1954 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 1954 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Eddie Erdelatz,^[1] and they acquired the nickname "Team Named Desire" during the press conference following the 25–0 road shutout of Stanford, when Erdelatz said, "Every man on this team is full of desire."^[2]

1954 Navy Midshipmen football
Eastern champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 21–0 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
Record	8–2
Head coach	Eddie Erdelatz (5th season)
Captain	Phil Monahan
Home stadium	Thompson Stadium
Seasons ← 1953 1955 →

1954 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Miami (FL)			–					8	–	1	–	0
Delaware			–					8	–	2	–	0
No. 5 Navy			–					8	–	2	–	0
Tampa			–					8	–	2	–	0
Florida State			–					8	–	4	–	0
Abilene Christian			–					6	–	3	–	1
Chattanooga			–					6	–	4	–	0
Mississippi Southern			–					6	–	4	–	0
Memphis State			–					3	–	4	–	3
Louisville			–					3	–	6	–	0
Arkansas State			–					1	–	8	–	0
Sewanee			–					0	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

After defeating No. 5 Army in Philadelphia,^[3] the Midshipmen were ranked fifth in both final polls, released in late November, and played in their first bowl game in 31 years. Navy shut out #6 Ole Miss 21–0 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day.^[4][5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	William & Mary		Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 27–0	13,369	[6]
October 2	at Dartmouth		Memorial Field Hanover, NH	W 42–7	13,200	[7]
October 9	at No. 17 Stanford	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 25–0	50,000–55,000
October 16	at Pittsburgh	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 19–21	30,151
October 23	at Penn		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 52–6	41,228	[8]
October 30	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Baltimore, MD (rivalry)	L 0–6	60,000
November 6	vs. No. 11 Duke	No. 19	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	W 40–7	28,000–30,000	[9]
November 13	Columbia	No. 10	Thompson Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 51–6	11,000	[10]
November 27	vs. No. 5 Army	No. 6	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	W 27–20	104,000
January 1, 1955	vs. No. 6 Ole Miss	No. 5	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	W 21–0	80,190	[11]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[12]

Game summaries

Sugar Bowl vs Ole Miss

Main article: 1955 Sugar Bowl

• Welsh 8/14 passing
• Gattuso (MVP) 111 rush yds, 2 TD
• Weaver 106 rush yds, TD, 3 PAT

^[2][4]

Roster

1954 Navy Midshipmen football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 61 Alex Aronis E 80 Ron Beagle Jr OL 69 Frank Bendrick OL 64 Leonard Benzi HB 49 Chet Burchett HB 44 Bob Craig OL 51 Robert Davis QB 15 Dick Echard HB 27 Jack Garrow Sr FB 36 Joe Gattuso Sr FB 30 Dick Guest OL 74 Pat McCool HB 33 Phil Monahan (C) E 83 Jim Owen OL 71 Jim Royer OL 68 George Testor HB 16 John Weaver OL 65 Hugh Webster QB 11 George Welsh Jr OL 58 Wilson Whitmire	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 49 Chet Burchett P 30 Dick Guest PK 68 George Testor PK 16 John Weaver	Head coach Eddie Erdelatz (5th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Dick Duden Len Eshmont Ben Martin Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[13]