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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1952
H AIL THE VICTORS:
IMF
Michigan Still
Class of Collegiate Sport .. .
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By ED WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Editor
YOU FRESHMEN may note the 1951 Michigan football team lost
as many games (5) in one season as the 1947, '48, '49, '50 aggre-
gations combined (they won 31) and conclude you were born five
years too late.
'Tain't so. And before you threaten to transfer to Michigan State,
take a look at the record book. It will show that Michigan is not only
hops in football over the long run, but also the greatest all-around
sports school in the nation.
Winning has become a pleasant habit for Wolverine athletes,
and things like losing gridiron campaigns just don't happen very
often. The last one prior to '51 was 1936; in fact, since 1900, it
+F i 4
HARD RUNNING-Puts Michigan's Fullback Don Peterson out of reach of Cornell tackler in ga-e
at Ithaca last fall. It also made Peterson; a senior last year, the leading Wolverine ground gainer
for the season. He rushed for 574 yards in 132 tries.
* * * * * * * * *
DespiteMedioe'51
Footba'-llCapin.
has happened only five times. During 51 seasons, Maize and Blue
gridders have won 327 and lost 91 for a percentage of .783.
Competing in the Western Conference, generally rated the tough-
est football league in the world, Wolverine teams have won or tied
for the championship 18 times, four more than any other school. In
all-time Big Ten activity, Michiga ngridders have won 152 and lost
58, a .715 clip, which is roughly 95 percentage points better than the
second best mark.
* * * *
Biggest and Best
AND SO IT GOES. The longest winning streaks, the biggest college
stadium in the world, records for most attendance, 33 All-Ameri-
cans, three Rose Bowl wins without defeat, and numerous conference
individual and team offensive and defensive marks all belong to
Michigan.
Impressive as these records are, they carry only a part of the
meaning of football at Michigan. Yo ucan't begin to know the
whole story until you have perche dhigh in the stadium to watch
the Wolverines win one they didn't have a chance to win. I've
seen it happen more than once in three years; I've seen it happen
in a snow storm at Columbus; I've seen it happen in the sunny
Rose Bowl at Pasadena. And when you see it this fall, you'll start
to understand why Michigan is a great sports school.
Although one swallow may make a Quad meal, one sport doesn't
make the well-rounded athletic program that is Michigan's. As the
football campaign is finishing, down in the Coliseum on Hill Street
the best college hockey team in North America will be training.
* * * *
THE MAIZE AND BLUE sextet, coached by genial Vic Heyliger, has
averaged better than four wins in every five games during the past
five seasons while winning three National Collegiate championships.
The nthere's Matt Mann, Michigan's Grand Old Man, the swimming
coach who has produced for the Maize and Blue more Conference
and national team champions than any other mentor.
Ray Fisher has won or tied for 19 Big Ten titles in 30 years as
Wolverine baseball mentor; Maize and Blue track aggregations
have copped 20 outdoor and15 indoor crowns, tops in the Confer-
ence for each department; 12 golf titles for Michigan are twice
as many as any other league school has been able to garner. In
fact, all-time Conference championship competition shows Wol-
verine teams have won more major titles than any other member.
If you feel you have athletic talent, by all means go out for your
sport here. Given half a chance the Wolverine mentors can develop
stars from the rawest material, and you don't need a personal invita-
tion to show what you have.
* * * *
Sport for All
A FEW YEARS BACK there was a husky sophomore who wasn't
invited to report early for football practice. He came anyway, at
his own expense, and went on to be voted All-Conference fullback and
Most Valuable Player of the 1951 Rose Bowl Champions. His name
was Donald Dufek.
If you are a casual athlete, you can take advantage of the
best-rounded Intramural sports program in the nation. Under
capable officials directed by Earl Riskey and Rod Grambeau,
students compete in organized leagues for laurels in 35 sports,
from ice hockey to ping-pong.
As you become familiar with the Michigan athletic picture, wheth-
er as a spectator, an 'M' man, an I-M athlete, or a Daily sports
reporter, you will more and more appreciate its caliber. And, still
more to the credit of your school, you will find the athletic program
is operated with due regard for the fact sport is only a part of the
activities of a great educational institution.
SHIFTY RUNNING-By End Lowell Perry in the Stadium helps him elude a host of Ohio State
tacklers in last season's finale. It also helped him as safety man and pass snatcher to lead the
Wolverines in scoring for the campaign. Perry will be a senior this fall.
An(
* ** * * * * *
I '?on Prospv-ects.
For 1952 Grid Team
I
w w
By ED WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Editor
The 1951 football season jus
wasn't Michigan's.
After having won or tied fo
the Big Ten championship foul
consecutie years, the Wolverine,
of Coach Bennie Oosterbaan drop
Ped to fourth place in the Con.
ference standings. And for the firs
time in 17 years, a Maize and Blu
team lost more games than it won
* s s
ALL FOUR of Michigan's vie
tories were in Conference games
but so were two of the five set
backs, and Oosterbaan's team fin
ished behind Illinois, Purdue, an
Wisconsin, respectively, in the rug
ged Big Ten scramble.
