1945 Football Team
| Overall Record: 7-3 | Conference Record: 5-1 |
| Conference Finish: 2nd place | |
| National Ranking: AP - No. 6 | |
| Coach: Herbert O. "Fritz" Crisler | |
| Captain: Joe Ponsetto | |
| All-Conference: Harold Watts | |
| Most Valuable Player: Harold Watts | |
| Meyer Morton Award: [no award given due to disruption caused by WWII] | |
| Trainer: Ray Roberts | |
| Assistant coaches: William Barclay, Ray Fisher, Earl Martineau, Ernest McCoy, Clarence Munn, Bennie Oosterbaan, Arthur Valpey, Walter Weber | |
| Manager: Leonard Budzen (ass't), Robert Keselring (ass't), Donald MacMullan, John Fishman | |
| Opponent | Rank | Date | Site | Result | Attend. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes | 09/15 | H | W | 27-2 | 26,076 | |
| Indiana | 09/22 | H | L | 7-13 | 27,536 | |
| Michigan State | 09/29 | H | W | 40-0 | 37,694 | |
| Northwestern | 10/06 | A | W | 20-7 | 32,772 | |
| Army | 9/1 | 10/13 | 1 | L | 7-28 | 62,878 |
| Illinois | 16/- | 10/27 | A | W | 19-0 | 54,085 |
| Minnesota | 10/16 | 11/03 | H | W | 26-0 | 84,472 |
| Navy | 7/4 | 11/10 | 2 | L | 7-33 | 56,880 |
| Purdue | 14/11 | 11/17 | H | W | 27-13 | 48,528 |
| Ohio State (HC) | 8/7 | 11/24 | H | W | 7-3 | 85,200 |
| Totals | 187-99 | 516,121 | ||||
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1 - Yankee Stadium, New York, New York 2 - Baltimore Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland | ||||||
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| left end |
Donovan Hershberger (7) Ed McNeill (3) | |
| left tackle | George Johnson (10) | |
| left guard |
Dominic Tomasi (9) John Smith | |
| center |
Harold Watts (8) Anton Momsen (2) | |
| right guard |
Stu Wilkins (8) John Lintol (2) | |
| right tackle | Gene Hinton (10) | |
| right end |
Art Renner (7) Ed McNeill (2) Donovan Hershberger | |
| quarterback |
Joseph Ponsetto (6) Howard Yerges (2) Dan Dworsky (2) | |
| fullback |
Dan Dworsky (5) Jack Wiesenburger (5) | |
| left halfback |
Walt Teninga (7) Pete Elliott (2) Jack Wiesenburger | |
| right halfback |
Bob Nussbaumer (7) Henry Fonde (2) Warren Bentz |
View full 1945 roster (from all-time roster database, includes non-lettermen and freshmen)
1945 Team Photo
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- Back Row
- Joe Sobeleski, trainer Ray Roberts, Len Ford, George Johnson, Henry Hatch, Cecil Freihofer
- 3rd Row
- Wally Teninga, Daniel Dworsky, Pete Elliott, Anton Momsen, Donavan Hershberger, Gene Hinton, Ed McNeil, Michael Prashaw, Robert Callahan
- 2nd Row
- Henry Fonde, Howard Yerges, Jack Smith, Wesley Muelder, F. Stuart Wilkins, George Chiames, James Foltz, Dom Tomasi
- Front Row
- Jack Weisenburger, Howard Nussbaumer, Coach Fritz Crisler, Joe Ponsetto, Art Renner, John Lintol, James Rehberger