1903 Western Conference football season

August 2023 1903 Western Conference football season Football 9 Minnesota, Michigan Co-champions Football 1902 1904 The 1903 Western Conference football season was the eighth season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1903 college football season. Michigan and Minnesota were conference co-champions, both compiling undefeated seasons with the exception of a 6-6 tie when the two teams played each other. The tie between Michigan and Minnesota gave rise to the tradition of the two teams' playing for the Little Brown Jug. In the chaos that ensued when the Minnesota crowd rushed onto the field at the end of the game, the Wolverines left their water jug behind. The next day, custodian Oscar Munson brought the jug to Minnesota's athletic director; they painted the jug brown and wrote on it, "Michigan Jug – Captured by Oscar, October 31, 1903." According to legend, Yost sent a letter asking for the jug to be returned, and Cooke wrote in response: "We have your little brown jug; if you want it, you'll have to win it." Yost returned with his team in 1909 to reclaim the jug, and the two teams have awarded the jug to the winner of their annual rivalry game.The Little Brown Jug – Minnesota vs. Michigan Golden Gopher Gridiron http://www.goldengophergridiron.com/page/show/331052-little-brown-jug 2016-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20150415035217/http://www.goldengophergridiron.com/page/show/331052-little-brown-jug 2015-04-15 dead Michigan compiled an 11–0–1 and outscored opponents 565 to 6, and Minnesota went 14-0-1 record and outscored opponents 656 to 12. All of Michigan's victories were shutouts, and 13 of Minnesota's victories were shutouts. The 1903 Michigan team was the third of Yost's "Point-a-Minute" teams and has been recognized retrospectively as a co-national champion (along with Princeton) by the National Championship Foundation.http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2015/FBS.pdf National Poll Rankings National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2015 NCAA Division I Football Records NCAA 108 January 4, 2016 Michigan's high scorer was fullback Tom Hammond with 163 points. The remainder of Purdue University's season was canceled following the death of 14 players in the disastrous Purdue Wreck, a train collision that occurred on October 31, 1903, in Indianapolis. The Boilermakers were on their way to the annual Indiana–Purdue football rivalry game to be played at Washington Park. Purdue's season ended at 4–2 (0–2). Season overview Results and team statistics Conf. RankTeamHead coachOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAG1 (tie)MinnesotaHenry L. Williams14-0-13-0-141.20.81 (tie)MichiganFielding H. Yost11–0–13–0–147.10.53NorthwesternWalter McCornack10–1–31–0–216.44.84ChicagoAmos A. Stagg12–2–14–1–127.54.15IowaJohn Chalmers9–21–115.59.36IndianaJames H. Horne4–41–218.515.57IllinoisG. W. Woodruff8–61–525.18.48WisconsinArthur Curtis6–3–10–3–130.56.79PurdueOliver Cutts4–20–214.58.0 Key PPG = Average of points scored per game PAG = Average of points allowed per game1903 Western Conference Year Summary Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football December 29, 2016 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/western/1903.html Regular season Bowl games No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1903 season. Awards and honors All-Western players the complete All-Western selections 1903 All-Western college football team Thirteen players were chosen as first-team players on at least four of the 1903 All-Western college football teams named by the following eight selectors: Billy Mac aggregate (BMA), a team selected by aggregating the choices made by ten critics in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit,All-Western Team Picked By Critics Billy Mac The St. Paul Globe December 1, 1903 5 Billy Mac (BM) in The St. Paul GlobeFive Gophers On All-Western Team The St. Paul Globe Billy Mac November 29, 1903 15 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059523/1903-11-29/ed-1/seq-15/#date1=1901&sort=relevance&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=0&words=ALL+all+ALL-WESTERN+all-Western+football+FOOTBALL+Western+WESTERN&proxdistance=5&date2=1904&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=all-western&andtext=football&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3 Chicago Inter-Ocean (CIO), Chicago Record-Herald (CRH), Chicago Tribune (CT),Schacht Picked By All Chicago Papers The Saint Paul Globe November 30, 1903 5 Fred Lowenthal (FL), former star football player at University of Illinois,Lowenthal Picks An All-Western Eleven The St. Paul Globe November 29, 1903 14 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059523/1903-11-29/ed-1/seq-14/#date1=1901&sort=relevance&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=2&words=ALL+all+ALL-WESTERN+all-Western+football+Western+WESTERN&proxdistance=5&date2=1904&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=all-western&andtext=football&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3 The Minneapolis Journal (MJ),All-Western Team The Minneapolis Journal November 28, 1903 8 and Walter Camp (WC).Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1904 American Sports Publishing Company 1904 33 https://books.google.com/books?id=3gs7AQAAMAAJ (Players unanimously chosen by all eight selectors are listed in bold.) Curtis Redden, end, Michigan (BMA, CIO, CRH, CT, FL, MJ, WC) Allen Abbott, end, Wisconsin (BMA, BM, CIO, CRH, CT) Edward L. Rogers, end, Minnesota (BMA, BM, FL, MJ, WC) Joe Maddock, tackle, Michigan (BMA, BM, CIO, CRH, CT, FL, MJ, WC) Fred Schacht, tackle, Minnesota (BMA, BM, CIO, CRH, CT, FL, MJ, WC) Robert Philips, guard, Northwestern (BMA, CIO, CRH, WC) Wilson Berthke, guard, Wisconsin (BMA, BM, FL, MJ, WC) Moses Land Strathern, center, Minnesota (BMA, BM, CIO, CRH, FL, MJ, WC) Walter Eckersall, quarterback, Chicago (BMA, CIO, CT, MJ) Sigmund Harris, quarterback, Minnesota (BM, CRH, FL, WC) Willie Heston, halfback, Michigan (BMA, BM, CIO, CRH, CT, FL, MJ, WC) James B. Irsfield, halfback, Minnesota (BMA, CT, FL, WC) Louis J. Salmon, fullback, Notre Dame (BMA, BM, CIO, CT, MJ, WC) All-Americans the complete All-America selections 1903 College Football All-America Team The following players were selected as first-team players by at least one selector for the 1903 College Football All-America Team. (Consensus first-team selections designated in bold.) Fred Schacht, tackle, Minnesota (Caspar Whitney [CW]) Joe Maddock, tackle, Michigan (Fielding H. Yost [FY], San Antonio Daily Light [SA]) Sigmund Harris, quarterback, Minnesota (FY) Willie Heston, halfback, Michigan (Walter Camp, CW, FY, SA) References