1923 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1923 college football season. The 1923 season was Fielding H. Yost's 23rd as the head football coach at Michigan. For the second straight year, Michigan compiled an undefeated record and tied for the Big Ten Conference football championship. The team won all eight of its games by a combined score of 150–12 and has been recognized as national champions by the Billingsley Report and the National Championship Foundation. The only Michigan player selected as a consensus first-team All-American was center Jack Blott.

On defense, the 1923 team gave up an average of 1.6 points per game, held its first four opponents scoreless, and gave up only one touchdown during the entire season. Left tackle Stanley Muirhead was one of the team's leaders on defense and became known for his fierce tackles. Muirhead played in every minute of Michigan's games in 1923.

On offense, Michigan was led by a backfield that included halfbacks Harry Kipke and Herb Steger and quarterback Irwin Uteritz. Steger was the team's leading scorer, while Kipke developed a reputation as the best punter in college football during the 1923 season. When Uteritz was injured in a game against the Quantico Marines, he was replaced at quarterback by Ferdinand Rockwell. Rockwell ran for a touchdown in his first play against the Marines and also scored Michigan's only touchdowns in the final two games of the season against Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Highlights of the 1923 season included a 19–0 victory over Ohio State with the largest crowd in Ferry Field history in attendance. The season was also marked by two close games involving controversial calls. Against Iowa, a controversial call that a Michigan punt grazed a Hawkeye lineman resulted in Michigan's winning touchdown. Against Wisconsin, a controversial call that Rockwell had not been tackled to the ground on a long kick return again resulted in Michigan's winning touchdown. The Wisconsin game also featured a game-saving "diving shoe-string tackle" by Edliff Slaughter on the last play of the game – a play that Fielding Yost later called "the greatest play in football I ever saw." In the final game of the season, Michigan shut out an undefeated Minnesota team that had scored 34 points against Northwestern and 20 against Iowa in the preceding weeks.

Pre-season
Michigan's 1922 team finished its season undefeated with a record of 6–0–1 and tied with Iowa for the Big Ten football championship. Several of the key players from the 1922 team were gone, including fullback Franklin Cappon, right end Paul Goebel, and left end Bernard Kirk. Cappon and Goebel were lost to graduation, and Kirk had died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in December 1922. There were, however, several starters returning from the undefeated 1922 team, including halfback Harry Kipke, quarterback Irwin Uteritz, center Jack Blott, and tackle Stanley Muirhead.

In May 1923, the University of Michigan's Board of Control of Athletics announced that the new field house under construction would be named after Fielding H. Yost, who had been Michigan's head football coach for 22 years. At the time of its completion in the fall of 1923, Yost Field House was "the largest structure for competitive athletics in the world." The structure was designed to have a seating capacity of 12,500, an indoor track with a 75-foot straightaway, basketball courts, indoor practice facilities for the football and baseball teams, locker and shower facilities for 4,200, athletic association offices, and trophy rooms.

Week 1: Case
Michigan opened the season on October 6, 1922, with a 36–0 victory over Case Scientific School. (Michigan opened its season with a home game against Case 16 times between 1902 and 1923.) Halfback Herb Steger scored three touchdown in the game, two on pass plays and another on a 60-yard run. Additional touchdowns were scored by William Herrnstein, substituting for Harry Kipke at left halfback, and Frederick Parker, substituting for Irwin Uteritz at quarterback. Kipke kicked a field goal and three extra points.

Week 2: Vanderbilt
On October 13, 1923, Michigan defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores, 3–0, at Ferry Field. The Commodores had held the Wolverines to a scoreless tie in 1922 and nearly did so again in 1923. The game's only points were scored on a field goal in the second quarter. After Michigan drove to the Vanderbilt seven-yard line, the Wolverines lost yardage on first and second down. On third down, Jack Blott was called into the backfield from his normal position at center. Blott kicked a field goal from the 15-yard line. A wire service account of the game noted, "Both played crafty football, the fumbling that tended to mar the game being more than offset by swift, dashing interception of passes while the work of the linesmen on both sides was at top form."

