The 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1925 Big Ten Conference football season. The 1925 season was Fielding H. Yost's 24th as the head football coach. Michigan compiled a 7–1 record and outscored opponents by a combined score of 227 to 3. The 1925 team won the Big Ten Conference championship and was ranked second in country (tied with Alabama) behind Dartmouth in the Dickinson System rankings.
The only points allowed by the team were in a 3 to 2 loss to Northwestern in a game played in a heavy rainstorm on a field covered in mud five or six inches deep in some places. Michigan shut out seven of its eight opponents and allowed only four first downs in the last three games of the season.
Quarterback Benny Friedman and left end Bennie Oosterbaan, sometimes referred to as "The Benny-to-Bennie Show," were both consensus All-Americans and became known as one of the greatest passing combinations in college football history. Friedman finished second in close voting for the 1925 Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy, which is awarded to the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten. Both Friedman and Oosterbaan were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Team captain and center Robert J. Brown and guard Tom Edwards also received first-team All-American honors from some selectors.
At the end of the season, Yost called the 1925 Michigan team "the greatest football team I ever coached" and "the greatest football team I ever saw in action." He continued to maintain that the 1925 squad was his greatest team even years later. The team was retroactively named as a 1925 co-national champion by MIT statistician Jeff Sagarin.
Schedule
Preseason
The 1924 Michigan Wolverines football team under first-year head coach George Little had compiled a 6–2 record but had suffered an embarrassing 39–14 loss to Illinois and Red Grange. On January 22, 1925, Little announced that he had accepted an offer from the University of Wisconsin to become that school's athletic director and head football coach. At the time, Little expressed his appreciation to Michigan's athletic director Fielding H. Yost, and Yost issued a statement noting, "Michigan's loss is Wisconsin's gain. It will take long thought and careful planning to fill the gap he leaves."
Following Little's resignation, Yost again took over as head coach, as he had for the prior 23 seasons, and Harry Kipke, an All-American for Michigan in the early 1920s, was hired to join Michigan's coaching staff as an assistant. The Chicago Daily Tribune wrote that it was anticipated that Tad Wieman and Kipke may be given principal responsibility for developing the team under Yost's supervision.
Benny Friedman held a grudge against Little for refusing to start him at quarterback during the 1924 season. He later recalled: "I could not play quarterback for Coach Little, because I did not personify what he wanted. Now, under Yost, I was the quarterback, and this game meant much to me."
The 1925 team returned a number of starters from the 1924 team, including 1925 team captain Robert J. Brown, quarterback Benny Friedman, tackle Tom Edwards, guard Harry Hawkins, and right end William Flora.
Game summaries Michigan State
Michigan opened the 1925 season on October 3, with a 39–0 victory over Michigan State College in Ann Arbor. A crowd of 30,000 persons set a Ferry Field record for the first game of a season. The game was the 20th meeting in the Michigan – Michigan State football rivalry. Michigan had won nine straight games, eight by shutouts, dating back to 1916.
Michigan scored twice in the first quarter. The first touchdown came on a 65-yard run by Benny Friedman. Later in the quarter, Friedman completed a pass to Charles Grube for a 20-yard gain and then completed another pass to Bruce Gregory for a 30-yard gain and a touchdown. After a scoreless second quarter, Michigan led 13–0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Michigan scored three touchdowns. The first came on a pass from sophomore halfback Louis Gilbert to fellow sophomore Bennie Oosterbaan for a 40-yard gain and a touchdown. The game marked the first in a Michigan uniform for both Gilbert and Oosterbaan. On the next drive, George Babcock ran 68 yards for a touchdown after "scooping up a fumble on the dead run." Gilbert kicked the extra point, and Michigan led, 27–0. Later in the quarter, Friedman intercepted a pass and then completed a pass to Oosterbaan for a 24-yard gain and a touchdown. The New York Times noted that Oosterbaan "sparkled in his play" and that both of his touchdowns came on "clever catches and smart running." Gilbert kicked two extra points, and Frederic Fuller kicked one.
Michigan's starting lineup was Grube (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Lovette (left guard), Thisted (center), Edwards (right guard), George Babcock (right tackle), Flora (right end), Friedman (quarterback), Fuller (left halfback), Gregory (right halfback), and Molenda (fullback). Players appearing in the game as substitutes for Michigan included Bennie Oosterbaan (left end), and Louis Gilbert (left halfback). Michigan's team captain and center Robert J. Brown did not appear in the game due to a foot injury.
Indiana
In the second week of the season, the Wolverines defeated the Indiana Hoosiers, 63–0, at Ferry Field. The game was only the fifth meeting between the two programs and the first since 1903. Michigan had won the four prior games by a combined score of 156 to 0.
Benny Friedman threw five touchdown passes in the game, kicked eight extra points, and had a 55-yard touchdown run. In the Chicago Daily Tribune, Walter Eckersall, who served as the referee in the game, wrote that Friedman was "one of the best all around players in the conference." The Associated Press (AP) wrote that Friedman "sparkled in the smooth-working Michigan offense."
