1942 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1942 Big Ten Conference football season was the 47th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1942 college football season.
| 1942 Big Ten Conference football season | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Football |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| Top draft pick | Bill Daley |
| Champion | Ohio State |
| Season MVP | Dave Schreiner |
| 1942 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Ohio State $ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 3 Wisconsin | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Michigan | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Minnesota | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 2 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 1 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1942 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, led by head coach Paul Brown, compiled a 9–1, led the Big Ten in scoring offense (33.7 points per game), won the conference championship, and was ranked No. 1 in the final AP Poll. The Buckeyes' only loss was by a 17–7 score against Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. Tackle Charles Csuri received the team's most valuable player award. Halfback Les Horvath went on to win the 1943 Heisman Trophy.
Wisconsin, under head coach Harry Stuhldreher, compiled an 8–1–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (6.8 points per game allowed), and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll. The Badgers played Notre Dame to a 7–7 and suffered its sole loss on the road against Iowa. End Dave Schreiner was a consensus first-team All-American and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference.
Michigan, under head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled a 7–3 record and was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Two Michigan linemen, tackle Al Wistert and guard Julius Franks (Michigan's first African-American All-American), were selected as consensus first-team All-Americans.
Season overview
Results and team statistics
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | Paul Brown | #1 | #1 | 9–1 | 5–1 | 33.7 | 11.4 | Charles Csuri |
| 2 | Wisconsin | Harry Stuhldreher | #3 | #2 | 8–1–1 | 4–1 | 14.9 | 6.8 | Dave Schreiner |
| 3 (tie) | Michigan | Fritz Crisler | #9 | #3 | 7–3 | 3–2 | 22.1 | 13.4 | Al Wistert |
| 3 (tie) | Illinois | Ray Eliot | NR | NR | 6–4 | 3–2 | 22.7 | 12.6 | Elmer Engel |
| 5 (tie) | Indiana | Bo McMillin | NR | NR | 7–3 | 2–2 | 25.6 | 7.9 | Lou Saban |
| 5 (tie) | Iowa | Eddie Anderson | NR | #12 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 14.7 | 13.5 | Tom Farmer |
| 5 (tie) | Minnesota | George Hauser | #19 | #7 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 16.9 | 10.1 | Dick Wildung |
| 8 | Purdue | Elmer Burnham | NR | NR | 1–8 | 1–4 | 3.0 | 19.9 | Bill Buffington |
| 9 | Northwestern | Pappy Waldorf | NR | NR | 1–9 | 0–6 | 9.6 | 20.9 | Ed Hirsch |
Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy[2]
Bowl games
During the 1942 season, the Big Ten maintained its long-standing ban on postseason games. Accordingly, no Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games.
All-Big Ten players
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1942 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4]
- Dave Schreiner, end, Wisconsin (AP, UP)
- Bob Shaw, end, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Dick Wildung, tackle, Minnesota (AP, UP)
- Al Wistert, tackle, Michigan (AP, UP)
- Julius Franks, guard, Michigan (AP, UP)
- Lin Houston, guard, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Fred Negus, center, Wisconsin (AP, UP)
- George Ceithaml, quarterback, Michigan (AP, UP)
- Billy Hillenbrand, halfback, Indiana (AP, UP)
- Elroy Hirsch, halfback, Wisconsin (AP)
- Paul Sarringhaus, halfback, Ohio State (UP)
- Pat Harder, fullback, Wisconsin (AP, UP)
All-Americans
At the end of the 1942 season, Big Ten players secured five of the 12 consensus first-team picks for the 1942 College Football All-America Team.[5] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
- Dave Schreiner, end, Wisconsin (AAB, AP, CO, INS, LK, NEA, NW, SN, UP, CP, NYS, WC, MS)
- Dick Wildung, tackle, Minnesota (AAB, AP, CO, LK, NEA, NW, SN, UP, CP, NYS, WC, MS)
- Al Wistert, tackle, Michigan (AAB, LK, NW, UP, NYS, WC, MS)
- Julius Franks, guard, Michigan (CO, INS, NW, CP)
- Billy Hillenbrand, halfback, Indiana (AAB, UP, SN, CP, NEA, CO, NYS, WC)
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
- Bob Shaw, end, Ohio State (AP, CP)
- Chuck Csuri, tackle, Ohio State (INS)
- Merv Pregulman, guard, Michigan (NEA, MS)
- Lindell Houston, guard, Ohio State (AAB, CO, NYS, WC)
- Alex Agase, guard, Illinois (LK, UP, SN, MS)
- Bill Daley, halfback, Minnesota (MS)
- Pat Harder, fullback, Wisconsin (AAB, WC, MS)
1943 NFL Draft
The following Big Ten players were selected in the first 10 rounds of the 1943 NFL Draft:[6]
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Daley | Fullback | Minnesota | 1 | 7 |
| Dick Wildung | Tackle | Minnesota | 1 | 8 |
| Dave Schreiner | End | Wisconsin | 2 | 11 |
| Tom Farmer | Back | Iowa | 2 | 15 |
| George Ceithaml | Back | Michigan | 3 | 19 |
| Al Wistert | Tackle | Michigan | 5 | 32 |
| Les Horvath | Quarterback | Ohio State | 6 | 45 |
| Bill Parker | End | Iowa | 8 | 65 |
| Bob Motl | End | Northwestern | 9 | 80 |
References
- "1942 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- "Schreiner Named Most Valuable In Big Nine: Tribune Silver Football Won By Badger End". Chicago Tribune. December 20, 1942. p. 2-1.
- "Four Badgers Placed On All Big Ten Grid Team". The Milwaukee Sentinel (AP story). November 29, 1942.
- Tommy Devine (December 1, 1942). "Wisconsin End Top Gridder On All Big Ten Eleven". Reading Eagle (UP story). p. 15.
- "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
- "1943 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 4, 2017.