THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TH*USAY, JA
On Target ...
A-A Polls Bypass'M' Specialists
,,
By BUD WEIDENTHALr
Michigan's specialists found the
going rough when it came to the
All-American selections for the
1947 football season.
Not yet aware that the age of
"iron man football" had passed,
many of the nation's leading sel-
ectors persisted in naming first
teams of all-around performers
instead of asquad of specialists.
Able to withstand the effects
of the Crisler two team system,
however was spectacular Wol-
verine Bob Chappuis who had
received a tremendous amount
of publicity during the course
of the season. Although Bob
performed only on offense, his
fine aerial artistry and elusive
running gained him enough
support to be selected on the
first team of every major All-
American squad.
The big surprise of the year was
the naming of Chalmers (Bump)
Elliot to the number one halfback
spot along with Chappuis on the
football coaches All - American
which appeared in the Saturday
Evening Post.
Many experts had felt that El-
liot was grossly underrated and
that his-great defensive play plus
his brilliant running and pass re-
ceiving certainly rated him an
All-American spot.
Elliot was one of two Wol-
Michigan's 1947 All-Americans
BOB CHAPPUIS-FIRST TEAM, Grantland Rice, Associated Press,
Look, Saturday Evening Post, United Press, Frank Leahy.
BUMP ELLIOTT-FIRST TEAM, Saturday Evening Post,
SECOND TEAM, Look, Associated Press.
BOB MANN-SECOND TEAM, Associated Press,
THIRD TEAM, Look, Sturday Evening Post.
LEN FORD-THIRD TEAM, Associated Press.
BRUCE HILKENE-Frank Leahy.
J. T. WHITE-SECOND TEAM, Look.
DAN DWORSKY-THIRD TEAM, Saturday Evening Post.
Wee, 'he dean of American
p'rtswri ,,rs said in naming
'happuis to a backfield posi-
ti?,'Ciippuis made th, grade
brc-ause he hadl more experience
tha:n (Pak) Walker and great-
er versatitity than (Bobb"}
Layne."
In s, 1 ting Elliot to the coach
team, Tad Wiman who head.
:he group said, "Teamed as he
vwas with Bob Chappuis . . . El-
- perniimEd so well in his own
1 ,ht that he. like Chappuis, qual-
iled a: an All-American."
Bruce Hilkene, Michigan's cap-
tain and offensive tackle was
nr t r !. T~nnk TPa vq firs f-
verines to play on both offense
and defense.
Victim of the antiquated selec-
tion system was the Wolverine's
great pass catching end, Bob
Mann. Bob was termed by Coach
Fritz Crisler as "the greatest pass
receiver he has ever coached."
Mann placed on the second
team of the Associated Press and
the Football Writers Association,
and the third team of the coaches
All-American.
The Associated Press selec-
tions accorded the Wolverines
the unusual distinction of nam-
ing 13 members of the team to
All-America honors. Chappuis
was named on the first team,
Mann and Elliot on the second
and Len Ford, another special-
ist, to the third.
Eight Wolverines were named
to honorable mention: anumir,
- axv a - a3 A- V -LJt\ 111C21:ean y sJr ()
far exceeding any other team ia fensive tem. Leahy was unique
the country. in that instead of selecting three
Michigan was unusually strong teams he named an entire squad
at center this season having two :f 33 men.
All-Americans at that position. Jim Brieske, the Wolverines'
Dan Dworsky, rugged line- g' eat place-kicker, was men-
backer, was recognized for his tioxied on Leahy s All-American
great defensive play by the squad.
Football Coaches As oiation Michigan s opponents at the
who placed him on thlir third Pos" Bowl, southern California,
team. can boast of at least two All-
Outstanding at offensive ccner j Anericavis. Paul Cleary, widely
was J.T. White who was named to !cclaimed Trojan end was placed
the football writers second team.j on the first team of nine of the
Of the entire group of Michigand thirteen major All-American ele-
gridders only Bob Chappuis was vens. Cleary was recognized for
officially named by the Univer- his fine all-around play.
sity as an All-American for 1947, In placing on six first teams,
since it ony recognizes the selec- tackle John Ferrero qualified as
tions of Grantland Rice in Col- a mother Southern California All-
Tiers Magazine. American.
TROJANS BEWARE!--Pictured here and in the opposite corner
is-the deadly Michigan pass aerial combo which ranks with Missi-
ssiPpi's Charley Conerly and Barney Poole as the top duet in the
country. The gent above is one Mr. Robert Chappuis who is
throwing to . . .
FOUR HORSEMEN:
Complete Michigan Backfield
Given All-Conference Berths
Michigan Boasts 30, All-American
Gridders Over Span of Fifty Years
A'
,
t
5
p
,P
One has to go back to the days
when Grantland Rice and other
sportswriters were singing the
praises of the "four horsemen" of
Notre Dame to find a backfield
tombination that is as smoothly
blended -into a point producing
machine as is this year's Wolver-
ine backfield group of Chappuis,
Elllott; Yerges and Weisenburger.
Almost without exception, the
great teams of the past few years
have relied on individual per-
formers to make up the differ-
ence between a national cham-
pionship and an average season'.
