1959 Michigan Wolverines football team

1959 Michigan Wolverines football
Fred Julian (#16) carries the ball in 1959
Conference Big Ten Conference
1959 record 4–5 (3–4 Big Ten)
Head coach Bump Elliott (1st season)
MVP Tony Rio
Captain George Genyk
Home stadium Michigan Stadium
1959 Big Ten football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 Wisconsin $ 5 –2 –0  7 –3 –0
Michigan State 4 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Purdue 4 –2 –1  5 –2 –2
No. 13 Illinois 4 –2 –1  5 –3 –1
Northwestern 4 –3 –0  6 –3 –0
Iowa 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Michigan 3 –4 –0  4 –5 –0
Indiana 2 –4 –1  4 –4 –1
Ohio State 2 –4 –1  3 –5 –1
Minnesota 1 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1959 Big Ten Conference football season. In its first year under head coach Bump Elliott, Michigan compiled a 4–5 record (3–4 against conference opponents), finished in seventh place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by opponents by a combined total of 161 to 122.[1][2]

The season ended with a 23–14 victory over Ohio State before a crowd of 90,093 at Michigan Stadium. In his final game for Michigan, quarterback Stan Noskin ran for a touchdown and passed for another.[3]

Left guard George Genyk was the team captain, and fullback Tony Rio received the team's most valuable player award.[2] The team's statistical leaders included Stan Noskin with 747 passing yards, right halfback Fred Julian with 289 rushing yards, and right end Robert Johnson with 264 receiving yards.[4]

Schedule

Date Opponent Site Result Attendance
September 26 Missouri* Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI L 15–20   52,756
October 3 Michigan State Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry) L 8–34   103,234
October 10 Oregon State* Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 18–7   76,020
October 17 No. 2/2 Northwestern Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI L 7–20   68,393
October 24 at Minnesota Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug) W 14–7   56,082
October 31 No. 10/9 Wisconsindagger Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI L 10–19   68,756
November 7 at No. NR/16 Illinois Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Il (series) W 20–15   44,768
November 14 at Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 7–26   24,171
November 21 Ohio State Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry) W 23–14   88,804
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming.

[1][2]

Statistical leaders

Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1959 season include those listed below.[4][5]

Rushing

PlayerAttemptsNet yardsYards per attemptTouchdowns
Fred Julian722894.02
Bennie McRae762423.21
Darrell Harper672243.32

Passing

PlayerAttemptsCompletionsInterceptionsComp %YardsYds/CompTDLong
Stan Noskin115611553.069711.4546

Receiving

PlayerReceptionsYardsYds/RecpTDLong
Robert Johnson2026413.2020
Bennie McRae410225.5146
Tony Rio89011.3226

Kickoff returns

PlayerReturnsYardsYds/ReturnTDLong
Bennie McRae714821.1030
Fred Julian59018.0021
Darrell Harper46215.5022

Punt returns

PlayerReturnsYardsYds/ReturnTDLong
Darrell Harper310133.7183
Reid Bushong46215.5021
Jim Raeder33812.7025

Players

The starting lineup of the 1959 football team was made up of the following players. Players who started at least four games are shown with their names in bold.[2]

  • Jared Bushong - started 5 games at right tackle
  • Alex Callahan - started 8 games at right guard
  • Donald R. Deskins - started 2 games at right tackle
  • Mike Fillichio - started 1 game at left guard, 1 games at right guard
  • George Genyk - started 8 games at left guard
  • John Halstead - started 9 games at left end
  • Darrell Harper - started 9 games at left halfback
  • Willard Hildebrand - started 1 game at right tackle
  • Thomas Jobson - started 9 games at left tackle
  • Robert Johnson - started 9 games at right end
  • Fred Julian - started 7 games at right halfback
  • Brad Myers - started 2 games at right halfback
  • Stan Noskin - started 9 games at quarterback
  • Tony Rio - started 9 games at fullback
  • Jon Schopf - started 2 games at right tackle
  • Jerry Smith - started 9 games at center

Awards and honors

Team honors and awards for the 1959 season went to the following individuals.[2]

The 1959 team honored at Michigan Stadium on the occasion of its 55-year reunion in 2014.
  • Captain: George Genyk
  • Most Valuable Player: Tony Rio
  • Meyer Morton Award: Willard Hildebrand
  • John Maulbetsch Award: Bob Brown

Coaching staff

Michigan's 1959 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "1959 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1959 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. ↑ Hal Middlesworth (November 22, 1959). "Happy Ending for U-M! Ohio State Upset, 23-14". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "1959 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Retrieved November 6, 2017. (statistics retrieved by entering "1959" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")
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