1951 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams9
Top draft pickJohnny Karras
ChampionIllinois
Season MVPBill Reichardt
Football seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Illinois $ 5 – 0 – 1 9 – 0 – 1
Purdue 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
No. 8 Wisconsin 5 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
Michigan 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Ohio State 2 – 2 – 2 4 – 3 – 2
Northwestern 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Iowa 0 – 5 – 1 2 – 5 – 2
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Big Ten Conference football season was the 56th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) and was a part of the 1951 college football season.

The 1951 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Ray Eliot, compiled a 9–0–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll, and defeated Stanford 40–7 in the 1952 Rose Bowl. The lone setback was a scoreless tie with Ohio State. Halfback Johnny Karras was the Big Ten's only consensus first-team All-American. Linebacker Chuck Boerio was selected as the team's most valuable player.

The 1951 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Ivy Williamson, compiled a 7–1–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (5.9 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll. Quarterback John Coatta was the first-team All-Big Ten quarterback. Defensive end Pat O'Donahue was selected as a first-team All-American by multiple selectors.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Illinois Ray Eliot #4 #2 9–0–1 5–0–1 22.0 8.3 Chuck Boerio
2 Purdue Stu Holcomb NR NR 5–4 4–1 17.0 16.9 Pete Brewster
3 Wisconsin Ivy Williamson #8 #7 7–1–1 5–1–1 21.8 5.9 Hal Faverty
4 Michigan Bennie Oosterbaan NR #15 4–5 4–2 15.0 13.6 Don Peterson
5 Ohio State Woody Hayes NR #3 4–3–2 2–3–2 12.1 11.6 Vic Janowicz
6 Northwestern Bob Voigts NR #13 5-4 2-4 12.4 13.8 John Steeb
7 Minnesota Wes Fesler NR NR 2–6–1 1–4–1 18.0 28.7 Ron Engel
8 Indiana Bernie Crimmins NR NR 2–7 1–5 15.9 24.9 Gene Gedman
9 Iowa Leonard Raffensperger NR NR 2–5–2 0–5–1 17.9 25.9 Bill Reichardt

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1951 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1951 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold

Preseason

Regular season

September 29

October 6

October 13

October 20

October 27

November 3

November 10

November 17

November 24

Bowl games

Main article: 1952 Rose Bowl

Post-season developments

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten honors

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1951 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP)as first-team players on the 1951 All-Big Ten Conference football team. The AP picked separate offensive and defensive units, whereas the UP selected a single, eleven man unit.

AP offense and UP overall selections

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback John Coatta Wisconsin AP, UP
Halfback Johnny Karras Illinois AP, UP
Halfback Paul Giel Minnesota AP
Halfback Vic Janowicz Ohio State UP
Fullback Bill Reichardt Iowa AP, UP
End Lowell Perry Michigan AP, UP
End Rex Smith Illinois AP
End Leo Sugar Purdue AP [defensive end], UP [end]
Tackle Tom Johnson Michigan AP, UP
Tackle Chuck Ulrich Illinois AP, UP
Guard Don MacRae Northwestern AP, UP
Guard Chuck Studley Illinois AP, UP
Center Wayne Robinson Minnesota AP
Center Chuck Boerio Illinois AP [linebacker], UP [center]

AP defensive unit

Position Name Team Selectors
Defensive end Pat O'Donahue Wisconsin AP
Defensive end Leo Sugar Purdue AP [defensive end], UP [end]
Defensive tackle Dick Logan Ohio State AP
Defensive tackle Jerry Smith Wisconsin AP
Defensive guard Robert Kennedy Wisconsin AP
Defensive guard Deral Teteak Wisconsin AP
Linebacker Chuck Boerio Illinois AP [linebacker], UP [center]
Linebacker Roger Zatkoff Michigan AP
Defensive back Vic Janowicz Ohio State AP
Defensive back Al Brosky Illinois AP
Defensive back Fred Bruney Ohio State AP

All-American honors

For the complete All-America selections, see 1951 College Football All-America Team.

At the end of the 1951 season, only one Big Ten player secured a consensus first-team pick on the 1951 College Football All-America Team.[2] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Halfback Johnny Karras Illinois AFCA, AAB, FWAA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Offensive end Hal Faverty Wisconsin INS
Offensive tackle Chuck Ulrich Illinois INS
Center Chuck Boerio Illinois NEA
Defensive end Pat O'Donahue Wisconsin AP, FWAA, NEA
Defensive end Leo Sugar Purdue CT
Defensive tackle Tom Johnson Michigan CT
Defensive back Al Brosky Illinois AP [defensive halfback], FWAA [safety]

Other awards

Illinois running back Johnny Karras finished sixth in the voting for the 1951 Heisman Trophy.[3]

1952 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1952 NFL Draft:[4]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Johnny Karras Back Illinois 2 16
Pete Brewster End Purdue 2 21
Joe Campanella Tackle Ohio State 3 36
Chuck Ulrich Tackle Illinois 4 41
Pat O'Donahue End Wisconsin 5 57
Tom Johnson Tackle Michigan 6 63
Bill Reichardt Back Iowa 7 76
Vic Janowicz Back Ohio State 7 79
Mel Becket Center Indiana 8 87
Wayne Robinson Center Minnesota 8 89
Hubert Johnston Tackle Iowa 8 91
Jerry Smith Tackle Wisconsin 8 94
Deral Teteak Guard Wisconsin 9 100

References

  1. ^ a b c d "1951 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 4, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  3. ^ "1951 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "1952 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
Category