The 1913 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1913 college football season. The season was Fielding H. Yost's 13th as Michigan's head football coach. The team compiled a record of 6–1, outscored opponents 175 to 21, and shut out four opponents while giving up an average of only three points per game.
After opening the season with wins against two Ohio colleges (Case and Mt. Union), the Wolverines lost to Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University) by a score of 12–7. It was Michigan's first loss in the history of its cross-state rivalry with the East Lansing institution. Following the loss to the Aggies, star halfback Jimmy Craig, who had decided to quit playing football, returned to the team upon "urgent pleading by the entire student body." In his season debut, Craig scored four touchdowns in the first half. Though he played in only two-and-a-half games in 1913, Craig scored seven touchdowns and received consensus All-American honors, including a first-team selection by Walter Camp.
During its decade-long absence from the Western Conference, Michigan played inter-sectional rivalry games against Penn (12 games in 12 years from 1906 to 1917), Syracuse (10 games from 1908 to 1918), Cornell (7 games from 1911 to 1917), and Vanderbilt (7 games from 1905 to 1914). In the final month of the season, Michigan defeated its four inter-sectional rivals by a combined score of 106 to 9. Ohio State joined the Western Conference in 1913 and was barred by a Conference rule from playing Michigan. For this reason, there was a hiatus in the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry from 1913 to 1917.
Craig and tackle Miller Pontius were both selected as consensus first-team All-Americans. Two other players received first-team All-American honors from at least one selector. They were center and team captain George "Bubbles" Paterson, and quarterback Tommy Hughitt.
Schedule
Season summary
Pre-season
Prior to the start of the 1913 football season, expectations for Michigan were uncertain. In mid-August, head coach Fielding H. Yost sent invitations to 33 players to participate in training camp. At the time, the Detroit Free Press wrote that "Chef Yost has started to mix the ingredients for the 1913 dish he will offer to college fans." The core of Michigan's line was expected be strong with the return of five varsity letter winners: Miller Pontius at right tackle, George "Bubbles" Patterson at center, Ernest "Aqua" Allmendinger at right guard, and James Musser at left tackle. Pontius had played mostly as an end in 1912 and was anxious to move to tackle where he "puts up his best game." At the end position, Roy "Squib" Torbet also returned from the 1912 team.
The experience in the line contrasted with inexperience in the backfield. The Wolverines were starting from scratch with the loss of all four backfield starters from the 1912 team. Jimmy Craig had been the star halfback for Michigan in 1911 and 1912 and was also the 1912 intercollegiate hurdles champion. (His older brother, Ralph Craig, was a track star at the University of Michigan who won gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter events at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.) In August 1913, Craig announced that he would no longer play football. Craig said he needed to drop athletics or fall behind in his university courses. Another reason given for the decision was a bad knee. Others speculated that Craig decided not to play, because he was not selected as captain of the 1913 team.
Also gone from Michigan's backfield were quarterback Herbert "Hub" Huebel, fullback George Thomson, and halfback/end Otto Carpell. Tommy Hughitt was the only backfield veteran, having started three games at halfback in 1912. Hughitt, who later became a star in the early days of professional football, became the starting quarterback in 1913.
Training camp began in mid-September. Having abandoned his earlier practice of holding training camp at Whitmore Lake, Yost conducted training camp out of a new club house at Ferry Field. Yost subjected his players to more strenuous drills each day, supplementing the drills "with work at the 'bucking machine' and the tackling dummy."
In late September, an article asserting that Coach Yost was "subject to brain storms" appeared in Harper's Weekly, drawing a response of anger and "healthy disgust" from Yost's players who "insist that their coach has never had a brain storm in his life." The article was written by Herbert Reed and said of Yost:"The attitude of Fielding H. Yost at Michigan should be one of the interesting features of the season, for Yost is temperamentally a 'chance-taker.' Unlike most extremists, his 'brain storms' have met with more frequent reward. It must not be inferred from this, however, that Yost does not know the game from the ground up – merely that any move he makes is absorbingly interesting for the reason that something fancy is apt to develop from it without notice to or benefit of clergy for his opponent. The more startling type of play usually comes out of the West, anyway; for the Westerners like shortcuts to victory." Four days before the season opener, a scrimmage between the first team and the scrubs resulted in a story in the Detroit Free Press under the headline, "Gloom in the Camp of Yost." In the hour-long scrimmage, the first team was unable to score and lost to the scrubs, 3–0. The Free Press opined that it was "easily the most discouraging work yet seen on Ferry Field" and resulted not from being outplayed by the scrubs, but from the fact that the first team players "just weren't good enough to score."
Week 1: Case
Michigan opened its season on October 4, 1913, with a 48–0 victory over Case School of Applied Science. (Michigan opened its season with a home game against Case 16 times between 1902 and 1923.) After taking a 34–0 lead at halftime, Coach Yost played his second-string players in the second half. The highlight of the game was a 45-yard touchdown return by 200-pound center George "Bubbles" Paterson after intercepting a Cornell pass. Other highlights included a pair of 60-yard runs by left halfback James Catlett. Michigan's offense consisted of "straight football" with only one pass being attempted in the game.