No Individual Stars-
SThe Cadets of West Point dur-
ing the Academy's domination of
the nation's grid scene centered
their power around the plunging
of Doc Blanchard and long runs
of Glenn Davis. Ohio State se-
cured the national title on the
work of Les Horvath and Ollie
Cline. The fighting Irish of Notre
Dame have come up with two out-
standing quarterbacks in Johnny
Lujack and Angello Bertelli to
produce their last two top teams.
Coach "Fritz" Crisler, on the
other hand, can justly claim that
it would be very hard to single out
one player in the Wolverine's 1948
backfield as the star of the squad.
All Named to All-Big Nine
In support of this, you have only
to look at the results of this year's
All-Big Nine squads. While Bob
Chappuis was awarded recognition
on all but one of the dream team
listings, "Bump" Elliott, Howard
Yerges, and Jack Weisenburger
followed closely in attention re-
ceived from the selectors.
On two of the press service all
Western Conference squads three
of the four Michigan aces were
nominated. On various Big Nine
all-opponent teams the Wolverine{
backs were again the top choices.
One of Biggest Point Totals
Operating behind two different
lines, one used on offense and the
other on defense, Chappuis, Elliott
and Weisenburger combined with
the signal calling of Howard Yer-
ges to run up one of the highest
season point totals in Michigan
football history and at the same
time keep the offensive results of
the Wolverine opposition to 53
points in nine games. Bob Chap-
puis once again paced the Big
Nine offensive leaders and "Bump"
Elliott was not too far behind.
Howard Yerges was outstanding
as the field general behind this
year's conference champions. He
was capable of leading a sustained
drive from deep within Wolverine
territory, while Jack Weisenburg-
er's line plunging ability was ef-
fectively utilized in securing those
all important first downs that
enabled the Michigan drive to
continue when it appeared almost
certain to bog down.
Compare with Horsemen
All three backs were high in
Western Conference yardage gain-
ed statistics and combined with
Yerges' ability to pick the right
play at the right time, they proved
to their conference foes and fol-
lowers what perfect teamwork can
do in modern football.
The comparison of Chappuis,
Elliott, Weisenburger and Yerges,
to the four horsemen is a good
one, for like their predecessors,
these four Wolverine players rely
on speed, variety, deception and
competitive ability to enable them
to outclass their bigger opponents.
They are capable of scoring on
either passes or ground plays.
When Bob Chappuis was chosen
by Grantland Rice the only selec-
tor recognized by Michigan in his
selection of the 1947 All-Ameri-
cans, he became the thirtieth
Wolverine to be honored in the
fifty years that Wolverines have
been considered for this honor.
Back in 1898 when Casper
Whitney of "Harper's Weekly"
was selecting the mythical teams
it came to this Dean of Sports-
writers that the "West was no
longer the insignificant pupil of
Eastern football," and Whitney
obliged by choosing Michigan's
great center of that year, Cun-
ningham, on his All-American
eleven.
Then in 1903, with the begin-
ning of Walter Camp's reign as
King of the All-Amt ic'-,
Michigan began a domination
of Midwestern selection that has
never been equalled.
Willie Heston, great halfback of
Fielding Yost's "point-a-minute"
teams was Camp's nominee that
year, and Heston further insured
his fame by being chosen on the
1904 squad, as well.
Next came Adolph "German"
Schultz, who was heralded as the
greatest center Michigan has ever
produced. Schultz was chosen to
the 1907 team, thus becoming
Michigan's third all-American. He
was followed by the huge guard
Albert Benbrook, who stood 6'6"
and who was selected on both the
1909 and the 1910 teams.
Another man on that 1910 team
was Stanfield Wells, who played
end in the same line with Ben-
brook. Wells became the first Wol-
verine flanker to make Camp's
All-America.
Then in 1913 after a lapse of
three years, James Craig be-
came the sixth Michigan man to
become an All-American and
the second halfback to be thus
honored. Craig was succeeded
by halfback John Maulbetsch,
who was named on the 1914
team.
Michigan's great 1917 team,
which won eight and lost two,
placed two more men on the ros-
ter of the All-Americans. They
were Cedric Smith, a fullback, and
OLD '98' . . . One of Michi-
gan's most famous All-Amerl-
cans, Tom Harmon, shown
here strutting the kind of
stuff that made him an all
time great.
Crisder...41
fer from Michigan in 1938. When
Fielding H. Yost retired as head
of the Department of Physical Ed-
ucation, Crisler assumed the ath-
letic directorship.
Because hs was trained in it,
Fritz prefers the single wing at-
tack, but does not hesitate to put
in T variations. In one game a
few years back, he employed the
following formations; Stationary
T, T-in-motion. T-spinner, T with
fullback under center; single wing
pure, single wing with man in mo-
tion, short punt and deep punt.
Crisler's over-all mark as a
head coach is impressive-114
games won, 32 lost, nine tied.
At Michigan he has won 70, lost
16, tied 3.
Ernest Allmendinger, a guard. rison, who played center, and in
Then in 1918 Smith relinquislifed 1932, it was the memorable quar-
his post to another Michigan man, terback, Harry Newman, who
Frank Steketee. brought the honor to Michigan.
