The 1920 Big Ten Conference football season was the 25th season of
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
played by the member schools of 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 ...
(also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the
1920 college football season.
The
1920 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach
John Wilce
John Woodworth Wilce (May 12, 1888 – May 17, 1963) was an American football player and coach, physician, and university professor. He served as the head football coach at Ohio State University from 1913 to 1928, compiling a record of 78–33–9 ...
, compiled a 7–0 record in the regular season, won the Big Ten championship, and lost to California in the
1921 Rose Bowl. Halfback
Gaylord Stinchcomb
Gaylord Roscoe "Pete" Stinchcomb (June 24, 1895 – August 24, 1973) was an American football player. He played quarterback and halfback at Ohio State University where he was selected as an All-American in 1920. He later played professional f ...
and guard
Iolas Huffman
Iolas Melitus Huffman (February 4, 1898 – November 12, 1989) was an American football and baseball player. He was a first-team All-American football player for Ohio State in 1920 and 1921. He was also the captain of the 1920 Buckeyes foot ...
were consensus first-team All-Americans.
The
1920 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach
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 ...
, compiled a 6–1 record and finished in second place in the Big Ten. Tackle
Ralph Scott was a consensus first-team All-American. End Frank Weston and center George Bunge also received first-team All-American honors from at least one selector.
End
Chuck Carney
Charles Roslyn Carney (August 25, 1900 – September 5, 1984) was an American football and basketball player.
Carney was born in Chicago in 1900. He enrolled at the University of Illinois where he excelled in both football and basketball. H ...
of Illinois was the Big Ten's fourth consensus first-team All-American.
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
led the conference in scoring offense (20.3 points per game), and
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
led the conference in scoring defense (3.0 points allowed per game).
Season overview
Results and team statistics
Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game; team with highest average in bold
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; team with lowest average in bold
Regular season
September 25
On September 25, 1920, only one Big Ten team saw action.
* Indiana 47, Franklin 0
October 2
On October 2, 1920, the Big Ten football teams participated in one conference game and five non-conference games. The non-conference games all resulted in victories, giving the Big Ten a 6–0 non-conference record to that point in the season. Chicago, Illinois, and Michigan had bye weeks.
* Iowa 14, Indiana 7
* Ohio State 55, Ohio Wesleyan 0
* Wisconsin 60, Lawrence 0
* Northwestern 14, Knox 0
* Purdue 10, DePauw 0
* Minnesota 41, North Dakota 3
October 9
On October 9, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in two conference games and six non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in six victories, giving the Big Ten a 12–0 non-conference record to that point in the season.
* Northwestern 17, Minnesota 0
* Chicago 20, Purdue 0
* Ohio State 37, Oberlin 0
* Wisconsin 27, Michigan Agricultural 0
* Indiana 24, Mississippi State 0
* Illinois 41, Drake 0
* Iowa 63, Cornell 0
* Michigan 35, Case 0
October 16
On October 16, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in two victories, giving the Big Ten a 14–0 non-conference record to that point in the season.
* Ohio State 17, Purdue 0
* Wisconsin 27, Northwestern 7
* Minnesota 21, Indiana 7
* Illinois 20, Iowa 3
* Michigan 35, Michigan Agricultural 0
* Chicago 41, Wabash 0
October 23
On October 23, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in four conference games. Northwestern and Purdue had bye weeks.
* Ohio State 13, Wisconsin 7
* Illinois 7, Michigan 6
* Indiana 21, Minnesota 7
* Chicago 10, Iowa 0
October 30
On October 30, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in three conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in two victories, giving the Big Ten a 16–0 non-conference record to that point in the season. Iowa and Wisconsin had bye weeks.
* Ohio State 7, Chicago 6
* Indiana 10, Northwestern 7
* Illinois 17, Minnesota 7
* Michigan 21, Tulane 0
* Purdue 19, Wabash 14
November 6
On November 6, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in four conference games and one non-conference game. The non-conference game resulted in a loss to Notre Dame, giving the Big Ten a 16–1 non-conference record to that point in the season. Indiana had a bye week.
* Ohio State 14, Michigan 7
* Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 0
* Illinois 3, Chicago 0
* Iowa 20, Northwestern 0
* Notre Dame 28, Purdue 0
November 13
On November 13, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in four conference games and one non-conference game. The non-conference game resulted in a second loss to Notre Dame, giving the Big Ten a 16–2 non-conference record to that point in the season. Ohio State had a bye week.
* Wisconsin 14, Illinois 9
* Michigan 14, Chicago 0
* Iowa 28, Minnesota 7
* Northwestern 14, Purdue 0
* Notre Dame 13, Indiana 10
November 20
On November 20, 1920, the Big Ten teams participated in four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in a win and a loss, giving the Big Ten a 17–3 non-conference record for the regular season. All three losses were against Notre Dame.
* Ohio State 7, Illinois 0
* Wisconsin 3, Chicago 0
* Indiana 10, Purdue 7
* Michigan 3, Minnesota 0
* Iowa 14, Iowa State 10
* Notre Dame 33, Northwestern 7
Bowl games
On January 1, 1921, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
, Ohio State lost to national champion California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
by a 28–0 score. California remained undefeated from 1920 until 1924.
Awards and honors
All-Big Ten players
The following players were selected as first-team players on the 1920 All-Big Ten Conference football team by E. C. Patterson for ''Collier's Weekly
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
'' (ECP), Malcolm McLean,[ or ]Walter Eckersall
Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''.
He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the ...
of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' (WE).
All-Americans
Four Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1920 College Football All-America Team. They were:
References
{{Big Ten Conference football navbox