Week 3: Ohio State
On October 20, 1923, Michigan defeated Ohio State, 23–0. The game attracted between 45,000 and 50,000 spectators, setting a new record as "the greatest throng that ever jammed historic Ferry field." The crowd included an estimated 15,000 Ohio State fans with thousands having driven to the game by automobile and thousands more in special trains from Columbus. At least six airplanes were also employed to bring spectators to Ann Arbor, including two brothers flying to Ann Arbor from Denver and several Marines from Quantico, Virginia, flying in four airplanes to scout the Michigan team for the upcoming match against the Quantico Marines. Tickets sold for prices as high as $50. The Michigan athletic department reported that 55,000 ticket applications had been denied, requiring "the entire time of four men for the past three weeks to return money for which tickets were not available."

Coach Yost announced two days before the game that he would retire as Michigan's football coach at the end of the year. After Yost's announcement, sports columnist Billy Evans called Yost "one of the greatest mentors in the history of the game" and "one of the pioneers in Western Conference football."

Michigan's 23-point margin was its largest over the Buckeyes since 1909 and "one of the most startling upsets of the 1923 Western Conference championship season." Michigan's offense was led by its passing game, completing five of nine passes for long gains and without any interceptions. Ohio State, on the other hand, completed only three of 12 passes. As one Ohio newspaper noted, "The Wolverines made almost uncanny use of the aerial attack, their peculiar use of this play turning the battle. Ohio held Michigan fairly well when the  Wolverines employed straight football but the over-head game seemed to mystify the Buckeyes completely."

The only points scored in the first half came on a field goal by Jack Blott. The score followed a drive that started at Ohio State's 49-yard line and featured a 24-yard gain on Michigan's first pass, a ten-yard toss from Irwin Uteritz to Harry Kipke who ran the ball to the Ohio State 23-yard line. On the next play, Michigan ran a triple pass with Kipke carrying the ball to Ohio State's 11-yard line. The Buckeyes' defense held, and Blott kicked a field goal from placement from the 17-yard line.

In the third quarter, Blott missed a field goal on Michigan's first drive, with the ball going right of the crossbar. Later in the third quarter, Michigan extended its lead after blocking a punt by Hoge Workman in Ohio State territory. Michigan took the ball to the Ohio State 16-yard line on a pass from Uteritz to Louis Curran. On the next play, Uteritz completed a pass to Herb Steger who ran the last 15 yards for a touchdown. Blott place-kicked the extra point. Early in the fourth quarter, Michigan scored its second touchdown on a pass from Uteritz to Kipke that netted 37 yards. Blott again place-kicked the extra point. Michigan's final touchdown followed an interception by Steger that gave the Wolverines the ball at Ohio State's 42-yard line. On a series of running plays, Michigan drove the ball inside Ohio State's ten-yard line. Charles Grube, substituting for Jim Miller, ran on fourth down and gained four yards to Ohio State's one-yard line. On first down from the one-yard line Grube fumbled, but recovered the ball. On the next play, Steger ran through the right guard for a touchdown. Michigan tried a pass for the extra point, but the pass from Uteritz was incomplete. Ohio State never advanced the ball inside Michigan's 40-yard line.

Michigan's starting lineup against Ohio State was Marion (left end), Muirhead (left tackle), Slaughter (left guard), Blott (center), Steele (right guard), Vandervoort (right tackle), Curran (right end), Uteritz (quarterback), Kipke (left halfback), Steger (right halfback), and Miller (fullback). Players appearing as substitutes for Michigan included Hawkins, Rockwell, Grube, Herrnstein, and Witherspoon. Michigan converted ten first downs in the game to five for Ohio State.

Week 4: Michigan Agricultural
On October 27, 1923, Michigan defeated the Michigan Aggies, 37–0, at Ferry Field. Harry Kipke's "broken field running figured prominently in Michigan's scoring." Richard Vick started in place of Herb Steger, who was held in reserve for the Iowa game the following week. A newspaper account of the game reported that Vick "played brilliantly, plunging and passing for repeated gains," revealing "a wealth of strength among the Michigan reserves." The 1924 Michiganensian reported that the Aggies "furnished a good practice game" and noted the every player on the Michigan bench was able to play in the game.

