1953 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

American college football season

1953 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	3–7 (1–3 MVC)
Head coach	Bernie Witucki (1st season)
Home stadium	Skelly Field
Seasons ← 1952 1954 →

1953 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Oklahoma A&M +	3	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Detroit +	3	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Wichita	1	–	2	–	0	4	–	4	–	1
Houston	1	–	2	–	0	4	–	4	–	1
Tulsa	1	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions

The 1953 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa during the 1953 college football season. In their first year under head coach Bernie Witucki, the Golden Hurricane compiled a 3–7 record, 1–3 against Missouri Valley Conference opponents, and finished in last place in the conference.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 19	Cincinnati*	Skelly Field Tulsa, OK	L 7–14	14,057
September 26	at Wichita	Veterans Field Wichita, KS	L 10–19	10,500
October 3	at Pacific (CA)*	Pacific Memorial Stadium Stockton, CA	W 22–13	20,121
October 10	at Alabama*	Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	L 13–41	18,000	^[2]
October 17	Hardin–Simmons*	Skelly Field Tulsa, OK	W 14–13	11,500
October 31	at Oklahoma A&M	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK (rivalry)	L 14–28	18,000
November 7	Houston	Skelly Field Tulsa, OK (rivalry)	W 23–21	11,500
November 14	No. 19 Texas Tech*	Skelly Field Tulsa, OK	L 7–49	9,000
November 21	Detroit	Skelly Field Tulsa, OK	L 0–33	7,000	^[3]
November 28	at Arkansas*	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 7–27	8,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

^[4]

After the season

1954 NFL Draft

The following Golden Hurriane players were selected in the National Football League Draft following the season.^[5]^[6]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL club
3	31	Tom Miner	Kicker	Pittsburgh Steelers
6	73	Dick Kercher	Halfback	Detroit Lions
9	107	Ted Connolly	Guard	San Francisco 49ers
10	117	Ed Hughes	Defensive back	Los Angeles Rams

References

^ "1953 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
^ Watkins, Edwin (October 11, 1953). "Fighting Tide engulfs Tulsa Hurricane 41–13". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 1. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
^ Dick Peters (November 22, 1953). "U-D Gets Rolling In Tulsa". Detroit Free Press. pp. D1, D5 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tulsa Golden Hurricane Football Record & Fact Book 2022" (PDF). University of Tulsa. p. 182. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
^ "1954 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^ "Tulsa Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.

v t e Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
Venues	South Main Park (1912–1914) Association Park (1915–1917) McNulty Park (1919–1929) Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Houston Oklahoma State
Culture & lore	Captain Cane "Hurricane Spirit" The Sound of the Golden Hurricane Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024