Howard Yerges

Howard Yerges

Yerges from 1948 Michiganensian
Date of birth	April 5, 1925
Place of birth	Columbus Grove, Ohio
Date of death	December 1, 2000
Career information
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Michigan (1944–1947) Ohio State (1943)

Howard Frederick Yerges, Jr. (April 5, 1925 - December 1, 2000) was an American football player who played quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team in 1943 and the University of Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1944 to 1947. He was the starting quarterback of the 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team that went undefeated, beat USC 49-0 in the Rose Bowl and is considered by some to be the greatest Michigan football team of all time. As of 2009, Yerges was one of three players (along with Justin Boren and J. T. White) to play on both sides of the Michigan – Ohio State football rivalry.

Yerges was a native of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He played quarterback for Grandview High School in the Grandview Heights section of Columbus, Ohio. His father, Howard Frederick Yerges, Sr., played for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 1910s and later played professional football for the Columbus Panhandles in 1920.

Yerges began his collegiate football career at Ohio State University, where he received a varsity letter in football in 1943. As a U.S. Navy trainee, Yerges was transferred to the University of Michigan prior to the 1944 academic year. The 20-year-old sophomore, who had played for the Buckeyes in 1943, joined Fritz Crisler's Michigan Wolverines football team in 1944 as a backup quarterback behind Joseph Ponsetto. Yerges earned a varsity letter in football from Michigan in 1944. Yerges again began the 1945 season as a backup for Joe Ponsetto. He scored a touchdown for Michigan in September 1945 against Great Lakes Naval Training Station Bluejackets, 27-2.