Week 5: at Iowa
On November 3, 1923, Michigan traveled to Iowa City for its first road game of the 1923 season. Michigan and Iowa had tied for the Western Conference championship in 1922. Michigan won the game, 9–3, scoring all nine of its points in the first quarter. The Wolverines' touchdown came on a Harry Kipke drop-kick from the Iowa 45-yard line. As the kick left Kipke's foot, it grazed an Iowa lineman before flying deep into Iowa territory. Iowa's Wesley Fry let the ball roll into the end zone, not realizing it had been touched by one of his teammates. Jack Blott, Michigan's 200-pound center, raced down the field and jumped on the ball. Referee James Masker awarded a touchdown to Michigan. Iowa fans, having not seen the ball touch any of the Hawkeyes, reacted angrily to the ruling. Blott won praise for his "quick thinking" in racing to recover the fumble, with one writer noting:"When Jack Blott, Michigan's star center, fell on a loose ball, in back of the goal line in the recent Michigan-Iowa game, he performed a feat which is rarely accomplished on the gridiron. Not only did it win the contest for the Wolverines, but it marked one of the few times wherein a center is credited with having scored a touchdown ... Blott's performance was all the more unique in that he passed the ball for Kipke's attempted drop kick and then raced down the field ahead of any of the other players in time to drop on the leather as it bounded across the final chalk mark after having grazed an Iowa uniform."

A few minutes later, Kipke drop-kicked for a field goal from the Iowa 40-yard line to give Michigan a 9–0 lead. In the second quarter, Iowa scored on a drop-kick field goal by Fisher. After the first quarter, the Michigan offense was held scoreless, unable to make "any headway thru Iowa's big black line."

Michigan's lineup against Iowa was Marion (left end), Muirhead (left tackle), Slaughter (left guard), Blott (center), Steele (right guard), Vandervoort (right tackle), Curran (right end), Uteritz (quarterback), Kipke (left halfback), Steger (right halfback), and Jim Miller (fullback). The only two substitutions for Michigan were Babcock for Vandervoort and Grube for Miller.

Week 6: Quantico Marines


In the sixth game of the 1923 season, Michigan faced the United States Marine Corps football team from the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia. The game was attended by 2,000 Marines and by several dignitaries, including Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby, who had played football at Michigan in the 1890s, and Marine Corps Commandant John A. Lejeune. Before the game, dedication ceremonies were held for the newly-constructed Yost Field House. Speaking to thousands jammed into the building for the dedication, University of Michigan President Marion LeRoy Burton said, "May this building, bearing his name, stand through the years as a silent but compelling witness to the worth of loyalty, integrity, and manhood."

Michigan defeated the Marines, 26–6. The Marines took the opening kickoff and drove 89 yards for a touchdown, using "a bewildering aerial and line attack." The Marines' touchdown was the only one scored on Michigan during the entire 1923 season. The Marines led 6–0 at the end of the first quarter, but Michigan then scored 26 unanswered points. Quarterback Irwin Uteritz led Michigan's comeback, scoring a touchdown in the second quarter on a dive between center Jack Blott's legs. Uteritz kicked the extra point and added his eighth point on an extra point in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Uteritz "limped perceptibly" after a hard tackle, but remained in the game until Michigan's trainer ordered him off the field. After the game, it was determined that Uteritz's leg had been broken, and he was unable to play in the last two games of the season. On learning that Uteritz would be unable to play in the remaining games, Coach Yost told reporters, "There goes half of the football team. . . . He was the best field general I ever had."

