| 1955 Big Ten Conference football season | |
| Sport: | American football |
| No Of Teams: | 10 |
| Top Pick: | Earl Morrall |
| Season Champs: | Ohio State |
| Season Champ Name: | Champion |
| Second Place: | Michigan State |
| Mvp: | Howard Cassady |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 1954 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1956 |
The 1955 Big Ten Conference football season was the 60th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1955 college football season.
The 1955 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, won the Big Ten football championship with a record of 7–2 and was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll. Halfback Howard Cassady was a consensus first-team All-American and won both the 1955 Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten.
The 1955 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Duffy Daugherty, compiled a 9–1 record, defeated UCLA in the 1956 Rose Bowl, and was ranked No. 2 behind Oklahoma in the final AP Poll. Quarterback Earl Morrall was a consensus first-team All-American and was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1956 NFL draft with the second overall pick. Tackle Norm Masters was also a first-team All-American.
The 1955 Michigan Wolverines football team, under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, compiled a 7–2 record and was ranked No. 12 in the final AP Poll. In the second week of the season, the Wolverines defeated Michigan State, the Spartans' only loss of the season. The Wolverines rose to No. 1 in the AP Poll after defeating Army (ranked No. 6), but after starting the season 6-0, Michigan lost to Illinois on November 5, 1955. End Ron Kramer was a consensus first-team All-American.
Iowa guard Cal Jones won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. He was the first Big Ten player to receive the award.
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | Woody Hayes |
|
| 7–2 | 6–0 | 22.3 | 10.8 | Howard Cassady |
| 2 | Michigan State | Duffy Daugherty |
|
| 9–1 | 5–1 | 25.3 | 8.3 | Carl Nystrom |
| 3 | Michigan | Bennie Oosterbaan |
|
| 7–2 | 5–2 | 19.9 | 10.4 | Terry Barr |
| 4 | Purdue | Stu Holcomb | NR |
| 5–3–1 | 4–2–1 | 12.6 | 11.4 | Joe Krupa |
| 5 | Illinois | Ray Eliot | NR |
| 5–3–1 | 3–3–1 | 16.6 | 12.7 | Em Lindbeck |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Ivy Williamson | NR |
| 4–5 | 3–4 | 19.1 | 18.4 | Wells Gray |
| 7 | Iowa | Forest Evashevski | NR |
| 3–5–1 | 2–3–1 | 18.4 | 19.2 | Jerry Reichow |
| 8 | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | NR | NR | 3–6 | 2–5 | 12.2 | 19.1 | Don Swanson |
| 9 | Indiana | Bernie Crimmins | NR | NR | 3–6 | 1–5 | 10.1 | 16.7 | Bob Skoronski |
| 10 | Northwestern | Lou Saban | NR | NR | 0-8-1 | 0-6-1 | 7.3 | 26.8 | Kurt Krueger |
On February 3, 1955, Bob Voigts resigned as Northwestern's head football coach. Voights had come under fire from alumni after Northwestern won only one conference game in two seasons.[3] 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.[4]
On September 24, 1955, the Big Ten football teams opened their seasons with one conference game and eight non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in six wins and two losses.
On October 1, 1955, the Big Ten football teams participate in three conference games and four non-conference games. The non-conference games resulted in one win and three losses, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 7–5.
On October 8, 1955, the Big Ten football teams participated in four conference games and two non-conference games. The two non-conference games resulted in wins, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 9-5 up to that point in the season.
On October 14 and 15, 1955, the Big Ten football teams played three conference games and four non-conference games. The four non-conference games resulted in two wins and two losses, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 11-7 up to that point in the season.
On October 21 and 22, 1955, the Big Ten football teams participated in four conference games and two non-conference games. Iowa's non-conference game was played on Friday, October 21, while the remaining games were played on Saturday, October 22. The two non-conference games resulted in two losses, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 11-9 up to that point in the season.
On October 29, 1955, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The two non-conference games resulted in two wins, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 13-9 up to that point in the season.
On November 5, 1955, the Big Ten football teams played each other in five conference games.
On November 12, 1955, the Big Ten football teams played each other in five conference games.