Michigan's starting lineup against Case was Torbet (left end), Musser (left tackle), Lichtner (left guard), Paterson (center), Allmendinger (right guard), Pontius (right tackle), Lyons (right end), Hughitt (quarterback), Catlett (left halfback), Bentley (right halfback), and Galt (fullback). Players appearing in the game as substitutes were Tessin, Raynsford, Morse, Cochran, Millard, James, Watson, Roehm, Quinn, and Diehl. The game was played in 10-minute quarters.
Week 2: Mt. Union
In its second game, Michigan played Mt. Union in the first meeting between the two programs. The game was a late addition to the schedule and was "intended as a practice tilt." Although Michigan won the game, 14–0, the Mt. Union team was praised for holding the Wolverines to only 14 points. The Detroit Free Press wrote:"Up from a small, hitherto unknown college in Ohio came eleven husky, scrappy football players today and for over one hour on Ferry field they furnished the proud Wolverines with a battle for gridiron honors which put the name of Mt. Union college on the football map for many years to come." Early in the second quarter, Michigan penetrated deep into Mt. Union territory on a drive that featured end runs of 25 and 20 yards by James Catlett and a forward pass from Tommy Hughitt to John Lyons at the four-yard line. With first down at the Mt. Union four-yard line, it took four attempts before Hughitt scored the touchdown. George Paterson kicked the extra point. The Wolverines scored again in the second quarter on a drive that was aided by a pass interference penalty against Mt. Union. After the penalty, the ball was placed at Mt. Union's three-yard line, and Leland Benton ran for the touchdown. Paterson again kicked the extra point. At halftime, Coach Yost denied his players the usual rubdowns in the field house and instead kept them on the field for a heated lecture. Despite the halftime prodding, the Wolverines were unable to score in the second half, and the game ended with Michigan ahead, 14–0.
Michigan's starting lineup against Mt. Union was Torbet (left end), Musser (left tackle), Traphagen (left guard), Paterson (center), Allmendinger (right guard), Pontius (right tackle), Lyons (right end), Hughitt (quarterback), Galt (left halfback), Catlett (right halfback), and Benton(fullback). The only substitution for Michigan was Quinn, replacing an injured Catlett at right halfback during the first quarter. The game was played in 12-1/2-minute and 10-minute quarters.
Week 3: Michigan Agricultural
For its third game, Michigan played the Aggies from Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University). The Wolverines played without its starting left halfback, Martin Galt. Galt was injured in the Mt. Union game. For the first time in the history of the intrastate rivalry, the Aggies beat the Wolverines, 12–7. The Aggies' offense, led by fullback "Carp" Julian, scored touchdowns in the first and third quarters, but missed both extra points. Halfback Miller returned a Michigan fumble 45 yards for the one touchdown, and the other score came on a long drive. An account of the game noted: "The one great feature of the game was the accuracy of the Aggies forward passing which netted a total of 76 yards for the Farmers." Trailing 12–0 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Wolverines rallied in the fourth quarter. Clyde Bastian recovered an M.A.C. fumble at midfield and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, and George Paterson kicked the extra point, cutting the lead to five points. Late in the fourth quarter, Michigan opened up its offense and drove to the Aggies' 35-yard line. A long forward pass to the goal line fell incomplete, and the game came to an end. The New York Times described the game as "a desperate gruelling struggle." M.A.C. halfback Blake Miller suffered a blow to the head during the game and was hospitalized in serious condition.
In November 1913, The Michigan Alumnus made note of the Aggies' potential as an athletic threat: "This victory with the football tie in 1908, and the Farmers' clean sweep in baseball in 1912, point to the fact that M.A.C. will bear watching by Michigan." In the celebration following the game, two Aggies fans were arrested and jailed for "throwing bottles about the streets" in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Michigan's starting lineup against the Aggies was Torbet (left end), Musser (left tackle), Traphagen (left guard), Paterson (center), Allmendinger (right guard), Raynford (right tackle), Lyons (right end), Hughitt (quarterback), Catlett (left halfback), Bentley (right halfback), and Pontius (fullback). Players appearing in the game as substitutes were Lichtner, Roehm, and Bastian. The game was played in 12-minute quarters.
Week 4: at Vanderbilt
On October 25, 1913, Michigan played Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. The game matched Michigan head coach Fielding H. Yost against his former player and brother-in-law, Dan McGugin. Owing to the relationship between Yost and McGugin, the two teams played nine times between 1905 and 1923, with Michigan winning eight times. Michigan won the 1913 game, 33–2, in the worst defeat for Vanderbilt since McGugin became the head coach. The game was marked by the Wolverines' most extensive use of the forward pass during the 1913 season. Michigan's air attack was described as showing "dazzling proficiency", as the forward passes were responsible for four of Michigan's five touchdowns. In the Detroit Free Press, E. A. Batchelor wrote: "Vanderbilt fairly gasped in amazement as the Wolverines shot the ball from one to another with the precision of baseball players."