Ferdinand Rockwell replaced Uteritz at quarterback. When Rockwell came into the game, Michigan lined up for a field goal with Rockwell holding the ball. As the Marines came through to block the kick, Rockwell jumped to his feet and ran the ball 26 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown run was Rockwell's first play for Michigan's varsity team. In addition to the touchdowns by Uteritz and Rockwell, Michigan also scored on touchdowns by Jim Miller and Frederick Parker. Due to an error by the official timekeeper, time was not called at the end of the first quarter, and the quarter consumed 33 minutes of playing time before the oversight was discovered. The other three quarters were played for regulation periods of 15 minutes.

Michigan's starting lineup against the Quantico Marines was Marion (left end), Muirhead (left tackle), Slaughter (left guard), Blott (center), Hawkins (right guard), Babcock (right tackle), Neisch (right end), Uteritz (quarterback), Kipke (left halfback), Steger (right halfback), and Miller (fullback).

Week 7: at Wisconsin
On November 17, 1923, Michigan defeated Wisconsin, 6–3, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Ferdinand Rockwell was Michigan's starting quarterback, replacing the injured Irwin Uteritz. Rockwell scored Michigan's only points on a controversial play. Rockwell caught a Wisconsin kick and began running with the ball. The ball bounced off his chest at the 32-yard line, and Rockwell picked up the loose ball. Rockwell was hit and appeared to be knocked down, but the whistle was not blown and Rockwell continued running 68 yards through a relaxed Wisconsin secondary, which thought the ball was dead. Years later, Harry Kipke wrote about the play and described Rockwell's "perfect acrobatic somersault" as he appeared to be down but maintained his balance and ran for the winning touchdown. Rockwell's performance in the closing games of the 1923 season led sports columnist Billy Evans to write: "Rockwell is one of the best open field runners in the Western Conference. He, more than any other man, saved the Big Ten title for Michigan."

The 1923 Michigan-Wisconsin game ended with a play that Fielding H. Yost later called "the greatest play in football I ever saw." With 18 second left in the game, Wisconsin had the ball at its own 35-yard line and needed to gain 65 yards for a score. A Wisconsin player caught a pass and appeared to be heading to a game-winning touchdown. Yost described Edliff Slaughter's "diving shoe-string tackle" as follows:"Suddenly, with a great burst of speed, a Michigan man went for him, grabbed him and downed him. I looked for the number of the Michigan man. Lo and behold, it was 'Butch' Slaughter, a guard, who, under ordinary circumstances, would have no more business in that part of the field than I would. Down Harris and Slaughter went on our 20-yard line, and with them went the chance of all chances for Wisconsin, for the whistle which ended the game blew at that moment." Like the prior week's victory over the Quantico Marines, the victory against Wisconsin was costly. All-American center Jack Blott "was carried from the field with a broken ankle" in the second quarter and was unable to play in the final game of the season against Minnesota.

At the conclusion of the game, a crowd of Wisconsin fans surrounded referee Walter Eckersall to protest the decision granting Michigan's touchdown. One of the angry fans reportedly struck Eckersall, who was then escorted from the field by Wisconsin players. The response in Madison was so strong that rumors circulated that Wisconsin intended to sever athletic relations with Michigan.

Michigan's lineup against Wisconsin was Marion (left end), Muirhead (left tackle), Slaughter (left guard), Blott (center), Steele (right guard), Babcock (right tackle), Curran (right end), Rockwell (quarterback), Kipke (left halfback), Steger (right halfback), and Miller (fullback).

Week 8: Minnesota
Michigan concluded its undefeated season on November 24, 1923, with a 10–0 win over Minnesota. The game was played at Ferry Field in front of a crowd of close to 42,000 spectators. The game was the final college football appearance for two All-American halfbacks, Harry Kipke of Michigan and Earl Martineau of Minnesota. Both teams came into the game unbeaten.

Six of Michigan's 11 starters were injured and unavailable to play in the game. Accordingly, Michigan played five starters and six substitutes against the Golden Gophers. Minnesota also suffered a setback when its starting quarterback, Graham, was injured in the first quarter.

