This Week in Michigan Football History shares a tale of shenanigans by Spartan fans ahead of the 1949 game. One prank succeeded (defacing the Michigan Stadium field and pressbox), but the second, more elaborate plot was foiled. Here’s the story!
Go Blue! You’ll hear this live on the WTKA 1050AM KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff Saturday morning! Check out all of the This Week… clips here and MVictors History Show on YouTube.
Here’s the full script:
Gooooood morning and happy homecoming to all the maize & blue fedora faithful back in town to see their DEFENDING BIG TEN CHAMPS. For today’s history lesson we go back to 1949, as coach Bennie Oosterbaan and the Wolverines entered the season as the defending back-to-back national champions.
Michigan was on a remarkable 23-game winning streak and opened the schedule against the Spartans of Michigan State College, in a game played EXACTLY 73 years ago today at the Big House.
The more things change the more they stay the same, and wouldn’t you know it, our friends from East Lansing had more on their minds than just football.
Before the game Spartan fans invaded Ann Arbor with the hope of executing a variety of pranks, or crimes, depending on your perspective. One group snuck into Michigan Stadium and painted “MSC” in six-foot block letters at midfield and defaced the press box windows. Not cool!
Another group carefully created a structure: a wooden frame meant to hold 60 cement blocks, designed to completely block the iconic Engineering Arch on Central Campus. They actually rehearsed assembling the structure until they could complete the stunt within seven minutes and make a clean getaway.
Shockingly, they clearly missed one key aspect of the plan—and that’s the thought that a group of cars containing piles of out-of-town students, with giant pieces of wood and dozens of cement blocks — just might raise the suspicion of locals and the police!?
Sure enough, the devious blockade devised by the Spartan rapscallions was foiled before it even started. According to the Associated Press, “Blocks, frames, and boys were packed and sent home.”
When they got around to the play the game, over 97,000 fans packed the Big House to watch Oosterbaan and crew battle. All-Conference back Chuck Ortman connected with Irv Wisniewski for a TD to grab the lead. The Wolverines sealed the 7-3 victory when they foiled another Spartan plot – their attempt to score on four passes from the Michigan 15 in the final minutes of the game.
So GO BLUE, beat Ira’s TERPS!, and for more check out WTKA.com and MVictors.com. For the Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off, this is Professor Greg Dooley.
