1931 Michigan Wolverines football team

1931 Michigan Wolverines football
Big Ten co-champion
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1931 record	8–1–1 (5–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Kipke (3rd year)
MVP	Bill Hewitt
Captain	Roy Hudson
Home stadium	Michigan Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 1930 1932 →

1931 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 Purdue +	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Michigan +	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	1
Northwestern +	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	1
Ohio State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	1
Indiana	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	5	–	1
Chicago	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	6	–	1
Iowa	0	–	3	–	1			1	–	6	–	1
Illinois	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from Dickinson System

Week 1b: Michigan Normal at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan Normal 0 0 0 0 0 • Michigan 0 28 0 6 34 Date: October 3 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: ~80,000 Referee: F. A. Lambert (Ohio St.)

Week 2: Chicago at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Chicago 0 0 7 0 7 • Michigan 0 13 0 0 13 Date: October 10, 1931 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Referee: J. H. Nichols (Oberlin)

Week 3: Ohio State at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 7 0 6 7 20 Michigan 7 0 0 0 7 Date: October 17 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Referee: Frank Birch (Earlham)

Week 4: Michigan at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 7 7 14 7 35 Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 24 Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL Game attendance: 32,000 Referee: Horatio B. Hackett

Week 5: Michigan at Princeton

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 7 0 0 14 21 Princeton 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 31 Location: Palmer Stadium, Princeton, NJ

Week 6: Indiana at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Indiana 0 0 0 0 0 • Michigan 9 6 0 7 22 Date: November 7 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

Week 7: Michigan State at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan St. 0 0 0 0 0 Michigan 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 14 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

Week 8: Minnesota at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 • Michigan 6 0 0 0 6 Date: November 21 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

The 1931 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1931 college football season. In their third year under head coach was Harry Kipke, the Wolverines compiled a record of 8-1-1 record (5-1 Big Ten), outscored opponents 181 to 27, and finished the season in a three-way tie with Purdue and Northwestern for first place in the Big Ten Conference. Defensively, the team shut out eight of ten opponents, allowed an average of only 2.7 points per game, and did not allow opponents to score a point in its final six games. After losing to Ohio State on October 17, 1931, the Wolverines went 22 games and nearly three years before losing another game on October 6, 1934.

Individual players of note on the 1931 Michigan team include center Maynard Morrison, who was selected as a first-team All-American by Grantland Rice for Collier's Weekly and by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA). Bill Hewitt was selected as the teams Most Valuable Player and a first-team All-Big Ten halfback by the United Press (UP). Ivy Williamson was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten end by both the UP and Associated Press (AP).

Michigan opened its 1931 season with a football doubleheader on October 3, 1931. The games attracted a crowd of nearly 80,000, most of whom were high school students invited by the university to attend the game without charge.

In the first game, Michigan's backup players defeated the team from Central State Teachers College (now known as Central Michigan University) by a score of 27 to 0. Michigan's touchdowns were scored by halfback Jack Heston (the son of former Michigan star Willie Heston), fullback Roderick Cox (1933 NCAA champion in the hammer throw), end Ted Petoskey, and substitute halfback Herbert Schmidt. Petoskey also kicked three points after touchdown.

...
Wikipedia