The Teams: 1901

2019-02-26

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"Did you really coach four teams out there and they all won championships? No, I coached five teams and they all won championships." Michigan historian Dr. Sap and I have started a new podcast on the lore of Michigan football. This one got out of hand, just like everything else Yost touched when he arrived, largely thanks to the endless knowledge of "guest" (really, he hosted and we just listened most of the time) Toronto Sun NFL columnist John Kryk, author of Stagg vs. Yost: The Birth of Cutthroat Football. The Sponsor: It is s...

"Did you really coach four teams out there and they all won championships? No, I coached five teams and they all won championships."

Michigan historian Dr. Sap and I have started a new podcast on the lore of Michigan football. This one got out of hand, just like everything else Yost touched when he arrived, largely thanks to the endless knowledge of "guest" (really, he hosted and we just listened most of the time) Toronto Sun NFL columnist John Kryk, author of Stagg vs. Yost: The Birth of Cutthroat Football.

The Sponsor:

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1. The Setup

(starts at 0:50)

Yost's contract (click for big), which is held at the UM Bentley Library

Yost's path to Michigan. The rules: five-point touchdowns, insane extra points that began with horizontal longsnaps, six men on the line of scrimmage, no passing. Most teams were built on the Yale system, which was all about burling your way forward at a few murderous yards per gain. Lots of rugby still in the game at this point.

2. Meet the Team

(starts at 24:19)

The 1901 team photograph, colored by unknown and color-fixed by Jason Kryk

Yost's tenants. QB Boss Weeks was the most terrifying 5'6 man in history. Everett Sweeley is my pick for greatest Michigan punter. FB Neil Snow was Jim Thorpe before Thorpe. Cap Redden and Albert Herrnstein two of the great ends; there's a memorial to Herrnstein in Illinois. Captain Hugh White built the Lincoln Memorial and the US Supreme Court Building. Dan McGugin is responsible for the SEC. Dad Gregory was small for a C and never saw a grade that high until he went to law school. Eben Wilson the tough nugget from EMU. Bruce Shorts nearly died.

3. The Season

(starts at 55:51)

Albion. 50-0. Albion didn’t cross their own 45. Heston didn’t play until the 2nd half with the backups. Said Yost “That was easy.”
Case. Daily Headline (via The Michigan Daily Archives):Case showed up with their own ref (from Oberlin, who had a history with Michigan) and threatened to get back on their bus if they didn’t use their guy. Heston and Redden breakout party. Close call: Sweeley fumbled the snap and a Case guy got free, but Sweeley ran him down.
Indiana. 33-0. Michigan’s weight was a concern, especially in a wet slog. No trickeration “with the exception of a lonely quarterback punt.” Only weakness in Michigan is defense
Northwestern. 29-0 versus a contender. Defense held. Closest to giving up a score: NW 1st and goal at the 2. Northwestern would pull both guards into the same gap and try to plow downfield but Michigan’s D was shooting the gaps. The fans gave Northwestern a Rutgers cheer when they got an 8-yard gain. Two 50-yard runs by Heston. Yost as OBC.
Buffalo. 128-0. Everyone had scored a TD but the center, Dad Gregory.
Carlisle. 22-0. and Pop Warner. Played before 2,000 people in Detroit. First half M fumbles twice. The “move-over” play is used. Minister Wu is in the audience. Wu Tingfang, the Chinese minister.
Ohio State. 21-0. Not yet The Game; Buckeyes start feigning injuries, Michigan starts making fun of Ohio State by falling down with the same injuries.
Chicago. 22-0. The Game. Stagg was a cross between Joe Paterno and Bo Ryan, manipulating every rule to his benefit while cultivating this fiction that he was the angel.
Beloit. 89-0. With Nebraska and Notre Dame this was one of the elite Midwest teams that couldn't get into the Big Ten because of academic elitism.
Iowa. 50-0. Played in Chicago—Stagg scheduled his Wisconsin game atop them but it still drew 10,000 spectators.

4. The First Rose Bowl & Legacy

(starts at 2:02:43)

[Bentley]

Yost organized a Christmas game with Cal in San Francisco followed by Stanford in Pasadena. Not the first team to play out West: Stagg 1894. Charles Baird: recent former player became the first athletic director, but also had to deal with some faculty who were sure They were in charge of the athletic department—Baird was more day-to-day running of the show. Rose Bowl: Michigan sent just 15 guys—the starters, a few backups, Yost, and a manager. Good Yost story about how Stanford threw in the towel. Stats: Did they score a point a minute? Most offense per game until the Run & Shoot Houston team. Is this season the reason Michigan is MICHIGAN?

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