1923 college football season

American college football season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1923 college football season saw several teams finish their seasons unbeaten and untied. As such, numerous schools claim a national championship for the 1923 season. Illinois (coached by Bob Zuppke) and Michigan (coached by Fielding "Hurry-Up" Yost), both members of what is now the Big Ten Conference, finished with records of 80 and were selected as national champion by multiple selectors. Illinois featured break-out star Red Grange.[1][2] Ivy League teams Yale and Cornell also had undefeated seasons. Cornell was selected as national champion by one selector.

Number of bowls1
BowlgamesJanuary 1, 1924
Quick facts Number of bowls, Bowl games ...
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Southern Methodist University (SMU) had a record of 90, thanks to coach Ray Morrison bringing the forward pass to the southwest.[3] Teams that had no defeats, but had been tied, were California (901), Texas (801), and Kansas (503).

In the 1924 Rose Bowl, Washington tied Navy 1414.

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments

Conference membership changes

More information School, 1922 Conference ...
School1922 Conference1923 Conference
Connecticut AggiesAthletic League of New England State CollegesNew England
Maine Black BearsIndependentNew England
New Hampshire WildcatsIndependentNew England
Rhode Island RamsAthletic League of New England State CollegesNew England
Texas Christian Horned FrogsIndependentSouthwest
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Program changes

September

September 29 Notre Dame opened its season with a 74–0 win over visiting Kalamazoo College. After a warmup game against a team of Cal alumni, California beat St. Mary's 49–0. Cornell beat St. Bonaventure 41–6, Dartmouth beat Norwich 13–0, and Syracuse beat Hobart 33–0.

October

October 6 Illinois beat Nebraska 24–7 and Michigan defeated Case 36–0. Syracuse beat William & Mary 61–3. Notre Dame beat Lombard College 14–0. Kansas defeated Creighton 6–0. California defeated Santa Clara 48–0. Following wins over the crews of USS Mississippi (33–0) and USS New York (42–7), Washington beat Willamette 54–0. Vanderbilt beat Howard 27–0. Dartmouth beat Maine 6–0. Yale beat North Carolina 53–0, and Cornell beat Susquehanna 84–0.

October 13 Notre Dame beat Army 13–0 Dartmouth beat Boston University 24–0, and Yale beat Georgia 40–0. Michigan beat Vanderbilt 3–0, and Illinois beat Butler 21–7 California beat the Olympic Club 16–0 and Washington beat Whitman College 19–0. Kansas beat Oklahoma State 9–0.

October 20 Cornell beat Williams 28–6, Yale beat Bucknell 29–14 and Dartmouth beat Vermont 27–2. Notre Dame won at Princeton 25–2. Illinois won at Iowa 9–6 and Michigan beat Ohio State 23–0. Texas beat Vanderbilt 16–0. At Lincoln, Kansas and Nebraska played to a 0–0 tie. California beat Oregon State 26–0 and Washington beat visiting USC 22–0.

October 27 Cornell defeated Colgate 34–7. Yale beat Brown 21–0 and Dartmouth beat Harvard 16–0 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 35–7. In Chicago, Illinois beat Northwestern 29–0. Michigan beat Michigan State 37–0. Kansas and Kansas State played to a scoreless tie (0–0). At Portland, Oregon, California continued its streak of shutouts with a 9–0 win over Washington State. Washington beat Puget Sound 24–0. Vanderbilt defeated Tulane 17–0.

November

November 3 Yale beat Army 31–10 Notre Dame beat Purdue 34–7 Dartmouth (5–0–0) hosted Cornell (4–0–0) and in a triumph of Big Red over Big Green, Cornell won 32–7.

Illinois and Chicago, both unbeaten (4–0–0) met at Champaign, with the Illini winning 7–0. Michigan won at Iowa 9–3. Kansas won at Oklahoma 7–3. California held visiting Nevada scoreless for its seventh straight shutout, but could not score either, suffering a 0–0 tie. Washington stayed unbeaten and untied with a 14–0 win at Oregon State. Mississippi A&M tied Vanderbilt in the rain, 0–0.

November 10 At Boston's Fenway Park, Dartmouth beat Brown 16–14, while at New York's Polo Grounds, Cornell beat Columbia 35–0. Yale beat Maryland 16–14. Notre Dame suffered its first loss, at Nebraska, 14–7.

