The 1919 Michigan Wolverines football team was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that represented the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

during the

1919 college football season The 1919 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing 1919 Centre Praying Colonels football team, Centre, 1919 Harvard Crimson football team, Harvard, 1919 Illinois Fighti ...

. In its 19th season under head coach

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

, the Wolverines compiled a 3–4 record – the only losing season in Yost's 30-year career as a head football coach. The team was outscored by a total of 102 to 93 and finished in a tie for seventh place in the Big Ten. After winning three of four games to start the season, a stretch that included the Wolverines' first ever loss in the

Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry The Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry, referred to as The Game by some fans and sports commentators, is an American college football rivalry game that is played annually between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. As of ...

, the team lost its final three games against

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Left tackle

Angus Goetz Angus Gerald "Gus" Goetz (July 6, 1897 – July 24, 1977) was an American football player who played four years with the Michigan Wolverines from 1917 to 1920. He also played professional football for the Buffalo All-Americans (1922) and th ...

was the team captain. Other notable players included quarterback Cliff Sparks, center/fullback

Ernie Vick Henry Arthur "Ernie" Vick (July 2, 1900 – July 16, 1980) was an American football and baseball player. He was selected as an All-American center in 1921, played on the 1926 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and was elected to the Co ...

, halfback

Archie Weston Archie Bruce "Beak" Weston (June 9, 1895 – April 1981) was an American football player who was a quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1917 and a halfback in 1919. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1917 by ''Chicago ...

, left end

Robert J. Dunne Robert Jerome "Duke" Dunne (August 29, 1899 – May 18, 1980) was an American football player and coach, and state court judge in Illinois. He played for the University of Michigan from 1918 to 1921, and competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Af ...

. Murray Van Wagoner, who later served as Governor of Michigan in the early 1940s, also started one game at left guard.

Schedule

Players

Letter winners

*John C. Cary - end (Grand Rapids, Michigan) *Elmer W. Cress - end (Grand Rapids, Michigan) *William R. Cruse - started 2 games at left halfback, 2 games at right halfback, 2 games at fullback (Detroit, Michigan) * Frank Culver - started 3 games at center, 1 game at left guard (Detroit, Michigan) *Frank T. Czysz - started 1 game at right tackle (Dunkirk, New York) *Roland Glenn Dunn - started 3 games at right tackle, 1 game at right guard (Muskegon Heights, Michigan) *

- started 6 games at left end (Chicago, Illinois) *Donald A. Finkbeiner - tackle (Perrysburg, Ohio) * William Fortune - started 3 games at left guard (Springfield, Illinois) *Gerald W. Froemke - started 1 game at right halfback (Sheldon, North Dakota) *

- started 7 games at left tackle (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) *J. Vinton Hammels - tackle (Glendale, Arizona) *William P. Henderson - started 1 game at right end (Detroit, Michigan) * Roy W. Johnson - started 2 games at center, 1 game at left guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan) * Kenneth T. Knode - started 1 game at quarterback, 1 game at right halfback (Martinsburg, West Virginia) *

Alvin Loucks Alvin Earl Loucks (June 15, 1895 – April 18, 1973) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Michigan (1916, 1919) and professionally football for the Detroit Heralds (1920).Loucks served as the ...

- guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan) *Willard L. Peach - started 2 games at right end, 1 game at left end, 1 game at right tackle (Fremont, Ohio) *Harold Rye - started 3 games at right end (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) * Cliff Sparks - started 6 games at quarterback, 1 game at right halfback (Jackson, Michigan) *

- started 4 games at fullback, 2 games at center (Toledo, Ohio) *

- started 2 games at right halfback (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) *Hugh Wilson - started 4 games at right guard, 2 games at right tackle, 1 game at left guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Non-letter winners

*John M. Barnes - halfback (Washington, D.C.) *James V. Campbell - tackle (Ann Arbor, Michigan) *Charles Eades - started 1 game at fullback (Conneaut, Ohio) *Robert E. Hamilton - center (Erie, Pennsylvania) *Earle Magrath - started 1 game at right end (Oak Park, Illinois) *Barry Stuart - fullback (Grand Rapids, Michigan) *Theodore Timchac - tackle (Saginaw, Michigan) * Murray Van Wagoner - started 1 game at left guard (Pontiac, Michigan) *Arthur A. WeadockArthur A. Weadock, born February 23, 1897. After graduating from Michigan, he returned to Saginaw, Michigan as an attorney. Died January 1981,

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

. - quarterback (Saginaw, Michigan) *Charles O. Wilson - fullback (Muskegon, Michigan)

Awards and honors

*Captain:

*All-Conference:

Coaching staff

*Head coach:

*Assistant coaches:

Prentiss Douglass Prentiss Porter Douglass (June 23, 1887 – November 9, 1949) was an American college football player and coach. A native of Martinsville, Illinois, Douglass graduated from the Culver Military Academy and the University of Michigan. He played ...

, Ernest Allmendinger, Carl Lundgren, Edwin Mather *Manager: Leland N. Scofield

References

External links

1919 Football Team -- Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

1919-1920 Michigan Alumnus - includes accounts of each game

1920 Michiganensian
{{Michigan Wolverines football navbox

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Michigan Wolverines football seasons

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...