1918 Michigan Wolverines Football Team - Season Overview

Season Overview

As originally adopted, Michigan's 1918 schedule included games against Cornell (at Ithaca), Northwestern (at Ann Arbor) and Minnesota (at Ann Arbor). Those games, and planned replacement games against Camp Custer and the University of Mount Union, were cancelled. Travel restrictions resulted in cancellation of the Cornell and Minnesota games, and the 1918 flu pandemic forced the cancellation or rescheduling of other games. After Cornell cancelled its game, Syracuse was put on the schedule in its place.

The team finished the season with a 5–0 record and outscored opponents 96 to 6, allowing only a single touchdown all season. Though Illinois had two non-conference losses, it finished with a 4–0 record in Big Ten play, resulting in a shared conference championship between Michigan and Illinois. Although no formal mechanism existed in 1918 to select a national champion, several organizations recognized by the NCAA have developed systems to identify "national champions" for past seasons. Two of those organizations, the Billingsley Report and the National Championship Foundation, selected Michigan as a national championship team for 1918.

Fullback Frank Steketee, who scored all 15 points in Michigan's victory over Syracuse, was the only Michigan player selected as a first-team All-American. Left tackle Angus Goetz won All-Big Ten Conference honors after scoring touchdowns off fumble recoveries and a blocked punt against Chicago, Michigan Agricultural and Ohio State. Center Ernie Vick also won All-Big Ten honors and played so well on defense that Fielding Yost called him "a second Schultz." Quarterback Kenneth Knode, "though not a brilliant player individually," was credited with piloting the team with "fine judgment."