You didn't need a crystal ball
last summer to figure Ooster-
baan was in for a rough autumn.
He needed replacements for sev-
eral first-string players who had
graduated from the 1951 Rose
Bowl championship outfit.
Gone were ends Harry Allis anc
Ozzie Clark; gone were a handfu
of top-flight players from the cen-
ter of the line, including line-
1951 Stats
Michigan Opponent
t
r
lr
-
t
STILL, OOSTERBAAN never
did find a tailback who could run
as well as pass. What he needed
was a Bill Putich who could throw,
or a Duncan McDonald who could
run.
First Downs ...... 117
By Rushing ..... 83
By Passing ...... 29
By Penalty ...... 5
Rushing Yardage .. 1226
Number of Rushes 448
Passing Yardage ... 885
Passes Attempted .. 146
Passes Completed .. 57
Passes Intercepted . 21
Punts ............ 74
Punting Average ...33.1
Fumbles Lost ...... 12
Yards Penalized .. 368
139
88
48
3
1590
478
1031
168
76
17
67
34,2
14
395
e Captain Putich, a senior, ran
. well from the left half slot, al-
though his passing left some-
- thing to be desired. McDonald,
, highly-touted freshman from
Flint, is a superb passer, but not
built for ball carrying. He was
d impressive in limited action at
- quarterback, however.
So with these tangible ' asset
and liabilities, Michigan headec
inter the 1951 season confronted
by a further difficulty:
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RIVAL COACHES didn't need a
crystal ball either to appraise the
Michigan situation, and they al
concluded'1951 was their year tC
settle in part some long-overdue
1 accounts with the Champions o:
_ the West.
They got set to pounce on
Michigan, the power that had
lost only 56 Conference football
games in the 57-year history of
the Big Ten, the team whose
coach had neer finished any-
where but first in that league.
..Each foe had its special griev-
Each foe had its special griev-
ance: Michigan State was still try-
ing to make up for 10 straight
shellackings prior to 1950 and
equalize the lopsided 33-7 edge
the Maize and Blue held in the
rivalry; Stanford had never beat-
en Michigan.
Iowa's last triumph over the
Wolverines had been in 1924;
Cornell was out to boost the
prestige of Eastern football;
Ohio State's best in the last six
games had been a tie in 1949.
And so it went. For one reason
or another, nine opponents were
laying for Michigan last fall.
Michigan State leaped first, and
the Spartans won, as expected.
In fact, the 25-0 score was the
worst from the Michigan point of
view since the two schools began
playing football with each other.'
THEN CAME STANFORD, and
THEN CAME Stanford, and the
Indians literally flew over the
Wolverines. Quarterback Gary
Kerkorian passed, with All Amer-
ican end Bill McColl catching, the
Coast team to a 23-13 win.
Three touchdown drives of
better than 50 yards each, plus
CAPTAIN MERRITT GREENi
FRANK HOWELL
. . . fleetfooted wingback who is
figured to see much action this
fall.
By IVAN KAYE
The Michigan football picture
for 1952 is clouded with uncer-
tainty.
Where the Wolverines will wind
up in the rugged Western Confer-
ence is anybody's guess. Experts
are not picking the Maize and Blue
to win the title, but past exper-
ience has proven that Michigan
teams can never be counted out
of a Big Ten championship race.
MICHIGAN WILL again face
one of the toughest schedules in
the nation this fall. Michigan
State's powerful Spartans will
open the rugged nine-game card
on September 2 at Michigan Sta-
dium. The November battles with
Conference powerhouse Illinois,
Purdue and Ohio State should tell
the story as far as the Wolverines
are concerned.
The finding of a new fullback
and a new tailback are at pres-
ent the two most perplexing
problems of Coach Bennie Oost-
erbaan.
The Michigan football tutor
must also dig up some depth in
the line if the Wolverines are to
successfully cope with the power-
ful Big Ten opposition.
THE LINE PROBLEMS are not
nearly as pressing as those of the
tailback and fullback positions.
Jack Blott has never failed to
build a fast, aggressive forward
wall, and in all probability the
capable coach will be able to come
up with the needed reserve
strength.
Fred Baer and Dick Balzhiser
are the best bets for the start-
ing fullback spot. Baer, a soph-
omore from LaGrange, Illinois,
stands six feet tall and weigh
185 poundsfl Balzhiser weighs
the same and is one inch taller.
He hails from Wheaton, Illinois.
Both are hard, slashing runners
and can pass with a fair degree of
accuracy. At the all-important
task of spinning, the two are mak-
ing steady progress under the
watchful eye of backfield boss
George Ceithaml.
* * *
TED KRESS of Detroit, Norm
Canty of Chicago, Don Evans of
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Don Eaddy of
Grand Rapids, Bob Hurley of Ala-
mesa, Colorado and Joe Krahl of
Wheaton have all been tried at
the vital left halfback spot.
Kress and Canty were par-
ticularly impressive during the
spring drills.
