Michigan Elevens Dominate 81 of 89 Foes
By MARY LU HEATH
As Michigan football enters its 66th
season, Wolverine fans can point with
justifiable pride at the record books,
which show an amazing all-time dom-
inance over 81 of 89 opponents played
by the Michigan elevens.
Of the five Wolverine losing rec-
ords, four of the opposing squads are
favored by the slimmest of margins-
one victory to no losses. The other
team, Cornell, has beaten the Maize
and Blue 11 times, while the Wolver-
ines still maintain a respectable total
of five wins over the Big Red. Three
traditional rivalries show an even
record for each side.
Michigan Supreme
Against Western Conference teams,
Michigan has reigned supreme since
its first intercollegiate football game
in 1879. The keenest Big Ten rival-
ries have been between the Maize and
Blue and ChicagoeOhio State, and
Minnesota. Not even one of these
three squads has ever cut the Wolver-
ine all-time lead to less than seven
games. The teamtwhich comes clos-
est is Minnesota, the only close com-
petitor with Michigan in the number
of Conference titles won. The Go-
phers have clinched 13 champion-
ships since 1896, while the Wolver-
ines have brought 14 back to Ann
Arbor.
After Michigan eked out its first
7-2 victory over Racine College, it
continued intercollegiate competition
until 1882, the only year since 1879
when the Wolverines have not fielded
a grid squad. The coaches in those
days were drawn from the student
body, and some of them played on the
team as well.
Student Coaches
From 1891 to 1900, a series of spe-
cially hired coaches-Murphy, Bar-
bour, McCauley, Ferbert, and Lea-
guided the Wolverines to 17 winning
and four losing seasons. Beginning
with 1892, when as many as ten games
a 'year were scheduled, Michigan
records became better and better. In
1893, the team moved to a regular
playing site on Ferry Field.
The Western Conference, mean-
while, had been founded Jan. 11,
1895. by the Presidents of the U~i
versity of Michigan and six other ori-
ginal Big Ten schools. After the three
remaining members were admitted,
Michigan withdrew from the Confer-
ence in 1908, but resumed member-
ship in the fall of 1917.
Yost Arrives
With the acquisition of Fielding H.
Yost, among the several greatest
American football men, as coach of
the 1901 Michigan team, the Wolver-
ines began the five most glorious
years in the school's athletic history.
,Under Yost, such stars as Willie Hes-
ton led the team through four un-
beaten seasons, a record which has
never been tied or bettered in foot-
ball history. Known as the "Point-
a-Minute" teams, the "Grand Old
Man's" players took four shutouts by
over 100 points in three seasons, and
four Big Ten titles in a row.
As a reward for their endeavors,
the team moved to a new stadium in
1906. Until 1927, they played on this
northern area of Ferry Field where
the cinder track is now laid out.
Yost's only losing season up to 1924,
uh n ha cirnr nAVnHH+
his duties as athletic director, was in
1919, when the Wolverines lost one
more game than they won.
Yost Comes Back
After one year with Lou Little, pres-
ent Columbia mentor, at the helm,
the Wolverines found themselves
again under the tutelage of Yost, who
produced two more Conference cham-
pions in 1925 and 1926. Called the
successors to the "Point-a-Minute"
aggregations, these teams included
such stars as Ben Friedman, quarter-
back and passer extraordinary, and
his receiver, end Bennie Oosterbaan,
who made all-American for three
straight years and became one of
Michigan's eight nine-lettermen.
Yost's final retirement to become
full-time athletic director came in
1927, when Tad Wieman took over
the reins. In this year, the Michigan
Stadium was opened. Seating 86,000
fans, it is the largest Stadium in the
Conference, and among the largest
in the country.
Kipke Succeeds Wieman
After two years as coach, Wieman
ke. Kipke remained at Michigan for
nine years until H. O. (Fritz) Crisler,
the present mentor, took over as foot-
ball coach in 1938. 1940 marked the
final retirement of Yost, who had
continued to serve brilliantly as
athletic director, at the age of 70.
The "Grand Old Man," who showed
up at the first intra-squad game this
summer, as usual, is now 74.
