Michigan vs Army West Point series history
Saturday will be the 10th meeting between Michigan and Army West Point. The first meeting in 57 years.
Army West Point is a current Division I-FBS Independent. Michigan has a record of 33-24-1 against the current Independents. Michigan will face another one from that group of 7 later on down the road..
TALE OF THE TAPE
SERIES HISTORY
Notable games-
- During and just after WWII Army was loaded. One of the best teams in the country that enjoyed Top-5 rankings, Heisman trophies and national titles. The 1945 game at Yankee Stadium was significant. #1 Army was far and away the best team in the country, blowing everyone out en route to a mythical national championship. #9 Michigan played Army closer than any team did in 1945. 21 points was the smallest margin of victory for the Cadets that year.
The story of the game was Fritz Crisler unveiling an unprecedented two platoon system: a unit of players playing solely on offense and a unit playing solely on defense. Unheard of at the time. The game was 7-7 after 3 quarters before Army wore Michigan down.
- #1 Michigan's 25 game win streak that spanned 4 seasons and achieved back to back National Championships in 1947 & 1948 ended in the 1949 game at the hands of #7 Army.
- Michigan's fortunes in the series changed in 1955 when Terry Barr's 2 TD performance (1 rushing, 1 punt return) gave #2 Michigan a 26-2 win over #6 Army.
- #12 Michigan walloped #15 Army in the 1956 game, setting series scoring and margin of victory records. Six different Wolverines scored rushing TDs in their 48-14 win.
- 1961 was the last time a ranked Michigan team faced unranked Army. The Wolverines rolled to a 38-8 win.
- The most recent game in the series in 1962 featured an unranked Michigan team upsetting #10 Army 17-7 in front of a Michigan Stadium season-high crowd of 70,749. Michigan would just win one other game in 1962 and finish with one of the worst records in program history at 2-7 (1-6).
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:09 PM ^
Thanks for the history lesson. Much appreciated.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
Respect Army but let's f-ing play some smash-mouth football versus that pussy effort versus MTSU. Time to strap it on as this game will demand a more stout effort. Army will test your football-playing will power for 4 quarters. Need it all. Go Blue !!!
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
Hot snowflakes alert.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:29 PM ^
That will be the snowflake take for the year - we ain't physical enough to stop teams so we have to count on a spread offense to score more points than each opponent will dump on us. Giving up 300 yards to MTSU is not good. That is like 400+ yards to the likes of Wisconsin.
I am just not buying it for B1G season. Love Michigan and hopeful, but that has never been a winning formula for Michigan football.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
WD - exactly !!! this feels like that shit from Bill Martin, Brandon and Mary Sue Coleman. Fans want Michigan to be like those spread teams but it is not in our DNA. Like the in-game booing of Shea in favor of an option running QB ? Holy shit, what the fuck is that ? Not exactly fan buy-in to the Gattis spread offense.
September 4th, 2019 at 1:46 PM ^
More WD "look at me" posts.
Sigh.
September 4th, 2019 at 12:09 AM ^
You must have missed the Ohio State game last season.
80 of the 300 yards came in the last garbage time drive. Up to that point...MTSU was averaging about 3.5 yards per play.
September 4th, 2019 at 7:22 AM ^
Your Hulk Smash! drivel is particularly incoherent now that you've brought up Wisconsin.
MTSU's run/pass distribution was 28 runs versus 41 pass attempts. Of its 301 total yards, 234 were through the air—just 67 on the ground for a lusty 2.4 yds per rushing attempt.
By contrast, against USF, Wisconsin was its typical run-heavy orientation, with 43 rushes vs 26 passes, with an average of 5.4 yds per rush. The Badgers had 201 passing yards, and 234 rushing yards.
And Michigan's pussified passing-oriented offense? 33 passing attempts versus 45 rushing attempts, for a 5.2 yards per rushing attempt. We had 220 passing yards and 233 rushing yards.
So in other words, our offense against MTSU was much more like Wisconsin's than it was some hair-on-fire passing spread.
Shorter TL/DR: Mongo is a goddamned idiot.
September 4th, 2019 at 11:29 AM ^
The tl;dr goes first.
If one has to read the whole thing to get to the tl;dr, it has defeated the purpose.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:18 PM ^
Time to strap what on, exactly?
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:21 PM ^
All of the strappy-onny things, obviously.
Or, the things on which one straps.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:21 PM ^
Zach Smith probably has some ideas.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:23 PM ^
Mongo is just channeling his inner Zach Smith.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:31 PM ^
My thought exactly. This is a family blog, can’t list some things that come to mind
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:36 PM ^
Strap on your gear across your entire body ... but most importantly strap on your manhood. Army will test it all.
September 4th, 2019 at 1:10 AM ^
Actually, sounds like you're looking for the Navy ;)
September 4th, 2019 at 12:10 AM ^
He's a fan of Zach Smith.
September 4th, 2019 at 12:27 AM ^
The Iron Jockstrap.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:20 PM ^
Username checks out.
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:24 PM ^
What are you specifically complaining about in the MTSU game? Individual players? Units (like the DTs)? Offense / Defense? Scheme? Play-calling?