Bruce Gregory scored three touchdowns, and Bennie Oosterbaan scored two. Friedman, Louis Gilbert, William Flora, and Sam Babcock each scored one. Friedman kicked eight extra points, and Carl Stamman kicked one. In its account of the game, AP described Michigan's performance as being "a reincarnation of her famous point-a-minute team of old."
Michigan's starting lineup was Oosterbaan (left end), Tom Edwards (left tackle), John Lovette (left guard), Robert J. Brown (center), Harry Hawkins (right guard), James Oade (right tackle), William Flora (right end), Friedman (quarterback), Gilbert (left halfback), Gregory (right halfback), and Bo Molenda (fullback). Substitutes appearing in the game for Michigan included Sam Babcock (left halfback) and Carl Stamman (fullback).
Wisconsin
In the third week of the season, Michigan defeated Wisconsin, 21–0, at Madison, Wisconsin. In eight prior games between Wisconsin and Michigan teams coached by Yost, Michigan was undefeated. George Little was in his first year as Wisconsin's head coach after having been an assistant to Yost in 1922 and 1923 and Michigan's head coach in 1924. The game attracted a capacity crowd of 44,000 to Camp Randall Stadium.
On the first play from scrimmage, Friedman faked a pass to Bennie Oosterbaan who was sprinting downfield and threw a pass to Bruce Gregory for a 62-yard gain and a touchdown. Following the touchdown, Wisconsin kicked off, and Friedman returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Friedman converted both extra points, and Michigan led, 14–0, after the first three plays. The AP noted: "It took just thirty-one seconds for Michigan to win the game at Madison and show the football world that Benny Friedman is destined for top rank among the great players developed by Yost."
In the second quarter, Tom Edwards intercepted a pass deep in Michigan territory. After the interception, Friedman completed a pass to Bennie Oosterbaan for the final score of the game. In its account of the game, the AP wrote that Michigan's line outplayed Wisconsin with "Edwards especially wrecking Wisconsin's attempts at a running game."
Michigan's starting lineup was Oosterbaan (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Lovette (left guard), Brown (center), Edwards (right guard), George Babcock (right tackle), Flora (right end), Friedman (quarterback), Gilbert (left halfback), Gregory (right halfback), and Molenda (fullback).
Illinois
On October 24, Michigan won its fourth consecutive shutout with a 3–0 victory over Illinois at Champaign, Illinois. The victory came as Illinois celebrated homecoming in front of a record crowd of 67,000 at Memorial Stadium. In 1924, Illinois had defeated Michigan, 39–14, as Red Grange scored four touchdowns in the span of ten minutes. Stopping Grange was considered to be the key to beating Illinois in 1925. During the pre-season practice sessions, Michigan's line coach Tad Wieman dressed a player in a sweater with Grange's number (77) and sent his guards and tackles "after the mythical Grange with instructions to 'hit him hard.'" Before the game, Michigan coach Yost told reporters: "One of the greatest throngs in all football history is here. For weeks the game has been on every tongue. . . . Our players have been compared as to weight, speed, and ability. The stage is set."
The only points of the game were scored in the second quarter on a Benny Friedman field goal from the 25-yard line. The field goal was set up by a Bennie Oosterbaan interception and a long gain on a triple pass from Friedman to George Babcock who then handed the ball to Bruce Gregory. Earl Britton of Illinois attempted two field goals, but both missed the mark. The game was played on a rainsoaked field which was credited with handicapping Grange.
Michigan fullback Bo Molenda was also credited with stopping Grange. Grange played at quarterback for the first time in his career and was held to 56 net rushing yards on 25 carries. The AP wrote of Molenda's efforts: "Molenda was the principal reason why the Illini's aerial attack was unsuccessful. Time after time he got in the way to make the pass incomplete or to gather it in his arms." Molenda intercepted a pass thrown by Grange on the opening drive of the game and made a second interception of a pass thrown by Earl Britton later in the first quarter. He had two more interceptions in the fourth quarter, both on passes thrown by Daugherty. Multiple sources indicate that Molenda intercepted a total of five passes in the game.Perry, The Wolverines, p. 115.
In an increasingly rare display of ironman football, the same 22 players who started the game for Michigan and Illinois also finished the game. The AP noted: "The fact that the same men finished the game is causing wide comment, for such a happening has not occurred in Big Ten contests for a great many years. This seems to be the age of wholesale substitutions, and to have two elevens go through an important and hard contest without rushing in new men every few minutes is to upset modern football precedent."
Michigan's starting lineup was Oosterbaan (left end), George Babcock (left tackle), Lovette (left guard), Brown (center), Dewey (right guard), Hawkins (right tackle), Flora (right end), Friedman (quarterback), Gilbert (left halfback), Gregory (right halfback), and Molenda (fullback).
Navy
Michigan secured its fifth consecutive shutout with a 54–0 victory over Navy at Ferry Field on October 31. The game was the first meeting between the two traditional football powers. The 1925 Navy team came into the game undefeated, averaging almost 23 points a game, and featuring two players (Tom Hamilton and Frank Wickhorst) who were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The defeat was the worst suffered by a Navy football team up to that time.