1948 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1948 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. The Wildcats won their first Rose Bowl in school history.

1948 Northwestern Wildcats football
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 20–14 vs. California
Conference	Big Nine Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 7
Record	8–2 (5–1 Big Nine)
Head coach	Bob Voigts (2nd season)
MVP	Art Murakowski
Captain	Alex Sarkisian[1]
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium
Seasons ← 1947 1949 →

1948 Big Nine Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Michigan $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	0	–	0
No. 7 Northwestern	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Ohio State	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Purdue	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Indiana	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Northwestern finished the season with an 8–2 record, losing only to perennial powerhouses Michigan, 28–0, and Notre Dame, 17–12.^[2] Northwestern blanked UCLA, 19–0, Purdue, 21–0, and Syracuse, 48–0. The Wildcats rallied from three turnovers and a 16-point deficit to defeat Minnesota, 19–16, and beat Ohio State, 21–7, Wisconsin, 16–7, and Illinois, 20–7.^[2] Big Nine Conference rules prevented conference champion Michigan from making a successive trip to the Rose Bowl, so second-place Northwestern won the bid instead.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	at UCLA*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 19–0	55,156
October 2	Purdue		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 21–0	37,000
October 9	No. 8 Minnesota	No. 3	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 19–16	47,000
October 16	at No. 4 Michigan	No. 3	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 0–28	87,782
October 23	Syracuse*	No. 10	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 48–0	35,000
October 30	Ohio State	No. 9	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 21–7	47,000	[3]
November 6	at Wisconsin	No. 10	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 16–7	45,000	[4]
November 13	at No. 2 Notre Dame*	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 7–12	59,305
November 20	Illinois	No. 7	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 20–7	47,000
January 1	vs. No. 5 California*	No. 7	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 20–14	93,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1948 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	3 (21)	3 (25)	10	9	10	8	7	7	7

Roster

1. 10 Bob Nelson
2. 11 Loran "PeeWee" Day (halfback and safety)
3. 14 Gene Miller
4. 15 Ed Tunnicliff(halfback)
5. 16 Tom Worthington (halfback)
6. 19 Bob Meeder
7. 20 Lloyd Hawkinson
8. 21 Don Burson (quarterback)
9. 22 Frank Aschenbrenner (halfback)
10. 23 Pat Keefe (quarterback)
11. 25 John Yungwirth
12. 26 Jim Farrar (extra points)
13. 29 Dick Flowers (quarterback)
14. 30 Art Murakowski (fullback)
15. 32 Armandy Cureau
16. 33 Ralph Rossi
17. 34 Gasper Perricone (fullback)
18. 36 George Hlebasko
19. 37 George Sundheim
20. 42 Johnny Miller
21. 54 Alex Sarkisian (center). (team captain)
22. 55 Chuck Petter
23. 56 Ray Wietecha
24. 57 Dick Price
25. 60 Lawrence "Fatso" Day (linemen)
26. 61 Francis De Pauw
27. 62 Richard Anderson
28. 63 Bob Nowicki(guard)
29. 67 Ed Nemeth (left guard)
30. 68 Jim Parseigan
31. 69 LeRoy Pantera
32. 70 Joe Sewell
33. 73 Bill Ford
34. 71 Bill Forman (tackle)
35. 74 Steve Sawle (tackle)
36. 75 Rudy Cernoch (tackle)
37. 77 George Maddock (kick offs)
38. 78 Paul Barkal
39. 79 Dick Eggers
40. 80 Charles Hagmann (end)
41. 82 Burton Keddie (end)
42. 83 Don Stonesifer (end),
43. 85 Joe Zuravleff (end)
44. 87 Al Thomas
45. 88 Littrell Clark
46. 97 Paul Balog

Awards and honors

• Art Murakowski, Chicago Tribune Silver Football

1949 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
George Sundheim	Back	12	115	New York Giants

^[5]

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 147. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
2. "A History of Football at Northwestern: Bob Voights: 1947-1954". Northwestern University Archives. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
3. Liska, Jerry (October 31, 1948). "Northwestern Trims Bucks, Fans Rose Bowl Hopes". Springfield News-Sun. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Northwestern Whips Wisconsin, 16 to 7: Fumbles By Wildcats and Badgers; N.U. Leads Only 2-0 at Half Time". Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1948. p. 2-1 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Reference at www.pro-football-reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2018.