There were 23 punts altogether, and no score until midway through the third quarter, when Tennessee end Buddy Cruze noticed that Tech had stopped double-teaming him. Halfback Johnny Majors (who would later be head coach for UT) passed to Cruze at the 35-yard line, and Cruze ran 64 yards down to the Tech goal line, setting up the touchdown that won the game 6–0. In the poll that followed, Tennessee was the new #1 by a margin of 2 points (1,446 to 1,444) over Oklahoma. #4 Michigan State narrowly beat Purdue, 12-9. #5 Texas A&M beat SMU 33–7 in Dallas, and increased its record to 7-0-1, with the Southwest Conference title and a trip to the Cotton Bowl, and on November 12, was still fifth in the poll. Though on probation since 1955 for recruiting violations, the Aggies had appealed to the NCAA to allow them to play postseason. The next day, however, the NCAA announced that Texas A&M was still banned, because of an additional recruiting violation of a basketball player. The poll: 1.Tennessee 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan State 4.Georgia Tech 5.Texas A&M.  November 17 #1 Tennessee beat visiting #19 Ole Miss 27-7, while #2 Oklahoma showed off its offense in crushing Missouri 67-14, sufficiently enough to regain the top spot in the next poll. #3 Michigan State traveled to Minnesota, which had been #6 a week before, but dropped to #17. The MSU visitors lost, 14-13, and dropped to tenth place in the next poll. #4 Georgia Tech beat Alabama 27-0. #5 Texas A&M beat visiting Rice, 21-7. #7 Iowa, which had beaten #6 Ohio State 6-0, took Michigan State's place in the poll that followed. The Top 5 was 1.Oklahoma 2.Tennessee 3.Iowa 4.Texas A&M 5.Georgia Tech.  November 24 #1 Oklahoma gained 656 net yards in a defeat of visiting Nebraska 54-6. #2 Tennessee beat Kentucky 20-7. #3 Iowa, which had captured the Big Ten title with a 5–1 conference record, finished its season with a 48–8 non-league win over Notre Dame, then accepted a bid to the Rose Bowl to play Oregon State. #4 Texas A&M was idle as it prepared for its Thanksgiving Day game with Texas, which it won 34–21.