It finished with Princeton halfback Dick Kazmaier winning the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award.
Five teams have laid claim to the 1951 national championship: Individual statistical leaders for the 1951 season included San Francisco halfback Ollie Matson with 1,566 rushing yards and 126 points scored, Princeton halfback Dick Kazmaier with 1,827 yards of total offense, Loyola quarterback Don Klosterman with 1,843 passing yards, and Wyoming end Dewey McConnell with 47 receptions.
MSU had opened its season on the 22nd with a 6–0 win over Oregon State.
As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
On September 14, the Central Missouri Mules played the Southwestern Moundbuilders in the rejected touchdown game where Southwestern's head coach Harold Hunt "rejected" a touchdown awarded by officials because his player stepped out of bounds.
3 Ohio State beat visiting SMU 7–0 in a win not deemed good enough to stay in the top five.
The game was broadcast in New York in a test for color television [5] No.
5 Notre Dame had beaten Mercy College of Detroit, 40–6, the night before.
2 California beat Washington State 42–35 and took over the top spot from the Spartans in the next poll.
4 Texas A&M beat Trinity College 53–14 and fell from the top five.
11 USC, both unbeaten at 4–0–0, faced off, and the Golden Bears lost the game, along with the top spot in the poll, 21–14.
Then-unbeaten Drake was led by quarterback Johnny Bright, who was leading the nation in total offense at the time and had been touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Two years earlier, he had been the first black player to appear in a game at A&M's home field, without incident.
Bright was forced to leave the game in the first quarter after suffering three concussions and a broken jaw as the result of a racially motivated attack by white A&M player Wilbanks Smith, and A&M ultimately won 27–14.
The attack was immortalized in a photo sequence in the Des Moines Register that won the photographers a Pulitzer Prize.
2 Michigan State beat visiting Pitt, 53–26.
5 Maryland visited once-beaten (4–1–0) LSU, and won convincingly, 27–0.
With the top five teams staying unbeaten, the poll changed only slightly: No.
1 Tennessee won at North Carolina, 27–0 for its fourth shutout.
6 Princeton, which rose to 5–0–0 after a 12–0 win over Brown and had not lost a game in more than two years, gave an Ivy League addition to the Top Five.
In Los Angeles, two unbeaten and untied (7–0–0) powers faced off, as No.
3 Illinois got a blemish on its record with a 0–0 tie at Ohio State.
2 Michigan State beat Colorado 45–7 to finish its season at 9–0–0.
4 Maryland stayed unbeaten, defeating West Virginia 54–7.
1 Tennessee closed its season unbeaten with a 35–27 win over Vanderbilt.
This result moved the Yellow Jackets up a spot in the final poll: No.
6 Princeton, with all six teams being undefeated (although Illinois and Georgia Tech both had ties on their record).
14 University of San Francisco Dons, who closed their season—and their football program—with a perfect record of 9 wins, 0 losses and 0 ties.
After their November 24 game against in-state Jesuit rival Loyola University, a 20–2 win, USF stopped playing football.
[10][11] The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player Source: [12][13] The following players were the individual leaders in total offense during the 1951 season: Major college [14] The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions during the 1951 season: Major college [15] The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards during the 1951 season: Major college [16] The following players were the individual leaders in receptions during the 1951 season: Major college [17] The following players were the individual leaders in scoring during the 1951 season: Major college [18] The following teams were the leaders in total offense during the 1951 season: Major college [19] The following teams were the leaders in total defense during the 1951 season: Major college [20]