1944 Ball State Cardinals football team

The 1944 Ball State Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented Ball State Teachers College (later renamed Ball State University) in the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference during the 1944 college football season. In its ninth season under head coach John Magnabosco, the team compiled a 2–2 record.[1]

1944 Ball State Cardinals football
ConferenceIndiana Intercollegiate Conference
Record2–2 (– IIC)
Head coach
1944 Midwestern college football independents records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Miami (OH)   –  8 –1 –0
Michigan State   –  6 –1 –0
No. 9 Notre Dame   –  8 –2 –0
Central Michigan   –  5 –2 –0
Wichita   –  5 –2 –1
Bowling Green   –  5 –3 –0
Western Michigan   –  4 –3 –0
Wayne   –  1 –1 –0
Ohio Wesleyan   –  1 –8 –1
Marquette   –  1 –7 –0
Rankings from AP Poll

Ball State resumed college football in October 1944 after a wartime hiatus that began at the end of the 1942 season. Due to a manpower shortage, coach Magnabosco formed his 1944 team out of students, "most of whom never engaged in the gridiron sport."[2] To draw fans back to the game, the school did not charge for admission to its football games.[3]

Dick Van Landingham proved to be the star of the team's backfield, playing variously at the quarterback and halfback positions.

The team played its home games at Ball State Field, sometimes referred to as Cardinal Field, in Muncie, Indiana.

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 14Central Normal
L 6–132,000[4]
October 20Franklin (IN)
  • Ball State Field
  • Muncie, IN
W 19–6[5]
October 28at Central NormalDanville, INL 6–25[6]
November 4Earlhamdagger
  • Ball State Field
  • Muncie, IN
W 27–7[7]
  • daggerHomecoming

References
  1. "2007 Ball State Football Media Guide". Ball State University. 2007. p. 96. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. "Ball State on Gridiron After 2-Year Lapse". Muncie Evening Press. October 13, 1944. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Ball State Offering First Free Football on Saturday". The Muncie Morning Star. October 9, 1944. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Cards Whipped, 13-6 in Opener: Crowd of 2,000 Sees Danville Best Ball State". The Muncie Sunday Star. October 15, 1944. pp. 12, 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Cardinals Get on Right Side: Franklin Is 19-to-6 Victim of Ball State". The Muncie Morning Star. October 21, 1944. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Warriors Whip Cardinals, 25-6". The Muncie Sunday Star. October 29, 1944. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Ball State Turns on Great Fourth-Quarter Rally to Crush Earlham, 27 to 7". The Muncie Sunday Star. November 5, 1944. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
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