1942_Great_Lakes_Navy_Bluejackets_football_team

1942 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team

1942 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team

American college football season


The 1942 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team represented the United States Navy's Great Lakes Naval Training Station (Great Lakes NTS) during the 1942 college football season. Playing a schedule that included six Big Nine Conference football teams, Notre Dame, Pitt, Michigan State, and Missouri, the team compiled an 8–3–1 record, shut out seven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 222 to 55.[1][2] The team was ranked No. 1 among the service teams in a poll of 91 sports writers conducted by the Associated Press.[3]

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The team's head coach was Tony Hinkle, who coached football, baseball, and basketball at Butler University before the war.[2] Butler agreed in March 1942 to send Hinkle to Great Lakes NTS to assist in the war effort.[4]

The team was made up of college and professional football players who were serving in the Navy and stationed at Great Lakes NTS. The team was led on offense by Bruce Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1941 while playing for Minnesota. Other players included: Rudy Mucha, a consensus All-American center in 1940 who spent the 1941 season in the NFL, Bob Sweiger (fullback, Minnesota), Pete Kmetovic (halfback, Stanford), Vic Marino (All-Big Ten guard from Ohio State) Bill Radovich (guard, USC/Detroit Lions), Carl Mulleneaux (end, Utah State), and Steve Belichick, father of Bill Belichick who played for the Detroit Lions in 1941.[2]

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[17]


References

  1. "1942 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  2. Jack Scott. "1942 Great Lakes" (PDF). College Football Historical Society Newsletter. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 25, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2018 via LA84 Foundation.
  3. "Great Lakes Is Leading Service Team Of Nation". Ashville Citizen-Times. December 6, 1942. p. D2 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Bert McGrane (October 4, 1942). "Great Lakes Wilts Iowa, 25-0". The Des Moines Register. pp. 5–1, 5–9 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Irving Vaughan (October 18, 1942). "Badger Rally Wins, 13-7, Over Great Lakes". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2–1, 2–8 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Purdue Routed, 42-0: Bluejackets Have Field Day". The Muncie Sunday Star. November 8, 1942. p. 12 via Newspapers.com.
  7. Irving Vaughan (November 12, 1942). "Great Lakes Whips Camp Grant Eleven, 33-0". Chicago Tribune. pp. 25, 27 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Marquette Tires, Great Lakes Wins Tilt 24 to 0". Ironwood Daily Globe. November 16, 1942. p. 8 via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Sweiger Score Tips Illini, 6-0". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune and Star Journal. November 22, 1942. p. 29 via Newspapers.com.
  10. Wilfrid Smith (November 27, 1942). "Great Lakes Power Plays Crush N. U. 48-0". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2–1, 2–21 via Newspapers.com.
  11. Wilfrid Smith (December 6, 1942). "Notre Dame Rally Ties Great Lakes, 13 to 13". Chicago Tribune. pp. 2–1, 2–3 via Newspapers.com.
  12. Daye, John (2014). Encyclopedia of Armed Forces Football. Haworth, New Jersey: St. Johann Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-937943-21-9.

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