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1948 Northwestern

8–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Robert Voigts, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1948, game by game: won at UCLA 19–0; won vs. Purdue 21–0; won vs. No. 8 Minnesota 19–16; lost at No. 4 Michigan 0–28; won vs. Syracuse 48–0; won vs. Ohio State 21–7; won at Wisconsin 16–7; lost at No. 2 Notre Dame 7–12; won vs. Illinois 20–7; won vs. No. 5 California 20–14+48−28Won 19–0 at UCLA+19UCLAWon 21–0 vs. Purdue+21PurdueWon 19–16 vs. No. 8 Minnesota+3No. 8 MinnesotaLost 0–28 at No. 4 Michigan-28No. 4 MichiganWon 48–0 vs. Syracuse+48SyracuseWon 21–7 vs. Ohio State+14Ohio StateWon 16–7 at Wisconsin+9WisconsinLost 7–12 at No. 2 Notre Dame-5No. 2 Notre DameWon 20–7 vs. Illinois+13IllinoisWon 20–14 vs. No. 5 California+6No. 5 California
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25atUCLAW 19–⁠028%
Oct 2vsPurdueW 21–⁠060%
Oct 9vs8MinnesotaW 19–⁠1653%
Oct 16at4MichiganL 0–⁠2821%
Oct 23vsSyracuseW 48–⁠081%
Oct 30vsOhio StateW 21–⁠760%
Nov 6atWisconsinW 16–⁠764%
Nov 13at2Notre DameL 7–⁠1221%
Nov 20vsIllinoisW 20–⁠770%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5CaliforniaRose BowlW 20–⁠1437%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat California 20–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 8
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Final: 7

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 1948.

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Western Conference
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 3
Points
191–⁠91
Coach
Robert Voigts
Elo
1634 +155 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.5 No. 13 of 117 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Alex Sarkisian
Most valuable player
Art Murakowski

Drafted in 1949

The 1949 draft
Rd 5George Maddock OTNew York Yankees (AAFC)

All-Big Nine

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Charles HagmannEINS-2
  • William S. “Steve” SawleOTINS-2
  • Don BursonQBAP-2; UP-2
  • Frank AschenbrennerRBAP-2; INS-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1948 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1948 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠09–⁠01
Northwestern5–⁠18–⁠27
Minnesota5–⁠27–⁠216
Ohio State3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠44–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠43–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠42–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠53–⁠6
Wisconsin1–⁠52–⁠7

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