Michigan scored the only touchdown of the game in the second quarter on a 51-yard drive that featured a ten-yard run by Harry Kipke and a 12-yard gain on a pass to Steger. With the ball at the Minnesota 31-yard line, fullback Richard Vick passed to quarterback Ferdinand Rockwell. Rockwell caught the pass at the 20-yard line and ran for the touchdown. Rockwell also kicked the extra point to give Michigan a 7–0 lead. In the third quarter, Edliff Slaughter blocked a punt by Earl Martineau, and Dick Babcock recovered the ball at Minnesota's 27-yard line. When Michigan was unable to score, Kipke drop-kicked for a field goal from the 37-yard line. Minnesota's final drive was stopped on an interception by Kipke.

On defense, Michigan shut out a Minnesota offense that had scored 34 points against Northwestern and 20 against Iowa. The Golden Gophers threw eight passes for zero completions and two interceptions. Left tackle Stanley Muirhead, playing his final game for Michigan, was credited with the success of the defense:"In his last game against Minnesota, November 24, Muirhead was everywhere. He made three-fourths of the tackles under punts, and was always on the ball. A check was made during the game of Muirheads's tackles. No less than twenty-two times did this stalwart tackle bring down his man. He was a veritable demon on the field. He could not be stopped. If there is a greater tackle in the country than Stan Muirhead of Michigan he has not yet been seen." Princeton coach Bill Roper watched the Michigan-Minnesota game as a guest of Fielding Yost. After the game, Roper had high praise for Kipke: "Kipke is the greatest punter I have ever seen ... I have never seen such deadly accuracy ... It was impossible for the Minnesota quarterback to handle Kipke's kicks. Most of them went out of bounds some fifty yards from the line of scrimmage."

Michigan's starting lineup in the game was Neisch (left end), Muirhead (left tackle), Slaughter (left guard), Brown (center), Hawkins (right guard), Babcock (right tackle), Curran (right end), Rockwell (quarterback), Kipke (left halfback), Steger (right halfback), and Vick (fullback). Players appearing in the game as substitutes for Michigan included Kunow and Herrnstein.

Post-season
The 1923 season ended with Michigan and Illinois both undefeated and tied for the Big Ten football championship. As the two teams did not play each other in 1923, The New York Times looked to their records against common opponents to determine which team was superior. In games against three common opponents (Ohio State, Iowa, and Wisconsin), Michigan had defeated the opponents 38–6 as compared to 28–6 for Illinois. Against Ohio State, Michigan had won 23–0 while Illinois' margin was 9–0. Although there was no AP Poll in 1923 to determine a national champion, Michigan has been recognized as national champions by the Billingsley Report and the National Championship Foundation. Other selectors have recognized Illinois as the national champions of 1923.

Jack Blott was the only Michigan player selected for Walter Camp's first-team All-American squad for 1923. Blott also won first-team honors from Athletic World (based on polling of 500 coaches), Football World magazine, Norman E. Brown (sports editor of the Central Press Association), Davis Walsh (sports editor for the International News Service), and Walter Eckersall.

Halfback Harry Kipke was a consensus first-team All-American in 1922, but in 1923, Red Grange (Illinois) and Harry Wilson (Penn State) were the consensus first-team picks at halfback. The only major selector to award first-team All-American honors to Kipke in 1923 was Lawrence Perry. At the end of the season, Coach Yost added his own praise for Kipke, calling him "the best kicker of all time," and adding: "Never has there been a kicker in all time who could place his ball or time his kicks as well as Kipke."

Other Michigan players included on 1923 All-American teams included Edliff Slaughter (a first-team pick by Lawrence Perry) and Stanley Muirhead (a second-team pick by Athletic World, Norman E. Brown, and Lawrence Perry).

During the 1923 season, Michigan played before crowds totaling 225,000 – exceeding the 1922 attendance by 5,000. Despite the growing demand for seats, Michigan's Board of Regents at the end of November 1923 rejected a proposal to build a large new football stadium. The Regents instead approved a plan to expand the seating capacity at Ferry Field. (Michigan Stadium was not built until 1927.)

