1952 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1952 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1952 Big Ten Conference football season. In its fifth year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 5–4 record (4–2 against conference opponents), tied for fourth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 207 to 134.[1][2]
| 1952 Michigan Wolverines football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1952 record | 5–4 (4–2 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Bennie Oosterbaan (5th season) |
| MVP | Ted Topor |
| Captain | Merritt Green |
| Home stadium | Michigan Stadium |
| 1952 Big Ten Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Wisconsin + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Purdue + | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Ohio State | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 3 | – | 1 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Defensive end Merritt Green was the team captain, and quarterback Tony Branoff received the team's most valuable player award.[2]
Lowell Perry was selected by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) as a first-team defensive back on the 1952 College Football All-America Team.[3] Five Michigan players received All-Big Ten honors: linebacker Roger Zatkoff (AP-1, UP-1); guard Bob Timm (AP-1); center Dick O'Shaugnessy (UP-1); left halfback Ted Kress (UP-1); and defensive tackle Art Walker (AP-1).[4][5]
The team's statistical leaders included Ted Kress with 559 passing yards and 623 rushing yards and Lowell Perry with 492 receiving yards.[6]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 27 | No. 1 Michigan State* | L 13–27 | 96,490 | ||
| October 4 | at Stanford* | L 7–14 | 25,000 | ||
| October 11 | Indiana |
| W 28–13 | 53,840 | |
| October 18 | at Northwestern | W 48–14 | 40,000 | ||
| October 25 | Minnesota | No. 19 |
| W 21–0 | 72,404 |
| November 1 | Illinois | No. 15 |
| L 13–22 | 65,595 |
| November 8 | Cornell* |
| W 49–7 | 48,614 | |
| November 15 | No. 10 Purdue | No. 20 |
| W 21–10 | 58,964 |
| November 22 | at Ohio State | No. 12 | L 7–27 | 81,541 | |
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Statistical leaders
Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1952 season include those listed below.[6][8]
Rushing
| Player | Attempts | Net yards | Yards per attempt | Touchdowns |
| Ted Kress | 135 | 627 | 4.6 | 6 |
| Tony Branoff | 86 | 342 | 4.0 | 2 |
| Dick Balzhiser | 75 | 327 | 4.4 | 2 |
Passing
| Player | Attempts | Completions | Interceptions | Comp % | Yards | Yds/Comp | TD | Long |
| Ted Kress | 85 | 45 | 7 | 52.9 | 559 | 12.4 | 4 | 52 |
| Ted Topor | 58 | 33 | 4 | 56.9 | 440 | 13.3 | 2 | 25 |
| Duncan McDonald | 17 | 7 | 2 | 41.2 | 90 | 12.9 | 2 | 38 |
Receiving
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Yds/Recp | TD | Long |
| Lowell Perry | 31 | 492 | 15.9 | 5 | 52 |
| Ted Topor | 18 | 208 | 11.6 | 4 | 32 |
| Thad Stanford | 12 | 200 | 16.7 | 0 | 48 |
Kickoff returns
| Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
| Tony Branoff | 6 | 145 | 24.2 | 0 | 31 |
| Don Oldham | 7 | 123 | 17.6 | 0 | 30 |
| Frank Howell | 6 | 100 | 16.7 | 0 | 26 |
Punt returns
| Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
| Lowell Perry | 12 | 73 | 6.1 | 0 | 15 |
| Don Oldham | 5 | 31 | 6.2 | 0 | |
| Dave Tinkham | 4 | 27 | 6.8 | 0 | 6 |
Players
The starting lineup of the 1952 football team was made up of the following players. Players who started at least four games are shown with their names in bold.[2]
- Fred Baer – started 3 games at fullback
- James Balog – started 8 games as defensive right tackle
- Richard Balzhiser[9] – started 5 games at fullback
- Richard Beison – started 8 games at offensive right guard
- Donald Bennett – started 4 games as offensive left tackle
- Tony Branoff – started 6 games as right halfback
- George Dutter – started 9 games as defensive right guard
- Merritt Green – started 9 games as defensive left end
- Frank Howell – started 3 games as right halfback, 1 game as safety
- Gene Knutson – started 9 games as defensive right end
- Ted Kress – started 9 games as left halfback
- Laurence LeClair – started 9 games as linebacker
- Don Oldham – started 4 games as defensive back, 2 games as safety
- Dick O'Shaughnessy – started 9 games at center
- Lowell Perry – started 9 games as offensive left end, 4 games as safety
- Bernhardt Pederson -started 6 games at offensive right tackle
- Russell Rescorla – started 3 games as defensive back
- Thad Stanford – started 9 games at offensive right end
- Dick Strozewski – started 5 games as offensive left tackle
- Bob Timm – started 8 games as offensive left guard
- David Tinkham – started 9 games as defensive back
- Ted Topor – started 9 games as quarterback
- Art Walker – started 9 games as defensive left tackle
- Ronald Williams – started 7 games as defensive left guard
- Roger Zatkoff – started 9 games as linebacker, 1 game as offensive right tackle
Awards and honors
Honors and awards for the 1952 season went to the following individuals.[2]
- Captain: Merritt Green
- All-Americans: Lowell Perry[3]
- All-Conference: Roger Zatkoff, Art Walker, Bob Timm, Dick O'Shaughnessy, Ted Kress
- Most Valuable Player: Ted Topor
- Meyer Morton Award: Gene Knutson
Coaching staff
Michigan's 1952 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]
- Head coach: Bennie Oosterbaan
- Assistant coaches: Jack Blott, George Ceithaml, Cliff Keen, Bill Orwig, Don Robinson, Walter Weber, J. T. White
- Trainer: Jim Hunt
- Manager: Gerry Dudley
References
- "1952 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "1952 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1228. ISBN 1401337031.
- "3 Badgers on AP All Big Ten Team". The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin. November 24, 1952. p. 19.
- Ed Sainsbury (November 26, 1952). "Michigan, Badgers Each Land Trio On All-Big Ten Squad". Nevada State Journal. p. 11.
- "1952 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- University of Michigan Football Record Book Pt. 1
- "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 "1952" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")
- Balzhiser was the first University of Michigan athlete to be inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame.