1951 Michigan Wolverines football team
| 1951 Michigan Wolverines football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1951 record | 4–5 (4–2 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Bennie Oosterbaan (4th season) |
| MVP | Don Peterson |
| Captain | Bill Putich |
| Home stadium | Michigan Stadium |
| 1951 Big Nine football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1951 Michigan Wolverines football team 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
| Date | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | Result | Attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 29 | No. 2/NA Michigan State* | No. 17/NA | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry) | L 0–25 | 96,541 | ||||
| October 6 | Stanford* | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI | L 13–23 | 54,824 | |||||
| October 13 | Indiana | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI | W 33–14 | 60,165 | |||||
| October 20 | at Iowa | Iowa Stadium • Iowa City, IA | W 21–0 | 45,215 | |||||
| October 27 | Minnesota |
Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug) | W 54–27 | 83,060 | |||||
| November 3 | at No. 3/2 Illinois | No. 15/19 | Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (series) | L 0–7 | 68,997 | ||||
| November 10 | at Cornell* | No. NR/17 | Schoellkopf Field • Ithaca, NY | L 7–20 | 33,752 | ||||
| November 17 | Northwestern | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI | L 0–6 | 57,634 | |||||
| November 24 | No. NR/14 Ohio State | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry) | W 7–0 | 93,411 | |||||
| *Non-conference game. | |||||||||
Statistical leaders
Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1951 season include those listed below.[6][7]
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[8] – 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]
- Captain: Bill Putich
- All-Americans: Lowell Perry (UP 3rd team, Central Press 2nd team), Tom Johnson (Chicago Tribune 1st-team)[9]
- All-Big Ten: Lowell Perry (AP and UP), Tom Johnson (AP and UP), Roger Zatkoff (UP)
- Most Valuable Player: Don Peterson
- Meyer Morton Award: Merritt Greene
Coaching staff
Michigan's 1951 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]
- Head coach: Bennie Oosterbaan
- Assistant coaches: Jack Blott, George Ceithaml, Cliff Keen, Ernest McCoy, Bill Orwig, Don Robinson, Walter Weber, J. T. White
- Trainer: Jim Hunt
- Manager: Leon Stock
References
- 1 2 "1951 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1951 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ↑ Walter Johns (December 5, 1951). "2 Coast Players on CP All-American Team". Long Beach Press-Telegram.
- ↑ "Coaches Select All-Big Ten Team". The Ludington Daily News. November 26, 1951.
- ↑ "UP Big Ten Team". The Pantagraph. November 21, 1951. p. 10.
- 1 2 "1951 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ↑ "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. 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")
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.