Under Crisler, Michigan has con-
tinued to turn out topnotch aggrega-
tions, including the 1939-40 elevens
which were sparked by two-year all-
American halfback Tom Harmon.
28 All-American
Michigan's all-American list in-
cludes 28 names, three of which were
mentioned for the squad more than
one year. Surprisingly enough, only
one man, Willie Heston, was chosen
from the original five "Point-a-Mi-
nute" elevens. He wasdlisted at a
halfback post in 1903 and 1904. The
scarcity of Wolverine topnotchers on
the earliest expert-picked dream
teams is in part due to the superior
reputation of Eastern teams and play-
HALL OF FAME-The name of Fielding H. Yost, whose 1901 footW ll
team smashed Stanford, 49-0, in the first Rose Bowl game ever played,
is prominently displayed in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame at Pasadena,
Calif. The victory was one of the high points in Michigan's glorious
grid history.
L--, e .Um- w en neresigned to concentrate on: was succeeded in 1929 by Harry Kip- I ers in t
by HarryKLp-A6rs in t
SUPPLEMENTt
VOL. LVI, No. 1 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1945
he first big years of the sport.
SPOPT
S UPPLEMENT
Gridders
Compile
3-2
Record
Thus
Far
Coaching Staff Hopeful ...
Over '45-'46 Prospects
Boom Year Forecast for College Athletics;
Ex-ServiceInen Expected To Swell Squads
Northwestern, MSC,
Great Lakes Victims
Wolverines Bow to Indiana, Army;
Eleven Is Greenest in Crisler's Reign
BY-HANK KEISER
With the war at an end, 1945-46
holds promise of being the biggest
sports' year in quite some time. Re-
turning veterans will be on hand to
rejuvenate he material-starved col-
lege squads, while attendance figures
are expected to jump as a result of
the sports-minded ex-servicemen's
interest.
The experts predict that the long-
awaited boom year for Western Con-
ference athletics is now at hand and,
in line with this, Michigan's coaches
are already making plans to field
FourBig Ten
Crowns Taken
By Wolverines
Three-a-Year Record
Preserved in 1944-45
By BILL MULLENDORE
Daily Sports Editor
Four Western Conference cham-
pionships came to Michigan athletic
squads during the 1944-45 sports year,
thus preserving the Wolverines' rec-
ord of having won at least three titles
in every year of Conference compe-
tition since 1923.
Indoor track, baseball, swimming,
and tennis were the four squads to
turn the trick of leading the field of
nine competing Big Ten schools to
the finish line. Football, outdoor
track, and golf missed by narrow mar-
gins.
Going into the '44-45 campaign,
the various Wolverine squads were
confronted with what proved to be an
impossible task-the equalling of a
record set the previous year when
eight of nine possible championships
came to rest at Michigan. At no time
in Big Ten history had any school
displayed such complete over-all sup-
eriority, and it just wasn't in the
books for lightning to strike twice.
Passing over the 1944-45 year in
review, we find first the football squad
failing in a desperate effort to defend
the title won the year previously. The
race went right down to the final
game with Ohio State, but the Bucks
See REVIEW, Page 5
SPORTS
teams groomed to capture a large
shore of Big Ten honors.
Cagers Get Away Early
Bill Barclay's cagemen have gotten
off to an early start, with a seven-
week practice session already behind
them. Four 1945 lettermen have turn-
ed out in addition to two veterans and
four Navy transfer students, all with
collegiate varsity basketball experi-
ence.
Keith Harder, Bill Gregor, John
Mullaney and Walt Kell make up the
roster of last year's "M" men. Kell
and Mullaney were on the starting
five, while Harder and Gregor saw
considerable action. All in all, it
stacks up as a pretty seasoned quar-
tet around which to build this seasons
crew, according to Coach Barclay.
Two Ex-Servicemen
The two veterans, both former
Michigan stars, are Dave Strack and
Harold Westerman. Strack, recently
discharged from the Marines, cap-
tained the Wolverine squad in '43.
Starting at forward, he was the Maize
and Blue's second highest scorer and
its best defensive ballplayer, and was
picked the "most valuable college
player in Michigan." Westerman held
down a guard assignment on the 1941
quintet, for which he earned a letter.
