In its 12th season under head coach Gaston F. Lewis, the team compiled a 11–1 record and all outscored opponents by a total of 415 to 79.
2 among the nation's black college football teams according to the Pittsburgh Courier and its Dickinson Rating System.
[3] Key players on the 1947 Wilberforce State team included halfbacks Walt Sellers and Carl Baylor, quarterbacks Freddie Hall and Michael "Mickey" Carter, and end Blake White.
[4][5] Prior to the start of the 1947–48 academic year, the State of Ohio withdrew support from the church-supported portion of the school.
The two portions of the school then split and fielded separate football teams with different coaches.