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1953 Minnesota

4–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠3–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Wesley Fesler.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1953, game by game: lost at No. 8 USC 7–17; lost vs. No. 2 Michigan State 0–21; won at No. 18 Northwestern 30–13; lost at No. 9 Illinois 7–27; won vs. No. 5 Michigan 22–0; won vs. Pittsburgh 35–14; won vs. Indiana 28–20; lost at Iowa 0–27; tied vs. No. 8 Wisconsin 21–21+22−27Lost 7–17 at No. 8 USC-10No. 8 USCLost 0–21 vs. No. 2 Michigan State-21No. 2 Michigan StateWon 30–13 at No. 18 Northwestern+17No. 18 NorthwesternLost 7–27 at No. 9 Illinois-20No. 9 IllinoisWon 22–0 vs. No. 5 Michigan+22No. 5 MichiganWon 35–14 vs. Pittsburgh+21PittsburghWon 28–20 vs. Indiana+8IndianaLost 0–27 at Iowa-27IowaTied 21–21 vs. No. 8 Wisconsin0No. 8 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26at8USCL 7–⁠1721%
Oct 3vs2Michigan StateL 0–⁠2127%
Oct 10at18NorthwesternW 30–⁠1337%
Oct 17at9IllinoisL 7–⁠2730%
Oct 24vs5MichiganW 22–⁠040%
Oct 31vsPittsburghW 35–⁠1465%
Nov 7vsIndianaW 28–⁠2079%
Nov 14atIowaL 0–⁠2745%
Nov 21vs8WisconsinT 21–⁠2138%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Wisconsin 21–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 72nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 14
  2. Wk 7: 13
  3. Wk 8: 15

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 1953.

Heisman votePaul Giel, second

Led the nationPaul Giel: punt return yards (288 yds)

Consensus All-AmericanPaul Giel, RB

Record
4–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3–⁠1 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
150–⁠160
Coach
Wesley Fesler
Elo
1531 +37 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.8 No. 24 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Paul Giel
Most valuable player
Paul Giel

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Stavros CanakesOTAP-2; UP-1
  • Paul GielBAP-1; UP-1

Second team

  • Jerry HelgesonCAP-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State5–⁠19–⁠13
Illinois5–⁠17–⁠1–⁠17
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠115
Ohio State4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠19
Minnesota3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠42–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠63–⁠6

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