Meanwhile, Illinois beat Wisconsin 10–0. Michigan defeated the Quantico Marines football team 29–6. In Los Angeles, California beat USC 13–7. Washington beat Montana 26–14. Kansas beat Washington University in St. Louis 83–0. Vanderbilt beat Tennessee 51–7.

November 17 California (7–0–1) hosted Washington (8–0–0) and won 9–0. Illinois beat Mississippi State 27–0, and Michigan won at Wisconsin 6–3, as both teams stayed unbeaten. Notre Dame beat Butler 34–7. Yale defeated Princeton 27–0. Kansas beat Drake 17–0. Vanderbilt defeats Georgia 35–7.

November 24 In Pittsburgh, Notre Dame defeated Carnegie Tech 26–0. Dartmouth beat Colby College 62–0, and Cornell defeated Johns Hopkins 52–0. Yale closed a perfect season with a 13–0 win over Harvard. Illinois closed its season at 8–0–0 with a 9–0 win at Ohio State, while Michigan closed a perfect season with a 10–0 win over Minnesota. California closed its season with a 9–0 win over Stanford. Washington beat Washington State 24–7, and though it was second to Cal in the Pacific Coast Conference, received the invitation to the Rose Bowl to face (5–1–2) Navy.

On Thanksgiving Day, which was held on November 29 in 1923, Furman, which had won its first ten games, lost its final game to visiting Clemson, 7–6. In Philadelphia, Cornell closed a perfect season with a 14–7 win over Pennsylvania. Dartmouth finished with a 31–6 win over Columbia at New York. Kansas and Missouri played to a 3–3 tie, giving the Jayhawks an unbeaten, if not untied (5–0–3) finish. Notre Dame won at St. Louis 13–0. Vanderbilt beat Sewanee 7–0. Texas beat Texas A&M 6–0. Florida beat Alabama 16–6.

December 1 Washington beat Oregon 26–7.

Rose Bowl

A crowd of 48,000 turned out to watch Navy and Washington play an exciting game. Ira McKee's passing put Navy ahead 14–7 at halftime, after Washington's George Wilson had tied the game at 7–7. In the fourth quarter, Washington's Roy Petrie picked off a pass at Navy's 10 yard line, setting up the Huskies' tying touchdown for a 14 to 14 finish.[4] Later, it turned out that Washington halfback Les Sherman, whose two extra point attempts had tied the game, had played with a broken toe, while fullback Elmer Tesreau had played with a fractured leg.[5]

Conference standings

Major conference standings

More information Conf., Overall ...
1923 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Illinois +500800
Michigan +400800
Chicago510710
Minnesota211511
Iowa330530
Indiana220340
Wisconsin131331
Ohio State140341
Purdue140251
Northwestern060260
  • + Conference co-champions
1923 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Kansas +303503
Nebraska +302422
Drake310520
Iowa State321431
Kansas State222422
Oklahoma240350
Missouri132233
Grinnell130260
Washington University140350
  • + Conference co-champions
1923 Northwest Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Washington $6001011
Idaho301521
Oregon Agricultural221452
Oregon331341
Washington State221241
Pacific (OR)230530
Whitman130150
Montana140440
Willamette030251
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
California $500901
Washington^4101011
Stanford220720
USC220620
Idaho221521
Oregon Agricultural131452
Washington State131241
Oregon041341
  • $ Conference champion
  • ^ Selected as Rose Bowl representative
1923 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Colorado $700900
Colorado College611611
Colorado Agricultural511521
Utah Agricultural420520
Denver430630
Utah230430
Montana State120540
Colorado Mines150250
BYU150250
Wyoming070080
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Southern Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Washington & Lee +401631
Vanderbilt * +301521
VPI410630
Alabama411721
Maryland210721
Florida102612
North Carolina211531
Georgia320531
Mississippi A&M212522
Tennessee430541
Tulane221631
Clemson111521
Georgia Tech004324
NC State140370
Auburn013333
Kentucky022432
Virginia031351
LSU030351
Ole Miss040460
South Carolina040460
  • + Conference co-champions
  • * co-member of SIAA
1923 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
SMU $500900
Texas201801
TCU210450
Baylor112512
Arkansas220621
Oklahoma A&M130280
Rice140350
Texas A&M031531
  • $ Conference champion
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Independents

