1951 Michigan Wolverines football team

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AnomieBOT (talk | contribs) at 19:09, 13 July 2020 (Substing/adjusting templates to reduce #ifexist parserfunction usage: {{Cfb link}}). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

1951 Michigan Wolverines football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record4–5 (4–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPDon Peterson
CaptainBill Putich
Home stadiumMichigan Stadium
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Illinois $ 5 – 0 – 1 9 – 0 – 1
Purdue 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
No. 8 Wisconsin 5 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
Michigan 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Ohio State 2 – 2 – 2 4 – 3 – 2
Northwestern 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Iowa 0 – 5 – 1 2 – 5 – 2
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1951 Big Ten Conference football season. In its fourth year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 4–5 record (4–2 against conference opponents), finished in fourth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 135 to 122.[1][2]

Left halfback/quarterback Bill Putich was the team captain, and fullback Don Peterson received the team's most valuable player award.[2]

Halfback/safety Lowell Perry was selected by the Central Press Association as a second-team player on the 1951 College Football All-America Team.[3] Three Michigan players received All-Big Ten honors: Lowell Perry (AP-1, UP-1); offensive tackle Tom Johnson (AP-1, UP-1); and linebacker Roger Zatkoff (AP-1).[4][5]

The team's statistical leaders included Bill Putich with 390 passing yards, Don Peterson with 549 rushing yards, and Lowell Perry with 395 receiving yards.[6]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29No. 2 Michigan State*No. 17
L 0–2597,239[7]
October 6Stanford*
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
L 13–2357,200[8]
October 13Indiana
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
W 33–1461,100[9]
October 20at Iowa
W 21–053,050[10]
October 27Minnesotadagger
W 54–2786,200[11]
November 3at No. 3 IllinoisNo. 15
L 0–771,119[12]
November 10at Cornell*
L 7–2035,300[13]
November 17Northwestern
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
L 0–658,300[14]
November 24Ohio State
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)
W 7–095,000[15]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game

Statistical leaders

Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1951 season include those listed below.[6][16]

Rushing

Player Attempts Net yards Yards per attempt Touchdowns
Don Peterson 152 549 3.6 4
Wes Bradford 64 348 5.4 2
Bill Putich 115 268 2.3 3

Passing

Player Attempts Completions Interceptions Comp % Yards Yds/Comp TD Long
Bill Putich 77 32 7 41.6 390 12.2 2 55
Don Peterson 13 6 3 46.1 184 30.7 1 43
Ted Topor 26 9 2 34.6 171 19.0 2 71

Receiving

Player Receptions Yards Yds/Recp TD Long
Lowell Perry 16 395 24.7 3 71
Frederick Pickard 10 204 20.4 2 55
Ted Topor 9 81 9.0 0

Kickoff returns

Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Bill Putich 3 88 29.3 0 36
Ted Topor 3 72 24.0 0 27
Don Oldham 3 52 17.3 0

Punt returns

Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Lowell Perry 17 197 11.6 1 75
Bill Putich 11 71 6.5 0 0
Merritt Green 1 10 10.0 0 10

Players

The starting lineup of the 1951 football team was made up of the following players. Players who started at least four games are shown with their names in bold.[2]

  • Wes Bradford – started 6 games at right halfback
  • Donald Dugger – started 5 games at defensive left guard, 1 game at offensive left guard
  • Merritt Green – started 9 games at defensive left end
  • Tom Johnson – started 9 games at left tackle (offense and defense)
  • Peter Kinyon – started 7 games at offensive left guard, 1 game at offensive right guard
  • Don Oldham – started 7 games at defensive back, 1 game at left halfback
  • Dick O'Shaughnessy – started 9 games at center
  • Russ Osterman – started 9 games at defensive right end
  • Ben Pederson – started 8 games at right tackle
  • Lowell Perry – started 8 games at offensive left end, 1 game at right halfback, 3 games at safety
  • Don Peterson – started 7 games at fullback
  • Fred Pickard – started 8 games at offensive right end
  • Bill Putich – started 6 games at left halfback, 2 games at quarterback, 6 games at safety
  • Ralph Stribe[17] – started 7 games at offensive right tackle
  • Robert Timm – started 9 games at defensive right guard
  • David Tinkham – started 9 games at defensive back, 2 games at left halfback
  • Ted Topor – started 7 games at quarterback, 8 games at linebacker
  • Thomas Witherspoon – started 1 game at fullback
  • Jim Wolter – started 8 games at offensive right guard, 1 game at offensive left guard
  • Roger Zatkoff – started 9 games at linebacker, 1 game at fullback

Awards and honors

Honors and awards for the 1951 season went to the following individuals.[2]

Coaching staff

Michigan's 1951 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]

References

  1. ^ "1951 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "1951 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. ^ Walter Johns (December 5, 1951). "2 Coast Players on CP All-American Team". Long Beach Press-Telegram.
  4. ^ "Coaches Select All-Big Ten Team". The Ludington Daily News. November 26, 1951.
  5. ^ "UP Big Ten Team". The Pantagraph. November 21, 1951. p. 10.
  6. ^ a b "1951 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  7. ^ "MSC Writes Finis to U-M Reign, 25-0". Detroit Free Press. September 30, 1951. pp. 1C, 3C – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Hal Middlesworth (October 7, 1951). "M Falls Again, 23-13: Wolverines Get First Touchdown". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Hal Middlesworth (October 14, 1951). "Michigan Swaggers: Wolverines Ramble Past Indiana, 33-14". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Bert McGrane (October 21, 1951). "Record 53,050 See Iowa Bow, 21-0". The Des Moines Register. p. 3S – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Lyall Smith (October 28, 1951). "M Doubles Up Gophers, 54-27". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Wilfrid Smith (November 4, 1951). "Illinois Passes Beat Michigan, 7 To 0". Chicago Tribune. pp. II-1, II-7 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ George Beahon (November 11, 1951). "Inspired Cornell Routs Michigan, 20-7, with 2nd Half Rally". Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. p. 1D – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Hal Middlesworth (November 18, 1951). "'Cats Make U-M Mighty Miserable, 6-0". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Hal Middlesworth (November 25, 1951). "Ending Perfect for U-M: Bennie Still Has What It Takes to Beat OSU". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 3C – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2017.(statistics retrieved by entering "1951" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")
  17. ^ Ralph C. Stribe, Jr., born on March 12, 1928, died December 24, 2010. Graduated from UM 1953 with a degree in religion and ethics. Served as pastor of the Church of Our Saviour in Birmingham, Michigan, chairman of the general council of the Presbyterian Synod of Michigan, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Alma College.
  18. ^ Arch Ward (December 9, 1951). "PLAYERS NAME 1951 ALL-AMERICA TEAMS". Chicago Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1951_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team&oldid=967524274"