Lists of Michigan Wolverines football statistical leaders
Encyclopedia
The Michigan Wolverines football
program is a college football
team that represents the University of Michigan
in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
's Big Ten Conference
. Michigan began competing in intercollegiate football in 1879. In football, offensive performances have been tracked statistically much longer than defensive ones. Thus, there are extensive records that document high achievement on offense by Michigan athletes. This list documents the records according to the publicly available University statistical archives.
There are three caveats to be considered with this list. First, archives only include statistics since 1949. Thus, many statistical achievements are ignored. There are two additional biases that give more weight to recent athletic excellence. In 1972, the NCAA allowed freshmen
to participate in college football competition. In addition, college football season have lengthened significantly since Michigan began playing football. Michigan played just three games in 1887. By 1927, the season had lengthened to eight games, and by 1967, the Michigan team was playing 10 games a season. In recent years, Michigan has played 12 regular season games per season plus a bowl game, if elgible.
Second, when freshmen were ineligible to play and seasons were as short as seven or eight games, players could not play more than 25 games in their entire career. Now, a 13-game season is common for modern Michigan football teams and a player may be eligible to play over 50 games in his career. Single-season records and career records are naturally held by more recent players who have been eligible to play more games in a season and who have been eligible to play more seasons. There are several controversies among the lists below resulting from these biases. The most prominent of these include the fact that no Michigan receiver has surpassed Jack Clancy
's single-season receptions and single-season yardage records in a 10-game period similar to Clancy's 1966 season. Also controversial is the history of Dick Rifenburg
, whose career ended at Michigan in 1948 and whose statistics are not included in the publicly-available statistical archive despite the fact that his 16 career and 8 single-season touchdowns were school records until 1980.
Third, the rules and dominant styles of play in football have evolved over the years. Originally, football had no passing until 1906 when the rules committee (including Amos Alonzo Stagg
) took action to lessen onfield deaths. Passing did not really become popular until the 1930s when both the National Collegiate Athletic Association
and the National Football League
adopted standardized football sizes.
Below are top-25 lists of Michigan Wolverines football
receptions
, rushing
and passing
since 1949. The lists include single-game, single-season and career records for each of three statistics: yardage, number (receptions, rushes or passes), and touchdown
s. Records for years prior to 1949 are not included in the University of Michigan's statistical records database. Where pre-1949 records are available from reliable sources, they have been included below with yellow shading. Because there is no complete database of pre-1949 records, such records are incomplete and may not be considered "official" records.
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
program is a college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
team that represents 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...
in the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
. Michigan began competing in intercollegiate football in 1879. In football, offensive performances have been tracked statistically much longer than defensive ones. Thus, there are extensive records that document high achievement on offense by Michigan athletes. This list documents the records according to the publicly available University statistical archives.
There are three caveats to be considered with this list. First, archives only include statistics since 1949. Thus, many statistical achievements are ignored. There are two additional biases that give more weight to recent athletic excellence. In 1972, the NCAA allowed freshmen
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
to participate in college football competition. In addition, college football season have lengthened significantly since Michigan began playing football. Michigan played just three games in 1887. By 1927, the season had lengthened to eight games, and by 1967, the Michigan team was playing 10 games a season. In recent years, Michigan has played 12 regular season games per season plus a bowl game, if elgible.
Second, when freshmen were ineligible to play and seasons were as short as seven or eight games, players could not play more than 25 games in their entire career. Now, a 13-game season is common for modern Michigan football teams and a player may be eligible to play over 50 games in his career. Single-season records and career records are naturally held by more recent players who have been eligible to play more games in a season and who have been eligible to play more seasons. There are several controversies among the lists below resulting from these biases. The most prominent of these include the fact that no Michigan receiver has surpassed Jack Clancy
Jack Clancy
Jack David Clancy is a former American football wide receiver who played for the Miami Dolphins in 1967 and 1969 and for the Green Bay Packers in 1970. He also played in college for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1963 to 1966....
's single-season receptions and single-season yardage records in a 10-game period similar to Clancy's 1966 season. Also controversial is the history of Dick Rifenburg
Dick Rifenburg
Richard Gale "Dick" Rifenburg was a pioneering television broadcaster for the forerunner to WIVB-TV in Buffalo. He was also a professional American football wide receiver who played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions in 1950 and had been an All-American end for the University of Michigan Wolverines...
, whose career ended at Michigan in 1948 and whose statistics are not included in the publicly-available statistical archive despite the fact that his 16 career and 8 single-season touchdowns were school records until 1980.
Third, the rules and dominant styles of play in football have evolved over the years. Originally, football had no passing until 1906 when the rules committee (including Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...
) took action to lessen onfield deaths. Passing did not really become popular until the 1930s when both the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
and the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
adopted standardized football sizes.
Below are top-25 lists of Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
receptions
Reception (American football)
In American football, a reception is part of a play in which a forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage is received by a player in bounds, who, after the catch, proceeds to either score a touchdown or be downed. Yards gained from the receiving play are credited to the player as receiving...
, rushing
Rush (American football)
Rushing has two different meanings in gridiron football .-Offense:The first is an action taken by the offensive team that means to advance the ball by running, as opposed to passing. A run is technically any play that does not involve a forward pass...
and passing
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
since 1949. The lists include single-game, single-season and career records for each of three statistics: yardage, number (receptions, rushes or passes), and touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s. Records for years prior to 1949 are not included in the University of Michigan's statistical records database. Where pre-1949 records are available from reliable sources, they have been included below with yellow shading. Because there is no complete database of pre-1949 records, such records are incomplete and may not be considered "official" records.
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Passing | Yardage • Completions • Touchdowns |
Rushing | Rushes • Yards • Touchdowns |
Receiving | Receptions • Yards • Touchdowns |
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Yardage
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Completions
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Touchdowns
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Rushing
Rushes
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Yards
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Touchdowns
Records for years prior to 1949 are not included in the University of Michigan's statistical records database. Where pre-1949 records are available from reliable sources, they have been included below with yellow shading. Because there is no complete database of pre-1949 records, such records are incomplete and may not be considered "official" records. Unless otherwise indicated, touchdown totals in this section are taken from the 2011 Michigan Football Record Book.EWLINE
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Receptions
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Yards
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Touchdowns
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