1931 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
The 1931 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1931 college football season. In their second year under head coach Fritz Crisler, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–3 record, shut out four opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined score of 191 to 72.[1]
1931 Minnesota Golden Gophers football | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
1931 record | 7–3 (3–2 Big Ten) |
Head coach | Fritz Crisler (2nd season) |
MVP | Clarence Munn |
Captain | Clarence Munn |
Home stadium | Memorial Stadium |
1931 Big Ten Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 10 Purdue + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio State | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chicago | 1 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 0 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Guard Clarence Munn was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year.[2] Munn was also a consensus first-team player on the 1931 College Football All-America Team.[3] Munn also received Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded to the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference.[4]
Two Golden Gophers received first-team honors on the 1931 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Munn and fullback Jack Manders both received first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP).[5][6]
Total attendance for the season was 115,631, which averaged to 23,126. The season high for attendance was against rival Wisconsin.[7]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
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September 19 | North Dakota Agricultural* | W 13–7 | 15,000 | |
September 26 | Ripon* |
| W 30–0 | 15,000 |
October 3 | Oklahoma A&M* |
| W 20–0 | 20,000 |
October 10 | at Stanford* | L 13–7 | 54,787 | |
October 24 | Iowa |
| W 34–0 | 25,000 |
October 31 | Wisconsin |
| W 14–0 | 52,000 |
November 7 | at Northwestern |
| L 14–32 | 42,000 |
November 14 | Cornell (IA)* |
| W 47–7 | 10,000 |
November 21 | at Michigan | L 0–6 | 37,251 | |
November 28 | Ohio State |
| W 19–7 | 25,000 |
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Roster
Game summaries
Michigan
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On November 21, 1931, Minnesota lost to Michigan by a 6 to 0 score at Michigan Stadium. Michigan's only points came on a 56-yard run by Bill Hewitt in the first quarter.[8]
References
- "1931 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 181
- "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 5. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
- "Clarence Munn Wins Valuable Player Award". Burlington Hawk-Eye. December 27, 1931. p. 11.
- Paul Mickelson (November 24, 1931). "Northwestern Places Five Players on Two All-Western Elevens". The Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. p. 4A.
- George Kirksey (November 24, 1931). "United Press All Big Ten Selections for 1931". The Indiana Gazette. Indiana, Pennsylvania. p. 10.
- Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160
- Wilfrid Smith (November 22, 1931). "Wolverines' Line Halts Gopher Backs; Hewitt Runs 56 Yards". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.