More information Conf., Overall ...
1923 Eastern college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Cornell  800
Yale  800
St. John's  501
Dartmouth  810
Syracuse  810
Boston College  711
Rutgers  711
Washington & Jefferson  611
Holy Cross  820
Lafayette  612
Tufts  620
Army  621
Colgate  621
Geneva  621
Lehigh  621
NYU  621
Penn State  621
Vermont  631
Brown  640
Harvard  431
Carnegie Tech  431
Penn  540
Pittsburgh  540
Bucknell  441
Columbia  441
Duquesne  440
Princeton  331
Franklin & Marshall  351
Drexel  260
Buffalo  251
Fordham  270
Boston University  160
Villanova  071
Temple  050
CCNY  070
Springfield  070
1923 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Marquette  800
Michigan Mines  200
Notre Dame  910
Western State Normal  611
Haskell  1121
Butler  720
Central Michigan  512
Baldwin–Wallace  521
Cincinnati  630
Loyola (IL)  630
Saint Louis  531
Detroit  432
Wabash  432
John Carroll  441
Valparaiso  221
Dayton  450
Michigan Agricultural  350
Fairmount  242
Kent State  050
1923 Southern college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Davis & Elkins  800
King  801
VMI  910
Tennessee Docs  602
Abilene Christian  610
West Virginia  711
Middle Tennessee State Normal  410
Loyola (LA)  511
Quantico Marines  721
Navy  513
Stetson  520
Wake Forest  630
West Tennessee State Normal  630
William & Mary  630
Louisville  530
Delaware  531
Trinity (NC)  540
Western Kentucky State Normal  540
Union (TN)  441
Catholic University  440
Mississippi Normal  330
Texas Mines  340
Richmond  350
Georgetown  360
East Tennessee State Normal  360
Davidson  370
George Washington  280
Birmingham–Southern  152
Marshall  170
Spring Hill  170
1923 Western college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
New Mexico A&M  900
La Verne  721
Hawaii  512
Saint Mary's  531
Arizona  530
Tempe Normal  420
Gonzaga  430
Santa Clara  341
New Mexico  350
Nevada  233
Santa Barbara State  240
Cal Aggies  270
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Minor conferences

