1881 Michigan Wolverines football team
Encyclopedia
The 1881 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan
in the 1881 college football season
. While the University of Michigan
had fielded "football" teams in 1879 and 1880, those teams played a game that was more in line with traditional rugby
, and many consider the 1881 team to be the first at Michigan to play American football. The team finished with a record of 0–3 after playing the top teams in the country – , and .
The 1881 season was only the third during which Michigan fielded a football team. Prior to 1881, Michigan had played only three games, two against the University of Toronto
and one against Racine College
in Chicago. Moreover, the game played by Michigan was more in the nature of British rugby rather than American football
. One author has observed: "When the Michigan rugby team went East in November of 1881 they were playing a more traditional rugby game than their eastern counterparts."
The players on the Michigan team came from throughout the western states, including Illinois (Frank Wormwood and team captain and quarterback Walter Horton), Iowa (Richard Dott), North Dakota (the DePuy brothers), the Upper Peninsula (fullback William Olcott), and even Florida (Purl Woodruff).
In 1881, Michigan scheduled games against the top American football teams—the Eastern powerhouses of Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Either Yale, Princeton or Harvard has been credited with every college football national championship from 1869–1894, and retrospective historical power ratings have ranked them as the top three college football teams of 1881. The Michigan-Harvard game, which was played on Halloween 1881, was the first time any of the elite Eastern teams had played a team from the West. In his history of college football, David M. Nelson cites Michigan's 1881 Eastern trip as the origin of intersectional football: "In 1881 football became an intersectional game with the University of Michigan invading the East to play Harvard, Princeton and Yale."
Michigan played all three games in the East over a five-day period between October 31, 1881, and November 4, 1881. While Michigan lost all three games, the games were close, and the Michigan team earned the respect of the Eastern press.
Having lost all of its games and being outscored 28–4, the 1881 Michigan team holds the distinction of having the worst record in the school's history—a record that has not been matched in the more than 125 years of football that followed. After the 1881 season, Michigan did not schedule any intercollegiate games in 1882 and did not return to intercollegiate play until 1883.
The Boston Journal
carried a lengthy article about the Michigan-Harvard game, which it summarized as follows:
Harvard scored the only points of the game in the first half on a play that was disputed by Michigan's players. The Boston Journal noted:
Another Massachusetts paper, The Fitchburg Sentinel, reported: "The Harvard university football team won one touch-down at Cambridge, Monday, and the Michigan university team won nothing."
Rushers
Quarterback
Halfbacks
Three-Quarter-back
Goalkeeper
Substitutes
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in the 1881 college football season
1881 college football season
The 1881 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Yale and Princeton as national champions....
. While the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
had fielded "football" teams in 1879 and 1880, those teams played a game that was more in line with traditional rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, and many consider the 1881 team to be the first at Michigan to play American football. The team finished with a record of 0–3 after playing the top teams in the country – , and .
Season overview
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and one against Racine College
Racine College
Racine College was an Episcopal college in Racine, Wisconsin, founded in 1852. The collegiate department closed in 1887, but the college continued to be used as a grammar school and a military school until it closed in 1933....
in Chicago. Moreover, the game played by Michigan was more in the nature of British rugby rather than American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. One author has observed: "When the Michigan rugby team went East in November of 1881 they were playing a more traditional rugby game than their eastern counterparts."
The players on the Michigan team came from throughout the western states, including Illinois (Frank Wormwood and team captain and quarterback Walter Horton), Iowa (Richard Dott), North Dakota (the DePuy brothers), the Upper Peninsula (fullback William Olcott), and even Florida (Purl Woodruff).
In 1881, Michigan scheduled games against the top American football teams—the Eastern powerhouses of Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Either Yale, Princeton or Harvard has been credited with every college football national championship from 1869–1894, and retrospective historical power ratings have ranked them as the top three college football teams of 1881. The Michigan-Harvard game, which was played on Halloween 1881, was the first time any of the elite Eastern teams had played a team from the West. In his history of college football, David M. Nelson cites Michigan's 1881 Eastern trip as the origin of intersectional football: "In 1881 football became an intersectional game with the University of Michigan invading the East to play Harvard, Princeton and Yale."
Michigan played all three games in the East over a five-day period between October 31, 1881, and November 4, 1881. While Michigan lost all three games, the games were close, and the Michigan team earned the respect of the Eastern press.
Having lost all of its games and being outscored 28–4, the 1881 Michigan team holds the distinction of having the worst record in the school's history—a record that has not been matched in the more than 125 years of football that followed. After the 1881 season, Michigan did not schedule any intercollegiate games in 1882 and did not return to intercollegiate play until 1883.
