The 1948 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. The Wildcats won their first Rose Bowl in program history.
Northwestern finished the season with an 8–2 record, losing only to perennial powerhouses Michigan, 28–0, and Notre Dame, 17–12. Northwestern blanked UCLA, 19–0, Purdue, 21–0, and Syracuse, 48–0. The Wildcats rallied from three turnovers and a 16-point deficit to defeat Minnesota, 19–16, and beat Ohio State, 21–7, Wisconsin, 16–7, and Illinois, 20–7. Big Nine Conference rules prevented conference champion Michigan from making a successive trip to the Rose Bowl, so second-place Northwestern won the bid instead.
Schedule
Rankings
Roster 10 Bob Nelson 11 Loran "PeeWee" Day (halfback and safety) 14 Gene Miller 15 Ed Tunnicliff(halfback) 16 Tom Worthington (halfback) 19 Bob Meeder 20 Lloyd Hawkinson 21 Don Burson (quarterback) 22 Frank Aschenbrenner (halfback) 23 Pat Keefe (quarterback) 25 John Yungwirth 26 Jim Farrar (extra points) 29 Dick Flowers (quarterback) 30 Art Murakowski (fullback) 32 Armandy Cureau 33 Ralph Rossi 34 Gasper Perricone (fullback) 36 George Hlebasko 37 George Sundheim 42 Johnny Miller 54 Alex Sarkisian (center). (team captain) 55 Chuck Petter 56 Ray Wietecha 57 Dick Price 60 Lawrence "Fatso" Day (linemen) 61 Francis De Pauw 62 Richard Anderson 63 Bob Nowicki(guard) 67 Ed Nemeth (left guard) 68 Jim Parseigan 69 LeRoy Pantera 70 Joe Sewell 73 Bill Ford 71 Bill Forman (tackle) 74 Steve Sawle (tackle) 75 Rudy Cernoch (tackle) 77 George Maddock (kick offs) 78 Paul Barkal 79 Dick Eggers 80 Charles Hagmann (end) 82 Burton Keddie (end) 83 Don Stonesifer (end), 85 Joe Zuravleff (end) 87 Al Thomas 88 Littrell Clark 97 Paul Balog
Awards and honors Art Murakowski, Chicago Tribune Silver Football
1949 NFL draft George Sundheim Back 12 115New York Giants
References