Shortly afterwards, and following a disastrous, 41–0 season finale home loss to previously winless (0–9) Villanova, head coach Ed Danowski resigned.
[3] Instead, sighting poor attendance numbers and financial losses of $100,000 per year, the school decided to drop its football program on December, 15th.
[4][5] Alumni, many hoping Lombardi would be named head coach, led a campaign to cover all operating costs for the 1955 season and honor an already announced schedule [6] in the process.
They also lost the services of freshmen quarterbacks Chuck Zimmerman and Jim Reese who had platooned the freshman team to a promising 3-1 record.
Zimmerman transferred to Syracuse where in that same season he threw for over 700 yards while leading the Orangemen to the Orange Bowl.