1906 Western Conference football season

1906 Western Conference football season
Sport	Football
Teams	8
Champion	Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan
Football seasons
←  1905 1907  →

1906 Western Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Wisconsin +	3	–	0	–	0			5	–	0	–	0
Minnesota +	2	–	0	–	0			4	–	1	–	0
Michigan +	1	–	0	–	0			4	–	1	–	0
Chicago	3	–	1	–	0			4	–	1	–	0
Illinois	1	–	3	–	0			1	–	3	–	1
Iowa	0	–	1	–	0			2	–	3	–	0
Indiana	0	–	2	–	0			4	–	2	–	0
Purdue	0	–	3	–	0			0	–	5	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

The 1906 Western Conference football season was the eleventh 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 1906 college football season.

In 1906, Michigan president James Burrill Angell called for several meetings to further regulate football in the Western Conference. ^[1] One of the new rules would require the football coach to be a full-time employee of the university, causing Michigan's head football coach, Fielding Yost, to object. Yost convinced Michigan's board to support him over Angell and against the conference. ^[2] In April 1907, Michigan was voted out of the conference for refusing to adhere to the new league rules, which they insisted they would not follow. ^[3] As a result, Western Conference schools did not play Michigan again until they rejoined the league in 1918.

Season overview

There was a three-way tie for the conference title between Wisconsin, who went 5-0 (3-0 in conference play); Minnesota, who went 4-1 (2-0); and Michigan, who went 4-1 (1-0)

Chicago finished with an overall record of 4-1 (3-1), Illinois went 1-3-1 (1-3), Iowa went 2-3 (0-1), Indiana wound up at 4-2 (0-2), and Purdue followed with a record of 0-5 (0-3).

Northwestern did not field a team in 1906, nor would they for the 1907 college football season. The Purple would return to the gridiron in 1908.

Wisconsin

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 13	Lawrence *	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 5–0
October 20	North Dakota *	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 10–0
November 3	Iowa	Randall Field Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 18–4	3,000	[4]
November 10	at Illinois	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	W 16–6
November 17	Purdue	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 29–5		[5]
*Non-conference game

Minnesota

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 27	Iowa State *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	W 22–4	3,000
November 3	Nebraska *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 13–0	5,000
November 10	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 4–2	7,000
November 17	Carlisle *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	L 0–17	20,000
November 24	Indiana	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	W 8–6	10,000
*Non-conference game

Michigan

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
October 6		Case *	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI	W 28–0	2,000
October 20	2:40 p.m.	at Ohio State *	University Park Columbus, OH (rivalry)	W 6–0	6,000
October 27	2:37 p.m.	Illinois	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 28–9	5,000
November 3		Vanderbilt *	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI	W 10–4	10,000
November 17		at Penn *	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 0–17	26,000
*Non-conference game All times are in Eastern time

Chicago

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 20	Purdue	Marshall Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	W 39–0	7,000–8,000	[6]
October 27	Indiana	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 33–8
November 10	Minnesota	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 2–4	7,000
November 17	Illinois	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 63–0
November 24	Nebraska *	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 38–5
*Non-conference game

Illinois

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 13	Wabash *	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	T 0–0
October 27	at Michigan	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 9–28	5,000
November 10	Wisconsin	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	L 6–16
November 17	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 0–63
November 24	at Purdue	Stuart Field Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 5–0	> 4,000	[7]
*Non-conference game

Iowa

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 27	Missouri *	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	W 26–4
November 3	at Wisconsin	Randall Field Madison, WI (rivalry)	L 4–18	3,000	[8]
November 10	Coe *	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA	W 15–12
November 24	Iowa State *	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA	L 0–2
November 29	at Saint Louis *	Sportsman's Park St. Louis, MO	L 0–39	13,000	[9] [10]
*Non-conference game

^{[11] [12]}

Indiana

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 13	Indiana alumni*	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	W 16–0
October 20	at Wabash *	Crawfordsville, IN	W 12–5
October 27	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 8–33
November 3	DePauw *	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	W 55–0
November 10	vs. Notre Dame *	Indianapolis, IN	W 12–0		[13]
November 24	at Minnesota	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	L 6–8	10,000
*Non-conference game

Purdue

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 20	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	L 0–39	7,000–8,000	[14]
October 27	Wabash *	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN	L 0–11	5,000	[15]
November 3	Notre Dame *	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 0–2		[16]
November 17	at Wisconsin	Randall Field Madison, WI	L 5–29		[17]
November 24	Illinois	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 0–5	> 4,000	[18]
*Non-conference game

^[19]

Bowl games

No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1906 season.

All-American honors

Main article: 1906 College Football All-America Team

The following Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1906 College Football All-America Team. (Consensus All-Americans displayed in bold).

End Bobby Mitchell of Minnesota, one of the first black players named to an All-America team.

