1942 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1942 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1942 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach George Hauser, the Golden Gophers compiled a 5–4 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 152 to 91.^[1] Minnesota was ranked No. 19 in the final AP poll and No. 10 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System rankings.^[2]

1942 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 19
Record	5–4 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	George Hauser (1st season)
MVP	Dick Wildung
Captain	Dick Wildung
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1941 1943 →

1942 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Ohio State $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	1
No. 9 Michigan	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Illinois	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Minnesota	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Indiana	2	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Purdue	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Tackle Dick Wildung was named an All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press, Stern, Collier's/Grantland Rice, Look Magazine.^[3] Wildung was also named All-Big Ten first team.^[4]

Dick Wildung was awarded the Team MVP Award.^[5]

The Gophers hosted the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight school at the University of Iowa. The Pre-Flight team was coached by Bernie Bierman,^[6] who had coached the Golden Gophers to five national titles between 1934 and 1941, and resumed coaching the Golden Gophers in 1945.^[7]

Total attendance for the season was 231,307, which averaged to 38,551.^[8] The season high for attendance was against Michigan.^[8]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Pittsburgh*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 50–7	22,000	^[9]
October 3	Iowa Pre-Flight*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 6–7	37,500	^[10]
October 10	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 13–20	24,276
October 17	at Nebraska*	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	W 15–2	25,000
October 24	No. 4 Michigan	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	W 16–14	55,000
October 31	Northwestern	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 19–7	37,000
November 7	Indiana	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 0–7	32,000
November 14	No. 12 Iowa	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 27–7	33,000
November 21	No. 7 Wisconsin	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 6–20	46,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1942 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
AP	14 (1)	13	10	7 (1)	16	10	20	19т

Game summaries

Michigan

Week 5: Michigan at Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 7 0 0 7 14 • Minnesota 0 7 7 7 21 Date: October 24, 1942 Location: Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN Game attendance: 55,000

In the fifth week of the season, Minnesota defeated Michigan, 16–14. Tom Kuzma ran for touchdowns in the first and fourth quarters, and Jim Brieske converted both PATs. Bill Daley, who would go on to play for Michigan in 1943, ran 44 yards for a tying touchdown in the second quarter.^[11]

References

1. "1942 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
2. Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 16, 1942). "Litkenhous Rates Georgia No. 1, Ohio State No. 2". Twin City Sentinel. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 179^{[permanent dead link]}
4. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 180^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 181^{[permanent dead link]}
6. Scott, John (1997), (PDF), College Football Historical Society, p. 13, archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2010
7. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 195^{[permanent dead link]}
8. Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Daley Sets Pace With Four Scores". The Pittsburgh Press. September 27, 1942. p. Fourth Section-1. Retrieved April 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Charles Johnson (October 4, 1942). "Gophers Lose 7-6 Thriller". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune and Star Journal. p. Sports 1–2 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "MINNESOTA HALTS MICHIGAN, 16 TO 14; 55,000 Watch Gophers Gain Their First Conference Victory of Season". The New York Times. November 22, 1942. Retrieved January 14, 2012.