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
Guessing he is mad we didn’t win 60-6. It seems 40-21 isn’t good enough, even though OSU won 45-21 (wow...a whopping 5 more points scored ?). It was our first game a new coordinator. We also had some injuries, which resulted in many inexperienced and/or younger players on the field. UM will get things together.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:02 PM ^
Somebody bet on Michigan to cover...
Remember, if you can't afford to lose it is a bad bet!
September 4th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
Yeah, but Justin Fields threw for a whole touchdown more than Shea Patterson....so, obviously, we're doomed.
September 4th, 2019 at 7:14 AM ^
Keyboard tough guy wants more toughness!
September 3rd, 2019 at 10:21 PM ^
Good stuff, thanks!
WD - this is why they pay you the big bucks, 2 points at a time...
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:20 PM ^
Thanks a lot, that was a great read!
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:20 PM ^
Appreciate didn’t even need to research it. Thanks for the info. So, let’s continue our winning streak.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:21 PM ^
I wonder if the Army pre-game pep talk is paybacks for what we did to them in ‘55, ‘56, ‘61, and ‘62.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
Sometimes I think football would be better if it banned the forward pass.
September 4th, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
There's a certain guy with a really sweet spray tan and super stylie hair who has his own Army that he would probably cede to you if you would let him keep his ball and punch it into your end zone.
September 3rd, 2019 at 11:58 PM ^
Did ya know - Michigan's first game against a service academy was against the Marines.
Service Academy Records (I think I found them all) [1923-2017]: 24-11-1
- Air Force Falcons [1964-2017]: 3-0
- Army Cadets/Black Knights [1945-1962]: 4-5
- Camp Grant Warriors (Army) [1943]: 1-0
- Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets [1942-1945]: 2-0
- Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks (Navy) [1942-1944]: 1-1
- Navy Midshipmen [1925-1981]: 12-5-1
- Quantico Marines Devil Dogs [1923]: 1-0
September 4th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
During WW II the Navy established an officer training program at M known as "V-12." Some students from other midwestern schools who enlisted in the program were transferred to M (for reasons best known to the Navy) including Wisconsin standout Elroy Hirsch and other top-talent players. With that roster M took on the mighty Army teams of that day and as the record shows, played 'em tough. Because of the V-12 program, M also scheduled other schools with similar training programs (Iowa Preflight), military bases with teams (Camp Grant), and of course the service academies. The service academy tradition continued well after the war; Roger Staubach and the Navy Midshipmen came to AA in 1963 and beat M 26-13, and the AF Academy just a couple years ago. Army's last win over M was in 1954, M winning all four subsequent games.
September 4th, 2019 at 12:36 AM ^
WD:
Besides Army, what other team do we have a losing record to?
September 4th, 2019 at 3:04 AM ^
There are 11 teams we're 0-1 against. (Three of these are athletic clubs, one is Div.3 Wesleyan, with all four of those games happening in or before 1891. The other seven we could conceivably play again.)
We're 1-2 against Florida State and North Carolina.
We're 4-5 against Army.
We're 4-6 against Southern California.
We're 1-3 against South Carolina and Utah.
We're 6-12 against Cornell.
We're .500 or better against everyone except these 18 teams.
September 4th, 2019 at 5:39 AM ^
First stop on the 2019 Revenge Tour
September 4th, 2019 at 8:05 AM ^
6-12 against CORNELL??
That's it. Schedule those bastards as soon as possible. I'll be damned if we'll have a losing record against a team whose fight song is "Give My Regards to Davy."
September 4th, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
I've been thinking we could schedule three double-headers and that would take care of the problem.
September 4th, 2019 at 8:00 AM ^
Good stuff, WD. Looks like number 43 was Jim Pace, an All American halfback out of Little Rock--and team MVP--who went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers and Hamilton Tiger Cats. Ended up being an actor, football scout, and school administrator.
September 4th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^
I remember Army being on our schedule about 10-12 years ago but then they were dropped for some reason.
Anybody here recall this?
Great work WD!!!
September 4th, 2019 at 9:56 AM ^
Good post.
Are there any other opponents against whom Michigan started a series 0-5 or worse?
Go Blue! Beat Army!
EDIT: Just saw the above post regarding all-time records. I guess the only possibility would be Cornell, or maybe USC
September 4th, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^
Won first 3 games against USC, then lost next 3. Then won 1 and lost last 3.
4-6 record.
September 4th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
What I posted doesn't rule out an 0-5 or worse start against some team, if there were enough Michigan wins later in the series to bring the overall record up to .500 or better.
September 4th, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^
True.
Not a comprehensive analysis, but apparently we started 0-7 against Cornell. Penn and Harvard apparently also had our number for a while, and we started 0-4 against them.
September 4th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
Excellent post - always knew it was a matchup that dated back to the old days but didn't realize how many big-time, significant games there were in this series.Truly historic, I love it! GO BLUE!
September 4th, 2019 at 1:10 PM ^
Thanks for the history brief. In more recent history Army went 11-2 last year, took Oklahoma into OT, and stomped Houston 70-14 in their bowl game.
Go Blue!