1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Big Ten Champions
Rose Bowl Champions
Rose Bowl, W 45–14 vs. UCLA
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP #5
1946 record 8–2 (6–1 Big Ten)
Head coach Ray Eliot (5th year)
MVP Alex Agase
Captain Mac Wenskunas
Home stadium Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 71,119)
1946 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#5 Illinois † 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0
#6 Michigan 5 – 1 – 1     6 – 2 – 1
#20 Indiana 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0
Iowa 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 4 – 0     5 – 4 – 0
Ohio State 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 3 – 2
Northwestern 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 4 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 5 – 0     4 – 5 – 0
Purdue 0 – 5 – 1     2 – 6 – 1
† – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 1946 college football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Ray Eliot and playing their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, the Illini won the Big Ten Conference title and completed an 8–2 season with a 45–14 win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl. The team's captain was center Mac Wenskunas. Guard Alex Agase was voted the team's Most Valuable Player and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's MVP.

Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site Result Attendance
September 21, 1946 at Pittsburgh* Pitt Stadium • Pennsylvania, PA W 33–7   35,000
September 28, 1946 Notre Dame* Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL L 26–6   75,119
October 5, 1946 Purdue Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL W 43–7   38,512
October 12, 1946 at Indiana #12 Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 14–7   27,000
October 19, 1946 #20 Wisconsin Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL W 27–21   62,597
October 26, 1946 at #8 Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 13–9   86,938
November 2, 1946 at Iowa #11 Iowa Stadium • Iowa City, IA W 7–0   52,000
November 16, 1946 #13 Ohio State #9 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL W 16–7   61,519
November 23, 1946 at Northwestern #5 Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL W 20–0   47,000
January 1, 1947 vs. #4 UCLA* #5 Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) W 45–14   93,083
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

References