1955 Michigan Wolverines football team

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{{{year}}} [[{{{team}}} football]]
Ranking
CoachesNo. 13
APNo. 12
1955 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Ohio State $ 6 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 2 Michigan State 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 12 Michigan 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Purdue 4 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Illinois 3 – 3 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Wisconsin 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Iowa 2 – 3 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Minnesota 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 6 – 1 0 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1955 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1955 college football season. In their eighth season under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, the Wolverines finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference with a record of 7–2. The team was ranked No. 12 and No. 13 in the final AP and UPI Polls. Left end Ron Kramer was selected as a first-team All-American.[1] Kramer and right end Tom Maentz were nicknamed the "touchdown twins,"[2] became the first Michigan football players to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated,[3] and were both first-team selections for the All-Big Ten team. Left halfback Terry Barr was selected as the team's most valuable player.[1]

In the second week of the season, the Wolverines defeated Michigan State, 14–7.[4] The game was the only loss of the season for Michigan State which was ranked No. 2 in the final AP and UPI polls. The Wolverines were ranked No. 2 in the country after defeating the Spartans and rose to No. 1 after defeating the No. 6 ranked Army football team by a 26–2 score the following week.[5] In late October 1955, quarterback Jim Maddock led a come-from-behind victory in a nationally-televised game that included a 65-yard touchdown pass to Ron Kramer and a 60-yard touchdown pass to Tom Maentz.[6] After starting the season 6-0, the team lost to Illinois on November 5, 1955.[7] In the final game of the season, the Wolverines were favored but lost to Ohio State by a 17–0 score.[8]

Schedule

September 24, 1955Missouri*No. 4/NA

W 42–7 51,801 October 1, 1955NR/20 Michigan StateNo. 2/2

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

W 14–7 97,239 October 8, 1955No. 6/6 Army*No. 2/2

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

W 26–2 97,366 October 15, 1955NorthwesternNo. 1/1

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

W 14–2 67,074 October 22, 1955at MinnesotaNo. 1/1

W 14–13 63,530 October 29, 1955IowadaggerNo. 3/1

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

W 33–21 73,275 November 5, 1955at IllinoisNo. 3/1

L 6–25 56,056 November 12, 1955IndianaNo. 7/6

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

W 30–0 61,019 November 19, 1955No. 9/8 Ohio StateNo. 6/6

  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI

L 0–17 97,369

Template:CFB Schedule End

Players

Varsity letter winners

Reserves

Statistical leaders

Rushing

Player Attempts Net yards Yards per attempt Touchdowns
Tony Branoff 86 387 4.5 3
Terry Barr 63 245 3.9 4
Lou Baldacci 69 218 3.2 4

Passing

Player Attempts Completions Interceptions Comp % Yards Yds/Comp TD Long
Jim Maddock 52 20 3 38.5 343 17.1 2 65
Jim Van Pelt 21 9 1 42.9 139 15.4 2 36
Terry Barr 16 6 2 37.5 119 19.8 0 57

Receiving

Player Receptions Yards Yds/Recp TD Long
Tom Maentz 11 253 23.0 3 60
Ron Kramer 12 224 18.7 4 65
Terry Barr 4 74 18.5 0 40

Kickoff returns

Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Tony Branoff 6 140 23.3 0 27
Terry Barr 4 84 21.0 0 25
Ed Hickey 3 63 21.0 0 28

Punt returns

Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Terry Barr 14 219 15.6 1 82
Jim Pace 4 69 17.3 0 34
Tony Branoff 8 58 7.3 0 11

Awards and honors

  • Captain: Ed Meads
  • All-Americans: Ron Kramer
  • All-Conference: Ron Kramer (AP and UPI first team), Tom Maentz (AP and UPI first team), Tony Branoff (UPI first team and AP honorable mention), Jim Bates (UPI second team and AP honorable mention)[9][10]
  • Most Valuable Player: Terry Barr
  • Meyer Morton Award: Jim Van Pelt

Coaching staff

References

  1. ^ a b "1955 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  2. ^ John Barbour (October 30, 1955). "Coaches Heap Praise Upon Great Ends". Council Bluffs Nonpareil.
  3. ^ Ernie Harwell (June 7, 2004). "Michigan Has Covered SI 67 Times". Detroit Free Press.
  4. ^ "Michigan Defeats Michigan State in Big Ten Contest Before 97,239 Fans". The New York Times. October 2, 1955.
  5. ^ "Michigan Routs Army Jinx, 26-2: Fumbles Fatal To Cadets". The Miami News (AP story). October 9, 1955.
  6. ^ Edward Prell (October 30, 1955). "Michigan Beats Iowa, 33-21; Badgers, Illini Lose: WOLVERINES WIN WITH 4TH PERIOD RALLY; Maddock Tosses 2 Scoring Passes What a Finish! Michigan's 4th Period Rally Overcomes Iowa, 33 to 21". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. A1.
  7. ^ "Rampaging Illini Upset Mighty Michigan: No. 3 Team Handed First Loss of Year". The Spencer Sunday Times (AP story). November 6, 1955.
  8. ^ "Ohio State Upsets Michigan, 17-0". The New York Times. November 20, 1955.
  9. ^ Ed Sainsbury (November 22, 1955). "Ohio State Dominates Big Ten All-Conference". Warsaw Times Union (UPI story).
  10. ^ "'55 All-Big Ten Team". The Portsmouth Times (AP story). November 22, 1955.

External links

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