1921 Big Ten Conference football season

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Regular season

September 24

• Indiana 47, Franklin 0
• Beloit 7, Northwestern 0

  October 1

• Chicago 41, Northwestern 0
• Iowa 52, Knox 14
• Ohio State 28, Ohio Wesleyan 0
• Wisconsin 28, Lawrence 0
• Michigan 44, Mount Union 0
• Indiana 29, Kalamazoo 0
• Minnesota 19, North Dakota 0
• Wabash 9, Purdue 0

  October 8

• Chicago 9, Purdue 0.
• Minnesota 28, Northwestern 0.
• Iowa 10, Notre Dame 7. Iowa defeated Notre Dame, 10-7, in Iowa City.
• Oberlin 7, Ohio State 6. Ohio State, which had won the Big Ten championship one year earlier, lost in a stunning upset to Oberlin, 7-6, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
• Wisconsin 24, South Dakota State 3.
• Michigan 65, Case 0. Michigan defeated Case, 65–0, before a crowd of 8,000 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan scored nine touchdowns and tallied 26 first downs in the game. Case was able to advance the ball past midfield only once, late in the game. Harry Kipke scored two touchdowns and was rated as the star of the game by the Detroit Free Press, with the newspaper noting that it "frequently took four struggling opponents to stop him in his smashing, dodging advances." Also, a Case snap from center went over the goal line resulting in a safety when Ernie Vick tackled a Case player.
• Harvard 19, Indiana 0.
• Illinois 52, South Dakota 0.

  October 15

• Iowa 14, Illinois 2.
• Ohio State 27, Minnesota 0.
• Wisconsin 27, Northwestern 0.
• Michigan 30, Michigan Agricultural 0. In the annual Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game, Michigan defeated Michigan Agricultural, 30–0, before a crowd of 18,000 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan's Harry Kipke scored three touchdowns, including one on a punt return from midfield. Paul G. Goebel recovered two fumbles, blocked a punt which he then picked up and returned for a touchdown, "made 20 or so tackles," and kicked three extra points. Michigan's passing games was called "nothing short of miserable" as five of the Wolverines' passes were intercepted and only one was completed. Michigan's defense held the Aggies to 57 yards of total offense and two first downs.
• Notre Dame 33, Purdue 0.

  October 22

• Ohio State 14, Michigan 0. In the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry game, Ohio State defeated Michigan, 14–0, at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor before a crowd of either 40,500 or 42,000 spectators — the largest crowd in Michigan history to that date. In the first quarter, Michigan halfback Harry Kipke had an open field run for a 35-yard gain, but he was injured on the play. Ohio State's first points came on a 30-yard punt return by Ohio State halfback Johnny Stuart. Stuart also had a 95-yard, wind-assisted punt in the game. Ohio State added a second touchdown in the fourth quarter on a run by the Ohio State fullback Taylor.
• Chicago 9, Princeton 0. Chicago defeated Princeton, 9-0, in Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton had been undefeated and recognized as co-national champion in 1920. Milton Romney kicked a field goal and caught a touchdown pass to account for all of the scoring. Chicago's victory was reported to be the first by a Midwestern team against one of "the so-called 'big three' of the east."
• Wisconsin 20, Illinois 0.
• Minnesota 6, Indiana 0.

  October 29

• Iowa 13, Purdue 6.
• Michigan 3, Illinois 0. Michigan defeated the Illinois, 3 to 0, on a field that was "soaked from torrents of rain that fell all of the night before," with players skidding around the field and vision "obscured by clotted mud." Michigan's Frank Steketee kicked a field goal from placement for the game's only points.
• Wisconsin 35, Minnesota 0.
• Chicago 35, Colorado 0.
• Notre Dame 28, Indiana 7.
• Northwestern 34, DePaul 0.

  November 5

• Iowa 41, Minnesota 7
• Ohio State 7, Chicago 0
• Purdue 3, Northwestern 0
• Illinois 21, DePauw 0

  November 12

• Iowa 41, Indiana 0.
• Ohio State 28, Purdue 0.
• Chicago 14, Illinois 6.
• Michigan 7, Wisconsin 7. Michigan and Wisconsin played to a 7–7 tie at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The game was played on "a mud-ridden field that made footing almost impossible." Wisconsin's touchdown was scored when Michigan punted from behind the goal line and the kick went about 15 yards before bouncing back toward the Michigan goal where Gus Tebell "speared" the ball and dove across the goal line for a touchdown. Michigan scored on a "trick play" consisting of a "double forward pass." The play began with quarterback Irwin Uteritz tossing the ball to right end Paul G. Goebel. Goebel then threw a "fast, low pass" to an uncovered fullback Doug Roby. Roby caught the ball at the 20-yard line and ran from there across the goal line.

  November 19

• Iowa 14, Northwestern 0.
• Chicago 3, Wisconsin 0.
• Illinois 7, Ohio State 0.
• Michigan 38, Minnesota 0. In the annual battle for the Little Brown Jug, Michigan defeated Minnesota, 38–0, at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor before a crowd estimated at 33,000 spectators, first in drizzling rain and then in cold weather. Prior to the start of the game, a ceremony was held dedicating a bronze memorial tablet honoring four Michigan athletes who died in World War I. Michigan's quarterback Irwin Uteritz scored two touchdowns, including a 65-yard interception return that the Detroit Free Press called "the most thrilling achievement of the afternoon." Left end Clark Dean added a field goal from the 50-yard line that the Free Press called "the longest of the season, and, in most respects, the greatest any Michigan man ever exhibited to the gaze of paid spectators." Franklin Cappon scored on a 60-yard touchdown run, and Paul G. Goebel scored a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Doug Roby that the Free Press called Michigan's "most spectacular pass" since 1907. Frank Steketee also scored a touchdown when he jumped on a Cappon fumble in the end zone. The game marked the worst defeat that a Minnesota football team had suffered to that point in the program's history, exceeding a 41–7 loss to Iowa earlier in the 1921 season.
• Indiana 3, Purdue 0

  Bowl games

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten players

All-Americans