1959 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team
American college football season
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The 1959 Eastern Michigan Hurons football team represented Eastern Michigan University in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1959 college football season. In their eighth season under head coach Fred Trosko, the Hurons compiled a 1–7 record (1–5 against IIAC opponents) and were outscored by their opponents, 217 to 50. In the second game of the season, the Hurons defeated Illinois State by a 14–7 score, but then lost the six remaining games. Dave L. Longridge was the team captain and also led the team with 513 passing yards and 517 yards of total offense.[1]
- Fred Trosko (8th season)
| 1959 Eastern Michigan Hurons football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| Record | 1–7 (1–5 IIAC) |
| Head coach |
|
| MVP | Albert E. Day |
| Captain | Dave L. Longridge |
| Home stadium | Briggs Field |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Western Illinois $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Northern Illinois State | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Illinois | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Illinois | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois State Normal | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Albert Day led the team with 226 rushing yards and was a first-team selection for the All-IIAC team; he was also selected for the team's most valuable player award.[2] The team totaled only 645 net yards of offense.[3]
The Hurons had great success in the 1950s, winning IIAC conference championships in 1954, 1955 and 1957.
However, by 1959, Eastern Michigan had ceased granting athletic scholarships, even though IIAC rules permitted member schools to do so. The school also banned recruiting and drastically reduced the football program's budget to $15,300. University vice president William Lawrence explained: "We feel athletics here are for students with students the participants.
We don't think it's our job to go out and hire a troop of athletes to entertain our students."[4] Using non-scholarship athletes against IIAC schools with scholarship athletes, Trosko's Eastern Michigan teams were unable to compete and suffered a 29-game winless streak (0–27–2) between October 7, 1959, and October 27, 1962.[5][6]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 30 | Youngstown State* |
| L 3–21 | 4,137 | |||
| October 7 | Illinois State |
| W 13–7 | 3,500 | |||
| October 14 | at Northern Michigan* | Marquette, MI | L 6–39 | ||||
| October 17 | Central Michigan |
| L 8–21 | 5,000 | [7] | ||
| October 24 | at Eastern Illinois |
| L 6–32 | [8] | |||
| October 31 | Southern Illinois |
| L 14–41 | 600 | [9] | ||
| November 7 | at Northern Illinois* | L 0–34 | |||||
| November 14 | at No. 9 Western Illinois | L 0–22 | [10] | ||||
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