1918 college football season

The 1918 NCAA football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Michigan and Pittsburgh as national champions.[2]

Perhaps the highest profile game was a highly publicized War Charities benefit staged at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in front of many of the nation's top sports writers, including Walter Camp. The game pitted John Heisman's undefeated, unscored upon, and defending national champion Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets against "Pop" Warner's Pittsburgh Panthers who were sitting on a 30 game win streak. Pitt defeated Georgia Tech 32-0.

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 saw the implementation of quarantines that eliminated much of that year's college football season.[3]

Conference and program changes

School 1917 Conference 1918 Conference
Carlisle IndiansIndependentSchool closed
Southern Methodist Mustangs Independent Southwest

Rose Bowl

Great Lakes Navy would defeat Mare Island Marines 17-7 in the 1919 Rose Bowl.

Conference standings

The following is a potentially incomplete list of conference standings:

1918 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Illinois + 4 0 0     5 2 0
Michigan + 2 0 0     5 0 0
Purdue + 1 0 0     3 3 0
Iowa 2 1 0     6 2 1
Minnesota 2 1 0     5 2 1
Northwestern 1 1 0     2 2 1
Wisconsin 1 2 0     3 3 0
Indiana 0 0 0     2 2 0
Ohio State 0 3 0     3 3 0
Chicago 0 5 0     4 6 1
  • + Conference co-champions
1918 college football independents records
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
USC         2 2 2
Washington State         1 1 0
1918 Missouri Valley football standings

Due to events related to World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic, the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association did not schedule any official conference games, recorded no standings, and awarded no title for 1918.
Conference members: DrakeIowa StateKansasKansas StateMissouriNebraskaWashington (MO)
1918 PCC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
California $ 2 0 0     7 2 0
Oregon 2 1 0     4 2 0
Washington 1 1 0     1 1 0
Oregon Agricultural 0 2 0     2 4 0
  • $ Conference champion
1918 RMFAC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Colorado 1 2 0     2 3 0
  • $ Conference champion
1918 SAIAA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
VPI $ 4 0 0     7 0 0
Maryland State 2 0 1     4 1 1
Davidson 2 0 0     2 1 1
Richmond 1 0 0     3 1 1
Johns Hopkins 0 0 1     0 0 1
NC State 0 1 0     1 3 0
St. John's (MD) 0 1 0     0 1 0
William & Mary 0 1 0     0 2 0
North Carolina 0 2 0     1 3 0
VMI 0 2 0     1 3 0
Washington and Lee 0 2 0     1 2 0
Georgetown 0 0 0     3 2 0
  • $ Conference champion
1918 SIAA football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Georgia Tech $ 3 0 0     6 1 0
Vanderbilt 2 0 0     4 2 0
Mississippi A&M 2 0 0     3 2 0
Clemson 3 1 0     5 2 0
South Carolina 1 1 1     2 1 1
Centre 0 0 0     4 0 0
Furman 1 3 0     3 5 1
The Citadel 0 1 1     0 2 1
Sewanee 0 1 0     3 2 0
Wofford 0 1 0     0 3 0
Auburn 0 2 0     2 5 0
Ole Miss 0 2 0     1 3 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • There were several SIAA schools that did not field a team due to World War I.
1918 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Texas + 4 0 0     9 0 0
Oklahoma + 2 0 0     6 0 0
Texas A&M 1 1 0     6 1 0
Rice 1 1 0     1 5 1
Arkansas 1 2 0     3 4 0
SMU 1 2 0     4 2 0
Baylor 0 2 0     0 4 0
Oklahoma A&M 0 2 0     4 2 0
  • + Conference co-champions

Minor conferences

Conference Champion(s) Record
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association No champion
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association No champion
Ohio Athletic Conference Wittenberg 3–0–0

Awards and honors

All-Americans

The consensus All-America team included:

Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Frank Murrey So. Princeton
HB Tom Davies 5'8" 158 Fr. Gas City, Indiana Pittsburgh
HB Wolcott Roberts 5'7" 160 So. Elmwood, Illinois Navy
FB Tank McLaren 185 Sr. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
E Paul Robeson 6'3" 219 Sr. Princeton, New Jersey Rutgers
T Pete Henry 5'10" 230 Jr. Mansfield, Ohio Washington & Jefferson
T Lou Usher Jr. Chicago, Illinois Syracuse
G Doc Alexander 5'11" 210 So. Silver Creek, New York Syracuse
C Bum Day 5'10" 190 Fr. Nashville, Georgia Georgia Tech
C Jack Depler 5'10" 220 So. Lewistown, Illinois Illinois
G Lyman Perry Sr. Andover, Ohio Navy
T Leonard Hilty Sr. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
T Joe Guyon 5'11" 184 Sr. Magdalena, New Mexico Georgia Tech
E Bill Fincher 6'0" 182 So. Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Tech

Statistical leaders

References

  1. http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf1918.htm
  2. Official 2009 NCAA Division I Football Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis, IN: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2009. pp. 76–77. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  3. "War Conditions Coupled With Epidemic Have Big Effect On 1918 Sports". 2016-02-03. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
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