1943 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team

The 1943 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team represented the United States Navy pre-flight school at the University of Iowa as an independent during the 1943 college football season. In the second season of intercollegiate football at the pre-flight school, the team compiled a 9–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 277 to 98, and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll.^[1][2]

1943 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 2
Record	9–1
Head coach	Don Faurot (1st season)
Home stadium	Iowa Stadium
Seasons ← 1942 1944 →

1943 military service football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 17 Bainbridge			–					7	–	0	–	0
Bunker Hill NAS			–					6	–	0	–	0
Greensboro			–					4	–	0	–	0
Memphis NATTC			–					2	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight			–					9	–	1	–	0
No. 10 March Field			–					9	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Del Monte Pre-Flight			–					7	–	1	–	0
Randolph Field			–					9	–	1	–	1
Georgia Pre-Flight			–					5	–	1	–	0
No. 6 Great Lakes Navy			–					10	–	2	–	0
Lubbock AAF			–					5	–	1	–	0
Ottumwa NAS			–					5	–	1	–	0
Camp Davis			–					8	–	2	–	0
Sampson NTS			–					7	–	2	–	0
San Diego NTS			–					7	–	2	–	0
Keesler Field			–					3	–	1	–	0
Wright Field			–					1	–	0	–	1
Camp Lejeune			–					6	–	2	–	1
Fort Riley			–					6	–	2	–	1
Kearns Field			–					5	–	2	–	0
Fort Knox			–					4	–	2	–	0
Cherry Point Marines			–					4	–	2	–	1
Alameda Coast Guard			–					4	–	2	–	1
Fort Douglas			–					4	–	2	–	1
300th Infantry			–					5	–	3	–	0
176th Infantry			–					4	–	3	–	0
Blackland AAF			–					4	–	3	–	0
Fort Sheridan			–					4	–	3	–	0
Fort Warren			–					4	–	3	–	0
Norman NAS			–					4	–	3	–	0
Charleston Coast Guard			–					5	–	4	–	0
Salt Lake AAB			–					4	–	3	–	2
124th Infantry			–					2	–	2	–	0
Camp Kilmer			–					2	–	2	–	0
Camp Lee			–					5	–	5	–	0
Logan Navy			–					2	–	2	–	0
Spokane Air Service			–					2	–	2	–	0
Camp Edwards			–					4	–	5	–	0
Curtis Bay Coast Guard			–					4	–	5	–	0
Saint Mary's Pre-Flight			–					3	–	4	–	1
Jacksonville NATTC			–					3	–	4	–	0
Richmond AAB			–					4	–	6	–	1
Atlantic City NAS			–					2	–	3	–	0
North Carolina Pre-Flight			–					2	–	4	–	1
Patterson Field			–					2	–	4	–	1
Bowman Field			–					2	–	4	–	0
Kirtland Field			–					1	–	2	–	0
Lakehurst NAS			–					2	–	4	–	0
Camp Grant			–					2	–	6	–	2
Lowry Field			–					1	–	3	–	0
Fort Monroe			–					3	–	7	–	0
Daniel Field			–					2	–	7	–	0
Camp Gordon			–					1	–	4	–	0
South Plains AAF			–					1	–	4	–	0
Greenville AAB			–					1	–	5	–	0
Ward Island Marines			–					1	–	5	–	0
Bryan AAF			–					1	–	6	–	0
Pocatello AAB			–					0	–	3	–	0
Norfolk Fleet Marines			–					0	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

In July 1943, Don Faurot—previously the head football coach at Missouri and recently enlisted in the Navy with a rank of lieutenant—was assigned to take over from Bernie Bierman as the team's head coach.^[3] Upon arriving in Iowa City in August, 100 candidates tried out at Faurot's first football practice session. Faurot said he would use a T formation and promised at the time that "we will have a fighting squad and a fighting team."^[4]

Four Iowa Pre-Flight players were named to the Associated Press' 1943 AP Service All-America team. Center Vince Banonis and back Dick Todd were named to the first team. End Perry Schwartz and guard Nick Kerasiotis were named to the second team.^[5]

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Iowa Pre-Flight ranked fifth among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 113.5.^[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 32–18	8,500	[7]
September 25	at Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	W 28–13	23,496	[8]
October 2	at Iowa State		Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA	W 33–13	10,000	[9]
October 9	vs. Iowa	No. 8	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 25–0	10,000	[10]
October 16	at Missouri	No. 7	Ruppert Stadium Kansas City, MO	W 21–6	12,414	[11]
October 30	Fort Riley	No. 9	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 19–2	< 3,500	[12]
November 7	at Marquette	No. 8	Marquette Stadium Milwaukee, WI	W 46–19	3,000	[13]
November 13	Camp Grant	No. 5	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 28–13		[14]
November 20	at No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	L 13–14	45,000	[15]
November 27	at Minnesota	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 32–0	18,261	[16]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[17]

Rankings

See also: 1943 college football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	8 (2)	7	8	9	8	5	2	2 (1)	2 (12)

Roster

Players who started at least half of the games are shown in bold.^[18]

Player	Position	Previous team	Games started
Vince Banonis	Center	Chicago Cardinals (1942)	5 games: OSU, FR, Marquette, CG, ND
Burk	End		1 game: MN
Bob Carlson	Tackle		9 games: Illinois, OSU, Iowa, Missouri, FR, Marquette, CG, ND, MN
Ray Carlson	Guard		3 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU
Chesbro	End		3 games: Marquette, ND, MN
Claffey	Tackle		1 games: ISU
Clements	End		9 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU, Iowa, Missouri, FR, Marquette, CG, ND
Connor	End		2 games: FR, CG
Dusenbury	End		5 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU, Iowa, Missouri
Art Guepe	Back	Marquette (1934-1936)	2 games: ND, MN
Angelo Guerriero	Center		3 games: ISU, Iowa, Missouri
Heinz	Halfback		5 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU, Marquette, CG
Higgins	Halfback		2 games: ND, MN
Hook	Guard		2 games: Marquette, CG
Jebb	Center		1 game: Illinois
Nick Kerasiotis	Guard	Ambrose	9 games: OSU, ISU, Iowa, Missouri, FR, Marquette, CG, ND, MN
Dick Kieppe	Halfback	Michigan State	2 games: Iowa, Missouri
Kramer	Tackle		4 games: Marquette, CG, ND, MN
Large	Tackle		3 games: Iowa, Missouri, FR
Magel	Tackle		3 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU
Frank Maznicki	Halfback	Chicago Bears (1942)	7 games: OSU, ISU, Iowa, Missouri, FR, Marquette, CG
Bus Mertes	Fullback	Iowa (1941)	10 games: Illinois, OSU, ISU, Iowa, Missouri, FR, Marquette, CG, ND, MN
Olson	Center		1 game: MN
Perry Schwartz	End	Brooklyn Dodgers (1938–1942)	No starts
Jimmy Smith	HB, QB	Illinois	7 games: Illinois (HB), OSU (QB), ISU (QB), Iowa (QB), CG (QB), ND (QB), MN (QB)
Bob Timmons	Back	Pittsburgh	No starts
Tobin	Guard		5 games: Iowa, Missouri, FR, ND, MN
Dick Todd	Halfback	Washington Redskins (1939–1942)	1 game: FR
Williams	QB		4 games: Illinois, Missouri, FR, Marquette
Ziebarth	Guard		1 game: Illinois