Ray Louthen heads the list of Naval
candidates vying for first string as-
signments. Louthen played for West-
ern Michigan last year and, this
spring was ace hurler on the Wolver-
ine baseball team. Glenn Selbo, also
from Western Michigan, Bill Walton,
who hails from DePauw; and Bill
Hodge, former Central Michigan cag-
er, complete the list.
Mann Optimistic
Matt Mann, starting his 22nd year
as coach of the Wolverine swimming
team and shooting for his 18th Con-
ference championship had this to
say when queried concerning Michi-
gan's prospects, "We'll be alright."
The loss of freestyler Mert Church,
last year's captain and winner of the
NCAA award for "Most Valuable Col-
lege Swimmer of 1945" will undoubt-
edly be felt. However, Chuch Fries,
stellar freestyle man; Heini Kessler,
holder of the Big Ten breaststroke
title; Gordon Pulford, who did double
duty as both a freestyler and back-
stroker; and Bill Breen, whose spe-,
cialty is handling one of the legs in
See PROSPECTS, Page 5
OUCH--Ted Kluszewski (with ball), Indiana end, takes pass on Michigan five, after out-maneuvering Wolver-
ine defense, and heads goalward during Indiana's 13-7 victory over ;Michigan. The play resulted in the Hoo-
siers' first touchdown.
SEVEN YEARS AT MICHIGAN
Fritz Crisler's Squads Chalk U Winning
Records Over Twenty-Two Opponents
By MARY LU HEATHj
In seven years as head footballt
coach at Michigan, H. O. (Fritz) Cris-
ler has turned out grid squads which
have maintained winning records over
22 teams, broken even with three, and
been dominated by only one opponent.
Since Crisler came here fromj
Princeton in 1938, he has turned out
elevens which have been the nemesis
of other Western Conference mentors.
winning 48 games, losing 11, and
tying two. Although Crisler-coached
aggregations have won the Big Ten
title only once, when the 1943 team
tied with Purdup, they have registered
a total of 1,420 points to their oppo-
nents' 507.
Can't Beat Gophers
The only losing record of the last
seven seasons is with Minnesota, the
Wolverines' arch-rival. Although the
Gophers beat Michigan during the
first five years of the Crisler regime,
the Maize and Blue squads have be-1
gun to revive and have kept the
Brown Jug in Ann Arbor for the past
two years.
Not only has Crisler produced top-
notch teams, but also great individual
stars. His percentage of all-Ameri-
cans at Michigan is unusually high,
with eight men gaining that honor
since 1938. Only 28 Wolverines have
w n the award during the Univer-
sity's grid history.
Harmon Headsr'En
Tom Harmon heads the parade of
Crisler all-Americans, receiving the
nomination in 1939 and 1940, while
Ralph Heikkinen, Ed Frutig, Bob
Westfall, Al Wistert, Julius Franks,
Merv Pregulman, and Bill Daley have
also attained top ranking in the
nation. Crisler failed to place at least
one man on the all-American team in
1944 only.
See CRISLER, Page 4
By BILL MULLENDORE
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan's 1945 football season has
reached the halfway mark as this
paper goes to press, and the record
books show three wins and two losses
for the first five games of the most
difficult schedule ever handed a Wol-
verine eleven.
Great Lakes., Michigan State, and
Northwestern have fallen to Coach
Fritz Crisler's freshman-studded ag-
gregation, while Indiana and Army
have taken Michigan's measure. The
Wolverines will also have met Illinois
before this paper is published.
The youngest, most inexperienced
squad in Crisler's eight-year tenure
as Michigan grid coach opened the
season against Great Lakes. Six
freshmen were in the starting line-up,
and a host of other first-year men
have been key figures -as the season
has gone along.
Veterans Help
Return of three discharged service-
men, all with varsity experience, has
swelled the number of older hands,
but the squad remains as one of the
youngest ever turned out at Michi-
gan. Despite the handicap, the Wol-
verine showing has been good enough
to earn Crisler's praise as "the best
freshman bunch I've ever had, in-
cluding the crowd that came in with
Tom Harmon."