Varsity letter winners
The following players were awarded varsity letters for their participation on the 1923 Michigan football team.
 * Richard G. "Dick" Babcock, Royal Oak, Michigan – three games at right tackle
 * Jack Blott, Girard, Ohio – seven games at center
 * Robert J. Brown, Ypsilanti, Michigan – one game at center
 * Louis B. Curran, Louisville, Kentucky – seven games at right end
 * Charles W. Grube, Saginaw, Michigan – halfback
 * Harry Hawkins, Saginaw, Michigan, Arthur Hill H.S. – four games at right guard
 * William H. Herrnstein, Jr., Chillicothe, Ohio – one game at right halfback
 * Harry Kipke, Lansing, Michigan – eight games at left halfback
 * Walter Kunow, Detroit, Michigan – tackle
 * Philip E. Marion, Detroit, Michigan, Northwestern H.S. – seven games at left end
 * James K. Miller, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids Central H.S. – six games at fullback
 * Stanley Muirhead, Detroit, Michigan, Northern H.S. – eight games at left tackle
 * LeRoy Neisch, Detroit, Michigan, Eastern H.S. – one game at left end, one game at right end
 * Ferdinand Rockwell, Jackson, Michigan – two games at quarterback
 * Edliff Slaughter, Louisville, Kentucky – seven games at left guard
 * Harold O. Steele, Sioux City, Iowa – four games at right guard, one game at left guard
 * Herb Steger, Oak Park, Illinois, Oak Park H.S. – seven games at right halfback
 * Irwin Uteritz, Oak Park, Illinois, Oak Park H.S. – six games at quarterback
 * Ed Vandervoot, Lansing, Michigan – five games at right tackle
 * Richard Vick, Toledo, Ohio, Scott H.S. – started two games at fullback for the varsity
 * Howell S. White, Reed City, Michigan – guard

aMa letter winners

 * Merle C. Baker, Royal Oak, MI – quarterback
 * William J. Donnelly, Cadillac, MI – tackle
 * Henry Ferenz, Flint, MI – end
 * LeRoy G. Heston, Detroit, MI – halfback
 * Robert Ingle, Ann Arbor, MI – guard
 * Lowell Palmer, Grand Rapids, MI – end
 * Frederick H. Parker, Hastings, MI – halfback
 * Donald Swan, Detroit, MI – guard
 * Fred T. Wall, Birmingham, MI – center
 * John Witherspoon, Detroit, MI – end

Reserves

 * John K. Atland
 * Raymond L. Beecher
 * William E. Benson
 * Frederick G. Betts
 * Joseph G. Blahnick
 * Roy E. Butler
 * Archibald A. Campbell
 * Kenneth H. Campbell
 * Howard O. Cedargreen
 * Floyd W. Cory
 * Thomas E. Daley
 * Floyd B. Day
 * Carl T. Dust
 * Frank M. Edwards
 * Percy A. Edwards
 * John T. Galarneault
 * Hupert G. Goebel
 * Louis Goldstein
 * Bran F. Gregoric
 * John Groshko
 * Roy B. Grubb
 * William H. Heath
 * Raymond S. Heym
 * William Hinckley
 * Edward K. Isbey
 * Harold T. Kinley
 * Harry Koenig
 * Joseph Kruger
 * Earl R. Lillie
 * William R. McMillan
 * Harold J. Meier
 * Frank C. Mote
 * Franklyn C. Mugavero
 * Chester W. Reichle
 * Lyman C. Savage
 * Clifford R. Smith
 * Charles D. Spencer
 * Albert M. Stern
 * Kenneth G. Strunk
 * Arthur E. Vyse
 * John Wagner
 * John L. Weiler
 * Robert R. Young

Awards and honors

 * Captain: Harry Kipke
 * All-Americans: Jack Blott
 * All-Conference: Harry Kipke, Jack Blott, Stanley Muirhead

Coaching staff

 * Coach: Fielding H. Yost
 * Assistant coaches: George Little, A. J. Sturzenegger, Elton Wieman, Ernie Vick, Ray Fisher, Edwin Mather
 * Trainer: Charles B. Hoyt, William Fallon
 * Manager: Donald McCabe