1954 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1954 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In its seventh year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 6–3 record (5–2 against conference opponents), tied for second place in the Big Ten, outscored opponents by a combined total of 139 to 87, and was ranked No. 15 in the final AP and Coaches Polls.[1][2]
1954 Michigan Wolverines football | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 15 |
AP | No. 15 |
1954 record | 6–3 (5–2 Big Ten) |
Head coach | Bennie Oosterbaan (7th season) |
MVP | Fred Baer |
Captain | Ted Cachey |
Home stadium | Michigan Stadium |
1954 Big Ten Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Ohio State $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Wisconsin | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 15 Michigan | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Left guard Ted Cachey was the team captain, and fullback Fred Baer received the team's most valuable player award,[2]
Two Michigan players received All-American honors: left end Ron Kramer was selected as a first-team All-American by the Central Press Association,[3] and left tackle Art Walker received first-team honors from the All-America Board and the Football Writers Association of America.[4][5]
The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Jim Maddock with 293 passing yards, Fred Baer with 439 rushing yards, and Ron Kramer with 303 receiving yards.[6]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 25 | at Washington* | W 14–0 | 35,076 | ||
October 2 | Army* | L 7–26 | 69,161 | ||
October 9 | No. 4 Iowa |
| W 14–13 | 64,283 | |
October 16 | at Northwestern | W 7–0 | 32,972 | ||
October 23 | No. 8 Minnesota |
| W 34–0 | 70,740 | |
October 30 | Indiana | No. 11 |
| L 9–13 | 49,817 |
November 6 | Illinois |
| W 14–7 | 58,777 | |
November 13 | Michigan State |
| W 33–7 | 97,239 | |
November 20 | at No. 1 Ohio State | No. 12 | L 7–21 | 78,447 | |
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Statistical leaders
Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1954 season include those listed below.[6][7]
Rushing
Player | Attempts | Net yards | Yards per attempt | Touchdowns |
Fred Baer | 107 | 439 | 4.1 | 3 |
Dan Cline | 97 | 340 | 3.5 | 3 |
Ed Hickey | 45 | 169 | 3.8 | 0 |
Lou Baldacci | 46 | 152 | 3.3 | 4 |
Passing
Player | Attempts | Completions | Interceptions | Comp % | Yards | Yds/Comp | TD | Long |
Jim Maddock | 35 | 16 | 5 | 45.7 | 293 | 18.3 | 1 | 33 |
Dan Cline | 43 | 15 | 4 | 34.9 | 281 | 18.7 | 3 | 63 |
Duncan McDonald | 36 | 15 | 6 | 41.7 | 237 | 15.8 | 1 | 32 |
Receiving
Player | Receptions | Yards | Yds/Recp | TD | Long |
Ron Kramer | 23 | 303 | 13.2 | 2 | 29 |
Lou Baldacci | 8 | 211 | 26.4 | 1 | 63 |
Dan Cline | 6 | 61 | 10.2 | 0 | 33 |
Kickoff returns
Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
Dan Cline | 8 | 164 | 20.5 | 0 | 34 |
Ed Hickey | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 0 | 24 |
Punt returns
Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
Dan Cline | 13 | 113 | 8.7 | 0 | 22 |
Tom Hendricks | 1 | 67 | 67.0 | 1 | 67 |
Terry Barr | 4 | 56 | 14.0 | 0 | 25 |
Ron Kramer | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 0 | 26 |
Scoring
Player | TD (rush) | TD (rec.) | TD (oth.) | Other type | PAT att | PAT made | Points |
Ron Kramer | 0 | 2 | 1 | Blk Punt | 14 | 13 | 31 |
Lou Baldacci | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 | |
Fred Baer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
Dan Cline | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
Players
The starting lineup of the 1954 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 6 games at fullback
- Lou Baldacci – started 5 games at quarterback, 1 game at fullback
- James Bates – started 4 games at center
- Tony Branoff – started 2 games at right halfback
- Ted Cachey – started 9 games at left guard
- Daniel Cline – started 9 games at left halfback
- Ronald Geyer – started 6 games at right tackle
- Edward Hickey – started 1 game at right halfback
- Dave Hill – started 2 games at fullback
- Ron Kramer – started 9 games at left end
- Jim Maddock – started 1 game at quarterback
- Duncan McDonald – started 3 games at quarterback
- Tom Maentz – started 5 games at right end
- Ed Meads – started 9 games at right guard
- John Morrow – started 3 games at right tackle
- John Peckham – started 2 games at center
- Ed Shannon – started 6 games at right halfback
- Gene Snider – started 3 games at center
- Art Walker – started 9 games at left tackle
- Jerry Williams – started 4 games at right end
Awards and honors
Honors and awards for the 1954 season went to the following individuals.[2]
- Captain: Ted Cachey
- All-Americans: Art Walker
- All-Conference: Art Walker, Ron Kramer
- Most Valuable Player: Fred Baer
- Meyer Morton Award: Don Dugger
Coaching staff
Michigan's 1954 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]
- Head coach: Bennie Oosterbaan
- Assistant coaches: Jack Blott, Don Dufek, Robert Hollway, Cliff Keen, Pete Kinyon,[8] Matt Patanelli, Don Robinson, Walter Weber, J. T. White
- Trainer: Jim Hunt
- Manager: Glenn Bearss
References
- "1954 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "1954 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- Walter Johns (November 28, 1954). "Penn State's Lenny Moore Named To Captains' All-America". Reading Eagle. p. 34.
- ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1236. ISBN 1401337031.
- "FWAA All America" (PDF). Football Writers Association of America.
- "1954 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "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 "1954" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")
- Peter Chatfield Kinyon, born December 5, 1929, died November 16, 2012. Played football at Michigan 1948–1951 (varsity 1950–51). Coached football at Michigan 1954–56.