| 1901 Michigan Wolverines football | |
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| Conference | Western Conference |
| Record | 11–0 (4–0 Western) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive scheme | Short punt |
| Captain | Hugh White |
| Home stadium | Regents Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan + | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin + | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 3 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 0 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 0 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the Western Conference during the 1901 Western Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Fielding H. Yost, the team compiled a perfect 11–0 record, outscored its opponents by a combined total of 550 to 0, tied with Wisconsin for the Western Conference championship, and defeated Stanford by a 49 to 0 score in the inaugural Rose Bowl game, the first college bowl game ever played. Northwestern (8–2–1) had the best record of a Michigan opponent, however Michigan still managed to win 29–0. The 1901 team was the first of Yost's famed "Point-a-Minute" teams, so named for their high scoring offense. From 1901 to 1905, Yost's Michigan teams compiled a record of 55–1–1 and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 2,821 to 42.
Although no system was in place during this era to determine a national champion, the NCAA recognizes as "major" certain selectors who have sought to establish national championships retrospectively. Three of the five major selectors, Helms Athletic Foundation in 1941, Houlgate System after 1926, and the National Championship Foundation in 1980, recognized the 1901 Michigan team as the national champion, despite contrary contemporaneous accounts.[1] Parke H. Davis in 1933 selected 12–0 Harvard as national champion.[2][3][4] The 1901 team holds the distinction of having won the first national championship claimed by the Michigan Wolverines football program.
Several players from the team received individual honors. Fullback/end Neil Snow was selected as a first-team player on Caspar Whitney's 1901 All-America Team. Halfback Willie Heston was selected as a third-team player on Walter Camp's 1901 and 1902 All-America Teams and as a first-team player on Camp's 1903 and 1904 All-America Teams. In addition, five Michigan players received first-team honors on the 1901 All-Western college football team. They are Snow, Heston, quarterback Boss Weeks, tackle Bruce Shorts, and fullback/halfback Everett Sweeley. The team captain was tackle, Hugh White.
Four individuals associated with the team have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. They are Yost, Snow, Heston, and assistant coach Bennie Owen, who later went on to fame as the head coach at Oklahoma.
- ^ "Sports Review for Year 1901, Champions of the Gridiron". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. December 31, 1901. p. 7.
The season ... culminated in the overwhelming defeat of Yale by Harvard on the Saturday before Thanksgiving day. This gave the crimson an undisputed claim to the gridiron championship. In the West Wisconsin and Michigan were in a class by themselves and both claimed the leadership, but as the two teams did not meet no definite opinion could be formed of their relative strength.
- ^ Parke Davis' selection for 1901, as published in the 1934 and 1935 Spalding's Foot Ball Guide, to which he was a contributor until his death, was Harvard.
- ^ Okeson, Walter R., ed. (1934). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1934. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. p. 206.
- ^ Okeson, Walter R., ed. (1935). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1935. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. p. 233.