1953 Michigan Wolverines football team

1953 Michigan Wolverines football

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 20
1953 record	6–3 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bennie Oosterbaan (6th year)
MVP	Tony Branoff
Captain	Dick O'Shaughnessy
Home stadium	Michigan Stadium

1953 Big Ten football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#3 Michigan State +	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
#7 Illinois +	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	1	–	1
#15 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
#20 Michigan	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
#9 Iowa	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	3	–	1
Purdue	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	6	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1953 college football season. The team's head coach was Bennie Oosterbaan. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 26	Washington*		Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 50–0	44,086
October 3	Tulane*	No. 4/NA	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 26–7	51,960
October 10	Iowa	No. 5/7	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 14–13	49,551
October 17	Northwestern	No. 5/6	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 20–12	64,420
October 24	at Minnesota	No. 5/5	Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	L 0–22	62,795
October 31	Penn*	No. 16/13	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	W 24–14	56,795
November 7	at No. 4/4 Illinois	No. 17/NR	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Il (Series)	L 3–19	69,507
November 14	at No. 4/4 Michigan State		Macklin Stadium • East Lansing, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	L 6–14	51,421
November 21	No. NR/17 Ohio State		Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Rivalry)	W 20–0	87,048
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Statistical leaders

Rushing

Player	Attempts	Net yards	Yards per attempt	Touchdowns
Tony Branoff	100	501	5.0	5
Ted Kress	101	339	3.4	5
Bob Hurley	47	282	6.0	1

Passing

Player	Attempts	Completions	Interceptions	Comp %	Yards	Yds/Comp	TD	Long
Duncan McDonald	46	20	3	43.5	293	14.7	4	49
Lou Baldacci	51	21	6	41.2	285	13.6	1	36
Ted Kress	43	19	7	44.2	238	12.5	1	44

Receiving

Player	Receptions	Yards	Yds/Recp	TD	Long
Gene Topp	23	331	14.4	2	66
Gene Knutson	11	201	18.3	1	33
Tony Branoff	11	151	13.7	1	44

Kickoff returns

Player	Returns	Yards	Yds/Return	TD	Long
Ted Kress	10	203	20.3	0	33
Tony Branoff	6	130	21.7	0	28

Punt returns

Player	Returns	Yards	Yds/Return	TD	Long
Tony Branoff	8	90	11.3	0	18
Ted Kress	12	63	5.3	0	16

Players

Dick O'Shaughnessy, captain of the 1953 team

Lou Baldacci - started 9 games at quarterback
James Balog - started 9 games at left tackle
Richard Balzhiser^[1] - started 9 games at fullback
Richard Beison - started 9 games at right guard
Tony Branoff - started 9 games at right halfback
Donald Dugger - started 9 games at left end
Gene Knutson - started 8 games at right end
Ted Kress - started 9 games at left halfback
John Morrow - started 4 games at center
Dick O'Shaughnessy - started 5 games at center
Dick Strozewski - started 9 games at left tackle
Gene Topp - started 8 games at left end, 1 game at right end
Jerry Williams - started 1 game at left end

Awards and honors

Captain: Dick O'Shaughnessy
All-Conference: Art Walker, Ted Kress, Bob Topp
Most Valuable Player: Tony Branoff
Meyer Morton Award: Tony Branoff

Coaching staff

Oosterbaan lifted to players' shoulders after 20-0 win over Ohio State

Head coach: Bennie Oosterbaan
Assistant coaches: Jack Blott, Cliff Keen, Bill Orwig, Matt Patanelli, Don Robinson, Walter Weber, J. T. White
Trainer: Jim Hunt
Manager: Richard Petrie

Notes

↑ Balzhiser was the first University of Michigan athlete to be inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame.

External links

1953 Football Team -- Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

Michigan Wolverines football

Venues	Washtenaw County Fairgrounds (1883–1892) Regents Field (1893–1905) Ferry Field (1906–1926) Michigan Stadium (1927–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Chicago (defunct) Michigan State (Paul Bunyan Trophy) Minnesota (Little Brown Jug) Notre Dame Ohio State (The Ten Year War) Illinois

Culture & lore	Early years Yost era Kipke years Crisler years Oosterbaan years Elliott years Short punt The Ten Year War 1922 Vanderbilt game Snow Bowl 24–12 The Vote for the Rose Bowl Miracle at Michigan 2006 "Game of the Century" 2007 Appalachian State game Biff "The Victors" Marching band Michigan IMG Sports Network

People	Head coaches Trainers Players All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

National championship seasons in bold

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