1936 Big Ten Conference football season

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1936 Big Ten Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pickEd Widseth
ChampionNorthwestern
  Runners-upMinnesota, Ohio State
Season MVPVern Huffman
Football seasons
← 1935
1937 →
1936 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Northwestern $ 6 0 0 7 1 0
No. 1 Minnesota 4 1 0 7 1 0
Ohio State 4 1 0 5 3 0
Indiana 3 1 1 5 2 1
Purdue 3 1 1 5 2 1
Illinois 2 2 1 4 3 1
Chicago 1 4 0 2 5 1
Iowa 0 4 1 3 4 1
Wisconsin 0 4 0 2 6 0
Michigan 0 5 0 1 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1936 Big Ten Conference football season was the 41st 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 1936 college football season.

The 1936 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Bernie Bierman, compiled a 7–1 record and was ranked No. 1 in the final AP Poll, giving Minnesota its third consecutive national championship. Tackle Ed Widseth was a consensus first-team All-American and was the first Big Ten player taken in the 1937 NFL draft with the fourth overall pick.

The 1936 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Pappy Waldorf, compiled a 7–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll. The team's only loss came on the last day of the season against Notre Dame. Guard Steve Reid was a consensus first-team All-American.

The 1936 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Francis Schmidt, compiled a 5–3 record, led the Big Ten in scoring defense (3.4 points allowed per game), and outscored opponents 160 to 27. End Merle Wendt, tackle Charley Hamrick, and guard Inwood Smith were first-team All-Big Ten players.

Season overview[edit]

Results and team statistics[edit]

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Northwestern Pappy Waldorf #7 #1 7–1 6–0 16.5 9.1 Steve Reid
2 (tie) Minnesota Bernie Bierman #1 #1 7-1 4-1 25.4 4.0 Ed Widseth
2 (tie) Ohio State Francis Schmidt NR #18 5–3 4–1 20.0 3.4 Ralph Wolfe
4 (tie) Indiana Bo McMillin NR NR 5–2–1 3–1–1 5.4 7.9 Vern Huffman
4 (tie) Purdue Noble Kizer NR #5 5–2–1 3–1–1 19.6 11.9 John Drake
6 Illinois Robert Zuppke NR NR 4–3–1 2–2–1 7.1 9.5 Cliff Kuhn
7 Chicago Clark Shaughnessy NR NR 2–5–1 1–4 8.5 20.8 Sam Whiteside
8 Iowa Ossie Solem NR NR 3–4–1 0–4–1 10.6 12.9 Homer Harris
9 Wisconsin Harry Stuhldreher NR #16 2–6 0–4 11.9 18.0 Eddie Jankowski
10 Michigan Harry Kipke NR NR 1–7 0–5 4.5 15.9 Matt Patanelli

Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
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[2]

Regular season[edit]

Bowl games[edit]

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1936 season.

All-Big Ten players[edit]

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1936 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4]

Position Name Team Selectors
End Merle Wendt Ohio State AP, UP
End Johnny Kovatch Northwestern AP, UP
Tackle Ed Widseth Minnesota AP, UP
Tackle Charley Hamrick Ohio State AP, UP
Guard Steve Reid Northwestern AP, UP
Guard Inwood Smith Ohio State AP
Guard Lester G. Schreiber Northwestern UP
Center Ed Sayre Illinois AP, UP
Quarterback Fred Vanzo Northwestern AP, UP
Halfback Andy Uram Minnesota AP, UP
Halfback Don Heap Northwestern AP
Halfback Vern Huffman Indiana UP
Fullback Cecil Isbell Purdue AP
Fullback Johnny Drake Purdue UP

All-Americans[edit]

Two Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1936 College Football All-America Team. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Ed Widseth Minnesota AAB, AP, COL, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF
Guard Steve Reid Northwestern AAB, COL, LIB, NANA, NEA, TSN, WCFF

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

Position Name Team Selectors
Halfback Don Heap Northwestern CP
Halfback Andy Uram Minnesota TSN

1937 NFL draft[edit]

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 players selected in the 1937 NFL draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Ed Widseth Back Minnesota 1 4
Eddie Jankowski Back Wisconsin 1 9
Johnny Drake Tackle Purdue 1 10
Charley Hamrick Tackle Ohio State 2 17
Jules Alfonse Tackle Minnesota 2 20
Vern Huffman End Indiana 3 27
Bud Wilkinson End Minnesota 3 29
Bud Svendsen End Minnesota 4 39
Dewitt Gibson Guard Northwestern 5 49
Inwood Smith Tackle Ohio State 5 50
John Golemgeske Tackle Wisconsin 6 53
George Bell Tackle Purdue 6 57
Merle Wendt Tackle Ohio State 6 59
Chris Del Sasso Tackle Indiana 6 60
Steve Reid Tackle Northwestern 8 71
Elvin Sayre Back Illinois 8 77
Steve Toth Center Northwestern 8 78
Matt Patanelli Tackle Michigan 9 85
Ray Antil Back Minnesota 10 91

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "1936 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vernon Huffman Wins Tribune Trophy: Indiana Most Valuable Big Ten Player". Chicago Tribune. December 27, 1936. p. 2-1.
  3. ^ Earl Hilligan (November 23, 1936). "Widseth and Wendt Again Named Big Ten All Stars". The Day, New London, Conn. (AP story).
  4. ^ "Wildcats Dominate All-Big Ten Eleven". The San Bernardino County Sun. November 21, 1936. p. 15.
  5. ^ "1937 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 7, 2017.