1954 Big Ten Conference football season


The 1954 Big Ten Conference football season was the 59th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1954 college football season.
The 1954 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, won the conference football championship, compiled a 10–0, was ranked No. 1 in the final AP Poll, and defeated USC in the 1955 Rose Bowl. Halfback Howard Cassady was selected as the team's most valuable player and was a consensus first-team All-American.
The 1954 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Ivy Williamson, compiled a 7–2 record and was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Fullback Alan Ameche won the 1954 Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference. Ameche broke Ollie Matson's career rushing record, finishing his tenure at Wisconsin with 3,212 rushing yards.
Purdue quarterback Len Dawson led the conference with 1,464 passing yards.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP
1Ohio StateWoody Hayes#1#110–07–024.97.5Howard Cassady
2 WisconsinIvy Williamson#9#27–25–222.210.9Alan Ameche
2 MichiganBennie Oosterbaan#15#116–35–215.49.7Fred Baer
4MinnesotaMurray WarmathNR#87–24–221.714.1Bob McNamara
5IowaForest EvashevskiNR#35–44–321.315.7Warren Lawson
6PurdueStu HolcombNR#55–3–13–318.314.9Tom Bettis
7IndianaBernie CrimminsNRNR3–62–412.215.9Florian Helinski
8 Michigan StateDuffy DaughertyNR#63–61–519.716.6John Matsock
8 NorthwesternBob VoigtsNRNR2-71-511.215.8Ziggie Niepokoj
10IllinoisRay EliotNR#51–80–611.420.0Jack Chamblin

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1954 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1954 season
PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold

Preseason

Two Big Ten teams changed head coaches between the 1953 and 1954 seasons:

September 25

On September 25, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played two conference games and six non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in five wins and one loss.
On October 2, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played one conference game and eight non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in five wins and three losses, giving the Big Ten a 10–4 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On October 9, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in two wins, giving the Big Ten a 12–4 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On October 16, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in two losses, giving the Big Ten a 12–6 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On October 23, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in one win and one loss, giving the Big Ten a 13–7 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On October 30, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played against each other in five conference games.
On November 6, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played three conference games and four non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in three wins and one loss, giving the Big Ten a 16–8 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On November 13, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played against each other in five conference games.
On November 20, 1954, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in one win and one loss, giving the Big Ten a 17–9 record in non-conference games played to that date.
On January 1, 1955, Ohio State defeated USC by a 20–7 score before a crowd of 89,191 in Pasadena, California. UCLA was not permitted to play in the Rose Bowl due to the Pacific Coast Conference's no-repeat rule. Ohio State quarterback Dave Leggett was selected as the game's most valuable player.

Post-season developments

On February 3, 1955, Bob Voigts resigned as Northwestern's head football coach. Voigts had come under fire from alumni after Northwestern won only one conference game in two seasons. Less than a week later, Lou Saban was announced as Voigts' replacement. Saban had been an assistant coach at Northwestern in 1954. He had played for Indiana in 1941 and 1942 and for the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1949.

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten honors

The following players were picked by the Associated Press and/or the sports editors as first-team players on the 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
PositionNameTeamSelectors
EndDean DuggerOhio StateAP, Ed
EndRon KramerMichiganAP, Ed
TackleArt WalkerMichiganAP, Ed
TackleDick HilinskiOhio StateAP
TackleRandy SchrecengostMichigan StateEd
GuardCal JonesIowaAP, Ed
GuardTom BettisPurdueAP, Ed
CenterGary MessnerWisconsinAP, Ed
QuarterbackLen DawsonPurdueAP, Ed
HalfbackHoward CassadyOhio StateAP, Ed
HalfbackBob McNamaraMinnesotaAP
HalfbackBobby WatkinsOhio StateEd
FullbackAlan AmecheWisconsinAP, Ed

All-American honors

At the end of the 1954 season, Big Ten players secured three of 11 consensus first-team picks for the 1954 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
PositionNameTeamSelectors
FullbackAlan AmecheWisconsinAAB, AFCA, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF
HalfbackHoward CassadyOhio StateAAB, AFCA, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF
GuardCal JonesIowaAAB, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
PositionNameTeamSelectors
EndDean DuggerOhio StateFWAA
EndRon KramerMichiganCP
TackleArt WalkerMichiganAAB, FWAA
GuardTom BettisPurdueFWAA, INS, CP
HalfbackBob McNamaraMinnesotaFWAA

Other awards

Wisconsin running back Alan Ameche won the 1954 Heisman Trophy.

1955 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1955 NFL Draft:
NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
FullbackAlan AmecheWisconsin13
GuardTom BettisPurdue15
EndJim TempWisconsin217
BackBobby WatkinsOhio State223
TackleJohn HallIowa335
EndDean DuggerOhio State446
GuardHank BulloughMichigan State553
GuardNorm AmundsenWisconsin665
EndRon LocklinWisconsin668
BackLeroy BoldenMichigan State673
BackDave LeggettOhio State774
BackBert ZagersMichigan State784
CenterJohnny AllenPurdue887