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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1954

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Michigan

Gridders

Face

Rugged

Schedule

I

Conference Tilts Mark

Downfall of 1953 Team

Seven Big Ten Games
On Tap for Wolverines
By DAVE LIVINGSTON
Daily Sports Editor

By HANLEY M. GUR WIN
Associate Sports Editor
Depending upon your point of
view, Michigan's 1953 football sea-
son could be considered its best
since 1949 or its worst since 1937.
The season's overall record of
six wins asagainst three losses is
the best that the Wolverines have
compiled since the 1949 season
when the Maize and Blue won six,
lost only two, and tied one.
On the other hand, since all
three defeats during 1953 were at
the hands of Big Ten opponents,
Michigan finished the conference
season with a record of three wins
against a similar number of set-
backs. That record placed the Wol-
verines tied for sixth place in the
Big Ten Standings, their lowest
spot since 1937.
The results tell only part of the
story, however. Certainly there
were times during the past cam-
paign when the smell of roses
could easily be percepted in Ann
Arbor's atmosphere. There were
other times too when the distance
between here and California seem-
ed like the distance between here
and the farthest star.
Strange Season
It was a strange season, a sea-
son which found "one-platoon"
football returning to the colle-
giate scene, the Wolverines sweep-
ing through a six game home
schedule undefeated and a three
game road card without a win, and
the Michigan players carrying
their coach off the field after the
Ohio State victory as though the
win meant the conference cham-
pionship.
It was a season which found the
Maize and Blue starting and fin-
ishing like the Michigan teams of
the late '40s and yet at times play-
ing as if football were a new sport
in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines started the cam-
paign with a victory streak of four
straight and finished with a re-
sounding 20-0 win over the Buck-
eyes, but in-between they fell vic-
tim to three opponents: Paul Giel
of Minnesota, J. C. Caroline of Illi-
nois, and Biggie Munn of Michi-
gan State.
Giel put on a one-man show as
the Gophers celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the Little Brown
Jug by wresting the crockery from
the Wolverines' grasp for the first
time since 1943.
Galloping Giel
The 63,509 Gopher fans were
given a real treat as Giel ran with!
deception, passed with deadly ac-'
curacy, played defense with rek-
less abandon, and was throughout
the long afternoon the leader of
the fired-up Minnesota eleven. He
personally accounted for 20 points
as his team defeated the Michigan
squad, 22-0.
Two weeks later, Bennie Ooster-
baan's charges ran into obstacle
number two. This time it was
Caroline who put on the dazzling
exhibition, a display of football
talent considered by many sports
experts to be even greater than
that shown by Giel.
The Illinois speedster picked up
184 yards on the ground as the
Orange and Blue set back the in-
vading Wolverines, 25-13. The win
was the fourth straight victory by:
the Illini over Michigan and mark-
ed the first time in history that
they had accomplished this feat.
Just seven days passed before
the Wolverines tasted their third
defeat of the season, but unlike
the previous two setbacks, this
time they played good football in
a losing cause.
Facing a team which was rated:
first or second in every football
poll in the country, the Maize and
Blue fought valiantly before bow-
ing to the Spartans overall team
strength and balance. Coach
Munn, whose squad went on to
win the Rose Bowl game, directed
his team through a conservative,

steady game which found the home
team on the long end of a 14-6,

WOLVERINE TED KRESS PICKS UP VALUABLE YARDAGE

DUNCAN McDONALD
....will this be the year?

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by dove livingston

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TOM HENDRICKS
.. ready for plenty of action

Ted Cachey
To Captain
'M' Eleven
Small Hustling Guard
Follows Tradition
Michigan's 1954 football captain
Ted Cachey is another in a long
line of typically small, hustling
Wolverine guards.
Cachey, who palyed his high
school football in Chicago, is a
two-year letterman. Standing 5'11"
and weighing a85 pounds, the quick
charging ability of the stocky guard
on both offense and defense is of
special value in this new era of
one-platoon football.
The elections of Cachey to the
captaincy propagates the recent
trend toward electing linemen to
lead the Wolverines.
In the last nine years only one
backfield man has been honored,
and that was quarterback Bill'
Putich in 1951.
Cachey succeeds center Dick O'
Shaughnessy, one of the most in-
spiring leaders in Michigan's long
gridiron history. Although he sus-
tained a severe leg injury early in
the season, O'Shaughnessy contin
ued to spark and prod his mates
through the rest of the games even
though he was able to see only
very limited action himself.

