1899 Western Conference football season
The 1899 Western Conference football season was the fourth 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 1899 college football season.
| 1899 Western Conference football season | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Football |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Champion | Chicago |
| 1899 Western Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago $ | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 16 | – | 0 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 2 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 1 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1899 Chicago Maroons football team, under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, won the conference championship with a 16–0–2 overall record (4–0 against conference opponents), led the conference in both scoring offense (28.1 points per game) and scoring defense (1.6 points per game), shut out 13 of 18 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 505 to 28.
Season overview
Results and team statistics
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago | Amos A. Stagg | 16–0–2 | 4–0 | 28.1 | 1.6 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | Philip King | 9–2 | 4–1 | 24.5 | 3.0 |
| 3 (tie) | Michigan | Gustave Ferbert | 7–2–1 | 1–1 | 17.6 | 4.3 |
| 3 (tie) | Northwestern | Charles Hollister | 7–6 | 2–2 | 11.1 | 13.6 |
| 5 | Purdue | Alpha Jamison | 4–4–1 | 1–2 | 11.1 | 13.6 |
| 6 (tie) | Minnesota | William C. Leary Jack Harrison | 6–3–2 | 0-3 | 13.7 | 7.2 |
| 6 (tie) | Illinois | George Huff | 3–5–1 | 0–3 | 4.4 | 10.7 |
Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
Regular season
Only 12 conference games were played during the 1899 Western Conference season. The results were as follows:
- October 14, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Northwestern, 38-0
- October 28, 1899: Michigan defeated Illinois, 5-0
- November 4, 1899: Chicago defeated Purdue, 44-0
- November 4, 1899: Northwestern defeated Minnesota, 11-0
- November 11, 1899: Chicago defeated Northwestern, 76-0
- November 11, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Illinois, 23-0
- November 18, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, 19-0
- November 22, 1899: Purdue defeated Illinois, 5-0
- November 25, 1899: Chicago defeated Minnesota, 29-0
- November 25, 1899: Northwestern defeated Purdue, 29-0
- November 30, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Michigan, 17-5
- December 9, 1899: Chicago defeated Wisconsin, 17-0
Bowl games
No Western Conference teams appeared in any bowl games during the 1899 season.
Awards and honors
All-Western players
The Northwestern named a 1899 All-Western college football team that consisted of the following players:[2]
- Neil Snow, end, Michigan
- James M. Sheldon, end, Chicago
- Arthur Hale Curtis, tackle, Wisconsin
- Jonathan E. Webb, tackle, Chicago
- Richard France, guard, Michigan
- C. Rogers, guard, Wisconsin
- Roy Chamberlain, center, Wisconsin
- Walter S. Kennedy, quarterback, Chicago
- Ralph C. Hamill, halfback, Chicago
- John McLean, halfback, Michigan
- Pat O'Dea, fullback, Wisconsin
All-Americans
No Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1899 College Football All-America Teams selected by Walter Camp and Caspar Whitney. However, the Philadelphhia Inquirer picked an All-American that named four Western Conference players to the first team: end Neil Snow of Michigan; tackle Richard France of Michigan; quarterback Walter S. Kennedy of Chicago; and halfback John McLean of Michigan.[3]
References
- "1899 Western Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- "All-Western, All-Eastern, All-American". The Northwestern. December 14, 1899. p. 11.
- "An All-American Football Team In Fact, Three of Them, and All Picked upon Different Lines". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 11, 1899.