-game-left-to-play No. 2 Notre Dame received 141 votes.
December 5 Notre Dame beat visiting SMU 40–14. No additional AP Poll was taken because there were few other games played this Saturday.[5]
ACC member Maryland would accept a bid to the Orange Bowl to meet once-beaten (8–1–1), Big 7 champ, and No. 4 Oklahoma, while No. 3 Michigan State and No. 5 UCLA would meet in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame declined to participate in a postseason game.
Individual
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Total offense
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The following players were the individual leaders in total offense among major college football players during the 1953 season:
1. Paul Larson, California, 1,572 yards
2. Lamar McHan, Arkansas, 1,516 yards
3. Joe Mastrogiovanni, Wyoming, 1,514 yards
4. Bobby Garrett, Stanford, 1,502 yards
5. Zeke Bratkowski, Georgia, 1,416 yards
6. Paul Giel, Minnesota, 1,339 yards
7. Richard "Iron Man" Carr, Columbia, 1,262 yards
8. J. C. Caroline, Illinois, 1,256 yards
9. Sandy Lederman, Washington, 1,133 yards
10. Don Ellis, Texas A&M, 1,128 yards
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Passing
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The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions among major college football players during the 1953 season:
1. Bobby Garrett, Stanford, 118 of 205 (57.6%), 1,637 yards, 10 interceptions, 17 touchdowns
2. Zeke Bratkowski, Georgia, 113 of 224 (50.4%), 1,461 yards, 23 interceptions, 6 touchdowns
3. Sandy Lederman, Washington, 92 of 189 (48.7%), 1,157 yards, 14 interceptions, 8 touchdowns
4. Paul Larson, California, 85 of 171 (49.7%), 1,431 yards, 16 interceptions, 6 touchdowns
5. Tony Rados,Penn State, 81 of 171 (47.4%), 1,025 yards, 12 interceptions, 8 touchdowns
6. Don Rydalch, Utah, 78 of 128 (60.9%), 980 yards, 8 interceptions, 7 touchdowns
7. Lamar McHan, Arkansas, 78 of 150 (52.0%), 1,107 yards, 11 interceptions, 8 touchdowns
8. Richard "Iron Man" Carr, Columbia, 77 of 191 (40.3%), 1,367 yards, 18 interceptions, 13 touchdowns
9. Don Ellis, Texas A&M, 76 of 171 (44.4%), 950 yards, 14 interceptions, 4 touchdowns
10. Dick Thomas, Northwestern, 74 of 145 (51.0%), 933 yards, 7 interceptions, 5 touchdowns
10. Cotton Davidson, Baylor, 74 of 156 (47.4%), 1,092 yards, 16 interceptions, 9 touchdowns
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Rushing
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The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards among major college football players during the 1953 season:
1. J. C. Caroline, Illinois, 1,256 yards on 194 carries (6.47 average)
2. Kosse Johnson, Rice, 944 yards on 187 carries (5.05 average)
3. Kenny Cardella, Arizona, 915 yards on 148 carries (6.18 average)
4. Bobby Watkins, Ohio State, 875 yards on 153 carries (5.72 average)
5. Neil Worden, Notre Dame, 859 yards on 145 carries (5.92 average)
6. Dicky Moegle, Rice, 833 yards on 114 carries (7.31 average)
7. Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, 801 yards on 165 carries (4.85 average)
8. Larry Grigg, Oklahoma, 792 yards on 130 carries (6.09 average)
9. Bobby Cavazos, Texas Tech, 757 yards on 97 carries (7.80 average)
10. Chet Hanulak, Maryland, 753 yards on 77 carries (9.78 average)
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Receiving
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The following players were the individual leaders in receptions among major college football players during the 1953 season:
1. Johnny Carson, Georgia, 45 receptions, 663 yards, 4 touchdowns
2. Ken Buck, Pacific, 45 receptions, 660 yards, 5 touchdowns
3. Sam Morley, Stanford, 45 receptions, 594 yards, 6 touchdowns
4. John Steinberg, Stanford, 32 receptions, 425 yards, 3 touchdowns
5. Dave McLaughlin, Dartmouth, 31 receptions, 592 yards, 6 touchdowns
6. Floyd Sagely, Arkansas, 30 receptions, 542 yards, 3 touchdowns
6. John Allen, Arizona State, 30 receptions, 505 yards, 8 touchdowns
6. Chet Lyssy, Hardin-Simmons, 30 receptions, 389 yards, 5 touchdowns
6. Jim Garrity, Penn State, 30 receptions, 349 yards, 3 touchdowns
10. Dale Hopp, Columbia, 29 receptions, 437 yards, 4 touchdowns
10. Andy Nacrelli, Fordham, 29 receptions, 428 yards, 3 touchowns
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Scoring
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The following players were the individual leaders in scoring among major college football players during the 1953 season:
1. Earl Lindley, Utah State, 81 points (13 TD, 3 PAT)
2. Bobby Cavazos, Texas Tech, 80 points (13 TD, 2 PAT)
3. Larry Grigg, Oklahoma, 78 points (13 TD)
3. Fred Mahaffey, Denver, 78 points (13 TD)
3. Johnny Mapp, VMI, 78 points (13 TD)
6. Burgmeier, Detroit, 72 points (12 TD)
6. Cameron, UCLA, 72 points (12 TD)
8. Lewis, Texas Tech, 67 points (11 TD, 1 PAT)
8. Joe Mastrogiovanni, 67 points (9 TD, 13 PAT)
10. Bates, Illinois, 66 points (11 TD)
10. Gatewood, Drake, 66 points (11 TD)
10. Talley, California, 66 points (11 TD)
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Team
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Total offense
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The following teams were the leaders in total offense in major college football during the 1953 season:
1. Cincinnati, 409.5 yards per game
2. Notre Dame, 383.9 yards per game
3. West Virginia, 377.6 yards per game
4. Texas Tech, 376.5 yards per game
5. Utah, 375.1 yards per game
6. Maryland, 359.5 yards per game
7. Rice, 358.6 yards per game
8. Illinois, 356.1 yards per game
9. Oklahoma, 352.1 yards per game
10. Army, 348.4 yards per game
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Total defense
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The following teams were the leaders in total defense in major college football during the 1954 season:
1. Cincinnati, 184.3 yards per game
2. UCLA, 188.4 yards per game
3. Maryland, 193.2 yards per game
4. Yale, 194.9 yards per game
5. Syracuse, 196.6 yards per game
6. Oklahoma, 196.9 yards per game
7. Texas Western, 198.6 yards per game
8. Wichita, 198.8 yards per game
9. Detroit, 199.6 yards per game
10. West Virginia, 203.9 yards per game
[17]