Schedule
October 31: Harvard 3, Michigan 0
The Boston Journal
The Boston Journal was a daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1833 until October 1917 when it was merged with the Boston Herald....
carried a lengthy article about the Michigan-Harvard game, which it summarized as follows:
"Yesterday afternoon, in a drenching rain, for the first time an Eastern foot-ball eleven played with a Western eleven. The Western college boys have long wished a chance to try their powers with Eastern opponents, and, to effect this, the University of Michigan this fall have sent on a representative eleven to play the largest of the Eastern colleges. Their first opponent were the Harvard team. They were beaten but with fair weather the result would have been very uncertain. As it was, Harvard won more by luck than by superiority in strength or skill, for with the exception of the first ten minutes they were forced to play a defensive game. ... At 3:15, in the midst of a drenching rain, the game began. Perhaps a hundred spectators had by this time gathered."
Harvard scored the only points of the game in the first half on a play that was disputed by Michigan's players. The Boston Journal noted:
"Individual players kept losing their temper, and much time was wasted in upclose quarreling over little questions of no account. If the Westerners hadn't talked so much they might have won, or at least tied the game. ... During the second half hour the ball was near the Harvard line constantly. Once it came within three feet of the chalk, but the most desperate fighting on the Harvard forced it back foot by foot until the immedate danger was over. ... The Michigan team excelled in running, and their tackling was very fair. As to passing, they did very little. It was by all odds the best game seen in Boston this fall."
Another Massachusetts paper, The Fitchburg Sentinel, reported: "The Harvard university football team won one touch-down at Cambridge, Monday, and the Michigan university team won nothing."
November 2: Yale 11, Michigan 0
Michigan's worst defeat on the Eastern trip was an 11–0 defeat against Yale. The next day, the New Haven Evening Register carried the following account of the game:"The Yale foot ball team easily defeated the players from the University of Michigan at Hamilton Park, yesterday afternoon, in the presence of 500 people. The Yales outplayed their opponents in every particular, and kept the ball near their goal during the greater part of the game. ... The score was: Yale, 2 goals, University of Michigan, no goals, Touchdowns for safety: Yale none, University of Michigan 8. Olcott and DePuy played a good game for the visitors."
November 4: Princeton 13, Michigan 4
The final game of the trip was a 13–4 loss to Princeton. One New Jersey newspaper reported: "The Princeton College team were victorious Thursday in a football match with the team of the University of Michigan after an exciting struggle." New Jersey's Daily State Gazette wrote: "A finely contested game of football at the University grounds Friday, between Princeton and University of Michigan resulted in a victory for the home team, Princeton 1 goal, 2 touchdowns; University of Michigan 0."Players
The following players were members of the 1881 football team according to the roster published in the 1882 edition of "The Palladium", the University of Michigan yearbook.Rushers
- John Ayres from Springville, Michigan
- Harry Bitner, Mt. Carroll, Illinois
- Fredric M. Townsend from Coldwater, MichiganColdwater, MichiganColdwater is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County....
- Purl G. Woodruff from Westville, FloridaWestville, FloridaWestville is a town in Holmes County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 221. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the town had a population of 225.According to Westville town Census 2010 results, the population of the area was...
- Frank Forbes Wormwood from Rockford, IllinoisRockford, IllinoisRockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
- Charles M. Wilson from Ionia, MichiganIonia, MichiganIonia is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Ionia County, Michigan, United States. The population was 11,394 at the 2010 census. Every late July it hosts what may be the world's largest free-admission fair...
Quarterback
- Walter S. HortonWalter S. HortonWalter Shurts Horton was an American football player and lawyer. A native of Delavan, Illinois, Horton attended Princeton University and graduated in 1879. He subsequently studied law at the University of Michigan, graduating from the Department of Law in 1882. While attending Michigan, Horton...
from Peoria, IllinoisPeoria, IllinoisPeoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
(also the team captain)
Halfbacks
- Richard Millard Dott, halfback, Sioux City, IowaSioux City, IowaSioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
- Richard G. DePuy from Jamestown, North DakotaJamestown, North DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 15,527 people, 6,505 households, and 3,798 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.7 per square mile . There were 6,970 housing units at an average density of 559.6 per square mile...
Three-Quarter-back
- William J. OlcottWilliam J. OlcottWilliam James Olcott was an American football player and mining and railroad executive in the Mesabi Range. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1881 to 1883 and was captain of the 1882 and 1883 teams. After receiving his degree, he worked in the iron ore mining...
from Ishpeming, MichiganIshpeming, MichiganIshpeming is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,686 at the 2000 census. This is down from a higher population in the 1950s and 1960s when the economically supportive iron ore mines had a much higher employment level...
Goalkeeper
- Thomas Gilmore from Chicago, Illinois
Substitutes
- Henry S. Mahon from Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
- William DePuy from Jamestown, North DakotaJamestown, North DakotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 15,527 people, 6,505 households, and 3,798 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.7 per square mile . There were 6,970 housing units at an average density of 559.6 per square mile...