1928 Big Ten Conference football season

1928 Big Ten Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams10
ChampionIllinois
  Runners-upWisconsin
Season MVPChuck Bennett
Football seasons
← 1927
1929 →
1928 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Illinois $ 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Wisconsin 3 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
Minnesota 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
No. 6 Iowa 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Ohio State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 2 – 1
Purdue 2 – 2 – 1 5 – 2 – 1
Northwestern 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 3 – 0
Michigan 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 4 – 1
Indiana 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Chicago 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from Dickinson System

The 1928 Big Ten Conference football season was the 33rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1928 college football season.

The 1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Robert Zuppke, compiled a 7–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring defense (2.0 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 7 in the Dickinson System rankings. Tackles Albert J. Nowack and Russell Crane and guard Leroy Wietz were selected as first-team All-Americans.

The 1928 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Glenn Thistlethwaite, compiled a 7–1–1 record and was ranked No. 4 in the Dickinson System rankings. Guard Rube Wagner was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player.

The 1928 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Clarence Spears, compiled a 6–2 record, finished third in the Big Ten, and led the conference in scoring offense (23.9 points per game). Guard George Gibson and end Ken Haycraft were named All-Americans by the Associated Press and Look Magazine. Gibson, Haycraft and quarterback Frederick L. Hovde received first-team All-Big Ten honors.

The 1928 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, under head coach Burt Ingwersen, compiled a 6–2 record and was ranked No. 6 in the Dickinson System rankings. Halfback Willis Glassgow received first-team All-Big Ten honors.

Indiana halfback Chuck Bennett received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference. Northwestern's triple threat star Walt Holmer finished second in close voting for the trophy; Bennett received eight of 22 first place votes, and Holmer received seven.[1]

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach Overall record Conf. record DS
rank 		PPG PAG MVP
1 Illinois Robert Zuppke 7–1 4–1 #7 18.1 2.0 Douglas R. Mills
2 Wisconsin Glenn Thistlethwaite 7–1–1 3–1–1 #4 18.1 4.2 Francis "Bo" Cuisiner
3 Minnesota Clarence Spears 6–2 4–2 NR 23.9 4.5 Fred Holvde, Bronko Nagurski
4 (tie) Iowa Burt Ingwersen 6–2 3–2 #6 18.4 5.3 Willis Glassgow
4 (tie) Ohio State John Wilce 5–2–1 3–2 NR 16.9 4.4 Alan M. Holman
6 Purdue Jimmy Phelan 5–2–1 2–2–1 NR 17.9 5.1 Ralph Welch
7 (tie) Northwestern Dick Hanley 5–3 2–3 NR 8.1 5.4 Walt Holmer
7 (tie) Michigan Tad Wieman 3–4–1 2–3 NR 4.5 7.8 Otto Pommerening
9 Indiana Harlan Page 4–4 2–4 NR 6.9 8.5 Chuck Bennett
10 Chicago Amos Alonzo Stagg 2–7 0–5 NR 7.8 19.7

Key
DS = Rankings from Dickinson System. See 1928 college football season
PPG = Average of points scored per game[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[2]
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 trophy[1]

Regular season

Bowl games

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1928 season.

All-Big Ten players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1928 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), and/or Walter Eckersall (WE) as first-team players on the 1928 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Frederick L. Hovde Minnesota AP, UP, WE
Halfback Chuck Bennett Indiana AP, UP, WE
Halfback Willis Glassgow Iowa AP, UP
Halfback Ralph Welch Purdue WE
Fullback Walt Holmer Northwestern AP, UP, WE
End Wes Fesler Ohio State AP, UP, WE
End Ken Haycraft Minnesota AP, UP, WE
Tackle Otto Pommerening Michigan AP, UP, WE [guard]
Tackle Albert J. Nowack Illinois AP, UP, WE
Guard Rube Wagner Wisconsin AP, UP, WE [tackle]
Guard George Gibson Minnesota AP, UP, WE
Center Clare Randolph Indiana AP, UP
Center Richard Brown Iowa WE

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1928 College Football All-America Team.

Two Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1928 College Football All-America Team. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
End Wes Fesler Ohio State AAB, CO, INS, NEA, UP
Tackle Otto Pommerening Michigan AP, CO, INS, UP

Other Big Ten players received first-team honors from at least one selector. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
End Ken Haycraft Minnesota CO, NANA
Tackle Albert J. Nowack Illinois WCFF, AAB, NANA
Tackle Russell Crane Illinois CP
Guard George Gibson Minnesota UP, WCFF, AAB
Guard Leroy Wietz Illinois NANA

References

  1. ^ a b Harvey Woodruff (January 6, 1929). "Bennett Awarded Tribune's Grid Trophy: Named Big Ten Player of Most Value to Team". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  2. ^ a b "1928 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2017.