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1920 Northwestern

3–⁠4 (2–⁠3 Western Conference), coached by Elmer McDevitt.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1920, game by game: won vs. Knox 14–0; won vs. Minnesota 17–0; lost at Wisconsin 7–27; lost at Indiana 7–10; lost at Iowa 0–20; won vs. Purdue 14–0; lost vs. Notre Dame 7–33+17−26Won 14–0 vs. Knox+14KnoxWon 17–0 vs. Minnesota+17MinnesotaLost 7–27 at Wisconsin-20WisconsinLost 7–10 at Indiana-3IndianaLost 0–20 at Iowa-20IowaWon 14–0 vs. Purdue+14PurdueLost 7–33 vs. Notre Dame-26Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 2vsKnoxW 14–⁠084%
Oct 9vsMinnesotaW 17–⁠040%
Oct 16atWisconsinL 7–⁠2732%
Oct 30atIndianaL 7–⁠1032%
Nov 6atIowaL 0–⁠2032%
Nov 13vsPurdueW 14–⁠062%
Nov 20vsNotre DameL 7–⁠3328%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 33–⁠7; 7th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 77th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
3–⁠4
Conference
2–⁠3 7th in Western Conference
AP poll
Began in 1936
Points
66–⁠90
Coach
Elmer McDevitt
Elo
1434 +1 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.3 No. 37 of 96 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Graham Penfield

All-Big Ten

1 first team

First team

  • Graham PenfieldOGTL; WE-1

From Wikipedia’s 1920 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1920 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State5–⁠07–⁠1
Wisconsin4–⁠16–⁠1
Indiana3–⁠15–⁠2
Illinois4–⁠25–⁠2
Iowa3–⁠25–⁠2
Michigan2–⁠25–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠33–⁠4
Chicago2–⁠43–⁠4
Purdue0–⁠42–⁠5
Minnesota0–⁠61–⁠6

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