1908 Western Conference football season

1908 Western Conference football season
Sport	Football
Champion	Chicago
Football seasons
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1908 Western Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Chicago $	5	–	0	–	0			5	–	0	–	1
Illinois	4	–	1	–	0			5	–	1	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	1	–	0			5	–	1	–	0
Indiana	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	4	–	0
Purdue	1	–	3	–	0			4	–	3	–	0
Iowa	0	–	1	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	2	–	0			3	–	2	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	2	–	0			2	–	2	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1908 Western Conference football season was the thirteenth 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 1908 college football season.

After a two year hiatus, Northwestern returned to the football field. Iowa would also make this their last year co-competing in the Western Conference and the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which they helped form in 1907.

Season overview

Chicago would repeat as Western Conference champions, going 5-0 in league play and 5-0-1 overall.

Illinois (4-1) and Wisconsin (2-1) would finish at 5-1-1 and 5-1, respectively.

Indiana and Purdue would end up with league records of 1-3 and overall records of 2-4 and 4-3, respectively.

Iowa, Minnesota, and Northwestern would go winless in conference play at 0-1, 0-2, and 0-2. Northwestern's first football game in three years was played against a team made up of NU alumni, in which the varsity came out on top by a score of 10-6.

Chicago

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3	Purdue	Marshall Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	W 39–0
October 10	Indiana	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 29–6
October 17	Illinois	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 11–5	8,000	[1] [2]
October 31	Minnesota	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	W 29–0	15,000	[3] [4]
November 14	Cornell *	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	T 6–6		[5] [6]
November 21	at Wisconsin	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 18–12		[7] [8]
*Non-conference game Source: [9]

Illinois

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3	Monmouth (IL) *	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	W 17–6
October 10	Marquette	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	T 6–6
October 17	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 6–11	8,000	[10] [11]
October 31	Indiana	Illinois Field Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 10–0
November 7	Iowa	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	W 22–0		[12]
November 14	at Purdue	West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 15–6
November 21	Northwestern	Illinois Field Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 64–8
*Non-conference game

Wisconsin

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 10	Lawrence *	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 35–0
October 17	at Indiana	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	W 16–0
October 24	vs. Wisconsin freshmen	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 24–15
October 31	Marquette	Randall Field Madison, WI	W 9–6
November 7	at Minnesota	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 5–0	15,000
November 21	Chicago	Randall Field Madison, WI	L 12–18		[13] [14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Indiana

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 26	Indiana alumni*	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	W 11–0
October 3	DePauw *	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	W 16–0
October 10	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 6–29
October 17	Wisconsin	Jordan Field Bloomington, IN	L 0–16
October 31	at Illinois	Illinois Field Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 0–10
November 7	vs. Notre Dame *	Washington Park Indianapolis, IN	L 0–11
November 21	at Purdue	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 10–4
*Non-conference game

^{[15] [16] [17]}

Purdue

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 3	at Chicago	Stagg Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	L 0–39
October 10	Earlham	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN	W 40–0
October 17	Monmouth (IL)	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN	W 30–0
October 31	DePauw *	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN	W 28–4
November 7	at Northwestern	Northwestern Field Evanston, IL	W 16–10
November 14	Illinois	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 6–15
November 21	Indiana	Stuart Field West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	L 4–10
*Non-conference game

^[18]

Iowa

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 10	Coe *	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA	W 92–0	[19] [20]
October 17	at Missouri	Rollins Field Columbia, MO	L 5–10	[21]
October 24	at Morningside *	Sioux City, IA	W 16–0	[22] [23]
October 31	Nebraska	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	L 8–11	[24] [25]
November 7	at Illinois	Illinois Field Champaign, IL	L 0–22	[26]
November 14	Drake	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA	L 6–12	[27]
November 21	Kansas	Iowa Field Iowa City, IA	L 5–10	[28]
*Non-conference game

^[29]

Minnesota

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3	Lawrence *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	W 6–0	5,000
October 10	Iowa State *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	W 15–10	5,000	[30]
October 17	Nebraska *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	T 0–0	12,000
October 31	at Chicago	Marshall Field Chicago, IL	L 0–29	15,000	[31] [32]
November 7	Wisconsin	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 0–5	15,000
November 21	Carlisle *	Northrop Field Minneapolis, MN	W 11–6	15,000
*Non-conference game

Northwestern

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 10	Northwestern alumni*	Northwestern Field Evanston, IL	W 10–6
October 24	Beloit *	Northwestern Field Evanston, IL	W 44–4
November 7	Purdue	Northwestern Field Evanston, IL	L 10–16
November 21	at Illinois	Illinois Field Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 8–14
*Non-conference game

Bowl games

No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1908 season.

