The 1944 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 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. The team compiled a 3–6 record (2–4 against conference opponents) and 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 ...

Harry Stuhldreher Harry Augustus Stuhldreher (October 14, 1901 – January 26, 1965) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played quarterback at University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-A ...

was in his ninth year as Wisconsin's head coach. This was the first season since

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

that the Badgers started the season away from home. On November 11, 1944, Allan Shafer, a 17-year-old freshman quarterback, died at Wisconsin General Hospital from a hemorrhage to the lung after a hit sustained in the second half of Wisconsin's 26-7 victory over

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 ...

. His jersey number (No. 83) was retired, and his name appears on the

Camp Randall Stadium Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895 ...

facade. Tackle Clarence Esser received the team's most valuable player award. Shafer was the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ...

, a 17-year-old freshman, was selected by '' Look'' magazine as a first-team halfback on the

1944 College Football All-America Team The 1944 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1944. The nine selectors recognized by the ...

. The team played its home games at Camp Randall Stadium. During the 1944 season, the average attendance at home games was 22,010.Wisconsin Football 2016 Fact Book, p. 258.

Schedule

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 ...

Schedule

See also

References