1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football

Big Nine champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 45–14 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Nine Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
Record	8–2 (6–1 Big Nine)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (5th season)
MVP	Alex Agase
Captain	Mac Wenskunas
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1945 1947 →

1946 Big Nine Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Illinois $	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Michigan	5	–	1	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
No. 20 Indiana	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Northwestern	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Purdue	0	–	5	–	1	2	–	6	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois in the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled an 8–2 record (6–1 against Big Nine opponents) and won the Big Nine championship. They finished the season ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll and were invited to play in the 1947 Rose Bowl where they defeated No. 4 UCLA, 45–14.^[1]^[2] Center Mac Wenskunas was the team captain.^[2]

Guard Alex Agase was a consensus first-team selection on the 1946 All-America college football team.^[3] Agase also received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Nine's most valuable player.^[4] Four Illinois players received honors from the Associated Press (AP) or United Press (UP) on the 1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team: Agase (AP-1, UP-1); ends Ike Owens (UP-1) and Sam Zatkoff (UP-2); and halfback Jules Rykovich (UP-2).^[5]^[6]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	1:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 33–7	35,000	^[7]
September 28		Notre Dame*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 6–26	75,119	^[8]
October 5		Purdue		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 43–7	38,519	^[9]
October 12		at Indiana	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	L 7–14	27,000	^[10]
October 19	2:00 p.m.	No. 20 Wisconsin		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 27–21	62,597	^[11]
October 26		at No. 8 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 13–9	86,938	^[12]^[13]
November 2		at Iowa	No. 11	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 7–0	52,000	^[14]
November 16		No. 13 Ohio State	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	W 16–7	61,519	^[15]
November 23		at Northwestern	No. 5	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 20–0	47,000	^[16]
January 1		vs. No. 4 UCLA*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 45–14	93,083	^[17]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Season summary

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	0	0	7
• Fighting Illini	7	0	13	13	33

Date: September 21
Location: Pitt Stadium
Pittsburgh, PA
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Referee: Russel H. Rupp (Lebanon Valley) ; John Vilson (Ohio State) (Umpire); Herbert F. Steger (Michigan (Linesman); Loyed Larson (Wisconsin (Field judge);
Television network: WDWS

Previous Scores

Year	Score
1943	ILL 33-25
1944	ILL 39-5
1945	ILL 23-3

Stats

	Illinois	Pittsburgh
Total number of first downs	10	9
First down rushing	7	3
First down forward pass	1	6
First down penalties	2	0
Net yard rushing	193	132
Net yard forward pass	33	73
Net yard offensive plays	226	205
Forward pass thrown	9	19
Forward pass completed	2	6
Forward pass Int'ecpted	2	4
Number of penalties	1	14
Yards of penalties	5	76
Number of punts	5	12
Number of fumble	5	12
Number of fumble lost	1	3

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	12	—	—	11	10	9	5	5	5

Roster

Player	Position
Alex Agase	Offensive guard
Perry Moss	Quarterback
Ruck Steger
Les Bingaman	Guard, Tackle
Sam Zatkoff	End
Joe Buscemi
Bob Cunz	Tackle
Don Maechtle	Placekicker
Don Pittman
Chuck Gottfried
Al Martignago
Lyle Button	Tackle
Lou Levanti	Center
Bob Prymuski	Guard
Tom Gallagher
Al Mastrangeli	Center
Merle Schlosser	End
Bernie Krueger	Quarterback
Dike Eddleman	Punter
Bill Franks	Tackle
Chick Maggioli	Defensive back, Halfback
Paul Patterson	Quarterback
Ike Owens	End, Defensive end
Art Dufelmeier (Captain)	Halfback
Tom Stewart
Bob Hinkle
Lou Agase	Tight end, Tackle
Jim Valck
Jack Pierce
Burt Schmidt
Denny Bassett
Walt Kersulis	End
John Wrenn	Guard
Herb Siegert	Guard, Linebacker
Bill Heiss	End

Head coach: Ray Eliot (5th year at Illinois)
Line coach: Burt Ingwersen

Awards and honors

Alex Agase
- Chicago Tribune Silver Football
- Consensus All-American (guard)

