1939 Northwestern
3–4–1 (3–2–1 Western Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Illinois 13–0Oct 28
By 13 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7 | vs Oklahoma | L 0–23 | 49% |
| Oct 14 | at Ohio State | L 0–13 | 35% |
| Oct 21 | vs Wisconsin | W 13–7 | 63% |
| Oct 28 | vs Illinois | W 13–0 | 68% |
| Nov 4 | at Minnesota | W 14–7 | 33% |
| Nov 11 | vs Purdue | L 0–3 | 60% |
| Nov 18 | at 9Notre Dame | L 0–7 | 25% |
| Nov 25 | vs 9Iowa | T 7–7 | 63% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Tied Iowa 7–7; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Western Conference.
In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).
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 1939.
- Record
- 3–4–1
- Conference
- 3–2–1 5th in Western Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 47–67
- Coach
- Pappy Waldorf
- Elo
- 1530 −19 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 4.2 No. 46 of 124 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- Hal Method
- Most valuable player
- Jack Haman
- Offense
- Single-wing
Drafted in 1940
The 1940 draft| Rd 3 | Jack Haman C | Cleveland Rams |
All-Big Ten
2 first team, 1 second teamFirst team
Hal MethodOGAP-1; UP-1- Jack HamanCAP-1; UP-1
Second team
- Nick CutlichOTAP-2
From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1939 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 5–1 | 6–2 | 15 |
| Iowa | 4–1–1 | 6–1–1 | 9 |
 Michigan | 3–2 | 6–2 | 20 |
| Purdue | 2–1–2 | 3–3–2 | |
| Northwestern | 3–2–1 | 3–4–1 | |
| Illinois | 3–3 | 3–4–1 | |
| Minnesota | 2–3–1 | 3–4–1 | |
 Indiana | 2–3 | 2–4–2 | |
| Wisconsin | 0–5–1 | 1–6–1 | |
| Chicago | 0–3 | 2–6 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.