1901 Western Conference football season

1901 Western Conference football season
Sport	Football
Number of teams	9
Co-champions	Michigan, Wisconsin
Football seasons
←  1900 1902  →

1901 Western Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Michigan +	4	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	0
Wisconsin +	2	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
Illinois	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Northwestern	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	1
Indiana	1	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Purdue	0	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
Chicago	0	–	4	–	1			8	–	6	–	2
Iowa	0	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

Portrait of the 1901 Purdue American football team.

The 1901 Western Conference football season was the sixth season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1901 college football season.

In its first year under head coach Fielding H. Yost, Michigan compiled a perfect 11–0 record, outscored its opponents by a combined total of 550 to 0, and defeated Stanford by a 49 to 0 score in the inaugural Rose Bowl game, the first college bowl game ever played. Three of the five official selectors, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the Houlgate System, and the National Championship Foundation, recognize the 1901 Michigan team as the national champion.

Wisconsin, under head coach Philip King, tied with Michigan for the conference championship with a 9–0 record, shut out seven of nine opponents, and outscored all opponents 317 to 5.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Michigan	Fielding H. Yost	11–0	4–0	50.0	0.0
1 (tie)	Wisconsin	Philip King	9–0	2–0	35.2	0.6
3	Minnesota	Henry L. Williams	9-1-1	3-1	16.6	1.6
4	Illinois	Justa Lindgren	8–2	4–2	24.3	3.9
5	Northwestern	Charles Hollister	8–2–1	3–2	14.6	7.0
6	Indiana	James H. Horne	6–3	1–2	23.8	9.7
7	Purdue	D. M. Balliet	4–4–1	0–3–1	15.3	7.3
8	Chicago	Amos A. Stagg	8–6–2	0–4–1	10.9	8.2
9	Iowa	Alden Knipe	6–3	0–3	9.4	12.8

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game ^[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game ^[1]

Regular season

During the 1901 season, Western Conference teams played 18 games against each other, as follows:

October 12

• Chicago and Purdue played to a 5–5 in Chicago ^[2]
• Michigan defeated Indiana, 33–0 ^[3]

October 19

• Illinois defeated Chicago, 24–0 ^[4]
• Michigan defeated Northwestern, 29–0 ^[5]

October 26

• Indiana defeated Purdue, 11–6 ^[6]
• Minnesota defeated Iowa, 16–0 ^[7]
• Northwestern defeated Illinois, 17–11 ^[8]

November 2

• Illinois defeated Indiana, 18–0 ^[9]

November 9

• Illinois defeated Iowa, 27–0 ^[10]
• Northwestern defeated Chicago, ^[11]

November 16

• Illinois defeated Purdue, 28–6 ^[12]
• Michigan defeated Chicago, 22–0 ^[13]
• Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, 18–0 ^[14]

November 23

• Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 16–0 ^[15]

November 28 (Thanksgiving)

• Michigan defeated Iowa, 50–0 ^[16]
• Minnesota defeated Illinois, 16–0 ^[17]
• Northwestern defeated Purdue, 10–5 ^[18]
• Wisconsin defeated Chicago, 35–0 ^[19]

Bowl games

Main article: 1902 Rose Bowl

Michigan defeated Stanford, 49–0, in the 1902 Rose Bowl.

Awards and honors

All-Western players

For the complete All-Western selections, see 1901 All-Western college football team.

The following Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1901 All-Western college football team by at least two of the following selectors: Chicago American (CA), Chicago Daily News (CDN), Chicago Record-Herald (CRH), Chicago Tribune (CT), and Walter Camp (WC):

• William Juneau, end, Wisconsin (CA, CDN, CRH, CT, WC)
• Neil Snow, end/fullback, Michigan (CA, CDN, CRH, WC)
• Bruce Shorts, tackle, Michigan (CA, CRH, CT, WC)
• Arthur Hale Curtis, tackle, Wisconsin (CA, CDN, CRH, CT)
• John G. Flynn, guard, Minnesota (CA, CRH, WC)
• Jake Stahl, guard, Illinois (CA, CDN, CRH, CT)
• Fred Lowenthal, center, Illinois (CA, CT, WC)
• Leroy Albert Page, Jr., center, Minnesota (CDN, CRH)
• Boss Weeks, quarterback, Michigan (CA, CDN, CRH, WC)
• Willie Heston, halfback, Michigan (CA, CRH, WC)
• Al Larson, halfback, Wisconsin (CA, CDN, CRH, CT, WC)
• Everett Sweeley, fullback/halfback, Michigan (CDN, CT)
• G. O. Dietz, fullback/guard, Northwestern (CDN, WC)
• Earl Driver, fullback, Wisconsin (CA, CRH)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1901 College Football All-America Team.

Only one Western Conference player was selected as a first-team player on the 1901 College Football All-America Team:

• Neil Snow, end, Michigan, selected by Caspar Whitneypublished in Outing magazine ^[20]

References

1. "1901 Western Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
2. "Maroons Are Tied By Purdue's Eleven". The Inter Ocean. October 13, 1901. p. 17.
3. "Michigan Made Grand Showing: Defeated the Heavy Indiana Eleven 33 to 0". Detroit Free Press. October 13, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Illini Smother Heavy Maroons". The Sunday Inter Ocean. October 20, 1901. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Michigan Rubbed It In: Made Dr. Hollister's Star Eleven Look Cheap". Detroit Free Press. October 20, 1901. pp. 1, 8 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Game To Indiana: Purdue Beaten by Narrow Margin on Umpire's Decision". The Indianapolis Journal. October 27, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Victory for Minnesota; Grim Defeat for Iowa". The Sunday Tribune (Minneapolis). October 27, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Tandem Beats Illinois: Northwestern Upsets Football Calculations". The Chicago Tribune. October 27, 1901. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Lost To Illinois: Indiana No Longer Champion of the Two States". The Indianapolis Journal. November 3, 1901. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Iowa Easily Defeated". The Des Moines Register. November 10, 1901. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Chicago Loses To Purple Team: Northwestern Scores 6 Points to the Maroons' 5 in Game at Marshall Field". The Chicago Tribune. November 10, 1901. pp. 17–18 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Lost By Purdue: Hard and Fast Game with the University of Illinois". The Indianapolis Journal. November 17, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Michigan Stops Stagg's Tricks: Defeated Chicago by 22-0 Score". Detroit Free Press. November 17, 1901. p. 1.
14. "The Gophers Meet Worthy Foemen". The Sunday Tribune (Minneapolis). November 17, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Gophers Beat Purple". The Chicago Tribune. November 24, 1901. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Hurrah For Michigan, Champion Football Team of the West! U of M's Goal Undefiled; Wolverines Scored Almost at Will Against the Hawkeyes, 50 to 0". Detroit Free Press. November 29, 1901. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Giant Gophers Defeat Illinois: Minnesota Wins Champaign Football Game". The Inter Ocean. November 29, 1901. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "A Defeat With Honor: Purdue Scores Against Northwestern, but Is Unable to Win". The Indianapolis Journal. November 29, 1901. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Wisconsin Wins By Great Runs". The Chicago Tribune. November 29, 1901. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
20. Caspar Whitney (1902). "The Sportsman's View-Point" (PDF). Outing. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2016.