The 1942 New Hampshire Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented the University of New Hampshire as a member of the New England Conference during the

1942 college football season The 1942 college football season was the 74th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six C ...

. In its first year under head coach

Charles M. Justice Charles Melvin "Chick" Justice (January 26, 1909 – February 26, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach of the 1942 New Hampshire Wildcats football team, compiling a record of 6–0. Justice played colleg ...

, the team compiled a 6–0 record, outscoring their opponents 101–46. The team played its home games at Lewis Field (also known as Lewis Stadium) in

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. D ...

. The team's prior head coach, George Sauer, enlisted in the Navy in April 1942. Justice, who had been the team's line coach, was named as Sauer's successor in early May. New Hampshire was ranked at No. 197 (out of 590 college and military teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1942. After the 1942 season, the Wildcats' football program would be idle due to World War II until a four-game limited schedule in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, with their next full season being

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

Highlights

This was the Wildcats' first undefeated football season in school history. New Hampshire averaged 310 yards rushing per game, while holding their opponents to a 225-yard average, and completed 47% of their passes while holding opponents to 25% pass completion. Running back Theo "Tuffy" Fitanides gained 735 yards on 144 carries, while missing the final game of the season due to an injury sustained during military training on campus. Fitanides was later selected to captain New Hampshire's 1943 team; however, the season was cancelled due to the war. Fitanides became the first Wildcat drafted by a National Football League (NFL) team, being selected in the fifth round of the

1944 NFL draft The 1944 National Football League Draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli. Player selections Round ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Schedule

Games against Colby and Bates were cancelled due to an expected delay in players arriving at the university due to "working in war industries during the summer". The 1942 game remains the last time that the New Hampshire and Norwich football programs have met. Wildcat captain Charles Judd became a high school teacher and restaurant owner; he died in July 2006 at age 89. Tuffy Fitanides died in March 2012 at age 90.

References

{{New England Conference football champions New Hampshire New Hampshire Wildcats football seasons College football undefeated seasons New Hampshire Wildcats football