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

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 18 | at Illinois | | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | W 32–18 | 8,500 |
| September 25 | at Ohio State | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | W 28–13 | 23,496 |
| October 2 | at Iowa State | | Clyde Williams FieldAmes, IA | W 33–13 | 10,000 |
| October 9 | vs. Iowa | No. 8 | Iowa StadiumIowa City, IA | W 25–0 | 10,000 |
| October 16 | at Missouri | No. 7 | Ruppert StadiumKansas City, MO | W 21–6 | 12,414 |
| October 30 | Fort Riley | No. 9 | Iowa StadiumIowa City, IA | W 19–2 | < 3,500 |
| November 7 | at Marquette | No. 8 | Marquette StadiumMilwaukee, WI | W 46–19 | 3,000 |
| November 13 | Camp Grant | No. 5 | Iowa StadiumIowa City, IA | W 28–13 | |
| November 20 | at No. 1 Notre Dame | No. 2 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN | L 13–14 | 45,000 |
| November 27 | at Minnesota | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | W 32–0 | 18,261 |
| Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game |||||||

## Rankings

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