The Wolverines, after another Newman guided the Wolverines to
three year lapse, again took up the an undefeated season and helped
role of All-American producer. annex another Big Ten crown.
For, in 1921 Ernie Vick began a In 1933, the las undefeated, un-
Michigan domination of the ecn- tied season Michigan had before
ter slot that was to produce some 1947, the Wolverines added two
of the best pivot men in history. more All-Americans to their grow-
In 1922 Harry Kipke, later Michi- ing list. Another center, Charles
gan gridiron coach, and another Bernard, this time, was the sixth
halfback, was named. pivot man to be honored. His run-
Jack Blott, present line coach niog mate, tackle Francis Wistert.
of the Wolverines and center on also was chosen, and in a succeed-
the undefeated and untied Con- ing year the name of Wistert was
ference Champions of 1923, was to be continually in the sports
the next Maize and lyue per- hadlines.
former to be chosen as an All- Fllnwing the 1933 selections
American. And in 1924 he was ilchigan's football fared badly
followed by the steady guard of and with these lean years the
the Wolverines of that year, E. name of Michigan was not in-
R. Slaughter. cuded in the All-Americas. But
In the succeeding years Michi- in 1938, Michigan began anoth-
gan football was dominated by er iog string of All-Americans.
one of the greatest passing com- In 1938, it was Ralph Heik-
binations ever produced in col- kenen, who starred at the guard
lege football. The great Benny to slot, who was chosen. Then in 1939
Bennie combination also added to and 1t40 came the greatest back
the list of Michigan men on the ever produced by Michigan and
mythical elevens, Bennie Ooster- uammd by some as one of the
baan, one cf the few men ever to greatest backs that ever lived. He
be chosen on three All-American was, of course, Thomas Harmon
teams, was probably the best end who led the Wolverines to two
ever produced at Michigan. The highly successfully seasons. Har-
present backfield coach of the mon's running mate, "Bullet Bob"
Wolverines has honored on the Westfall succeeded the great
1925, 26 and 27 teams, and in 1926 Tommy as Michigan's represnta-
he was joined by the other half of tive to the All-American team. But
the combination, Benny Fried- even before Westfall, Michigan'
man. produced another great player,
Friedman, famed passer of the Edward Frutig, who was selected
"soft ball" and deadly accurate at end along with Harmon to the
quarterback of the Wolverines in 1940 team.
the mid-twenties became the first Then in 1942, Michigan again
signal caller to be named as he produced two All - Americans
led the Maize and Blue to the this time they were both line-
Conference title in 1926. men, Julius Franks, whose great
Then in 1928, Otto Pommer- career was cut short when he
ening became the first tackle to contracted tudebeulosis, and
be chosen to an All-American Albert Wistert, brother of
team from Michigan. Hence, in Francis, and of Alvin, stellar
the short span of seven years, tackle of this year's team. Final-
Michigan succeeded in placing ly, in 1943 Michigan once again
seven men on the lists of All- produced two All-Americans.
Americans. But in the succeed- This time they were William
ing years, they were to place Daley, hard plunging fullback
thirteen more men on these and Mervin Pregulman, tackle
mythical teams. and one of the famous Seven
In 1931, it was Maynard Mor- Oak Posts.
Ii~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ _______________________________--_____________-_________--_______
Three Michigan gridders op-
erating on Jack Blottds forward
wall during the course of the re-
cent season were honored by the
Associated Press "Lineman of the
Week" poll.
Dan Dworsky and Quentin Sick-
els received recognition twice
apiece during the campaign while
Bob Mann's play was cited for
honorable mention on another oc-
ca-sion.
Dworsky was first iecognized
for his play against Minnesota.
Although shaken up several times,
he recovered to remain in the
game and lead the goal line de-
fense against the hard charging
Minnesota line.
Only an honorable mention
was awarded Dworsky for this
performance largely because it
was that week that Columbia's
Bill Swiacki was doing pass catch-
ing gymnastics to end Army's long
football dominance.
On the following weekend the
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, line-
backer placed second on the AP
poll with his bruising play against
Illinois. This game constituted the
high point in Michigan line play
for the season, and Dworsky in
particular turned back the pound-
ing Russ Steger at several cru-
cial points during the afternoon,
stopping him for a loss with
fourth down, one to go on Mich-
igan's 11 yardline.
MANN SIZED CATCH-Bob Mann, who accounted for 302 of
of Michigan's total yards on passes from Chaiuis alone! Mann
also doubles as a scintillating reken field runner on the end-
around play the Crisler regime set u for him. his best jaut this
year on this play was z 51-yard T) sprint against Northwestern.
FERRY FIELD BARBERS
"THE FRIENDLY SHOP"
ON WAY TO SPORTS. BU I L D I NGS
806 SOUTH STATE STREET
Wi. A. MILLER, Propj.
_ _. . _.. _ _ _ - - _ .. _ _ _ _
/<i 2c i Edie ew.(
% ;a
Congratulations
to the
FOOTBALL SQUAD
III II ^s
To you all - near and far
III
III