This week we take a trip back to postwar America, specifically 1946 as Fritz Crisler’s Wolverines, featuring the great Bob Chappuis, took on Saturday’s opponent – the Iowa Hawkeyes. Clip:
Catch this on the WTKA 1050AM Keybank Countdown to Kickoff Saturday morning starting at 8am EDT sharp! Ira, Sam and Steve always kill it inside the Go Labatt Blue MVictors lounge :)
script:
1946 holds a special place in Wolverine football lore, as it was in August of that year that we lost Michigan’s Grand Old Man, legendary coach and athletic director Fielding H. Yost.
Needless to say Yost’s presence is still felt all over campus, from Yost Ice Arena, to the golf course, to Michigan Stadium and even down to that 5 gallon Jug that current sits safely inside Schembechler Hall.
Perhaps the passing of the great Yost provided inspiration to Fritz Crisler, who in 1946 was in his ninth season on the sidelines for the Maize and Blue.
73 years ago today Michigan prepared to take on today’s opponent, that’s right, the Mrs. Steve Clarke’s BELOVED Iowa Hawkeyes. Back then you have to wonder if Fritz knew his team was on the brink of greatness. If he didn’t, he at least knew he had something special in that triple-threat halfback on his roster named Bob Chappuis.
Chappuis suited up for Crisler’s 1942 team before his career was interrupted by World War II. As an aerial gunner and radio operator on B-25 bombers during the war, Chappuis was shot down over Italy. He was rescued and remained in Italy until the end of the war, evading German soldiers along the way.
In 1946, like many returning soldiers, Chappuis was eligible to lace them up once again on the gridiron —and he made the most of it.
On October 5, 1946, the Hawkeyes got more than they wanted from Toledo native. The gameplan was simple: give the pigskin to Chap early and often. The 23 year-old carried the ball 20 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns—all in the first half. In the end that’s all Crisler needed in the 14-7 victory over Iowa.
While the 1946 squad finished just 6-2-1, something clicked along the way. In the final four games the Wolverines rolled, going undefeated outscoring opponents 162 to 19, including a 58-6 pounding of the Buckeyes in Columbus in the season finale.
Go Blue! Beat the Hawks!