All-American honors

Main article: 1908 College Football All-America Team

Ends

• Harlan Page, Chicago (WC-3)

Guards

• John Messmer, Wisconsin (WC-2)
• Forest Van Hook, Illinois (WC-3)

Quarterbacks

Walter Steffen of Chicago

• Walter Steffen , Chicago (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; FY; NYET; PD; NHR; KCJ)

Key

NCAA recognized selectors for 1908

• WC = Collier's Weekly as selected by Walter Camp ^{[33] [34]}

Other selectors

• CON = Consensus based on All-American teams selected by 25 football experts; number indicates how many of the 25 experts selected the individual as a first-team All-American; any player with at least 5 of 25 selections is listed hear as a second-team selection: CON-2 ^[35]
• ERB = Composite All-America team selected by E. R. Bushnell based on aggregating the opinions of 30 football critics; number indicates how many of the 30 critics selected the individual as a first-team All-American ^[36]
• NYW = New York World , selected by former Yale quarterback Tad Jones ^[37]
• PI = The Philadelphia Inquirer, selected by Franklin ^[38]
• FY = Fielding H. Yost, football coach of the University of Michigan ^[39]
• TT = Tom Thorp, former star tackle and captain of Columbia ^[40]
• NYG = New York Globe ^[41]
• CSM = The Christian Science Monitor ^[42]
• NYT = The New York Times ^[43]
• NYET = New York Evening Telegram ^[43]
• BSU = Brooklyn Standard Union ^[42]
• BP = Boston Post ^[42]
• PD = Pittsburgh Dispatch ^[44]
• NHR = New Haven Register ^[44]
• TJ = Tad Jones ^[44]
• KCJ = Kansas City Journal ^[44]
• PP = Philadelphia Press ^[45]
• PT = Philadelphia Times ^[45]
• PES = Philadelphia Evening Star ^[45]
• WH = Washington Herald, selected by William Peet ^[44]
• CIO = Chicago Inter-Ocean ^[44]
• FC = Fred Crolius ^[44]

Bold = Consensus All-American ^[46]

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

All-Western selections

Main article: 1908 All-Western college football team

• James Dean, End, Wisconsin (ALF, CDN, WE)
• Walter Henry Rademacher, End, Minnesota (CDN, CRH)
• Harlan Page, End, Chicago (ALF, WE)
• Anderson, End, Wisconsin (CRH)

Tackles

• James Walker, Tackle, Minnesota (ALF, CDN, CRH, WE)
• Oscar Osthoff, Tackle, Wisconsin (ALF, CDN)

• Glenn D. Butzer, Guard, Illinois (ALF, CDN, CRH)
• William Mackmiller, Guard, Wisconsin (ALF)

• Henry E. Farnum, Center, Minnesota (CDN, CRH)
• Benjamin Harrison Badenoch, Center, Chicago (ALF)

• John McGovern, Quarterback, Minnesota (ALF, CRH, WE) (CFHOF)
• Harlan Page, Quarterback, Chicago (CDN)

• William Lucas Crawley, Halfback, Chicago (ALF, CRH)
• Reuben Martin Rosenwald, Halfback, Minnesota (ALF, CDN)

• Earle T. Pickering, Fullback, Minnesota (ALF, CRH)
• Oscar William Worthwine, Fullback, Chicago (CDN)