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TED CACHEY
.. captain of 1954 squad

I JT ISWITH special pleasure that The Daily sports staff welcomes
you, the class of 1958, into the Michigan family. You have chosen
a University with a long and brilliant sports tradition-a tradition
that is valued because the athletic program parallels Michigan's ac-
ademic greatness, neither eclipsing the values of the classroom nor,
in contrast, succumbing to the apathetic treatment a sports program
sometimes receives.
Michigan's varsity teams are year after year the "winningest" in
the nation. There ik no other school that has produced almost simul-
taneously aggregations that are among the class of the collegiate
world in football, track, swimming, hockey, and baseball.
Yet at the same time the athletic program has somehow man-
aged to maintain a proper perspective toward its role in the Uni-
versity community, supplementing and fortifying'the-regular edu-
cational channels rather than hindering or dominating.
If is because of this that you will be proud to become a part of
the "Michigan tradition," and not simply because Michigan has a
winning football team. Not until you have been seated in the gigan-
tic Michigan Stadium on a Saturday afternoon such as that one late
last November can you begin to understand just what is meant by
that vague phrase "Michigan Spirit."
* * * *
MICHIGAN was host to its long-time rival Ohio State in the sea-
son's grid finale. Nothing was at stake in the game-the Wol-
verines had had a mediocre season with no chance left for the Con-
ference title. Yet the Maize and Blue played the favored Buckeyes,
off their feet, winding up on the long end of a 20-0 score. One would
have thought Michigan had just won a trip to the Rose Bowl, for
the stands errupted as the Michigan students cheered and the band
stood in the middle of the field playing furiously for nearly an hour
after the gun signaled the end of what some may have thought a
meaningless contest. If it wasn't "spirit" that sustained that demon-
stration, the cynics can call it what they wish.
Whether you may be An interested spectator,, a casual intramural
competitor, or a varsity athlete Michigan offers the finest opportuni-
ties available in which to fulfill your athletic inclinations.
The nation's finest sports competition can be seen right in Ann
Arbor where the physical facilities as well as the Michigan teams
(Continued on Page 3)

Oosterbaan
Grid ,Teams
Gain Honor
Popular Coach Starts
Seventh Campaign
Michigan's popular gridiron tutor
Benjamin G. (better known as
"Bennie") Oosterbaan has been ac-
croded the highest honors it is
possible to lbtain in football both
as a player and as a coach.
In 1948, his first year at the
Wolverine helm, he was named
"Coach of the Year," and in 1951,
in recognition of his great playing
career at Michigan, he was named
at end on the all-time All-American
team selected by a antion-wide poll
of Associated Press sportswriters.
As an undergraduate Oosterbaan
gained All-American grid recog-
nition in 1925-26-27, was also an
All-American in basketball, and in
all won nine letters in football,
basketball, and baseball.
He has served on the Wolverine
coaching staff continuously since
1928, and when H. 0. "Fritz"
Crisler decided in 1948 to retire as
head coach in order to assume the
full-time duties of Athletic Director,
his No. 1 assistant moved into the
top gridiron spot.
In six years Oosterbaan's teams
have won or shared the Big Ten
title three times and won one na-
tional and one Rose Bowl crown.

