1904 Western Conference football season

The 1904 Western Conference football season was the ninth season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1904 college football season.

1904 Western Conference football season
Sport	Football
Number of teams	9
Co-champions	Minnesota, Michigan

1904 Western Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Minnesota +	3	–	0	–	0			13	–	0	–	0
Michigan +	2	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
Chicago	5	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Illinois	3	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Purdue	1	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	0	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Indiana	0	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

Photo of the 1904 Purdue football team

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1 (tie)	Minnesota	Henry L. Williams	13-0	3-0	55.8	0.9
1 (tie)	Michigan	Fielding H. Yost	10–0	2–0	56.7	2.2
3	Chicago	Amos A. Stagg	10–1–1	5–1–1	34.2	3.7
4	Illinois	multiple	9–2–1	3–1–1	19.3	3.5
5 (tie)	Northwestern	Walter McCornack	8–2	1–2	31.2	5.5
5 (tie)	Purdue	Oliver Cutts	9–3	1–2	14.7	5.5
7 (tie)	Iowa	John Chalmers	7–4	0–3	22.8	9.9
7 (tie)	Wisconsin	Arthur Curtis	5–3	0–3	33.1	9.3
7 (tie)	Indiana	James H. Horne	6–4	0–3	8.4	11.6

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game^[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[1]

Regular season

Bowl games

No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1904 season.

Awards and honors

All-Western players

For the complete All-Western selections, see 1904 All-Western college football team.

Eleven players were chosen as first-team players on at least four of the 1904 All-Western college football teams named by the following eight selectors: Collier's Weekly (COL),^[2] Chicago Record-Herald (CRH),^[3] Chicago Tribune (CT),^[4] Detroit Free Press (DFP),^[3] Detroit Tribune (DT),^[3] The Minneapolis Journal (MJ),^[5] The St. Louis Republic (SLR),^[6] and Walter Camp (WC) in Collier's Weekly.^[7] (Players unanimously chosen by all eight selectors are listed in bold.)

• Claude Rothgeb, end, Illinois (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, DT, SLR, WC)
• James Irving Bush, end, Wisconsin (COL, CRH, DFP, DT, MJ, WC)
• Joe Curtis, tackle, Michigan (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, DT, MJ, SLR, WC)
• Wilson Bertke, tackle, Wisconsin (COL, DFP, MJ, SLR, WC)
• Walton W. Thorpe, guard, Minnesota (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, DT, MJ, SLR, WC)
• Charles A. Fairweather, guard, Illinois (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, SLR, WC)
• John Hazelwood, center, Illinois (COL, CRH, CT, SLR)
• Walter Eckersall, Chicago (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, DT, SLR, WC)
• Willie Heston, halfback, Michigan (COL, CRH, CT, DFP, DT, MJ, SLR, WC)
• E. J. Vanderboom, halfback, Wisconsin (DFP, DT, SLR, WC)
• Frank Longman, fullback, Michigan (COL, CRH, DFP, DT)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1904 College Football All-America Team.

The following three Western Conference players were consensus first-team players on the 1904 College Football All-America Team.

• Fred Speik, end, Chicago (Caspar Whitney [CW])
• Willie Heston, halfback, Michigan (Walter Camp [WC], New York Evening Telegram)
• Walter Eckersall, fullback, Chicago (CW, WC)

References

1. "1904 Western Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
2. Collier's Self Indexing Annual. P. F. Collier & Son. 1905. p. 674.
3. "News-Athletics". The Michigan Daily. December 1904. p. 133.
4. "All-Western Football Eleven". Chicago Tribune. November 27, 1904.
5. O'Loughlin (November 28, 1904). "The Journal's "All Western"". The Minneapolis Journal. p. 15.
6. "All-Western Football Team". The St. Louis Republic. November 30, 1904. p. 9.
7. Walter Camp, ed. (1905). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1905. American Sports Publishing Company. p. 35.