• Bobby Marshall, End, Minnesota (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-2)
• Walter Eckersall , Quarterback, Chicago (WC-1; CW-1 [fb]; NYM-1; COMP)
• John Garrels, Fullback, Michigan (WC-3)

Key

NCAA recognized selectors for 1906

• WC = Walter Camp for Collier's Weekly ^[20]
• CW = Caspar Whitney for Outing magazine ^[21]

Other selectors

• NYW = New York World by Robert W. Edgren ^[22]
• NYS = New York Sun ^[23]
• CC = Charles Chadwick ^[23]
• NYT = The New York Times ^[24]
• NYM = New York Mail ^[25]
• COMP = A composite All-American team distilled from the All-American selected by nine of "the most prominent of the eastern sporting writers and critics" ^[26]

Bold = Consensus All-American ^[27]

• 1 – First-team selection
• 2 – Second-team selection
• 3 – Third-team selection

All-Western selections

Main article: 1906 All-Western college football team

Ends

• Bobby Marshall , Minnesota (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CJ, CRH, CT, ECP-1, OL, SLG) (CFHOF)
• Mysterious Walker , Chicago (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CIO, CJ, CRH, ECP-1, SLG)
• Charles J. Moynihan, Illinois (ECP-2)

Tackles

• Joe Curtis , Michigan (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CJ, CRH, CT, ECP-1, SLG)
• Ed Parry , Chicago (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CEP [end], CIO, CJ, CRH [guard], ECP-1, OL [end], SLG)
• George Leland Case, Minnesota (CC [guard], CE [guard], CEP, CRH [guard], CT, ECP-2, OL)
• Franklin C. Wade, Indiana (ECP-2)

Guards

• Forest Van Hook , Illinois (CDN, CEP, CT, ECP-1, SLG)
• Theodore Vita, Minnesota (CA, CDN, CE, CEP, CJ, CT, ECP-2, OL, SLG)
• William "Bill" Ittner, Minnesota (CC, CIO, CRH [tackle], ECP-1, OL [tackle])
• Warren A. Gelbach, Wisconsin (CIO)
• Walter D. Graham, Michigan (CJ, ECP-2)
• Smith, Minnesota (CA, OL)

Centers

• Orren Eark Safford, Minnesota (CC, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CRH, ECP-1, OL, SLG)
• Lloyd A. Waugh, Indiana (CJ, ECP-2)
• Stechm, Wisconsin (CT)
• W. Wellinghoff, Purdue (CA)

Quarterbacks

• Walter Eckersall , Chicago (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CJ, CRH, CT, ECP-1, OL, SLG) (CFHOF)
• Frank K. Hare, Indiana (ECP-2)

Halfbacks

• Walter Steffen , Chicago (CA, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CJ, CT, ECP-2, SLG) (CFHOF)
• John Schuknecht, Minnesota (CC, CDN, CIO, CRH, ECP-1, OL, SLG)
• Heze Clark, Indiana (CE, CEP, CJ, CRH, CT, ECP-1)
• Hodge, Illinois (CA)
• Paul Magoffin, Michigan (CC, ECP-2)
• William C. Doane, Minnesota (OL)

Fullbacks

• John Garrels , Michigan (CA, CC, CDN, CE, CEP, CIO, CJ, CRH, CT, ECP-1, OL, SLG)
• Earl Current, Minnesota (ECP-2)

References

1. The University of Michigan, an encyclopedic survey ... Wilfred B. Shaw, editor. 1941.
2. Duderstadt, James J. (September 4, 2003). Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University: A University President's Perspective. University of Michigan Press. ISBN   0-472-08943-9.
3. "CONFERENCE OUSTS MICHIGAN; Severs Relations with University for Non-Observance of Rules" (PDF). The New York Times. April 14, 1907.
4. "Badgers Capture Scalp of Iowa: Coach Hutchins Men Turn Defeat Into Victory and Win 18 to 4". Wisconsin State Journal. November 5, 1906. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Badgers in Easy Win: Defeat Purdue Team 23 to 5". The Indianapolis Star. November 18, 1906. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Purdue Is Easy for the Maroons". Chicago Tribune. October 21, 1906. pp. 13–14 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Run by Pettigrew Is Fatal to Purdue". The Indianapolis Star. November 25, 1906. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Badgers Capture Scalp of Iowa: Coach Hutchins Men Turn Defeat Into Victory and Win 18 to 4". Wisconsin State Journal. November 5, 1906. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Cochems, Leader of the New Rugby". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 30, 1906. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Iowa Overwhelmed by St. Louis U." The Register and Leader (Des Moines). November 30, 1906. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Bloomington Victor Against Notre Dame". Minneapolis, Minnesota: The Minneapolis journal. November 11, 1906. p. 31. Retrieved November 21, 2024– via Chronicling America.
14. "Purdue Is Easy for the Maroons". Chicago Tribune. October 21, 1906. pp. 13–14 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Purdue Lowers Her Colors To Wabash". The Indianapolis News. October 28, 1906. pp. 9–10 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Notre Dame Victor Over Purdue by 2-0". The Indianapolis Star. November 4, 1906. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "Badgers in Easy Win: Defeat Purdue Team 23 to 5". The Indianapolis Star. November 18, 1906. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Run by Pettigrew Is Fatal to Purdue". The Indianapolis Star. November 25, 1906. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 81. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
20. "Walter Camp Football Foundation". Archived from the original on March 30, 2009.
21. Caspar Whitney (1907). "The View-Point". Outing. p. 537.
22. "'Bob' Edgren Picks Out An All-American Team: Yale and Princeton Predominate His Choice". The Post-Standard (Syracuse). December 3, 1905.
23. "'Philistine' Is Generous: Sun Accords Syracuse Bank Amid First Sixtten". The Post-Standard. December 4, 1906.
24. "New Football Produces Individual Brilliancy: Many Players Merit Places on Fanciful All-American Team" (PDF). The New York Times. December 9, 1906.
25. "untitled". Daily Gazette And Bulletin. December 5, 1906.
26. "Choose Eckey Over Libbey: Eastern Authorities Give Maroon Star Place on All American". Lake County Times (Hammond, IN). December 15, 1906.
27. "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.