1972 Michigan Wolverines football team

1972 Michigan Wolverines football
Big Ten co-champion
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches #6
AP #6
1972 record 10–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach Bo Schembechler (4th year)
Defensive coordinator Jim Young (4th year)
MVP Randy Logan
Captain Tom Coyle
Captain Randy Logan
Home stadium Michigan Stadium
1972 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
#6 Michigan + 7 – 1 – 0     10 – 1 – 0
#9 Ohio State + 7 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0
Purdue 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0
Michigan State 5 – 2 – 1     5 – 5 – 1
Minnesota 4 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0
Indiana 3 – 5 – 0     5 – 6 – 0
Illinois 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 8 – 0
Iowa 2 – 6 – 1     3 – 7 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 6 – 0     4 – 7 – 0
Northwestern 1 – 8 – 0     2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1972 college football season. The team's head coach was Bo Schembechler. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 16, 1972 Northwestern #11/10 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 7–0   71,757
September 23, 1972 at #6/7 UCLA* #12/11 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA W 26–9   57,129
September 30, 1972 #18/NR Tulane* #8/8 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 41–7   84,162
October 7, 1972 Navy* #5/6 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 35–7   81,131
October 14, 1972 Michigan State #5/6 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 10–0   103,735
October 21, 1972 at Illinois #6/6 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Il W 31–7   64,290
October 28, 1972 Minnesotadagger #5/5 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 42–0   84,190
November 4, 1972 at Indiana #4/5 Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN W 21–7   41,336
November 11, 1972 at Iowa #4/5 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA W 31–0   43,176
November 18, 1972 Purdue #3/3 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI W 9–6   88,423
November 25, 1972 at #9/8 Ohio State #3/3 Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH ABC L 11–14   87,040
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Preseason

Michigan was ranked 18th by Sports Illustrated heading into the 1972 season but there was little doubt in Ann Arbor that their recent success under Bo Schembechler would continue even with the loss of 13 starters to graduation.[1]

At quarterback, Schembechler was expected to alternate three quarterbacks but favorite to win the job was Dennis Franklin and the position would be secure by the time the Wolverines had to play Purdue and Ohio State at year's end.

Gil Chapman had wowed coaches and alumni by scoring on a 60-yard pass play in the spring game as Schembechler was quoted as saying "He's the fastest player I've ever had at Michigan."[1]

Ed Shuttlesworth, one of the few to return from the 1971 team, was predicted to build off what he had done the previous year with more playing time.[1]

With Chapman, Shuttlesworth and others, Michigan would have more speed but the success would once again fall on two linemen, Fred Grambau on defense and Paul Seymour on offense. Schembechler was shifting Seymour from tight end but his replacement, Paul Seal, would ensure there would be no drop off in physicality at the position.[1]

Players

Offense

Defense

Awards and honors

Depth chart

Defense
FS
Randy Logan
⋅
WLB SLB
⋅ ⋅
⋅ ⋅
SS
Dave Brown
⋅
CB
Barry Dotzauer
Tom Drake
DE DT NT DT DE
Don Coleman Dave Gallagher Gregory Ellis Fred Grambeau Clint Spearman
Larry Johnson ⋅ Walt Sexton Tony Smith Walt Williamson
CB
Roy Burks
⋅
Offense
SE
Bo Rather
Gil Chapman
LT LG C RG RT
Jim Coode Mike Hoban Bill Hart Tom Coyle Paul Seymour
⋅ Jerry Schumacher ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
TE
Paul Seal
⋅
WB
Clint Haslerig
⋅
QB
Dennis Franklin
⋅
RB
Chuck Heater
Harry Banks
FB
Ed Shuttlesworth
Bob Thornbladh
Special Teams
PK Mike Lantry

Statistical leaders

Rushing

Player Attempts Net yards Yards per attemptTouchdownsLong
Ed Shuttlesworth1577134.51123
Chuck Heater1406694.8422
Dennis Franklin1424973.5529

Passing

Player AttemptsCompletions InterceptionsComp %YardsYds/CompTDLong
Dennis Franklin12359248.081813.9652
Larry Cipa114136.45112.80

Receiving

Player ReceptionsYards Yds/RecpTDLong
Paul Seal1824313.5335
Bo Rather1519713.1224
Clint Haslerig917519.4052

Kickoff returns

Player ReturnsYards Yds/ReturnTDLong
Gil Chapman827634.5173
Chuck Heater26231.0040
Clint Haslerig24020.0024

Punt returns

Player ReturnsYards Yds/ReturnTDLong
David Brown1118917.2183
Gil Chapman201809.01

Coaching staff

Game summaries

Northwestern

1 234Total
Northwestern 0 000 0
• Michigan 0 700 7

[2]

Navy

1 2 34Total
Navy 0 0 077
Michigan 0 7 28035

at Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI

  • Date: October 7
  • Game attendance: 81,131

CB Roy Burks recovered WR Ike Owens fumble on the second half kickoff. Six plays later, Dennis Franklin found Bo Rather for a nine-yard touchdown pass.[3]

Game 6: Michigan State

1 234Total
Michigan St 0 000 0
• Michigan 0 307 10

[4]

Minnesota

1 234Total
Minnesota 0 000 0
• Michigan 14 14140 42

[4]

Iowa

1 234Total
• Michigan 10 7140 31
Iowa 0 000 0

[5]

Purdue

1 234Total
Purdue 0 330 6
• Michigan 0 063 9


[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sports Illustrated, 11 Sept 1972
  2. ↑ Palm Beach Post. 1972 September 17.
  3. ↑ College Football Belt
  4. 1 2 College Football Belt.
  5. ↑ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 12.
  6. ↑ Palm Beach Post. 1972 Nov 19.

External links

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