It's a good bet thatCoach Bennie
Oosterbaan will take a deep breath
this fall before he turns loose his
young and for the most part in-
exprienced football squad in the
toughest schedule Michigan has
faced in years.
The suicidal nine-game grid card,
which includes the usual six :home
contests, is headed by such pig-
skin powers as Army, Iowa, I-
nois, Michigan State, and Ohio
State-all of whom figure to rank
among the nation's best.
And to add to their potential
woes the Wolverines picked a year
when the Big Ten is loaded with
talent to add a seventh Conference
engagement to the customary six.
To send against this imposing
array of opposition Michigan has
17 of last year's 31 lettermen, but
of these only two were in the start-
ing line up in the finale with Ohio.
State.
Before Oosterbaan is suffocated
under a deluge of crying towels
sent by sympathetic fans, though,
it must be admitted that all is by
no means gloom in the Michigan
gridiron camp.
Team Speed
The competition wide-open for
almost every position, the Wolver-
ines will field a team whose speed
can match that of the Chappius-
Elliot-Weisenberger era. At the
same time the "T"-formation is
sure to make deeper inroads into
one of the last remaining strong-
holds of the single-wing type of
offense.
A sophomore end who has never
played in a college game and a
senior quarterback who, although
a three-year letterman and one of
football's most accurate passers,
has never been "first-string" are
the pair who promise to oust te
single-wing from the school where
it has been taught to its greatest
perfection.
The newcomer is 6'1" R o n
Kramer, widely heralded a,. one
of the finest end prospects since
Oosterbaan first wandered onto
Ferry Field, while the veteran is
Duncan McDonald, the passing
wizard from Flint Northern.
For three years (freshmen were
eligible for varsity competition his
first year at Michigan) McDonald -
has unleashed his throwing arm
only in spot performances, for his
comparatively slight build yields
him ineffective in the vital role
of blocking back a single-wing
quarterback must assume.
McDonald to Kramer
But with a pass receiver of
Kramer's ability available it ap-
pears that the "T" and McDonald
will no longer be neglected in an
effort to utilize thenaerial offense
that the combination could poten-
tially produce.
When McDonald takes over the
signal-calling duties it may initiate
further shuffling in the backfield,
for last year's quarterback, Lou
Badacci, received a thorough test-
ing at fullback during the spring
drills.
Thus Baldacci, a husky 200-
pounder who doubles as a line-
backer, will probably see action at
both quarterback and fullback.
Branoff Returns
Elsewhere in the backfield Oos-
terbaan should have few problems
at right half where Tony Branoff
returns for the third straight'year.
The hard-driving wingback has
been a workhorse as a ball carrier
and pass receiver since he broke
into the lineup as a second-semes-
ter sophomore two seasons ago.
Last year he paced the Wolverines
in rushing with an averageo f
nearly five yards for 101 attempts.
Branoff will be capably backed
up by veterans Ed Hickey, Stan
Nickerbocker, and George Corey,
plus newcomers Ed S h a n n o n,
Charles Matulis, and Larry Cox.
A major problem will be to' find
a tailback to fill the post Ted Kress

has held for two years. The flashy
but erratic Tom Hendricks and the
veteran Dan Cline both have ex-
perience at the position and will
put in strong bids for the job.
Cline saw considerably more ac-
tinv th a id .wndirk I.+ RPnn

1954
Schedule
September
25 U. of Washington . at Seattle
October
2 ARMY ....,........HOME
9 IOWA ............HOME
16 Northwestern . . at Evanston
23 MINNESOTA ........HOME
30 INDIANA ..........HOME
November
6 ILLINOIS ..........HOME
13 MSC.............HOME
20 Ohio State .... at Columbus

BENNIE OOSTERBAAN-
.. . starting his seventh season
1953
Results
MICHIGAN 50, Washington 0
MICHIGAN 26, Tulane 7
MICHIGAN 14, Iowa 13
MICHIGAN 20, Northwestern 12
MICHIGAN 0, Minnesota 22
MICHIGAN 24, Pennsylvania 14
MICHIGAN 13, Illinois 25
MICHIGAN 6, Michigan
State 14
MICHIGAN 20, Ohio State 0

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C-h
Constrction Degrs on New Athletic Buildings


By HANLEY M. GURWIN
Associate Sports Editor
Construction is well under way
and architect's plans are becom-
ing realities as. Michigan's $7,000,-:
000 building program for athletics
and physical education dominates
the scene at historic Ferry Field.
Long recognized as possessors ofI
one of the nation's finest athletic
plants, University administrators
have anticipated the need for in-I
creased facilities and have plan-
ned a building program which in-
i l-udes constmetin of an

will not only centralize the athle-
tic and physical education depart-
ments to a greater extent but it
will save about $125,000 in Uni-
versity funds for needed repairs
on the old building.
To make room for the new addi-
tions, the Ferry Field tracI will
have t'o be moved seveal yards
west of its present location. The
south grandstand, the only wall
left of the old Ferry Field football
stands, will remain temporarily,
but eventually will have to be re-
moved.
Construction of the new field
house will almost double the pres-
ent seating capacity for basketball
by raising it from a present maxi-
mum of 8,000 to 15,000. The bulding
will enable Michigan to hold
Western Conference championship
indoor track meets and will have
fariitipes for nther snnrts. Handball



l~uus U161ru cl~ 01 a new
score. swimming pool for men and a'
The Spartans turned on the new athletic administration build-
pressure when they needed it to ing, both of which are expected
halt a second-half comeback at- to be completed by next spring.
tempt by the Maize and Blue and
preserve their victory margin. . The entire program, which also
Glory Only Thing Lost includes the recently completed
While the first loss to the Go- $1,070,000 women's swimming pool,

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