References

^ "1946 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 8. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
^ "Alex Agase Is Most Valuable". Journal and Courier. December 16, 1946. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Indiana Places Three on Big Ten All-Stars". The Milwaukee Journal (AP story). November 26, 1946. p. 6. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
^ "Michigan Gets Three Places On UP Team". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (UP story). November 30, 1946. p. 13.
^ Jack Henry (September 22, 1946). "Pitt Overpowered Illinois, 33-7: Victors Held To 7-7 Score In First Half; Gave 'Em a Scare!". Pittsburgh Sunday Sun-Telegraph. p. II-7 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Bert Bertine (September 29, 1946). "Notre Dame Halts Young, Overpowers Illinois, 26-6: Record 75,119 Watches Irish Dominate Battle". Decatur Sunday Herald and Review. pp. 29, 30 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Bert Bertine (October 6, 1946). "Illini Rout Purdue, 43-7: Illinois Backs Run Freely in Big Nine Debut". Decatur Sunday Herald and Review. p. II-1. Retrieved April 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jack K. Overmyer (October 13, 1946). "Indiana Triumphs: 4th-Quarter Tally By Pihos Decides Game; Capacity Throng Of 27,000 Sees Illini Bow, 14-7". The Indianapolis Star. pp. 41, 43 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Irving Vaughan (October 20, 1946). "Illini Beat Wisconsin, 27-21: 2 Touchdowns in 4th Period Whip Badgers; Wham! 21 Points in First 4 Minutes". Chicago Tribune. pp. II-1, II-2 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Edward Burns (October 27, 1946). "Zatkoff Races 53 Yards As Illinois Beats Michigan, 13-9". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
^ Lyall Smith (October 27, 1946). "Illini Upset Wolverines on Zatkoff's Long Run, 13-9: Sam Travels 47 Yards on Interception; 12 Fumbles Costly to Michigan Drives". Detroit Free Press. pp. IV-2, IV-3 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Bert McGrane (November 3, 1946). "Illini Sink Iowa, 7-0, Lead Big 9: 5 Hawk Bids Fail; Steger's Stab on Illinois' Big Push Drops Iowans From Race". The Des Moines Sunday Register. pp. V-1, V-2 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Edward Burns (November 17, 1946). "Illinois Defeats Ohio, 16-7; Keeps Lead; Rykovich Goes 98 Yards Over Muddy Field; It's Fifth Victory in Big Nine". Chicago Tribune. pp. II-1, II-7 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Charles Bartlett (November 24, 1946). "Illinois Beats N.U., 20-0; Takes Big 9 Title; Sixth League Victory Opens Door To Bowl". Chicago Tribune. pp. II-1, II-6 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Paul Zimmerman (January 2, 1947). "Illinois Wallops Bruins by 45-14: Young, Rykovich Run Wild Behind Fast Illini Line as 93,083 Fans Gasp". Los Angeles Times. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini football
Venues	Illinois Field (1890–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present) Soldier Field (1994–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana Michigan Missouri Northwestern Ohio State: Battle for Illibuck Purdue
Culture & lore	Illinois Loyalty "Oskee Wow-Wow" Marching Illini Gene Honda Fighting Illini Sports Network Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal 2021 Penn State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Big Ten Conference football champions
Western Conference	Wisconsin (1896) Wisconsin (1897) Michigan (1898) Chicago (1899) Iowa & Minnesota (1900) Michigan & Wisconsin (1901) Michigan (1902) Michigan, Minnesota, & Northwestern (1903) Michigan & Minnesota (1904) Chicago (1905) Michigan, Minnesota, & Wisconsin (1906) Chicago (1907) Chicago (1908) Minnesota (1909) Illinois & Minnesota (1910) Minnesota (1911) Wisconsin (1912) Chicago (1913) Illinois (1914) Illinois & Minnesota (1915) Ohio State (1916)
Big Ten	Ohio State (1917) Illinois, Michigan, & Purdue (1918) Illinois (1919) Ohio State (1920) Iowa (1921) Chicago, Iowa, & Michigan (1922) Illinois & Michigan (1923) Chicago (1924) Michigan (1925) Michigan & Northwestern (1926) Illinois & Minnesota (1927) Illinois (1928) Purdue (1929) Michigan & Northwestern (1930) Purdue, Michigan & Northwestern (1931) Michigan & Purdue (1932) Michigan & Minnesota (1933) Minnesota (1934) Minnesota & Ohio State (1935) Northwestern (1936) Minnesota (1937) Minnesota (1938) Ohio State (1939) Minnesota (1940) Minnesota (1941) Ohio State (1942) Michigan & Purdue (1943) Ohio State (1944) Indiana (1945)
Big Nine	Illinois (1946) Michigan (1947) Michigan (1948) Michigan & Ohio State (1949)
Big Ten	Michigan (1950) Illinois (1951) Purdue & Wisconsin (1952) Illinois & Michigan State (1953) Ohio State (1954) Ohio State (1955) Iowa (1956) Ohio State (1957) Iowa (1958) Wisconsin (1959) Minnesota & Iowa (1960) Ohio State (1961) Wisconsin (1962) Illinois (1963) Michigan (1964) Michigan State (1965) Michigan State (1966) Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue (1967) Ohio State (1968) Michigan & Ohio State (1969) Ohio State (1970) Michigan (1971) Michigan & Ohio State (1972) Michigan & Ohio State (1973) Michigan & Ohio State (1974) Ohio State (1975) Michigan & Ohio State (1976) Michigan & Ohio State (1977) Michigan & Michigan State (1978) Ohio State (1979) Michigan (1980) Iowa & Ohio State (1981) Michigan (1982) Illinois (1983) Ohio State (1984) Iowa (1985) Michigan & Ohio State (1986) Michigan State (1987) Michigan (1988) Michigan (1989) Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, & Michigan State (1990) Michigan (1991) Michigan (1992) Ohio State & Wisconsin (1993) Penn State (1994) Northwestern (1995) Ohio State & Northwestern (1996) Michigan (1997) Michigan, Ohio State, & Wisconsin (1998) Wisconsin (1999) Michigan, Northwestern, & Purdue (2000) Illinois (2001) Ohio State & Iowa (2002) Michigan (2003) Iowa & Michigan (2004) Ohio State & Penn State (2005) Ohio State (2006) Ohio State (2007) Ohio State & Penn State (2008) Ohio State (2009) Michigan State & Wisconsin (2010) Wisconsin (2011) Wisconsin (2012) Michigan State (2013) Ohio State (2014) Michigan State (2015) Penn State (2016) Ohio State (2017) Ohio State (2018) Ohio State (2019) Ohio State (2020) Michigan (2021) Michigan (2022) Michigan (2023) Oregon (2024)
National championships in bold

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