1943 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

1943 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–4 (2–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	George Hauser (2nd season)
MVP	Paul Mitchell
Captain	Clifford Anderson, Paul Mitchell
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1943 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Purdue +	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	0
No. 3 Michigan +	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Northwestern	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Indiana	2	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	2
Minnesota	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Iowa	0	–	4	–	1			1	–	6	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1943 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1943 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach George Hauser, the Golden Gophers compiled a 5–4 record but were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 184 to 170.[1]

Fullback Bill Daley and end Herb Hein were named All-Americans by the Associated Press. Daley was also named an All-American by Collier's/Grantland Rice.[2] Tackle Paul Mitchell was named All-Big Ten first team.[3]

Paul Mitchell was awarded the Team MVP Award.[4]

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Minnesota ranked 21st among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 96.4.[5]

Total attendance for the season was 182,779, which averaged 26,111. The season high for attendance was against Purdue.[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	Missouri*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 26–13	30,000
October 2	Nebraska*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 54–0	34,000
October 16	Camp Grant*	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 13–7	35,000
October 23	at No. 10 Michigan	No. 11	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 6–49	45,000
October 30	at No. 15 Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 6–42	32,000
November 6	No. 2 Purdue		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 7–14	43,000
November 13	Iowa		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 33–14	20,000
November 20	Wisconsin		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 25–13	20,000
November 27	No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 0–32	18,261	[7]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1943 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	9 (1)	13	11	—	—	—	—	—	—

Game summaries

Michigan

Week 5: Minnesota at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 6 0 0 6 • Michigan 7 7 14 21 49 Date: October 23, 1943 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan Game start: 1:30 p.m. (C.W.T.)[8] Game attendance: 45,000 Referee: William A. Blake (Loras)

On October 23, 1942, Minnesota played Michigan in the annual Little Brown Jug game. The Wolverines had lost nine straight games to Bernie Bierman's Minnesota teams, the last Michigan victory having been in 1932.[9]

Michigan defeated Minnesota by a score of 49 to 6 in front of a crowd of 45,000 spectators at Michigan Stadium. The 43-point margin made it the worst defeat sustained by a Minnesota team to that point in the program's history.[10] On the first play from scrimmage, Elroy Hirsch ran 61 yards on a reverse around right end for a touchdown. Hirsch scored a total of three touchdowns and also intercepted a Minnesota pass to stop a drive in the fourth quarter. Bill Daley, the V-12 transfer who played for Minnesota in 1942, became the first player to play for both sides in Little Brown Jug games.[10] Prior to the game, the Chicago Daily Tribune referred to Daley as "the Gophers' war time gift to their football foes."[8] Daley scored two touchdowns, returned a punt for 37 yards to set up Hirsch's second touchdown, and kicked two extra points. After five games, Daley was the leading rusher in college football with 620 rushing yards on 98 carries.[10]

Minnesota's only touchdown was set up by an interception of a pass thrown by Jack Wink. The interception was returned to Michigan's 15-yard line, and Frank Loren scored the touchdown late in the second quarter. Bob Wiese blocked Minnesota's extra point kick. In the fourth quarter, Wink threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Farnham Johnson. Bob Nussbaumer also scored a touchdown for Michigan. Merv Pregulman added four extra points. Michigan dominated the game with 230 rushing yards and 128 passing yards, while holding Minnesota to 60 rushing yards and 14 passing yards.[10][11][12]

References

1. "1943 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
2. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 179^[permanent dead link‍]
3. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 180^[permanent dead link‍]
4. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 181^[permanent dead link‍]
5. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1943). "Litkenhouse Selects U. S. Grid Leaders". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 18. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
6. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160^[permanent dead link‍]
7. Sec Taylordate=November 28, 1943. "Seahawks Triumph, 32-0". The Des Moines Register. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Edward Burns (October 23, 1943). "Minnesota Battles Michigan: Last Game for White, Captain of the Wolverines; Gets Service Call; So Does Daley". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013.
9. "Michigan vs. Minnesota". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014.
10. "Michigan Defeats Minnesota, 49 to 6: 45,000 See Gophers in Worst Setback as Daley, Their Former Ace, Stars". The New York Times (United Press story). October 24, 1943.
11. "Elroy Hirsch Stars as Michigan Leads Minnesota, 28 to 6". The Milwaukee Journal. October 23, 1943.
12. Edward Burns (October 24, 1943). "Michigan Wins, 49-6: Daley, Hirsch Instrumental In Ending 9 Year Minnesota Reign". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. A1.