Coming off a 5-2-1 record in 1902 (which was preceded by 6-2 in 1901), the Bulldogs fell on hard times as their record dipped
to 1-3. Based on the record books, we're not quite sure who was coaching the team, but we do know that there was a team and now we've learned that there also was a little bit of controversy.During that season, Ferris was defeated 10-0 by Traverse City, bounced back to defeat Muskegon by a 31-0 score, fell to the juggernaut of the day in Michigan 88-0* and ended its season with an 11-0 loss to Alma.
The Web site MVictors has a blog entry that highlights this little scoring discrepancy from a game that went down more than 100 years ago.
Now, you may have noticed the asterisk by that 88-0 beatdown Michigan inflicted on Ferris. While the records books still show an 88-0 win over Michigan, a story published by The Michigan Daily on Oct. 24, 1903 claims irregularities may have occurred during a season in which Michigan outscored the opposition 565-6 (we can look to Minnesota for what must have been an intriguing 6-6 tie).
Back to the game in question. There are those (as you can see by the news clipping) who feel Michigan actually was a 90-0 winner over Ferris. There are those who believe a safety should have gone against the Bulldogs and head coach Fielding Yost's 11-0-1 Wolverines, from 1903, should have been awarded two more points for an even 90.
Here is what the MVictors blog reads about writer John Kryk's research to uncover this scoring issue from back in the day:
Looks pretty reasonable to me. Count two more for Fielding Yost and his point-a-minute reign of terror. For those keeping score, according to Kryk, “That brings the Point-a-minute team’spoint total up to 2,823 points in 57 games, from 2,821 — for a per-game average of 49.5 points over five years [1901-05].”
If you’re wondering why Kryk was poking around at the Bentley, word on the street is that he’s possibly pulling together another book or maybe even books! You heard it here first.
“I aim to uncover both long-forgotten and never-known stories of the Wolverines of yesteryear,” Kryk wrote me, “and set the record straight a time or two along the way.”
Can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
Well, it's some interesting stuff. I imagine there are a good number of historians out there who dig up little nuggets like this all the time.
Funny.when I add Michigans' scores together,I only come up with 264 pts in seven games!! that leaves 301 pts to be scored in the preceding five games! Did they actually average over 60 pts/game for the first half of the season?Was the point-a-minute team actually a fallacy? I can't believe I'm the lone (former)Spartan to notice this indiscretion,let alone any (former)Buckeyes who may be Bulldog faithful(BTW,I meant to say Bulldog,It's hard to teach old 'dogs new tricks,my being a newbie and all).Anyway, just thought I would seek some clarification on such an interesting,yet contreversial topic
ReplyDeleteActually, that listing is only part of the listing for their entire season (used to just highlight the Ferris score. There are some more games that factor into the math. Actually, the entire season can be found here (although I have not done the math): http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1903fbt.htm
ReplyDeleteI thought it was an interesting topic to check out.
I guess the link didn't take, but it is active in the original blog.
ReplyDeleteYes I realized the short schedule and the fact they were 11-0-1,and amended my post mid-draft accordingly.Turns out they indeed averaged 60+ pts in their first 5 games,upon further investigation,no fallacy here! Thanks to you, sir,for your seemingly endless contribution to Ferris football,you have quite a contributory nature and appear to enjoy the opportunity.The team and coaches were very approachable and cordial,signs of a great program and an excellent experience for myself and my family (especially so early in our Bull-puppy infancy).Hats off to all involved and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteGang - Great questions. Correct, I cut off part of the 1903 season schedule; the whole season (and you can navigate to 1901-1905 as needed) via the Bentley library site (see link the MVictors post).
ReplyDeleteRe: whether they actually scored a point-a-minute, it's actually not a simple question. Many of the games were called early - if you look at some of the scores you can understand way. But I have a feeling this might come out in Kryk's work.
Re: the 1903 game with Minnesota, Sandy, you are right now, this is a HUGE game in Minnesota lore and beyond. Not only was this the first time Yost walk off the field without an outright win while he was a at Michigan, the Wolverines also left a certain water jug behind that day, you know it as the little brown jug. The teams played for it the first time 100 years ago this November in 1909.
Greg - MVictors.com
Greg,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to respond and clear up some issues. That is a great point about some of the games being called early. I could see where a scoring system like that might come into play with some of the lopsided scores.
That is cool about the Little Brown Jug. I kind of remembered the tradition starting around that time and it's great that this is such a historic year for arguably one of the greatest rivalry trophies (if not the greatest).
Good stuff.
Greg, thanks for stopping by.