1944 Wisconsin Badgers football | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Record | 3–6 (2–4 Big Ten) |
Head coach |
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MVP | Clarence Esser |
Captain | Allan Shafer |
Home stadium | Camp Randall Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Ohio State $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Michigan | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 15 Illinois | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1944 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin in the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. The team compiled a 3–6 record (2–4 against conference opponents) and finished in seventh place in the Big Ten Conference. Harry Stuhldreher was in his ninth year as Wisconsin's head coach. [1] [2] This was the first season since 1905 that the Badgers started the season away from home.
On November 11, 1944, Allan Shafer, a 17-year-old freshman quarterback, died at Wisconsin General Hospital from a hemorrhage to the lung after a hit sustained in the second half of Wisconsin's 26-7 victory over Iowa. [3] His jersey number (No. 83) was retired, and his name appears on the Camp Randall Stadium facade. [4] [5]
Tackle Clarence Esser received the team's most valuable player award. [6] Shafer was the team captain. [7] Jug Girard, a 17-year-old freshman, was selected by Look magazine as a first-team halfback on the 1944 College Football All-America Team. [8]
The team played its home games at Camp Randall Stadium. During the 1944 season, the average attendance at home games was 22,010. [9]
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 30 | at Northwestern | W 7–6 | ||||
October 7 | Marquette* | W 21–2 | 27,000 | [10] | ||
October 14 | No. 8
Ohio State![]() | No. 19 |
| L 7–20 | 40,000 | |
October 21 | at No. 1 Notre Dame* | L 13–28 | 36,086 | |||
October 28 | No. 16 Great Lakes Navy* |
| L 12–40 | 24,000 | [11] | |
November 4 | at Purdue | L 0–35 | 16,000 | |||
November 11 | Iowa |
| W 26–7 | |||
November 18 | at No. 5 Michigan | L 0–14 | 20,885 | |||
November 25 | Minnesota |
| L 26–28 | 30,000 | ||
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Week | |||||||||
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Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
AP | 19т | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |