1948 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

1948 Purdue Boilermakers football

Conference| Big Nine Conference
Record| 3–6 (2–4 Big Nine)
Head coach|

* Stu Holcomb (2nd season)

MVP| Harry Szulborski
Captain| Phil O'Reilly
Home stadium| Ross–Ade Stadium

Seasons

<- 1947

1949 ->

1948 Big Nine Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |  | L |  | T |  |  | W |  | L |  | T
No. 1 Michigan $  | 6  | - | 0  | - | 0 |  |  | 9  | - | 0  | - | 0
No. 7 Northwestern | 5  | - | 1  | - | 0 |  |  | 8  | - | 2  | - | 0
No. 16 Minnesota | 5  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 7  | - | 2  | - | 0
Ohio State | 3  | - | 3  | - | 0 |  |  | 6  | - | 3  | - | 0
Iowa | 2  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 4  | - | 5  | - | 0
Purdue | 2  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 6  | - | 0
Indiana | 2  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 2  | - | 7  | - | 0
Illinois | 2  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 6  | - | 0
Wisconsin | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 2  | - | 7  | - | 0

* $ - Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1948 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. In their second season under head coach Stu Holcomb, the Boilermakers compiled a 3–6 record, finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten Conference with a 2–4 record against conference opponents, and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 175 to 126.[1][2]

Several players from the 1948 team went on to have successful careers in football, both at the professional level and in coaching. Notable players from the 1948 Purdue team included halfback Harry Szulborski and tackle Phil O'Reilly.

Purdue was ranked at No. 34 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System ratings for 1948.[3] Despite the challenges, the season helped lay the groundwork for future improvements in the program under Coach Holcomb's leadership.

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

|
|
|
|
|
|

September 25| at Notre Dame*| |

* Notre Dame Stadium
* Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)

| L 27–28| 59,343|
October 2| at Northwestern| |

* Dyche Stadium
* Evanston, IL

| L 0–21| 37,000|
October 9| No. 7 Michigan| No. 15|

* Ross–Ade Stadium
* West Lafayette, IN

| L 0–40| 47,152|
October 16| at Iowa| |

* Iowa Stadium
* Iowa City, IA

| W 20–13| 47,000|
October 23| at Illinois| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| L 6–10| 56,451|
October 30| Marquette*| |

* Ross–Ade Stadium
* West Lafayette, IN

| W 14–9| 32,000|
November 6| at No. 19 Minnesota| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Minneapolis, MN

| L 7–34| 66,953|
November 13| Pittsburgh*| |

* Ross–Ade Stadium
* West Lafayette, IN

| L 13–20| 30,000–35,000| [4]
November 20| Indiana| |

* Ross–Ade Stadium
* West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)

| W 39–0| 47,000|

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5]

## Rankings

[edit]

See also: 1948 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked| Week

|

Poll| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| Final
AP| 15| —| —| —| —| —| —| —| —

## Roster

[edit]

* Norbert Adams, HB
* Bob Agnew, FB
* Pete Barbolak, T
* John Beletic, T
* Ronald Bland, E
* Herb Campfield, FB
* John Considine, T
* Clement Crowe, C
* Bill Deem, G
* Bob DeMoss, QB
* Bill Feldkircher, QB
* Abe Gibron, G
* Ken Gorgal, QB
* Bob Grant, T
* Clyde Grimenstein, E
* Thomas Hard, G
* Bob Hartman, QB
* Bob Heck, E
* Bill Horvath, G-E
* Harley Jeffery, E
* Mike Kalapos, T
* Lou Karras, T
* John Kerestes, FB
* Steve Manich, HB
* Kenneth McCaffry, E
* Jack Milito, FB
* Bill Murray, G
* Phil O'Reilly, T
* George Punzelt, QB
* Elmer Scallish, G
* Stu Scheer, E
* Neil Schmidt, HB
* Rex Sebastian, E
* Kenneth Smith, G
* Bill Sprang, C
* Harry Szulborski, HB
* Jim Tate, T
* Rudy Trbovich, T
* Jim Weizer, G
* Bob Whitmer, E

[6]

## Game summaries

[edit]

### Marquette

[edit]

* Harry Szulborski 29 rushes, 171 yards

### Minnesota

[edit]

* Harry Szulborski 15 rushes, 160 yards

### Indiana

[edit]

* Harry Szulborski 34 rushes, 197 yards
* Norbert Adams 24 rushes, 148 yards

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Purdue Yearly Results (1945–1949)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
2. ^ "1948 Purdue Boilermakers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
3. ^ "Michigan, Irish Finish 1-2 in Litkenhous Ratings". Wilmington Morning News. December 15, 1948. p. 32 - via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ Gordon Graham (November 15, 1948). "Kickoff Return Of 100 Yards Top Feature In Weird Football Clash". Lafayette Journal and Courier. Lafayette, IN. p. 14 - via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 85. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
6. ^ "All-Time Letterwinners". Purdue University Athletics. Retrieved January 21, 2025.

* v
* t
* e

Purdue Boilermakers football

Venues|

* Stuart Field (1892–1924)
* Ross–Ade Stadium (1924–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Chicago (defunct)
* Illinois
* Indiana: Old Oaken Bucket
* Notre Dame

Culture & lore|

* Boilermaker Special
* Cradle of Quarterbacks
* Purdue Pete
* Purdue Wreck
* "Hail Purdue!"
* All-American Marching Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number