1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
Encyclopedia
The 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 1946 college football season
. Led by fifth-year head coach Ray Eliot
and playing their home games at Memorial Stadium
in Champaign, Illinois
, the Illini won the Big Ten Conference
title and completed an 8–2 season with a 45–14 win over in the Rose Bowl
. The team's captain was center
Mac Wenskunas. Guard
Alex Agase
was voted the team's Most Valuable Player and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football
as the Big Ten's MVP.
1946 college football season
The 1946 college football season finished with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame crowned as the national champion in the AP Poll, with the United States Military Academy the runner up...
. Led by fifth-year head coach Ray Eliot
Ray Eliot
Raymond Eliot Nusspickel was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach Illinois College from 1933 to 1936 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1942 to 1959, compiling a career college football...
and playing their home games at Memorial Stadium
Memorial Stadium (Champaign)
thumb|right|300px|Original plan for Memorial Stadium circa 1921. Caption from [[Popular Mechanics]] Magazine, 1921Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Champaign, Illinois, in the United States, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The stadium is dedicated as...
in Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
, the Illini won the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
title and completed an 8–2 season with a 45–14 win over in the Rose Bowl
1947 Rose Bowl
The 1947 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 33rd Rose Bowl Game. The Illinois Fighting Illini defeated the UCLA Bruins, 45–14. Illinois halfbacks Claude "Buddy" Young and Julius Rykovich shared the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game award. They were named the Rose Bowl Players...
. The team's captain was center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
Mac Wenskunas. Guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
Alex Agase
Alex Agase
-External links:...
was voted the team's Most Valuable Player and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football
Chicago Tribune Silver Football
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
as the Big Ten's MVP.