The other backfield positions:
seem well stocked with capable
performers. Big Ted Toper, a six
foot' two inch 215 pounder from
Fast Chicago, Indiana, and Dun-
can McDonald, the sophomore
aerial N hiz from Flint will be in
the same open field shiftiness
and crazzy-legged style as did
the famous Elroy Hirsch, who
played for Michigan's Western
Conference champions of 1943.
Michigan has good linemen-but
not* enough of them. That. in a
nutshell is a concise appraisal of
the forward wall situation. Dept4
is a must in modern two-platoon
football. The era of the sixty-
minute man hasrdefinitely passed
from the college gridiron.
ALL-AMERICA candidate Low-
ell Perry of Ypsilanti and Captain
Merritt "Tim" Green of Toledo
spearhead a corps of ends that
includes: Gene Knutson, Thad
Future Foes
1951 FOOTBALL RESULTS
MICHIGAN 0 MSC 25
MICHIGAN 13 Standford 23
MICHIGAN 33 Indiana 14
MICHIGAN 21 Iowa 0
MICHIGAN 54 Minnesota 27
MICHIGAN 0 . Illinois 7
MICHIGAN 7 Cornell 20
MICHIGAN 0 N'western 6
MICHIGAN 7 Ohio State 0
Season. Record: Won 4, Lost
5, Tied 0.
1952 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 27-MSC at Ann Arbor
Oct. 4-Stanford at Stanford
Oct. 11-Indiana at Ann Arbor
Oct. 18-N'western at Evanston
Oct. 25-Minn. at Ann Arbor
Nov. 1-Illinois at Ann Arbor
Nov. 8-Cornell at Ann Arbor
Nov. 15-Purdue at Ann Arbor
Nov. 22--OSC at Columbus
Kick Off: All home games-
2 p.m. (EST) .
Seating Capacity of Michigan
Stadium-97,239.
LOWELL PERRY
EXPERIENCE, YO UTH:
Expert Coaching Staff Makes Wolverines Grid Power
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* * *
backer Tony Momsen, and Carl
Kreager, the big center who played
every minute on offense with bare
hands in the famous Battle of the
Blizzard at Ohio State which
Michigan won, 9-3; gone was All-
American Al Wahl; and gone were
fullback Don Dufek and wingback
Leo Koceski, regulars for the past
two seasons.
a * * *
BUT BY FAR the biggest gap
was opened in the backfield with
the departure of tailback Chuck
Ortmann, the passer and runner
who for three campaigns kept the
Michigan single wing attack po-
tent. "As Ortmann goes, so go
the Wolverines," was the adage
proven time and again, and when
he left, so did the sting of the
V in rlan-,4ncr tnfon.,.
By DICK SEWELL
Associate Sports Editor
The experts will tell you that a
football team can be no better
than its coaching staff.
A quick look at Michigan's grid-
iron braintrust goes a long way
toward showing why the Wolver-
ines have been a perennial Big
Ten power in recent years.
BENJAMIN GAYLORD (they all
call him Bennie) Oosterbaan, now
in his fifth year as head coach,
lays claim to one of the most im-
pressive records in modern Ameri-
can sport.
As a glue-fingered, quick-
thinking end, Oosterbaan be-
came the only Michigan man to
win All-America honors three
times, earning the honor in
1925-26-27. Over the sane span
he earned varsity awards in bas-
ketball and baseball.
After his graduation in 1928
Bennie turned donn v he-_
Blott has been connected with
Michigan football on and off since
1920.
The impressive array of All-
American linemen developed by
Blott attests to his coaching
skill. Centers Maynard Morrison
and Charles, Bernard, tackles
Otto Pomerening, Al Wahl and
brothers Francis and Al Wistert
all blossomed into greatness un-
der the watchful eye of coach
Blott.
Emphasizing speed and intelli-
gence, Blott-coached forward walls
have turned in consistently fine
performances over the years. Big
Jack, a soft-spoken man on and
off the practice field has produced
no fewer than eight lines for
Michiga ntitle-winners. His charg-
es helped the Wolverines to con-
ference crowns from 1930 through
1933 and again from 1947 through
1950.
* * *
Stanford, Leo Schlict, John Vesel-
enak, Stan Bounds and Bob Topp.
Knutson won the Meyer W. Mor-
ton trophy as the most improved
player of the spring football prac-
tice.
The tackle and guard posi-
tions are bolstered by ten letter-
men. Monogram winners at
tackle are: Ben Pederson, Dick
Strozewski, Bruce Bartholemew,
Roger Zatkoff, Jim Balog and
Don Bennett.
The holdover lettermen at guard
are: Bob Timm, Don Dugger, Dick
Bieson and Bob Matheson.
AT CENTER letterman Dick
O'Shaugnessy and sophomores
Dean Ludwig, Glen Bowers and
Ray Wine should be more than
adequate.
Veteran line backers Zatkoff,
Topor, Knutson and Laurie Le-
Claire should assure the squad
plenty of strength in that vital
department.
Pan.c anfmncaa. ai n.,-. 4,.. 1 .
BENNIE OOSTERBAAN JACK BLOTT
... head coach and ... chief lieutenant
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