The 1951 Army Cadets football team represented the United States Military Academy in the 1951 college football season. Led by head coach Earl Blaik, the team finished with a record of 2-7. The Cadets offense scored 116 points, while the defense allowed 183 points.
Offseason
In the offseason, Blaik was still agitated by the loss Army suffered to Navy in 1950. In addition, he was upset over the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur. Sam Galiffa, who was part of the 1949 team, was now a decorated aide to General Matthew Ridgway. Galiffa arranged for members of the Army coaching staff to come to Japan and visit the troops. Vince Lombardi and Doug Kenna first visited Tokyo and conducted several football clinics for the troops stationed there. Although defensive coordinator Murray Warmath helped the discharged players relocate to other schools, it was his last year at Army. He left at the end of the season to become the head coach for Mississippi State.
Honor code violation
A massive honor code academic violation was revealed in the spring of 1951. There were accusations that football players were distributing unauthorized academic information. This was reported to Colonel Paul Harkins on April 2. It was later revealed that Red Blaik's son, Bob, was part of the honor code violation.On August 3, the violations were announced and several athletes were implicated in the scandal.
Joseph P. Kennedy spoke to assistant coach Doug Kenna, and he helped pay the way for several discharged players to attend Notre Dame. Bob Blaik left Army for Colorado College. Of the players that were discharged, three went on to careers in the National Football League: Al Pollard, Gene Filipski and Ray Malavasi. Malavasi also become head coach of the Los Angeles Rams.
The event was dramatized in the 2005 ESPN film Code Breakers.
Regular season
The makeshift team that was assembled had no involvement in the honor violation, but they were still a reminder of it. After losing several games to Ivy League schools, Army defeated Columbia for its first win. The team received a congratulatory note from General Douglas MacArthur.
In week 6 of the season, the Cadets played Frank Gifford and his USC Trojans squad. The game was played at Yankee Stadium. Before the Army-Navy game, the Cadets had a record of 2 wins and 6 losses. This was Blaik's only losing season at Army. In the Army-Navy game, Navy scored two touchdowns before Army even ran an offensive series.