1931 Big Ten Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Co-championsMinnesota, Michigan, Northwestern
  Runners-upOhio State
Season MVPClarence Munn
1931 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 10 Purdue + 5 1 09 1 0
Michigan + 5 1 08 1 1
No. 4 Northwestern + 5 1 07 1 1
Ohio State 4 2 06 3 0
Minnesota 3 2 07 3 0
Wisconsin 3 3 05 4 1
Indiana 1 4 12 5 1
Chicago 1 4 02 6 1
Iowa 0 3 11 6 1
Illinois 0 6 02 6 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from Dickinson System

The 1931 Big Ten Conference football season was the 36th 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 1931 college football season.

The 1931 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Noble Kizer, compiled a 9–1 record, shut out six of ten opponents, tied for the Big Ten championship, and was recognized as national co-champion by Parke H. Davis. End Paul Moss and center Ookie Miller were recognized as first-team All-Americans.

The 1931 Michigan Wolverines football team, under head coach was Harry Kipke, compiled an 8-1-1 record and finished the season in a three-way tie with Purdue and Northwestern for the Big Ten championship. The team shut out eight of ten opponents and led the conference in scoring defense (2.7 points allowed per game). The Wolverines also started a 22-game undefeated streak that lasted until October 1934. Center Maynard Morrison was selected as a first-team All-American.

The 1931 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Dick Hanley, compiled a 7–1–1 record and were the third team finishing in a tie for the Big Ten championship. Purdue's sole loss was on the final day of the season against Purdue. Three Northwestern players were consensus first-team All-Americans: halfback Pug Rentner and tackles Jack Riley and Dallas Marvil.

Minnesota guard Clarence Munn won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten and was also selected as a consensus first-team All-American.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach Overall record Conf. record DS
rank
PPG PAG MVP
1 (tie)PurdueNoble Kizer9–15–1#1019.23.9James Purvis
1 (tie)MichiganHarry Kipke8–1–15–1NR18.12.7Bill Hewitt
1 (tie)NorthwesternDick Hanley7–1–15–1NR15.34.4Paul Engebretsen
4Ohio StateSam Willaman6–34–2NR21.68.2Robert Haubrich
5MinnesotaFritz Crisler7–33–2NR19.17.2Clarence Munn
6WisconsinGlenn Thistlethwaite5–4–13–3NR10.511.0Harold Smith
7IndianaEarl C. Hayes2–5–11–4–1NR6.412.3Joe Zeller
8ChicagoAmos Alonzo Stagg3–7–11–4NR7.113.8Samuel Horwitz
9IowaBurt Ingwersen1–6–10–3–1NR0.916.4Oliver Sansen
10IllinoisRobert Zuppke2–60–6#47.317.5Fred Frink

Key
DS = Rankings from Dickinson System. See 1931 college football season
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

Bowl games

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1931 season.

All-Big Ten players

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP) and/or the team captains (CPT) as first-team players on the 1931 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4][5]

Position Name Team Selectors
QuarterbackCarl CramerOhio StateAP, CPT, UP
HalfbackPug RentnerNorthwesternAP, CPT, UP
HalfbackLew HinchmanOhio StateAP
HalfbackJim PurvisPurdueCPT
FullbackJack MandersMinnesotaAP, CPT, UP
EndPaul MossPurdueAP, CPT, UP
EndIvy WilliamsonMichiganAP, UP
EndBill HewittMichiganCPT, UP [halfback]
TackleJack RileyNorthwesternAP, CPT, UP
TackleDallas MarvilNorthwesternAP, CPT, UP
GuardClarence MunnMinnesotaAP, CPT, UP
GuardGreg KabatWisconsinAP, CPT
GuardJoe ZellerIndianaUP
CenterMaynard MorrisonMichiganAP, CPT
CenterOokie MillerPurdueUP

All-Americans

Four Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1931 College Football All-America Team. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
GuardBiggie MunnMinnesotaAAB, AP, COL, INS, NEA, UP
HalfbackPug RentnerNorthwesternAAB, AP, COL, INS, NEA, UP
TackleJack RileyNorthwesternAAB, LIB, NEA
TackleDallas MarvilNorthwesternAP, INS

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

Position Name Team Selectors
EndPaul MossPurdueLIB
CenterMaynard MorrisonMichiganCOL, NEA
CenterCharles MillerPurdueUP, CH

References

  1. 1 2 "1931 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  2. Harvey Woodruff. "Vote Munn Big Ten's Most Valuable Player: Minnesota Grid Captain Wins Tribune Trophy". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  3. Paul Mickelson (November 24, 1931). "Northwestern Places Five Players on Two All-Western Elevens". The Independent, St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP story). p. 4A.
  4. Claire M. Burcky (December 13, 1931). "Captains Pick Outstanding Players". The Sunday Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. 32.
  5. George Kirksey (November 24, 1931). "United Press All Big Ten Selections for 1931". The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania). p. 10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.