Four Coaches
Assist Crisler
With '45 Team
By SY LICHTER
Besides head coach H. O. (Fritz)
Crisler, four other coaches have had a
great deal totdotwith the coaching of
the 1945 football team-Earl T. Mar-
tineau, Clarence L. Munn, Bennie G.
Oosterbaan, and Arthur Valpey.
Earl Martineau, who is the back-
field coach, came to Michigan in 1938.
Martineau transferred from Princton
University along with Crisler. He
attended the University of Minnesota
as an undergraduate, taking All-
American honors in 1923 while play-
ing the halfback position, and later
became head football coach at West-
ern College.
World War I Hero
He served as, backfield coach at
Purdue University, and then moved to
Princeton where he was Crisler's aide.
A Marine veteran of the First World
War, Martineau was a brilliant fight-
er, winning the Croix de Guerre, the
Distinguished Service Cross, Purple
Heart, Silver Star, and other cita-
tions.
Clarence L. (Biggie) Munn has been
with the Wolverines for seven years,
and has been called one of the best
line coaches in the country. Munn
was an All-American under Crisler at
That is a mouthful of praise com-
ing from the usually cauti6us Wol-
verine coach, and his youthful char-
ges have earned it. The climax of
their steadily-improving play came in
a 28-7 defeat by Army in which Mich-
igan played much better ball than
the score indicates against last year's
national champions.
Great Lakes Trounced
Great Lakes was first on the Mich-
igan list, and the Sailors were dis-
posed of handily, 27-2. A passing
combination of Bob Teninga, 17-year
old Chicago yearling, to Ed McNeill,
another first-year man provided the
big punch in this victory, along with
Teninga's fine open-field running.
Michigan scored first on a Teninga-
McNeill aerial, but the Sailors came
back strong as Marion Motley, a
bruising 200-pound fullback, tore off
55 yards to the Michigan nine. The
young Wolverine line held for downs
at this point, but a fumble in the end
zone gave the Bluejackets a safety for
their only score.
Indiana, Surprises
After that bit of action in the ini-
tial moments, the game was pretty
much Michigan all the way. Teninga
to McNeill produced another touch-
down, and the same combination set
up a third with Teninga running over
from the four. Jim Foltz scored the.
final tally on a landward drive.
Indiana was the next foe to move
into Ann Arbor, and Coach Bo Mc-
Millin's "pore little boys" had some
surprises in store for the Wolverines,
The Hoosiers have a habit of upset-
ting the dope against Michigan, and
they duplicated last year's surprising
20-0 victory, this time by a 13-7
count.
Fake Field Goal
The passing of Ben Raimondi and
the running of George Taliaferro,
sensational Hoosier freshman, opened
up a 13-0 first half lead, and Indiana
was able to stave off a desperate
Michigan second-half comeback. The
Wolverines scored once on a thrust
See FOOTBALL TEAM, Page 2
FRITZ CRISLER
. . . . ey Bill Mul lendor e
EVER since the announcement that Michigan was to play both Army and Navy during
the 1945 football season was made, people have been asking us, in effect, "What's
the big idea?"
Just who does Michigan think it is, they want to know, to take on the two best teams
in football in the same year? Isn't Michigan jeopardizing its winning reputation by
scheduling two games almost certain to be lost?
These questions, and many others, are only natural in view of the circumstances
surrounding the two contests. It is true that Army and Navy ranked one-two in the
national football rankings in 1944. It is equally true that, in all probability, they
will repeat the performance again in 1945, although not necessarily in the same order.
But future considerations go even farther than that. The two home-and-home ser-
ies, it is to be hoped, herald the opening of relations with Army and Navy not only in
football but in other sports as well. Michigan has never met Army on the gridiron and
has not played Navy for more than 10 years. The rivalry is a "natural" and should be
encouraged. The first encouragement was given this year in the scheduling of both
schools.
The war has been primarily responsible for the upsurge of Army and Navy in foot-
ball. Speeded-up programs at both Annapolis and West Point have resulted in the
enrollment of top-notch football players in a quantity never before reached at
either institution. And Army and Navy have been quick to capitalize on the opportu-
U'