1944 Football Team
| Overall Record: 8-2 | Conference Record: 5-2 |
| Conference Finish: 2nd place tie | |
| National Ranking: AP - No. 8 | |
| Coach: Herbert O. "Fritz" Crisler | |
| Captain: Bob Wiese* | |
| All-Conference: Bob Wiese, Milan Lazetich, Joe Ponsetto | |
| Most Valuable Player: Donald Lund | |
| Meyer Morton Award: [no award given due to disruption caused by WWII] | |
| Trainer: Ray Roberts | |
| Assistant coaches: William Barclay, Ray Fisher, Earl Martineau, Clarence Munn, Bennie Oosterbaan, Arthur Valpey, Walter Weber | |
| Manager: William Hart, Rawland Sylvester | |
| Opponent | Rank | Date | Site | Result | Attend. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa Pre-Flight | 09/16 | H | W | 12-7 | 20,243 | |
| Marquette | 09/23 | A | W | 14-0 | 12,366 | |
| Indiana | 09/30 | H | L | 0-20 | 18,477 | |
| Minnesota | 10/07 | A | W | 28-13 | 37,256 | |
| Northwestern | 12/- | 10/14 | H | W | 27-0 | 30,861 |
| Purdue | 10/- | 10/28 | H | W | 40-14 | 44,276 |
| Pennsylvania | 10/- | 11/04 | A | W | 41-19 | 39,557 |
| Illinois (HC) | 8/10 | 11/11 | H | W | 14-0 | 43,922 |
| Wisconsin | 5/- | 11/18 | H | W | 14-0 | 20,885 |
| Ohio State | 6/3 | 11/25 | A | L | 14-18 | 70,449 |
| Total | 204-91 | 338,292 | ||||
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| * Don Lund and Joe Ponsetto acted as co-captains after Wiese left for military service on November first. | ||||||
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| left end |
Bruce Hilkene (9) Art Renner | |
| left tackle |
Milan Lazetich (8) Art LeRoux (2) | |
| left guard | George Burg (10) | |
| center |
John Lintol (5) Harold Watts (5) | |
| right guard | Quentin Sickels (10) | |
| right tackle | Clement Bauman (10) | |
| right end |
Art Renner (9) Dick Rifenburg | |
| quarterback |
Joseph Ponsetto (10)
| |
| fullback |
Bob Wiese (7) Don Lund (3) | |
| left halfback |
Gene Derricotte (9) William Culligan | |
| right halfback |
Bob Nussbaumer (7) Ralph Chubb (3) |
View full 1944 roster (from all-time roster database, includes non-lettermen and freshmen)
1944 Team Photo
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[Note: photo includes only varsity letter winners]
- Back Row
- Ray Roberts (trainer), Earl Martineau (Backfield coach), Cecil Freihofer, Jack Weisenburger, Dick Rifenburg, Quentin Sickels, Jerry Brielmaier, Warren Bentz, Benny Oosterbaan (End Coach), Clarence Munn (Line coach)
- 3rd Row
- Henry Hatch (Custodian of Equipment), Tom Peterson, Harold Watts, John Lintol, George Burg, Tom Swift, Roger Chiaverini, Eugene Derricotte, Rawland Sylvester (Manager)
- 2nd Row
- Ed Grier, Charles Wahl, John Weyers, Bill Culligan, Art LeRoux, Howard Yerges, Howard Mehaffey, Ralph Chubb
- Front Row
- Milan Lazetich, Bruce Hilkene, Joe Ponsetto, Fritz Crisler (Coach), Don Lund, Art Renner, Clem Bauman
1944 Full Squad Photo
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