1935 Big Ten Conference football season

1935 Big Ten Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pickJay Berwanger
ChampionMinnesota
  Runners-upOhio State
Season MVPJay Berwanger
Football seasons
← 1934
1936 →
1935 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Minnesota + 5 0 0 8 0 0
No. 5 Ohio State + 5 0 0 7 1 0
Purdue 3 3 0 4 4 0
Indiana 2 2 1 4 3 1
No. 16 Northwestern 2 3 1 4 3 1
No. 18 Iowa 1 2 2 4 2 2
Chicago 2 3 0 4 4 0
Michigan 2 3 0 4 4 0
Illinois 1 4 0 3 5 0
Wisconsin 1 4 0 1 7 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from United Press

The 1935 Big Ten Conference football season was the 40th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1935 college football season.

The 1935 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Bernie Bierman, compiled an undefeated 8–0 record, outscored opponents, 194 to 36, and has been recognized as the 1935 national champion by seven of the 13 selectors recognized as official by the NCAA. Tackle Ed Widseth was a consensus, first-team All-American.

The 1935 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Francis Schmidt, compiled a 7–1 record, tied with Minnesota for the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (29.6 points per game), and outscored opponents, 237 to 57. Ohio State's sole loss was to Notre Dame by an 18-13 score. Center Gomer Jones was a consensus, first-team All-American.

Chicago Maroons halfback Jay Berwanger was the first recipient of the Heisman Trophy, received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player, and was the first player selected in the 1936 NFL draft.

Season overview

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Results and team statistics

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Conf. Rank Team Head coach Overall record Conf. record UP
final
PPG PAG MVP
1 (tie) Minnesota Bernie Bierman 8–0 5–0 #1 24.3 5.8 Babe LeVoir
1 (tie) Ohio State Francis Schmidt 7–1 5–0 #5 29.6 7.1 Gomer Jones
3 Purdue Noble Kizer 4–4 3–3 NR 8.1 7.1 Frank Loebs
4 Indiana Bo McMillin 4–3–1 2–2–1 NR 8.8 6.9 Wendel Walker
5 Northwestern Pappy Waldorf 4–3–1 2–3–1 #16 11.3 9.9 Wally Cruice
6 Iowa Ossie Solem 4–2–2 1–2–2 #18 15.3 4.9 Dick Crayne
7 (tie) Chicago Clark Shaughnessy 4–4 2–3 NR 12.8 13.8 Jay Berwanger
7 (tie) Michigan Harry Kipke 4–4 2–3 NR 8.5 16.4 William Renner
9 (tie) Illinois Robert Zuppke 3–5 1–4 NR 7.4 6.8 Ed Gryboski
9 (tie) Wisconsin Clarence Spears 1–7 1–4 NR 6.6 21.4 Eddie Jankowski

Key
UP final = Rankings from UP sports writers. See 1935UP sports writers' poll
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[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[2]

Regular season

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Bowl games

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No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1935 season.

All-Big Ten players

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The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP) and/or the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) as first-team players on the 1935 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Babe LeVoir Minnesota AP, UP
Halfback Jay Berwanger Chicago AP, NEA [quarterback], UP
Halfback Ozzie Simmons Iowa AP, NEA [fullback], UP
Halfback Andy Pilney Notre Dame NEA
Fullback Sheldon Beise Minnesota AP, NEA [halfback], UP
End Merle Wendt Ohio State AP, NEA, UP
End Matt Patanelli Michigan UP
End Henry W. Longfellow Northwestern AP
End Trevor J. Rees Ohio State NEA
Tackle Ed Widseth Minnesota AP, NEA, UP
Tackle Dick Smith Minnesota AP, NEA, UP
Guard Paul Tangora Northwestern AP, UP
Guard Bud Wilkinson Minnesota AP, NEA
Guard Ed Grybowski Illinois UP
Center Gomer Jones Ohio State AP, UP
Center Ted Osmaloski Iowa NEA

All-Americans

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Three Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1935 College Football All-America Team. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Halfback Jay Berwanger Chicago AAB, AP, COL, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, KCS, NYS, PTH, WCFF
Tackle Ed Widseth Minnesota AAB, INS, LIB, NANA, TSN, UP, CP, KCS
Center Gomer Jones Ohio State AAB, LIB, NANA, UP, CP, KCS, WCFF

Other Big Ten players received first-team honors from at least one selector. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Dick Smith Minnesota AP, COL, INS, NEA, UP, NYS, PTH
End Merle Wendt Ohio State LIB, NEA
Guard Paul Tangora Northwestern AP, TSN
Guard Inwood Smith Ohio State COL, PTH
Halfback Ozzie Simmons Iowa TSN
Fullback Sheldon Beise Minnesota NANA, CP

1936 NFL draft

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The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 players selected in the 1936 NFL draft:[3]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Jay Berwanger Halfback Chicago 1 1
Dick Crayne Fullback Iowa 1 4

References

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  1. ^ a b "1935 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. ^ Harvey Woodruff (December 22, 1935). "Berwanger Gets Big Ten Player Award: Tribune Trophy Goes To Maroon By Record Vote". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  3. ^ "1936 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 7, 2017.