References

1. "Illini Downed by Maroons, 11-6: Game Greatest Ever Played in Middle West Under the New Football Rules". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. October 18, 1908. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Frank B. Hutchinson Jr. (October 18, 1908). "Maroons Nose Out Illinois After Hard Fight; Score Is 11-6". The Inter Ocean. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
3. I.E. Sanborn (November 1, 1908). "Genius of Stagg Beats Gophers: Daring Tactics of Maroons Bewilder Minnesota: Northmen Routed, 29-0". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Frank B. Hutchinson Jr. (November 1, 1908). "Maroons Crush Gophers in Spectacular Struggle; Score, 29 to 0: Stagg's Warriors Trample Gophers in Defeat, 29 to 0". The Inter Ocean. pp. 17–18 – via Newspapers.com.
5. I.E. Sanborn (November 15, 1908). "Maroons in Tie With Ithacans: Chicago and Cornell Score Six Points Each in Great Gridiron Battle". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Frank B. Hutchinson Jr. (November 15, 1908). "Chicago Ties With Cornell by Great Last Minute Rally". The Inter Ocean. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Walter Eckersall (November 22, 1908). "Wisconsin a Worthy Foe: Badgers Display Unlooked For Ability Says Eckersall". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Frank B. Hutchinson Jr. (November 22, 1908). "Maroons Win From Badgers and Land Title of the West". The Inter Ocean. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Illini Downed by Maroons, 11-6: Game Greatest Ever Played in Middle West Under the New Football Rules". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. October 18, 1908. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Frank B. Hutchinson, Jr. (October 18, 1908). "Maroons Nose Out Illinois After Hard Fight; Score Is 11-6". The Inter Ocean. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Illinois swamps Iowans". The Inter Ocean. November 8, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. Walter Eckersall (November 22, 1908). "Wisconsin a Worthy Foe: Badgers Display Unlooked For Ability Says Eckersall". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Frank B. Hutchinson, Jr. (November 22, 1908). "Maroons Win From Badgers and Land Title of the West". The Inter Ocean. pp. 21–22 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "1908 Indiana Hoosiers Schedule and Results". College Football @ Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved December 29, 2023.
16. "1908 Football Schedule". Indiana University . Retrieved December 29, 2023.
17. "Indiana Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). Indiana University. p. 11. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
18. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 81. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
19. "Figures Show 92 to 0: Iowa Runs Up a Farily Large Score in First Game". The Register and Leader (Des Moines, Iowa). October 11, 1908. p. 2 (second section) – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Iowa runs ninety-two points on Coe". The Minneapolis Tribune. October 11, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
21. "Iowa is loser to Missouri". The Minneapolis Journal. October 18, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
22. "Iowa wins in a sea of mud". The Chicago Tribune. October 25, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
23. "Now For Nebraska: Iowa Will Get Ready for Big Game Next Saturday". The Daily Times. October 28, 1998. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Nebraska Beats Hawkeyes 11 to 8: Kirk Unconscious and Taken to the Hospital; Carberry Is Knocked Out". The Register and Leader. Des Moines, Iowa. November 1, 1908. p. 2 (second section) – via Newspapers.com.
25. "Nebraska 11, Iowa 8; Cornhuskers win hard fought game at Iowa City". The Daily Nonpareil. November 1, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
26. "Illinois swamps Iowans". The Inter Ocean. November 8, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
27. "Old Gold Bows To Drake Again: Second Victory In Ten Years Comes To Drake". The Register and Leader (Des Moines, Iowa). November 15, 1908. pp. I-1, II-3 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Kansas shows Nebraska victory was no fluke; Defeats Iowa by score of 10 to 5". The Wichita Eagle. November 22, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
30. "Gophers win from Ames". The Inter Ocean. October 11, 1908. Retrieved April 27, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
31. I.E. Sanborn (November 1, 1908). "Genius of Stagg Beats Gophers: Daring Tactics of Maroons Bewilder Minnesota: Northmen Routed, 29-0". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
32. Frank B. Hutchinson, Jr. (November 1, 1908). "Maroons Crush Gophers in Spectacular Struggle; Score, 29 to 0: Stagg's Warriors Trample Gophers in Defeat, 29 to 0". The Inter Ocean. pp. 17–18 – via Newspapers.com.
33. "Camp's 1908 All-America Selections". Reading Eagle. November 26, 1930.
34. "Walter Camp Football Foundation". Archived from the original on March 30, 2009.
35. ""Consensus" All-American Football Team of 1908". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 20, 1908.
36. "Three Cinch All-America: Scarlett, Hollenback, Coy Picked by Thirty Critics Without One Dissent; Twenty of These Give Schulz His Position". Detroit Free Press. December 13, 1908. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013.
37. "Another All-American. Tad Jones of Yale Picks Best Football Team". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 5, 1908.
38. Franklin (December 6, 1908). ""All American" Team Should Have Clever Placement Kicker: Thorpe Is Best Man". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
39. "All-American Elevens Picked By Two Experts". Syracuse Herald . December 7, 1908. p. 12. Retrieved August 12, 2022– via NewspaperArchive.
40. Tom Thorpe (November 30, 1908). "Thorpe Picks All American Eleven". The Evening Telegram (Salt Lake city).
41. "More All-American: The New York Globe Would Have Horr As Tackle". Syracuse Herald. December 4, 1908.
42. Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1909. p. 27.
43. Spalding, p. 23
44. Spalding, p. 27
45. Spalding, p. 25