1905 Western Conference football season

The 1905 Western Conference football season was the tenth 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 1905 college football season.

1905 Western Conference football season
Sport	Football
Number of teams	9
Champion	Chicago

1905 Western Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Chicago $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	0
Michigan	2	–	1	–	0			12	–	1	–	0
Minnesota	2	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Purdue	1	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Indiana	0	–	1	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
Iowa	0	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	1
Illinois	0	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1905 Chicago Maroons football team won the conference championship, compiled an 11–0 record, and outscored opponents 271 to 5.^[1] The Maroons were retroactively named national champions by the Billingsley Report, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the National Championship Foundation, and the Houlgate System.^[2]

Michigan won the first 12 games of the season by a combined score of 495 to 0, but lost the final game of the season by a score of 2–0 against Chicago.

Minnesota compiled a 10-1 record, shut out 10 of 12 opponents, and outscored all opponents 542 to 22.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1	Chicago	Amos A. Stagg	11–0	7–0	24.6	0.5
2 (tie)	Michigan	Fielding H. Yost	12–1	2–1	38.1	0.2
2 (tie)	Minnesota	Henry L. Williams	10–1	2–1	49.3	2.0
4	Purdue	Albert Herrnstein	6–1–1	1–1	22.1	3.8
5	Wisconsin	Philip King	8–2	1–2	22.6	2.8
6	Indiana	James M. Sheldon	8–1–1	0–1–1	24.0	3.8
7 (tie)	Iowa	John Chalmers	8–2	0–2	30.9	8.6
7 (tie)	Northwestern	Walter McCornack	8–2–1	0–2	19.5	11.1
7 (tie)	Illinois	Fred Lowenthal	5–4	0–3	9.3	15.1

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game^[3]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[3]

Regular season

Bowl games

No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1905 season.

Awards and honors

All-Americans

Main article: 1905 College Football All-America Team

The following Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1905 College Football All-America Team. (Consensus All-Americans displayed in bold).

• Mark Catlin, end, Chicago (Caspar Whitney [CW])
• Walter Eckersall, quarterback, Chicago (Walter Camp [WC], CW, New York Evening Post [NYEP])
• Thomas S. Hammond, Michigan (NYEP)

All-Western players

Main article: 1905 All-Western college football team

Eleven players were chosen as first-team players on at least five of the 1905 All-Western college football teams named by the following 10 selectors: Chicago American (CA),^[4] Chicago Chronicle (CC),^[5] Chicago Daily News (CDN),^[4] Chicago Evening Journal (CEJ),^[4] Chicago Evening Post (CP),^[4] Chicago Record-Herald (CRH),^[4] Chicago Tribune (CT),^[4] E. C. Patterson for Collier's Weekly (ECP),^[6] J. H. Ritchie in Illustrated Outdoor News (JHR),^[4] and The Minneapolis Journal (MJ).^[7] (Players unanimously chosen by all 10 selectors are listed in bold.)

Position	Name	Team	Selectors
End	Mark Catlin	Chicago	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
End	Bobby Marshall	Minnesota	CC, CDN, CP, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
Tackle	Wilson Bertke	Minnesota	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
Tackle	Joe Curtis	Michigan	CA, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP
Guard	Henry Schulte	Michigan	CA, CC, CDN, CP, CRH, ECP, JHR, MJ
Guard	Walter D. Graham	Michigan	CC, CP, CT, JHR, MJ
C	Germany Schulz	Michigan	CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, JHR, MJ
Quarterback	Walter Eckersall	Chicago	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
Halfback	Thomas S. Hammond	Michigan	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
Halfback	Albion G. Findlay	Wisconsin	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ
Fullback	Hugo Bezdek	Chicago	CA, CC, CDN, CEJ, CP, CRH, CT, ECP, JHR, MJ