1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football
File:1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team.jpg
Big Ten champion Rose Bowl champion
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)
Seasons « 1945 1947 »

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 in the 1946 Big Ten Conference 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 most valuable player.

Awards and honors

• Alex Agase (Offensive guard)
  • Chicago Tribune Silver Football
  • Consensus All-American (guard)

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 21	at Pittsburgh*		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh	W 33–7	35,000
September 28	Notre Dame*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois	L 6–26	75,119
October 5	Purdue		Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois	W 43–7	38,512
October 12	at Indiana	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana	L 7–14	27,000
October 19	No. 20 Wisconsin		Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois	W 27–21	62,597
October 26	at No. 8 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan	W 13–9	86,938
November 2	at Iowa	No. 11	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	W 7–0	52,000
November 16	No. 13 Ohio State	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois	W 16–7	61,519
November 23	at Northwestern	No. 5	Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois	W 20–0	47,000
January 1	vs. No. 4 UCLA*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California (Rose Bowl)	W 45–14	93,083
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

Player	Position
Alex Agase	Offensive guard
Perry Moss	Quarterback
Ruck Steger
Les Bingaman	Guard, Tackle
Sam Zatkoff	End
Joe Buscemi
Bob Cunz	Tackle
Don Maechtle	Placekicker
Don Pittman
Chuck Gottfried
Al Martignago
Lyle Button	Tackle
Lou Levanti	Center
Bob Prymuski	Guard
Tom Gallagher
Al Mastrangeli	Center
Merle Schlosser	End
Bernie Krueger	Quarterback
Dike Eddleman	Punter
Bill Franks
Chick Maggioli	Defensive back, Halfback
Paul Patterson	Quarterback
Ike Owens	End, Defensive end
Art Dufelmeier (Captain)	Halfback
Tom Stewart
Bob Hinkle
Lou Agase	Tight end, Tackle
Jim Valck
Jack Pierce
Burt Schmidt
Denny Bassett
Walt Kersulis	End
John Wrenn	Guard
Herb Siegert	Guard, Linebacker

• Head Coach: Ray Eliot (5th year at Illinois)

References

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