The 1918 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in the

1918 Big Ten Conference football season The 1918 Big Ten Conference football season was the 23rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (officially known as the Western Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association and sometimes referred to ...

. In its first and only season under head coach

Guy Lowman Guy Sumner Lowman (May 1877 – September 14, 1943) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and a player of baseball. He served as the head football coach at Warrensburg Teachers College—now the University of Central Missouri ( ...

, the team compiled a 3–3 record (1–2 against conference opponents), finished in seventh place in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, and was outscored by its opponents by a combined total of 44 to 42. The team's captain was Berthold Mann. Quarterback

Eber Simpson Eber Edward Simpson (July 24, 1895 – December 19, 1964) was an American football, basketball and baseball player, football coach, and physician. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he starred in football, basketball, and b ...

was recognized as a first-team player on the 1918 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Schedule

Pre-season

John R. Richards John Robertson "Big John" Richards (February 24, 1875 – October 28, 1947) was an American football player, coach, educator, and public administrator. He served as the head football coach at Shurtleff College (1897), Colorado College (1905–190 ...

was taken away from his duties as Wisconsin's head football coach in mid-October 1918, after being appointed to a commission in charge of the welfare of war workers.

took over as head coach for the 1918 season; Lowman had come to Wisconsin in September 1917 to take charge of Wisconsin's physical education department and to serve as head coach of the basketball team and coach of the freshman football and baseball teams. Richards returned as head football coach in 1919.

Game summaries

On October 26, 1918, Wisconsin lost to Camp Grant, 7–0, in Madison, Wisconsin. Camp Grant's touchdown was scored by former Wisconsin star, Stark, who intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. The game followed the lifting of a quarantine at Camp Grant where the influenza epidemic took a death toll of 1,040 men. On November 2, 1918, in a game played behind closed gates in Madison, Wisconsin defeated

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...

, 21–0.

Guy Sundt Guy M. Sundt (February 18, 1898 – October 25, 1955) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played football and basketball and ran track at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Biography After graduating from W ...

scored two touchdowns for Wisconsin. On November 9, 1918,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

defeated Wisconsin, 22–0, before a crowd of 7,000 at Camp Randall Field in Madison, Wisconsin. According to the ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', the Badgers were "outclassed and outweighed" while the Illini "fought like wildcats" and had the Badgers on the defensive through most of the game. On November 16, 1918,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

defeated Wisconsin, 6–0, before a crowd of 8,000 at

Northrop Field Northrop Field was the on-campus stadium of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team from 1899 to 1923. The original field had seating of around 3,000 and was named for University President Cyrus Northrop. After the 1902 season, the playing fie ...

in Minneapolis. At the end of the first quarter, 30 soldiers from the

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...

hospital, all of whom had been injured in the war in France, some with missing limbs, came "limping and stumping" into the stands as the crowd stood, cheered, and applauded.

Gus Ekberg Gustav Anthony Ekberg (August 25, 1898 – September 23, 1952), sometimes spelled Gus Eckberg, was a professional American football fullback in the National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American ...

scored the game's only touchdown. On November 23, 1918, Wisconsin defeated

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, 14-3, in Columbus, Ohio. On Thanksgiving Day, November 28, Wisconsin defeated Michigan Agricultural, 7–6, at Camp Randall Field. Michigan Agricultural took a 6–0 lead in the second quarter when Archer blocked a punt and returned it to the one-yard line; Ferris ran the final yard for touchdown. Wisconsin scored a touchdown with a minute remaining in the game, and Barr converted the extra point to give the game to the Badgers.

References

{{Wisconsin Badgers football navbox

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Wisconsin Badgers football seasons

Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the W ...