1946 marked a new beginning in a number of ways for Indiana University and the Big Ten Conference. The University Of Chicago formally withdrew from the conference, leaving nine teams. A new conference commissioner took charge and a five-year contract was signed agreeing to send a team to the Rose Bowl to face a squad from the Pacific Coast Conference. The influx of military veterans who could now attend college on the GI Bill made residence and classroom facilities on most campuses and especially on the large, land-grant university campuses of the Midwest, extremely overcrowded. In many ways however, the glut of returning vets made for an impressive pool of football candidates at each school and Indiana had already benefited more than most. Their very good 7-3 record of 1944 had blossomed to a Big Ten Championship and number four national finish at 9-0-1 in '45, in large part due to the permanent discharge of 1943 All American end Pete Pihos who came back for another year, and the early sixty-day leave given to guard Harold Brown who became a 1945 All American as he joined the team after the opening game. These two, with future Major League baseball star Ted Kluzewski, formed the nucleus of Indiana's best-ever team and as the National Coach Of The Year, Bo McMillin approached 1946 with built-in difficulties in trying to repeat the honor-laden season. Introducing the first of the Riddell RT plastic helmets to his squad, they took the field against Cincinnati on September 21st wearing their new all-red headgear but lost 15-6, in part as a result of McMillin's late start in beginning the team's fall camp as he was busy coaching the College All Stars in their then-annual contest against the NFL champions. RB George Taliaferro and Pihos were back, with Pihos heading off to pro stardom with the Eagles the following season. Freshman Rex Grossman (a name that would resurface almost four decades later with the Florida Gators and Chicago Bears as his grandson became a number one draft choice) was another key to a season that was inconsistent and finished at 6-3. In his 14th year at the helm and with the added duties of Athletic Director, McMillin had Taliafierro and little else and recruiting was significantly down as he tried to field full offensive and defensive squads for platoon football. The 5-3-1 was a product of another year of inconsistent play and an injury to do-it-all Taliaferro. When the Purdue game ended the season, McMillin, with a need to support his growing family, announced his departure from Bloomington and his new job as head coach of the professional Detroit Lions. His .561 winning percentage over fourteen years maintains his position as IU's best football coach.

Clyde Smith, a former McMillin aide and most recently the head coach at LaCrosse State Teachers College in Wisconsin took over and he immediately felt the dearth of the past few years' poor recruiting as the record tumbled to 2-7. The opener started well with George Talifiarro's three TD passes over favored Wisconsin and then a 7-0 victory over Iowa. It was literally all down hill after that and only the Pitt game was a contest. Talifiarro moved to the LA Dons of the AAFL and then six years in the NFL where he was an extremely versatile performer at QB, HB, TB, and DB.

If interested in any of these Indiana helmets please click on the photos below.