On November 19, 1955, the Big Ten Conference football teams played four conference games and two non-conference games. The two non-conference games resulted in a win and a loss, bringing the Big Ten's record against non-conference opponents to 14-10 up to that point in the season.
See main article: 1956 Rose Bowl. On January 2, 1956, Michigan State defeated UCLA, 17-14, in the 1956 Rose Bowl.
On November 29, 1955, the Associated Press released its final college football rankings. Oklahoma was ranked at No. 1 by the AP with three Big Ten teams ranked in the top 20: Michigan State (No. 2); Ohio State (No. 5); and Michigan (No. 12).[5]
After the 1955 season, three Big Ten teams changed head football coaches as follows:
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[11] [12]
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End | Ron Kramer | Michigan | AP, UP | |
| End | Tom Maentz | Michigan | AP, UP | |
| Tackle | Cal Jones | Iowa | AP, UP [guard] | |
| Tackle | Norm Masters | Michigan State | AP | |
| Tackle | Francis Machinsky | Ohio State | UP | |
| Tackle | Joe Kruper | Purdue | UP | |
| Guard | Jim Parker | Ohio State | AP, UP | |
| Guard | Carl Nystrom | Michigan State | AP | |
| Center | Ken Vargo | Ohio State | AP, UP | |
| Halfback | Howard Cassady | Ohio State | AP, UP | |
| Quarterback | Earl Morrall | Michigan State | AP, UP | |
| Back | Bill Murakowski | Purdue | AP | |
| Back | Bob Mitchell | Illinois | AP | |
| Halfback | Tony Branoff | Michigan | UP | |
| Fullback | Jerry Planutis | Michigan State | UP |
At the end of the 1955 season, Big Ten players secured five of 12 consensus first-team picks for the 1955 College Football All-America Team.[13] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halfback | Howard Cassady | Ohio State | AAB, AFCA, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, Jet, WCFF | |
| End | Ron Kramer | Michigan | AAB, AFCA, FWAA, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, Jet, WCFF | |
| Quarterback | Earl Morrall | Michigan State | AP, AFCA, FWAA, INS, TSN, Jet, WCFF | |
| Guard | Cal Jones | Iowa | AAB, FWAA, TSN, UP, Jet, WCFF | |
| Tackle | Norm Masters | Michigan State | UP, FWAA, NEA, CP, WCFF |
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Jim Parker | Ohio State | FWAA, CP, Jet | |
| Fullback | Jerry Planutis | Michigan State | Jet |
Ohio State halfback Howard Cassady won the 1955 Heisman Trophy. Three other Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in voting for the Heisman Trophy: Michigan State quarterback Earl Morrall (fourth), Michigan end Ron Kramer (eighth), and Iowa offensive lineman Cal Jones (10th).[14]
Cassady also received the Maxwell Award and the UPI and Sporting News College Football Player of the Year awards.
Iowa guard Cal Jones won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. He was the first Big Ten player to receive the award.
The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1956 NFL draft:[15]
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Earl Morrall | Michigan State | 1 | 2 | |
| Halfback | Howard Cassady | Ohio State | 1 | 3 | |
| Tackle | Joe Krupa | Purdue | 2 | 17 | |
| Tackle | Norm Masters | Michigan State | 2 | 18 | |
| End | Bill Quinlan | Michigan State | 3 | 37 | |
| Quarterback | Jerry Reichow | Iowa | 4 | 38 | |
| Guard | Dick Murley | Purdue | 4 | 39 | |
| Tackle | Fran Machinsky | Ohio State | 4 | 41 | |
| End | Jim Freeman | Iowa | 5 | 51 | |
| Back | Bill Murakowski | Purdue | 5 | 52 | |
| Tackle | Bob Skoronski | Indiana | 5 | 56 | |
| Back | Gary Lowe | Michigan State | 5 | 59 | |
| Tackle | John Dittrich | Wisconsin | 6 | 70 | |
| Back | Eddie Vincent | Iowa | 6 | 72 | |
| Tackle | Bob Konovsky | Wisconsin | 7 | 77 | |
| Back | J. C. Caroline | Illinois | 7 | 82 | |
| Guard | Cal Jones | Iowa | 8 | 98 |