Wayne State Tartars football, 1950–1959

The 1950 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1950 college football season. In their second year under head coach Louis F. Zarza, the Tartars compiled a 2–7 record and were outscored by a total of 262 to 114.^[1]

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 23	South Dakota	Detroit, MI	W 19–14	4,000	[2]
September 29	at Detroit	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	L 0–34	19,257	[3]
October 7	Western Illinois	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	L 20–21	7,767	[4]
October 14	at Michigan State Normal	Briggs Field Ypsilanti, MI	W 26–6	5,000	[5]
October 21	at Temple	Temple Stadium Philadelphia, PA	L 0–26	5,000	[6]
October 28	at Omaha	Omaha, NE	L 13–32
November 4	South Dakota State	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	L 0–40	2,911	[7]
November 11	at Bradley	Peoria Stadium Peoria, IL	L 29–33		[8]
November 18	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	L 7–56
Homecoming

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^[1][9]

The 1951 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1951 college football season. In their third year under head coach Louis F. Zarza, the Tartars compiled a 5–4 record and outscored opponents by a total of 230 to 213.^[10]

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	at Iowa State	Williams Stadium Ames, IA	L 21–53	9,145–10,000	[11]
September 29	Louisville	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	L 12–28	7,500	[12]
October 6	at Arizona State	Goodwin Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 6–50		[13]
October 13	Bradley	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	L 27–34	3,021	[14]
October 20	Brandeis	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 34–6	3,278	[15]
October 27	Omaha	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 62–9	3,000	[16]
November 3	Washington University	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 21–7	3,211	[17]
November 10	at Case Tech	Cleveland, OH	W 20–13
November 17	Michigan State Normal	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 27–13	2,347	[18]
Homecoming

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^[10][19]

The 1952 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1952 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Louis F. Zarza, the team compiled a 4–4 record and outscored opponents by a total of 208 to 153.^[20]

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	Hillsdale	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 20–6		[21]
September 27	at Louisville	Parkway Field Louisville, KY	L 12–19		[22][23]
October 4	at Washington University	Francis Field St. Louis, MO	L 12–13		[24]
October 18	at Bradley	Peoria, IL	L 21–40		[25]
October 25	at Brandeis	Brandeis Field Waltham, MA	L 19–31	2,000	[26][27]
November 1	Michigan State Normal	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 46–19	3,515	[28]
November 8	at Great Lakes NTS	Great Lakes, IL	W 34–19		[29]
November 15	Valparaiso	University of Detroit Stadium Detroit, MI	W 44–6		[30]
Homecoming

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^[20][31]

The 1953 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Louis F. Zarza, the team compiled a 3–4–1 record and was outscored by a total of 146 to 115.^[32]

The team's statistical leaders included:

• Right halfback Victor Zucco tallied 637 rushing yards on 79 carries. Zucco was also the team's leading scorer with 54 points on nine touchdowns and the team's leading receiver with 301 receiving yards on 23 catches.
• Left halfback John Kelly tallied 452 rushing yards on 77 carries.
• Quarterback Dick Lisabeth completed 23 of 53 passes for 335 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Lisabeth was also the team's punter, averaging 30.2 yards on 30 punts.
• Right end Jack Crittendon tallied 20 receptions for 247 yards.

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The 1954 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1954 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Louis F. Zarza, the Tartars compiled a 3–5–1 record and were outscored by a total of 149 to 129.^[41]

The 1955 Wayne Tartars football team represented Wayne University (later renamed Wayne State University) as an independent during the 1955 college football season. In their second year under head coach Herbert L. Smith, the Tartars compiled a 1–5–1 record (1–3–1 in conference games), finished in fourth place in the PAC, and were outscored by a total of 204 to 71.^[51]

The 1956 Wayne State Tartars football team represented Wayne State University as an independent during the 1956 college football season. In their third year under head coach Herbert L. Smith, the Tartars compiled a 4–2–1 record (3–0–1 in conference games), won the PAC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 104 to 89.^[54]

The team's statistical leaders included halfback John D. Goggins (374 rushing yards), quarterback Ronald Kowalczyk (282 passing yards), end John Poplawski (15 receptions for 186 yards), and fullback Alister Mackenzie (24 points scored).^[55]

The 1957 Wayne State Tartars football team represented Wayne State University as an independent during the 1957 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Herbert L. Smith, the Tartars compiled a 4–4 record (2–1 in conference games), finished in second place in the PAC, and were outscored by a total of 110 to 103.^[57]

Halfback Jim MacMillan led the team in rushing (404 yards) and scoring (43 points on seven touchdowns and an extra point). Quarterback Ron Kowalczyk led the team in passing (604 yards), total offense (650 yards), and punting (33 punts, 30.1 yards per punt). End John Poplawski was the leading receiver with 14 receptions for 166 yards.^[58]

The 1958 Wayne State Tartars football team represented Wayne State University as an independent during the 1958 college football season. In their fifth year under head coach Herbert L. Smith, the Tartars compiled a 2–4–1 record (2–1–1 in conference games), finished in third place in the PAC, and were outscored by a total of 169 to 81.^[59]

Halfback James MacMillan led the team in rushing (517 yards), total offense (867 yards), and scoring (37 points). Other leaders included quarterback Michael Soluk (454 passing yards) and end Wayne Mueller (272 receiving yards).^[60]

The 1959 Wayne State Tartars football team represented Wayne State University as an independent during the 1959 college football season. In their sixth and final year under head coach Herbert L. Smith, the Tartars compiled a 2–4–1 record (2–1–1 in conference games), finished in third place in the PAC, and outscored opponents by a total of 121 to 116.^[62]

Halfback Dick Laskowski led the team in rushing (328 yards), passing (101 yards),total offense (429 yards). End Dale Mandrell led the team in receiving with 15 catches for 125 yards. Fullback James Morse led the team in scoring with 36 points on six touchdowns.^[63]

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3	Case Tech	Tartar Field Detroit, MI	W 27–6		[64]
October 10	Allegheny	Tartar Field Detroit, MI	W 20–7		[65]
October 17	at John Carroll	Hosford Stadium Cleveland Heights, OH	L 0–40		[66]
October 24	Northern Michigan*	Tartar Field Detroit, MI	L 13–20
October 31	Western Reserve	Tartar Field Detroit, MI	W 27–14		[67]
November 7	at Thiel	Greenville, PA	W 28–15		[68]
November 14	at Valparaiso*	Valpraraiso, IN	L 6–14		[69]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

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