1957 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1957 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1957 Big Ten Conference football season. In its 10th year under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan compiled a 5–3–1 record (3–3–1 against conference opponents), finished in sixth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 187 to 147.[1][2] Michigan was unranked in the final AP and UPI polls; it was ranked at No. 19 in the final Litkenhous Ratings.[3]

1957 Michigan Wolverines football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–3–1 (3–3–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPJim Pace
CaptainJim Orwig
Home stadiumMichigan Stadium
Seasons
← 1956
1958 →
1957 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Ohio State $ 7 0 0 9 1 0
No. 3 Michigan State 5 1 0 8 1 0
No. 6 Iowa 4 1 1 7 1 1
No. 19 Wisconsin 4 3 0 6 3 0
Purdue 4 3 0 5 4 0
Michigan 3 3 1 5 3 1
Illinois 3 4 0 4 5 0
Minnesota 3 5 0 4 5 0
Indiana 0 6 0 1 8 0
Northwestern 0 7 0 0 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Left tackle Jim Orwig was the team captain. Left halfback Jim Pace received the team's most valuable player award,[2] won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten,[4] and was selected as a first-team All-American and All-Big Ten player.[5][6][7]

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Jim Van Pelt with 629 passing yards, Jim Pace with 664 rushing yards, and left end Gary Prahst with 233 receiving yards.[8]

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 28at USC*No. 10W 16–644,739[9]
October 5Georgia*No. 10W 26–085,002[10]
October 12No. 2 Michigan StateNo. 6
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)
L 6–35101,001[11]
October 19Northwestern No. 18
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)
W 34–1470,884[12]
October 26at No. 14 MinnesotaNo. 20W 24–764,680[13]
November 2No. 3 IowaNo. 12
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
T 21–2190,478[14]
November 9at IllinoisNo. 11L 19–2046,007[15]
November 16IndianaNo. 18
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
W 27–1356,254[16]
November 23No. 3 Ohio StateNo. 19
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)
L 14–31101,001[17]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Statistical leaders

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Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1957 season include those listed below.[8][18]

Rushing

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Player Attempts Net yards Yards per attempt Touchdowns
Jim Pace 123 664 5.4 7
Brad Myers 69 252 3.6 2
Jim Byers 31 161 5.2 0
Bob Ptacek 60 161 2.7 0

Passing

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Player Attempts Completions Interceptions Comp % Yards Yds/Comp TD Long
Jim Van Pelt 80 42 3 52.5 629 15.0 7 45
Stan Noskin 52 24 5 46.1 344 14.3 1 37

Receiving

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Player Receptions Yards Yds/Recp TD Long
Gary Prahst 15 233 15.5 2 45
Brad Myers 9 159 17.7 2 33
Walt Johnson 9 122 13.6 0 22
Jim Pace 11 122 11.1 2 14

Kickoff returns

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Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Jim Pace 5 114 22.8 0 35
Mike Shatusky 6 110 18.3 0 24
Stan Noskin 3 68 22.7 0 25

Punt returns

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Player Returns Yards Yds/Return TD Long
Jim Pace 8 98 12.3 1 65
Bob Ptacek 8 82 10.3 0 25
Brad Myers 5 40 8.0 0

Players

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The starting lineup of the 1957 football team was made up of the following players. Players who started at least four games are shown with their names in bold.[2]

  • Robert Boshoven - started 1 game at right end
  • Dave Bowers - started 1 game at left end
  • James Byers- started 4 games at fullback
  • Alex Callahan - started 1 game at left guard
  • James Davies - started 9 games at right tackle
  • Larry Faul - started 8 games at left guard
  • Jerry Goebel - started 5 games at center
  • John Herrnstein - started 4 games at fullback
  • Dick Heynen - started 1 game at left tackle
  • Walter Johnson - started 8 games at right end
  • Jerry Marciniak - started 1 game at right guard
  • Brad Myers - started 3 games at right halfback
  • Stan Noskin - started 2 games at quarterback
  • Marv Nyren - started 8 games at right guard
  • Jim Orwig - started 8 games at left tackle
  • Jim Pace - started 9 games at left halfback
  • Gary Prahst - started 8 games at left end
  • Mike Shatusky - started 6 games at right halfback
  • Gene Snider - started 4 games at center
  • Jim Van Pelt - started 7 games at quarterback (7)

Other players on the team included the following:

Awards and honors

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Honors and awards for the 1957 season went to the following individuals.[2]

Coaching staff

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Michigan's 1957 coaching, training, and support staff included the following persons.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "1957 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "1957 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. ^ "Ohio State No. 1 Football Team In Final Litratings". The Nashville Banner. December 11, 1957. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Vote Pace Most Valuable In Big Ten: Michigan's Halfback Beats Spartans' Currie By 1 Point". Chicago Tribune. December 15, 1957. p. 2-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1248. ISBN 1401337031.
  6. ^ "Iowa Tackle Is Lone Repeater On All-America Team". The Gettysburg Times. December 5, 1957. p. 5.
  7. ^ a b "Coaches' All-Big Ten Team". The Sandusky Register. November 30, 1957. p. 8.
  8. ^ a b "1957 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  9. ^ Braven Dyer (September 29, 1957). "Michigan Beats Stubborn SC, 16-6: 44,739 See Stubborn SC Lose To Michigan, 16-6". Los Angeles Times. pp. III-1, III-2 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Hal Middlesworth (October 6, 1957). "Wolverines Dump Georgia, 26-0: But Fail To Answer 'How Good'". Detroit Free Press. pp. E1, E3 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Tommy Devine (October 13, 1957). "Spartans Brush Off M, 35-6". Detroit Free Press. p. E1 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Tommy Devine (October 20, 1957). "U-M Sputters -- Then Roars, 34-14: Rips 'Cats On 3 TDs in Last Period". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Charles Johnson (October 27, 1957). "Michigan Takes Jug With 24-7 Win; Minnesota Rallies To Stave Off Rout". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. pp. S1, S4 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Tommy Devine (November 3, 1957). "Iowa Settles for 21-21 Tie with U-M". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Fighting Illini Gain 20-10 Victory Over Michigan in Big Ten Fray". The Pantagraph. November 10, 1957. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hal Middlesworth (November 17, 1957). "Wolverines Win, But Indiana Puts Up Fight". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Tommy Devine (November 24, 1957). "M at Its Best, But Bucks Better, 31-14". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". University of Michigan. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2017.(statistics retrieved by entering "1957" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")