1944 Ohio State
9–0 (6–0 Western Conference), coached by Carroll Widdoes, finished No. 2 in the AP poll. Share
Schedule and results
- Best winBeat No. 6 Great Lakes Navy 26–6Oct 21
Over the best-ranked team it beat, at home.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30 | vs Missouri | W 54–0 | 59% |
| Oct 7 | vs Iowa | W 34–0 | 71% |
| Oct 14 | at 19Wisconsin | W 20–7 | 60% |
| Oct 21 | vs6Great Lakes Navy | W 26–6 | 48% |
| Oct 28 | vs Minnesota | W 34–14 | 72% |
| Nov 4 | vs 15Indiana | W 21–7 | 64% |
| Nov 11 | vs Pittsburgh | W 54–19 | 85% |
| Nov 18 | vs Illinois | W 26–12 | 72% |
| Nov 25 | vs 6Michigan | W 18–14 | 52% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Michigan 18–14; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.
In program history: The 47th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).
AP poll, week by week
- Wk 1: 8
- Wk 2: 4
- Wk 3: 4
- Wk 4: 3
- Wk 5: 2
- Wk 6: 4
- Wk 7: 3
- Wk 8: 3
- Final: 2
Players on this team
Les HorvathRunning back
Warren AmlingGuard
Ollie ClineBack
Russ ThomasOffensive tackle
Tom KeaneCornerback
Bill WillisOffensive tackle- Jack DuggerEnd
- Gene FeketeFullback
- Bill HackettGuard
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 1944.
Western Conference champions6–0 in the conference
Heisman TrophyLes Horvath, RB/QB
3 consensus All-AmericansJack Dugger, E; Bill Hackett, OG; Les Horvath, RB/QB
- Record
- 9–0
- Conference
- 6–0 first in Western Conference
- AP final
- No. 2 peak No. 2
- Points
- 287–79
- Coach
- Carroll Widdoes
- Elo
- 1697 +177 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 29.8 No. 3 of 95 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Most valuable player
- Les Horvath
Drafted in 1945
The 1945 draft| Rd 2 | Jack Dugger E | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Rd 3 | Gordon Appleby C | New York Giants |
| Rd 6 | Gene Fekete B | Detroit Lions |
All-Big Ten
4 first team, 1 second teamFirst team
Jack DuggerEAP-1; UP-1- Bill WillisOTAP-1; UP-1
- Bill HackettOGAP-1; UP-1
- Les HorvathQB
Second team
Gordon ApplebyCUP-2
From Wikipedia’s 1944 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1944 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 6–0 | 9–0 | 2 |
| Michigan | 5–2 | 8–2 | 8 |
 Purdue | 4–2 | 5–5 | |
| Minnesota | 3–2–1 | 5–3–1 | |
| Indiana | 4–3 | 7–3 | |
| Illinois | 3–3 | 5–4–1 | 15 |
| Wisconsin | 2–4 | 3–6 | |
 Northwestern | 0–5–1 | 1–7–1 | |
| Iowa | 0–6 | 1–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.