1914 Illinois

7–⁠0 (6–⁠0 Western Conference), coached by Robert Zuppke. Share

Illinois, 1914 — Photo: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Biggest winBeat Indiana 51–⁠0Oct 10
By 51 points, its widest win.

Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Date	Opponent	Result
Oct 3	vsChristian Brothers	W 37–⁠0	90%
Oct 10	vsIndiana	W 51–⁠0	74%
Oct 17	vsOhio State	W 37–⁠0	84%
Oct 24	atNorthwestern	W 33–⁠0	72%
Oct 31	atMinnesota	W 21–⁠6	36%
Nov 14	vsChicago	W 21–⁠7	50%
Nov 21	atWisconsin	W 24–⁠9	56%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 24–⁠9; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Photographs from 1914

UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game
Illinois band at UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game
UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game
UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game
UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game
UW vs. Illinois football gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
The game

Photographs from libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives (no copyright in the United States, public domain or Creative Commons) and credited to it. Captions as each collection catalogues them.

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1914.

National championsa title the school claims

Western Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansPerry Graves, E; Ralph Chapman, OG

Record: 7–⁠0
Conference: 6–⁠0 first in Western Conference
AP poll: Began in 1936
Points: 224–⁠22
Coach: Robert Zuppke
Elo: 1669 +142 this season
SP+ rating: —
SRS: 36.4 No. 1 of 83 major-college teams
Recruiting class: —

Captain: Ralph Chapman
Offense: I formation

All-Western Conference

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

George K. SquierEWE-1
Ralph ChapmanOGWE-1
George ClarkQBWE-1
Harold PogueRBWE-1

Second team

Perry GravesEWE-2
Lennox F. ArmstrongOTWE-2
Eugene SchobingerFBWE-2

From Wikipedia’s 1914 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1914 Western Conference standings

Team	Conf.	Overall
Illinois	6–⁠0	7–⁠0
Minnesota	3–⁠1	6–⁠1
Chicago	4–⁠2–⁠1	4–⁠2–⁠1
Ohio State	2–⁠2	5–⁠2
Purdue	2–⁠2	5–⁠2
Wisconsin	2–⁠2–⁠1	4–⁠2–⁠1
Iowa	1–⁠2	4–⁠3
Indiana	1–⁠4	3–⁠4
Northwestern	0–⁠6	1–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.