The 1947 Baylor Bears football team was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that represented

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

(SWC) during the

1947 college football season The 1947 college football season finished with 1947 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Notre Dame, 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team, Michigan, and 1947 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, Penn State all unbeaten and untied, but th ...

. In its first season under head coach

Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News (United States), ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ''ABC World News Tonight'' in 2006 with journalist Elizabeth ...

, the team compiled a 5–5 record (1–5 against conference opponents), finished in last place in the conference, and was outscored by a total of 138 to 128. The team played its home games at

Municipal Stadium Municipal Stadium may refer to: Europe and Asia * Beirut Municipal Stadium, Lebanon * Herzliya Municipal Stadium, Israel * Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (1957), Japan * Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala or Municipal Stadium, Pakistan * Kfarjoz Municipal Sta ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. James W. Griffin was the team captain. The 1947 season featured great backs across the Southwest Conference. Baylor lost games to SMU (No. 3 in the final AP Poll) led by halfback

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player who was a halfback and kicker. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, winning the Maxwell Award in 1947 and the Heisman Trophy in 1948. H ...

;

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(No. 5 in the final AP Poll) led by quarterback

Bobby Layne Robert Lawrence Layne (December 19, 1926 – December 1, 1986) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns before ...

; and

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

(No. 18 in the final AP Poll) led by quarterback

Tobin Rote Tobin Cornelius Rote (January 18, 1928 – June 27, 2000) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadia ...

. It won against an

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

team led by halfback

Clyde Scott Clyde Luther Scott (August 29, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American athlete who played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) and earned an Olympic medal in the 110 meter hurdles. He was born in Dixie, Louisiana. B ...

who was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Baylor was ranked at No. 43 (out of 500 college football teams) in the final

Litkenhous Ratings The Litkenhous Difference by Score Ratings system was a mathematical system used to rank football and basketball teams. The Litrating system was developed by Vanderbilt University professor Edward E. Litkenhous (1907 – December 22, 1984) and his ...

for 1947.

Schedule

Rankings

References

{{Baylor Bears football navbox Baylor Baylor Bears football seasons

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed F ...