Minor conference standings

More information Conf., Overall ...
1923 California Coast Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Pacific (CA) +400700
Fresno State +300720
Chico State210522
Cal Poly210330
Bakersfield110440
Modesto110350
San Mateo130???
Sacramento030???
San Jose State040060
  • + Conference co-champions
1923 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Virginia Union $500601
Howard301701
Hampton420520
Virginia Normal330430
Lincoln (PA)112512
Saint Paul (VA)231631
Virginia Seminary140360
Shaw050050
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Lombard $400610
Mount Morris201212
Knox (IL)410710
Illinois Wesleyan720720
Bradley620620
Southern Illinois210322
Lincoln (IL)212???
Eastern Illinois322422
Monmouth (IL)431631
Illinois College331341
Eureka440440
Millikin440450
Carthage231431
Illinois State Normal232242
Augustana (IL)350350
St. Viator120532
Lake Forest130261
Blackburn141151
Western Illinois141161
Wheaton (IL)011232
Northern Illinois State023143
Shurtleff041???
McKendree040151
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Indiana Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Notre Dame $100910
Butler410720
Rose Poly420440
Franklin321521
Wabash211432
Evansville210320
DePauw221421
Indiana State220230
Hanover241261
Earlham130250
Central Normal130260
Oakland City140150
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Iowa Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Simpson (IA) $700810
Penn (IA)520540
Western Union210610
St. Ambrose210521
Buena Vista210430
Des Moines110541
Luther001412
Central (IA)110120
Upper Iowa231251
Iowa State Teachers350350
Morningside120520
Parsons120450
Iowa Wesleyan040171
Ellsworth060060
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Sterling $711711
Friends510520
Emporia Teachers511511
McPherson621621
Baker314414
Ottawa422522
College of Emporia530530
Hays Teachers332432
Pittsburg Teachers222332
Fairmount222242
St. Mary's (KS)340440
Kansas Wesleyan251451
Bethany (KS)270270
Southwestern (KS)152252
Bethel (KS)050050
Washburn062082
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Alma $500621
Albion410720
Olivet320531
Hillsdale131341
Michigan State Normal131251
Kalamazoo0500100
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Midwest Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Beloit +400611
Carleton +200520
Lawrence211431
Knox220540
Coe110620
Cornell (IA)121431
Millikin010450
Ripon010240
Hamline030430
  • + Conference co-champions
1923 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
St. Olaf $410611
Carleton310520
Hamline310430
St. Thomas (MN)100500
Macalester230331
Concordia (MN)130231
Saint John's (MN)130230
Gustavus Adolphus140250
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Missouri Valley $501???
Missouri Wesleyan711???
Springfield (MO)310720
Missouri Mines100440
William Jewell520530
Warrensburg422532
Cape Girardeau110430
Maryville (MO)231351
Westminster (MO)250350
Culver–Stockton130351
Drury130140
Kirksville140540
Central (MO)142152
Central Wesleyan011241
Tarkio021???
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Hastings $700???
Chadron Normal401701
Midland711821
Nebraska Wesleyan411612
Peru Normal412612
Grand Island430540
Doane340340
Kearney Normal241241
Wayne Normal240260
Nebraska Central161161
York (NE)061061
Cotner080080
  • $ Conference champion
1923 New England Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Maine $300530
New Hampshire111441
Connecticut111341
Rhode Island State030151
Massachusetts000250
  • $ Conference champion
1923 North Central Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Morningside $310520
North Dakota210530
Des Moines211541
South Dakota State230340
Creighton120550
North Dakota Agricultural120241
South Dakota131431
Nebraska Wesleyan *101612
  • $ Conference champion
  • * – ineligible for conference title; too few games played
1923 Ohio Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Wooster $800900
Ohio Wesleyan500620
Wittenberg510710
Hiram520520
Cincinnati520630
Otterbein430530
Western Reserve540540
Muskingum330530
Oberlin331431
Mount Union330540
Denison222332
Ohio Northern340640
Akron231431
Ohio241351
St. Xavier120440
Miami (OH)141341
Kenyon150160
Heidelberg050350
Case080090
  • $ Conference champion
1923 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Columbus (SD) +500510
Northern Normal +401412
Dakota Wesleyan +401421
South Dakota Mines310420
Augustana (SD)331431
Huron331331
Yankton230260
Eastern Normal150150
Spearfish010050
Southern Normal030030
Sioux Falls050050
  • + Conference co-champions
  • South Dakota Mines and Spearfish played twice. The second game was not counted in the conference standings.
1923 Southern California Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Pomona +410520
Caltech +410540
Occidental320430
Whittier230430
Redlands230451
Southern Branch050250
  • + Conference co-champions
1923 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Furman $410920
Centre200711
Vanderbilt*200521
Western Kentucky200340
Mississippi College301512
The Citadel211531
Presbyterian211431
Louisville210520
Sewanee320541
Oglethorpe330460
Chattanooga131342
Howard (AL)131343
Wofford130630
Mercer220450
Millsaps011011
Louisiana College010010
Georgetown (KY)010030
Transylvania030030
Newberry040280
  • $ Conference champion
  • * co-member of SoCon
1923 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Wiley $410610
Paul Quinn311511
Prairie View320520
Samuel Huston122???
Bishop131242
Texas College140???
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Spokane Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Cheney Normal $300520
Spokane College210???
Whitworth120???
Spokane University030???
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Austin $401721
Howard Payne312432
Simmons (TX)212352
Rice210350
Southwestern (TX)211251
North Texas State Teachers320350
Trinity (TX)330630
Sam Houston State330440
Southwest Texas State340440
West Texas State130441
East Texas State140260
Daniel Baker150160
  • $ Conference champion
1923 Wisconsin Normal Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
Oshkosh Normal $500700
La Crosse Normal101511
River Falls Normal310520
Whitewater Normal210610
Eau Claire Normal210420
Superior Normal220540
Platteville Normal130261
Milwaukee Normal021241
Stout Normal021151
Stevens Point Normal041061
  • $ Conference champion
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Awards and honors

All-Americans

The consensus All-America team included:

More information Position, Name ...
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Statistical leaders

References

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