1914 Illinois Fighting Illini football
National champion (Billingsley)
Co-national champion (Davis)
Western Conference champion
ConferenceWestern Conference
Record7–0 (6–0 Western)
Head coach
Offensive schemeI formation[1]
CaptainRalph Chapman
Home stadiumIllinois Field
Seasons
← 1913
1915 →
1914 Western Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Illinois $ 6 – 0 – 0 7 – 0 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 1 – 0
Chicago 4 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1
Ohio State 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 2 – 0
Purdue 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 2 – 0
Iowa 1 – 2 – 0 4 – 3 – 0
Indiana 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 4 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1914 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois in the Western Conference during the 1914 college football season. In their second season under head coach Robert Zuppke, the Fighting Illini compiled a 7–0 record (6–0 against conference opponents), shut out four of seven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 224 to 22.[2]

There was no contemporaneous system in 1914 for determining a national champion. However, Illinois was retroactively named as the national champion by the Billingsley Report and as a co-national champion by Parke H. Davis. Army was chosen as co-champion by Davis and as national champion by three other selectors.[3]

End Perry Graves and guard Ralph Chapman were consensus picks for the 1914 All-America college football team.[4] Chapman was the team captain.[5] Seven Illini players were also honored on the 1914 All-Western Conference football team selected by Walter Eckersall: quarterback Potsy Clark (first teaam); halfbacks Harold Pogue (first team); ends George K. Squier (first team) and Perry Graves (second team); guard Ralph Chapman (first team); fullback Eugene Schobinger (second team); and tackle Lennox F. Armstrtong (second team).[6]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 3Christian Brothers (MO)*
W 37–0[7]
October 10Indiana
  • Illinois Field
  • Champaign, IL
W 51–0[8]
October 17Ohio State
  • Illinois Field
  • Champaign, IL
W 37–0[9]
October 24at Northwestern
W 33–0[10]
October 31at Minnesota
W 21–610,000[11]
November 14Chicago
  • Illinois Field
  • Champaign, IL
W 21–7[12]
November 21at Wisconsin
W 24–9[13]
  • *Non-conference game

Roster

Player Position
Perry Graves Right End
Manley Ross Petty Right Tackle
Frank Stewart Right Guard
John Ward Nelson Right guard
John Wesley Watson Center
Ralph Chapman (captain) Left guard
Lennox Francois Armstrong Left tackle
Olay Madsen Left tackle
Sylvester Randall Derby Left end
George Kasson Squier Left end
George Clark Quarterback
Bart Macomber Right halfback
Frank Howard Pethybridge Right halfback
Eugene Schobinger Fullback
Orlie Rue Fullback
Alexander Wagner Left halfback
Harold Pogue Left halfback

Awards and honors

  • Consensus first-team selection on the 1914 All-America team[4]
  • Third-team All-American selection by Frank G. Menke[14]
  • Outing magazine's "Football Roll of Honor: The Men Whom the Best Coaches of the Country Have Named as the Stars of the Gridiron in 1914"[15]

References

  1. ^ "Football".
  2. ^ "1914 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  3. ^ 2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 156. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "All Conference Elevens of "Big Nine" Selected". The Wichita Beacon. November 24, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved July 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Illini Win Opener". Decatur Herald. October 4, 1914. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Indiana Swamped by Illinois". The Indianapolis Star. October 11, 1914. p. 45 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Illini Tramples Over Ohio, 37-0". Chicago Tribune. October 18, 1914. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Illini Substitutes Are Enough to Defeat Purple". Decatur Herald. October 25, 1914. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Illini Backs Outspeed Gophers and Win Great Open Gridiron Battle, 21-6". The Sunday Journal. Minneapolis. November 1, 1914. pp. 27–28 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Maroons Crushed by Zuppke's Illini". The Decatur Daily Herald. November 15, 1914. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Badgers Put Up Game Battle But Lose The Last Game to Illinois: Gophers Second in Fight for "Big Nine" Flag". The Sunday State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. November 22, 1914. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Menke Selects Annual All-American Eleven". New Castle News. November 25, 1914.
  15. ^ a b "Football Roll of Honor: The Men Whom the Best Coaches of the Country Have Named as the Stars of the Gridiron in 1914" (PDF). Outing. 1915. p. 498.
  16. ^ Spalding's Official Football Guide 1915
  17. ^ "Eckersall Names All-Stars: Eckersall Names One Western Man; Maulbetsch of Michigan on All-American". Waterloo Evening Courier. December 12, 1914.
  18. ^ "Walter Camp's Three All-American Elevens". The Syracuse Herald. December 13, 1914.
  19. ^ "Menke Selects Annual All-American Eleven". New Castle News. November 25, 1914.


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