1919 Michigan Wolverines football team

1919 Michigan Wolverines football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–4 (1–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Fielding H. Yost (19th season)
Captain	Angus Goetz
Home stadium	Ferry Field
Uniform

1919 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Illinois $	6	–	1	–	0			6	–	1	–	0
Ohio State	3	–	1	–	0			6	–	1	–	0
Chicago	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	2	–	0			4	–	2	–	1
Iowa	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	0
Michigan	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	2	–	0			3	–	4	–	0
Purdue	0	–	3	–	0			2	–	4	–	1
$ – Conference champion

The 1919 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Conference during the 1919 college football season. In its 19th season under head coach Fielding H. Yost, the Wolverines compiled a 3–4 record – the only losing season in Yost's 30-year career as a head football coach. The team was outscored by a total of 102 to 93 and finished in a tie for seventh place in the Big Ten. After winning three of four games to start the season, the team lost its final three games against Chicago, Illinois, and Minnesota.^[1]

Left tackle Angus Goetz was the team captain. Other notable players included quarterback Cliff Sparks, center/fullback Ernie Vick, halfback Archie Weston, left end Robert J. Dunne. Murray Van Wagoner, who later served as Governor of Michigan in the early 1940s, also started one game at left guard.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 4	Case*	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI	W 34–0	8,138	[2]
October 18	Michigan Agricultural*	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 26–0	21,000	[3]
October 25	Ohio State	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 3–13	30,000	[4]
November 1	Northwestern	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 16–13	12,000	[5]
November 8	at Chicago	Stagg Field Chicago, IL (rivalry)	L 0–13	24,000	[6]
November 15	at Illinois	Illinois Field Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 7–29	9,622–14,000	[7]
November 22	Minnesota	Ferry Field Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 7–34	30,000	[8]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Players

Letter winners

• John C. Cary - end (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Elmer W. Cress^[9] - end (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• William R. Cruse^[10] - started 2 games at left halfback, 2 games at right halfback, 2 games at fullback (Detroit, Michigan)
• Frank Culver - started 3 games at center, 1 game at left guard (Detroit, Michigan)
• Frank T. Czysz^[11] - started 1 game at right tackle (Dunkirk, New York)
• Roland Glenn Dunn^[12] - started 3 games at right tackle, 1 game at right guard (Muskegon Heights, Michigan)
• Robert J. Dunne - started 6 games at left end (Chicago, Illinois)
• Donald A. Finkbeiner^[13] - tackle (Perrysburg, Ohio)
• William Fortune - started 3 games at left guard (Springfield, Illinois)
• Gerald W. Froemke^[14] - started 1 game at right halfback (Sheldon, North Dakota)
• Angus Goetz - started 7 games at left tackle (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan)
• J. Vinton Hammels^[15] - tackle (Glendale, Arizona)
• William P. Henderson - started 1 game at right end (Detroit, Michigan)
• Roy W. Johnson - started 2 games at center, 1 game at left guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Kenneth T. Knode - started 1 game at quarterback, 1 game at right halfback (Martinsburg, West Virginia)
• Alvin Loucks - guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Willard L. Peach^[16] - started 2 games at right end, 1 game at left end, 1 game at right tackle (Fremont, Ohio)
• Harold Rye - started 3 games at right end (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan)
• Cliff Sparks - started 6 games at quarterback, 1 game at right halfback (Jackson, Michigan)
• Ernie Vick - started 4 games at fullback, 2 games at center (Toledo, Ohio)
• Archie Weston - started 2 games at right halfback (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan)
• Hugh Wilson - started 4 games at right guard, 2 games at right tackle, 1 game at left guard (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Non-letter winners

• John M. Barnes - halfback (Washington, D.C.)
• James V. Campbell - tackle (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• Charles Eades - started 1 game at fullback (Conneaut, Ohio)
• Robert E. Hamilton - center (Erie, Pennsylvania)
• Earle Magrath^[17] - started 1 game at right end (Oak Park, Illinois)
• Barry Stuart - fullback (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
• Theodore Timchac^[18] - tackle (Saginaw, Michigan)
• Murray Van Wagoner - started 1 game at left guard (Pontiac, Michigan)
• Arthur A. Weadock^[19] - quarterback (Saginaw, Michigan)
• Charles O. Wilson - fullback (Muskegon, Michigan)

Awards and honors

1919 players from 1920 Michiganensian with captions, "Lookout Ahead!"

• Captain: Angus Goetz
• All-Conference: Ernie Vick

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Fielding H. Yost
• Assistant coaches: Prentiss Douglass, Ernest Allmendinger, Carl Lundgren, Edwin Mather
• Manager: Leland N. Scofield

References

1. "1919 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
2. "Yostmen Whip Case, 34-0, In Opening Game". Detroit Free Press. October 5, 1919. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Harry Bullion (October 19, 1919). "Aggies Beaten By Yostmen In Game That Shows Little". Detroit Free Press. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Harry Bullion (October 26, 1919). "Ohio State Beats Michigan and Now Is Favorite for the Conference Title". Detroit Free Press. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Harry Bullion (November 2, 1919). "Michigan Turns Tide in Final Quarter, Beating Northwestern, 16-13". Detroit Free Press. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Harvey T. Woodruff (November 9, 1919). "Maroons Defeat Michigan, 13 to 0". Chicago Tribune. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Illini Shows Strength In Winning Game". Decatur Herald. November 16, 1919. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Michigan Team Takes the Count From Minnesota in Final Conference Battle". Detroit Free Press. November 23, 1919. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Elmer Weirich Cress, born February 10, 1898, Michigan; died November 1969, Benton Harbor, Michigan.
10. William Roy Cruse, born May 23, 1895. At the time of the 1930 Census, he was a civil engineer for the city of Jackson, Michigan.
11. Francis Thomas "Frank" Czysz, born January 19, 1899, Dunkirk, New York. Graduated U.M. Dental School, 1920. He lived and worked as a dentist at North Tonawanda, New York. Died September 1971, North Tonawanda.
12. Roland Glen Dunn, born August 22, 1892, St. Johns, Michigan. He became a lawyer in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. He ran as a Republican candidate for Congress in 1928. He also served as legal aid to Michigan Governor Frank Fitzgerald, assistant state attorney general, and chairman of the Michigan State Liquor Control Commission. His papers are kept at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. He died in April 1972 at Mason, Michigan.
13. Donald Arthur Finkbeiner, born May 26, 1894, Perrysburg, Ohio. After graduating from Michigan, he returned to Perrysburg and began a law practice. Died April 30, 1973, Toledo, Ohio.
14. Gerald William Froemke, born July 6, 1897, Sheldon, North Dakota. He lived in Ladue, Missouri. He died July 22, 1970, while on vacation at Wequetonsing, Michigan.
15. James Vinton Hammels, born July 21, 1894, Phoenix, Arizona. Died January 1984, Phoenix, Arizona.
16. Willard L. Peach (middle name listed as Levi in early records, later as Lawrence), born June 23, 1895, Fremont, Ohio. At the time of the 1930 Census, he was living in Detroit and working as an automobile salesman. He died March 30, 1975, Birmingham, Michigan.
17. Earle Knight Magrath, born June 26, 1898, Illinois. Died February 4, 1972, Fort Pierce, Florida.
18. Theodore Andrew Timchac, born November 11, 1897.
19. Arthur A. Weadock, born February 23, 1897. After graduating from Michigan, he returned to Saginaw, Michigan as an attorney. Died January 1981, Saginaw, Michigan.

External links

• 1919 Football Team -- Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
• 1919-1920 Michigan Alumnus - includes accounts of each game
• 1920 Michiganensian