1943 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1943 Purdue Boilermaker football team represented Purdue University in the 1943 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Elmer Burnham, the Boilermakers compiled an undefeated 9–0 record (6–0 Big Ten), outscored their opponents by a total of 214 to 55, and finished the season ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll.^[1]

1943 Purdue Boilermakers football
Big Ten co-champion
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
Record	9–0 (6–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Elmer Burnham (2nd season)
MVP	Dick Barwegen
Captain	None
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1942 1944 →

1943 Big Ten Conference football standings

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

The 1943 squad was the only undefeated team playing a full schedule in major college football, but finished fifth in the country per the AP Poll. This would seemingly be sufficient grounds for Purdue to claim a 1943 National Championship as the NCAA itself did not recognize champions in the era. However, Purdue has never pursued this claim.

The 1942 Purdue team had won only one game, but the 1943 team was bolstered with several new players who had been transferred to Purdue as part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program.^[2]

Purdue guard Alex Agase was selected as a consensus first-team player on the 1943 All-America Team,^[3] and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Fullback Tony Butkovich was also selected as a first-team All-American by The Sporting News, the United Press, the Central Press, and Stars and Stripes newspaper. Butkovich led the Big Ten in scoring with 14 touchdowns despite missing the last two games after being called to active duty by the Marines; he was killed in action at the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	at Great Lakes Navy*		Ross Field Chicago, IL	W 23–13	22,000
September 25	at Marquette*		Marquette Stadium Milwaukee, WI	W 21–0	22,000	[4]
October 2	Illinois		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 40–21	15,000
October 9	Camp Grant*	No. 7	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 19–0	13,000
October 16	vs. Ohio State	No. 5	Municipal Stadium Cleveland, OH	W 30–7	41,509
October 23	Iowa	No. 4	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 28–7	15,000
October 30	at Wisconsin	No. 4	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 32–0	10,000
November 6	at Minnesota	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 14–7	43,000
November 20	Indiana	No. 3	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 7–0	15,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[5]

Rankings

See also: 1943 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	7 (2)	5	4 (1)	4 (1)	2	2	3	4	5 (12)

Players

• Alex Agase, guard #95
• Dick Barwegen, guard #21
• Frank Bauman, end #74
• Joe Buscemi #50
• Dick Bushnell #29
• Jack Butt #40
• Tony Butkovich, #25, fullback
• Jim Darr #70
• Boris Dimancheff #87
• Stan Dubicki, #22
• Bump Elliott#18
• John Genis, tackle #69
• Herbert Hoffman, end #99
• Tom Hughes #44
• Mike Kasap, tackle #64
• Bill Newell #96
• Bill O'Keefe #34
• Keith Parker #88
• Bill Stuart #89
• Sam Vacanti #33
• John Staak, tackle #32
• Lewis Rose, Halfback #36

Coaches and administrators

• Head coach: Elmer Burnham
• Assistant coaches: Cecil Isbell, Sam Voinoff, Joe Dienhart^[6]
• Athletic director: Guy "Red" Mackey

Season summary

Illinois

• Tony Butkovich 12 rushes, 207 yards ^[7]

Ohio State

• Tony Butkovich 36 rushes, 123 yards ^[8]
• Babe Dimancheff 16 rushes, 122 yards ^[9]

Iowa

• Tony Butkovich 19 rushes, 149 yards^[10]

Wisconsin

• Tony Butkovich 28 rushes, 147 yards ^[11]
• Babe Dimancheff 15 rushes, 111 yards ^[12]

References

1. "Purdue Yearly Results (1940-1944)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
2. "1943 Purdue Marines" (PDF). College Football Historical Society Newsletter. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
3. "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
4. "Purdue Beats Hilltops, 21-0: Boilermaker Ground Attack Too Strong". The Wisconsin State Journal. September 26, 1943. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 85. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
6. 1944 Purdue yearbook, p. 217.
7. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2020-Dec-20.
8. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2021-Jan-01.
9. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2021-Jan-01.
10. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2020-Dec-27.
11. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2020-Dec-27.
12. 2020 Purdue Record Book. Retrieved 2021-Jan-02.