Countdown to 2019 IUFB Kickoff: 41 Days (IU Football 1920-1933)
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Written by T.J. Inman (@TJJHoosierHuddle)
2019 Countdown - #41
1920-1933
Overview
The next era of Indiana football we focus on is a decade-plus that was particularly poor for the Indiana Hoosiers. 1921 was the final season for Jumbo Stiehm as he fell ill (he would later pass from cancer). His team went 3-4 and IU turned to Pennsylvania native James Herron. Herron had been an assistant at Pittsburgh under “Pop” Warner and his first head coaching stop was in Bloomington. Things did not go well as IU went just 1-4-2 and he returned to Pittsburgh after just one season. The Hoosiers hired Bill Ingram, then the head coach at William & Mary and originally from Jeffersonville. Ingram had played at Navy and did just fine at IU, going 3-4, 4-4 and 3-4-1. He left the Hoosiers to become the head coach at Navy and led the Midshipmen to a 9-0-1 record in 1926 and won a share of the national title. The Hoosiers were forced to start over and they looked close to home, swiping the head coach from Butler University. Harlan Page had gone 37-14-2 with the Bulldogs so hopes were high. Unfortunately, he floundered in five seasons at IU, posting a record of 14-24-3 and failing to do better than 4-4. In 1931, the Hoosiers turned to their track coach at the time, hiring Earle Hayes. Hayes had coached football at Mississippi A&M (later Mississippi State) from 1914-1916 and had been coaching track in Bloomington since 1924. Again, things did not go well. IU went 2-5-1, 3-4-1 and bottomed out in 1933 at 1-5-2. Things were about to get better as IU entered a new era under new coach Bo McMillin. Perhaps most significantly in this era, the original Memorial Stadium was built and opened in 1925. The facility held 22,000 fans and housed the Hoosiers from 1925 to 1959.
Best Coach – William “Bill” Ingram
A native of Jeffersonville, Indiana, Bill Ingram was hired by the Hoosiers prior to the 1923 season. He had been the head coach for one year at William & Mary, going 6-3 in 1922. Ingram did not have great success in Bloomington, going just 10-12-1, but in the time period we are currently looking at, he was the best IU had. In addition, he went on to have terrific success at the Naval Academy and then with the California Golden Bears. His career record ended up at 75-42-9 and he was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Best Team – 1928
To be blunt, there were no “good” teams to choose from here but in a list of bad to below average, the 1928 squad gets the nod as the best of the bunch. The Hoosiers went 4-4 but won a pair of conference games (at Michigan and against Northwestern) and beat Oklahoma 10-7. This was Harlan Page’s third season and getting a win at Michigan is always something to be look at fondly, particularly when it is the school’s first win ever over the Wolverines.
Best Player – Charles “Chuck” Bennett
Chuck Bennett was born in Linton, Indiana and was a halfback for the Hoosiers from 1926 to 1928. His teams did not have outstanding success but he was terrific in 1928, leading Indiana to a 4-4 season with wins over Michigan and Oklahoma and earning the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player award. The halfback was the only weapon on a team that only averaged 6.9 points per game. He scored the only touchdown against Big Ten champs Illinois all season and was praised by opposing coaches. Bennett went on to play professional football for both the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Cardinals. He moved on to become a high school coach and athletic director at Lyons Township High School.
Best Game – 6-0 Win at Michigan in 1928
The Indiana Hoosiers had never beaten Michigan before but an offensively inept squad went into Ann Arbor and stunned the 25,896 people in attendance at Michigan Stadium. Big Ten MVP Chuck Bennett played all 60 minutes and led the Hoosiers to the upset. The Wolverines went on to only go 3-4-1 but beating Michigan was a cause for celebration and remained the highlight of this down period of IU football.
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