The 1947 Big Nine Conference football season was the 52nd 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 Nine Conference The Big Nine Conference, formerly the Big Eight Conference, was a high school sports conference in Genesee County, Michigan, that ended with four high schools in 2012. History Formed in 1960 as the Big Eight Conference, the conference became th ...

(also known as the Western Conference and 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 a part of the

1947 college football season The 1947 college football season finished with Notre Dame, Michigan, and Penn State all unbeaten and untied, but the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the first place choice for 107 of the 142 voters in the final AP Poll in early December, and re ...

. The 1947 Big Ten champion was

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 ...

. The Wolverines compiled a perfect 10–0 record, outscored its opponents by a combined total of 394 to 53, and defeated the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

by a score of 49 to 0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game. Michigan halfback

Bob Chappuis Robert Richard Chappuis ( ; February 24, 1923 – June 14, 2012) was an American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947. His college years were interrupted by servic ...

led the conference with 1,395 yards of

total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...

, which was also the fourth best in the country. Chappuis also finished second in the voting for the 1947

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

, trailing

Johnny Lujack John Christopher Lujack (pronounced Lu' jack; born January 4, 1925) is a former American football quarterback and defensive back who won the 1947 Heisman Trophy; he is currently the oldest living recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Lujack played c ...

by a tally of 742 votes to 555 votes, with both finishing ahead of

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...

and

Bobby Layne Robert Lawrence Layne (December 19, 1926 – December 1, 1986) was an American football quarterback who played for 15 seasons in the National Football League. He played for the Chicago Bears in 1948, the New York Bulldogs in 1949, the Detroit ...

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 ...

finished in second place in the conference, led by sophomore halfback

Jug Girard Earl Francis "Jug" Girard (January 25, 1927 – January 17, 1997) was an American football player. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as an End (football), end, Halfback (American football), halfback, quarterback, Punter ...

. Girard, a

triple-threat man In gridiron football, a triple-threat man is a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player. Triple-threat men were the norm in the early day ...

who also returned two punts for touchdowns, was the first conference player selected in the

1948 NFL Draft The 1948 National Football League Draft was held on December 19, 1947, at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh. This was the second year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery, with the previous year's winner Chicago Bea ...

, being chosen by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

with the seventh pick in the first round.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

of the 1947 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1947 season
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the

Chicago Tribune Silver Football The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois wa ...

trophy

Regular season

September 20

On September 20, 1947, Iowa opened its season with a non-conference victory. * ''Iowa 59, North Dakota State 0''.

September 27

On September 26 and 27, 1947, the Big Nine schools played one conference game and seven non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in five wins and two losses, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 6-3. * ''Michigan 55, Michigan State 0''. * ''Wisconsin 32, Purdue 14''. * ''Minnesota 7, Washington 6''. * ''Indiana 17, Nebraska 0''. * ''UCLA 22, Iowa 7'' (played Friday, September 26). * ''Illinois 14, Pittsburgh 0''. * ''Ohio State 13, Missouri 7''. * ''Vanderbilt 3, Northwestern 0''.

October 4

On October 4, 1948, the Big Nine schools played three conference games and three non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in three wins, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 9-3. * ''Michigan 49, Stanford 13''. * ''Wisconsin 7, Indiana 7''. * ''Minnesota 28, Nebraska 13''. * ''Illinois 35, Iowa 12''. * ''Purdue 24, Ohio State 20''. * ''Northwestern 27 , UCLA 26 ''.

October 11

On October 11, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played two conference games and five non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in one win, three losses and one tie, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 10-6-1. * ''Michigan 69, Pittsburgh 0''. * ''California 48, Wisconsin 7''. * ''Minnesota 37, Northwestern 21'' (game played on Sunday, October 12). * ''Illinois 0, Army 0''. * ''Notre Dame 22, Purdue 7''. * ''Iowa 27, Indiana 14''. * ''USC 32, Ohio State 0''.

October 18

On October 18, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played three conference games and three non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in three wins, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 13-6-1. * ''Michigan 49, Northwestern 21''. * ''Wisconsin 9, Yale 0''. * ''Illinois 40, Minnesota 13''. * ''Indiana 41, Pittsburgh 6''. * ''Iowa 13, Ohio State 13''. * ''Purdue 62, Boston University 7''.

October 25

On October 25, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played three conference games and three non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in one win and two losses, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 14-8-1. * ''Michigan 13, Minnesota 6''. * ''Wisconsin 35, Marquette 12''. * ''Northwestern 7, Indiana 6''. * ''Purdue 14, Illinois 7''. * ''Notre Dame 21, Iowa 0''. * ''Pittsburgh 12, Ohio State 0''.

November 1

On November 1, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played four conference games and one non-conference game. The non-conference game resulted in a win, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 15-8-1. * ''Michigan 14, Illinois 7''. * ''Wisconsin 29, Northwestern 0''. * ''Minnesota 29, Pittsburgh 0''. * ''Indiana 7, Ohio State 0''. * ''Purdue 21, Iowa 0''.

November 8

On November 8, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played four conference games and one non-conference game. The non-conference game resulted in a win, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 16-8-1. * ''Michigan 35, Indiana 0''. * ''Wisconsin 46, Iowa 14''. * ''Minnesota 26, Purdue 21''. * ''Illinois 60, Western Michigan 14''. * ''Ohio State 7, Northwestern 6''.

November 15

On November 15, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played three conference games and three non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in two wins and a loss, bringing the conference's record in non-conference games to 18-9-1. * ''Michigan 40, Wisconsin 6''. * ''Iowa 13, Minnesota 7''. * ''Indiana 48, Marquette 6''. * ''Illinois 28, Ohio State 7''. * ''Notre Dame 26, Northwestern 19''. * ''Purdue 28, Pittsburgh 0''.

November 22

On November 22, 1947, the Big Nine football teams played four conference games. Iowa, which opened the season early on September 20, had a bye week. * ''Michigan 21, Ohio State 0''. * ''Minnesota 21, Wisconsin 0''. * ''Indiana 16, Purdue 14''. * ''Northwestern 28, Illinois 13''.

Bowl games

On January 1, 1948, Michigan defeated

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, 49-0, in the 1948 Rose Bowl. The 49-point margin was the worst defeat in the history of the USC football program, and Michigan's 491 yards of total offense set a Rose Bowl record. The Wolverines threw four touchdown passes, and Jack Weisenburger ran for three touchdowns. Michigan completed 17 of 27 passes for 272 passing yards in the game.

All-conference players

The following players were picked by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP), the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

(UP) and/or the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

(INS) as first-team players on the

1947 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1947 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Nine Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1947 Big N ...

All-Americans

Only two Big Ten players, both of them halfbacks for the Michigan squad, were selected as first-team players on the

1947 College Football All-America Team It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. They are:

1948 NFL Draft

The following Big Nine players were among the first 100 picks in the

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox