Gophers

Bruce Smith highlights: One great Gopher

December 4, 2016 at 8:06AM
November 18, 1948 ***** football fans he's Bruce Smith, All-American, but at the ***** Pre-Flight School, St. Mary's College (calif), where he is ***** member of the new 35th Battalion she's just another aviation cadet to a couple of hospital corpsmen who are drawing a bit of blood for the Kahn test. Kenneth Wickholm (left) and E. J. Arrington are the corpsmen. S. Navy Pre-Flight School Mary's College
Smith joined the Navy after college, serving until 1945. He trained as a pilot but did not see combat duty during World War II. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

• Led the Gophers to back-to-back national titles in 1940 and 1941 (8-0 each season).

• Won Minnesota's only Heisman Trophy, beating out future Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli (Notre Dame) and Frankie Albert (Stanford) in 1941.

• In an era of halfbacks passing, led the 1941 Gophers with 320 passing yards (24.6 yards per completion).

• Joined the Navy after college, serving until 1945. After that, he played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams.

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