This Week In Michigan Football History, as played during the WTKA 1050AM 'Countdown to Kickoff' held November 28, 2020 before the Michigan-Penn State game. Michigan has three Heisman Trophy Winners (Tom Harmon, Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson). We consider former Michigan players that probably WOULD have won the Heisman has it been awarded prior to 1935 - including Willie Heston, Bennie Oosterbaan, and Harry Newman. And finally we look at Tom Harmon's brilliant career and in particular the 1940 season, concluding with his dominant performance against Ohio State.
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See Harry Newman Stuff Pug (1932)
Have a look at these shots from Michigan’s 1932 battle with Northwestern played in the Big House: The ball carrier is #23 Earnest “Pug” Rentner, an All-American back for the Wildcats. Here’s another shot in a separate eBay auction featuring Michigan’s star Harry Newman apparently snatching a ball out of mid-air: The caption attached to the second shot claims this is Newman intercepting a pass from Rentner, but I’ve seen no evidence in the recaps that Newman got a pick in this game. He did a bunch of other things (fumble recovery, long passes, punt return, a field goal, etc.) but no interception. Despite the sparse Big House crowd (it was the Depression, man) this game was one of the most anticipated match-ups along Michigan’s march to the 1932 national title. The Wildcats had put together quite a squad in the early 1930s and shared the conference crown with Harry Kipke’s Wolverines in 1930 and 1931 but…the teams didn’t face each other those seasons. Via Hail to the Victors 2012: Pug and The Purple GangThe next week was the most anticipated battle of the season. Northwestern and Michigan shared both the past two conference titles and two of the biggest stars in college football: the Wildcat’s 1931 All-American back Earnest “Pug” Rentner and of course U-M’s dangerous Harry Newman. As…
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Getting Wild About Harrys | 1930 #TWIMFbH
For tomorrow’s evening affair, a trip back to 1930, a season that started with a double-header(!) in front of only 13,000 fans but was notable nonetheless. In that year coach Harry Kipke got things working and started a string of 4 consecutive conference crowns. October 11, 1930 was week 3 when his Wolverines faced defending league champ Purdue. This game also marked the debut start of would-be superstar quarterback Harry Newman. Check it out: [display_podcast] You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here…And don’t forget to catch it live Saturday on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM or inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge starting at 3pm. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Ripped Ohio
One good thing that came out of the game, ABC showed a photo of the Michigan Marching Band in 1932 introducing Ohio State to a little thing called the script Ohio. The photo is from the opposite side of the field, thus Ohio appears upside down. The October 15, 1932 game against Ohio State was played in Columbus: Michigan Marching band performing the Script Ohio, 1932 Michigan won the game 14-0 and on the back for player of the year quarterback Harry Newman, went on to win the national championship.
