It concluded with two teams having claim to the major college national championship: Other notable teams from the 1957 season include: Florida A&M (9–0, black college national champion); Pittsburg State (11–0, NAIA national champion); Arizona State (10–0, top-ranked offense outscored opponents, 397 to 66); and Middle Tennesse (10–0, Ohio Valley champion).
The statistical leaders among the major college teams included Washington State quarterback Bob Newman with 1,444 yards of total offense, Utah quarterback Lee Grosscup with 1,398 passing yards, and Arizona State halfback Leon Burton with 1,126 rushing yards and 96 points scored.
In the preseason poll released on September 16, the defending champion Sooners of the University of Oklahoma—who had won 40 consecutive games dating back to 1953—were the first place choice for 127 of 174 writers casting votes, followed by Texas A&M, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Tennessee.
[6] As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
September 20 - Abner Haynes and Leon King suited up for North Texas State College against Texas Western at Kidd Field in El Paso, marking the first time a major college football team based in Texas fielded African-American players.
King scored a 33-yard touchdown, while Haynes had a long touchdown run called back "despite never stepping out of bounds and the whistle not blowing until he crossed the goal line."
[7] September 20–21 - The U.S. Air Force Academy, founded two years earlier played its first major college schedule in 1957.
The Falcons made their debut at UCLA on Friday night and lost 47–0.
8 Pittsburgh 26–0, breaking the all-time record for consecutive wins.
1 Oklahoma had a difficult time with unranked Texas; the Longhorns picked off four passes and the score was 7–7 at the half before the Sooners preserved their winning streak 21–7 in a game that wasn't pretty.
1 Michigan State lost 20–13 to Purdue and fell out of the top five, while No.
9 Auburn beat Georgia Tech 3–0 in Atlanta and rose to fifth place in the polls.
1 Oklahoma edged Colorado 14–13, and lost the top spot again, despite being 5–0.
6 Michigan State won 21–7 at Wisconsin to rise into the top five.
2 Oklahoma had won a record 47 consecutive games when they hosted Notre Dame.
The Irish, 4–2 and on a losing streak, were an 18–point underdog coming into Norman.
The Sooners, who had scored in 123 consecutive games dating back to 1945, were unable to reach the end zone, but had held off the Irish on two goal line stands.
In the final minutes, Notre Dame was on the 3–yard line on fourth down, when Dick Lynch "crossed up the Sooners" and ran around right end for a touchdown.
Oklahoma's desperate passing drive at game's end was stopped by a Notre Dame interception, and the crowd of 62,000 was stunned into silence... and then stood up and applauded for both the Sooners and the Irish.
Oklahoma's previous defeat, more than four years earlier, had been at the hands of Notre Dame as well.
6 Ohio State; the 7–1 Buckeyes rose to third, while the 6–1–1 Hawkeyes fell to eighth.
1 Auburn shut out rival Alabama 40–0 at their annual meeting in Birmingham to close its season 10–0, while the Crimson Tide finished at 2–7–1.
Bryant, who had transformed the Aggies from a 1–9 team in 1953 to a contender (Texas A&M was undefeated in 1956, and their two losses in 1957 were by a total of three points), would accept the job as head coach at his alma mater Alabama at season's end.
3 Michigan State were both 8–1 in the regular season, but Ohio State was 7–0 in Big Ten play, compared to the 5–1 Spartans, and got the Rose Bowl bid against unranked Oregon.
8 Navy, which won the Army-Navy game 14–0 in Philadelphia, finished with an 8–1–1 record, a bid to meet SWC champion Rice in the Cotton Bowl, and a fifth-place finish in the final poll.
The AP Trophy went to Auburn, the choice of a majority of writers for No.
Auburn, however, was on probation and was ineligible for a bowl (conference runner-up Mississippi received the SEC's automatic slot in the Sugar Bowl), and the UPI coaches poll awarded No.
Both Auburn and Ohio State are recognized in the NCAA Football Guidebook as unofficial national champions for 1957.
The season culminated in the second annual NAIA Football National Championship, played in 1957 at Stewart Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
[12] During its four years in St. Petersburg, the game was also called the Holiday Bowl.