This week’s edition of TWIMFbH is dedicated to Michigan legend Bennie Oosterbaan, who coached the first game of his career on October 25, 1948. We take a brief look at his amazing athletic career and that national championship season of 1948. Before all that we lead off with a quick look at two of Bo’s more dominating performances over UCLA on this day in 1971 and Navy in 1976.
This segment airs on the live broadcast of the WTKA 1050AM Keybank Countdown to Kickoff starting Saturday at 11:30am ahead of the Rutgers game. And as always, see the entire This Week in Michigan Football History catalog here.
Full script:
Good AFTERNOON. The day September 25th was good to General Bo “George Patton” Schembechler. Back in 1976 Bo Hung SEVENTY on the Naval academy, sinking the Midshipmen 70-14. And exactly Fifty years ago today, Bo humiliated the UCLA 38 to NOTHING in the Big House.
This week we go back further, to September 25, 1948, when the Wolverines welcomed a familiar face as our new head coach, U of M legend Bennie Oosterbaan. The Muskegon native earned NINE varsity letters at U-M in the mid-1920s and posted one of the finest years ever witnessed in college athletics. As a senior in 1928, Oosterbaan was captain, MVP, and an All-American in football; conference scoring champion and an All-American in basketball; league batting champion in baseball. Yeah, he was THAT GOOD.
Oosterbaan turned down offers to play professionally and instead chose to stay in Ann Arbor to work for the athletic department. On this day EXACTLY 73 years ago, he coached his first game on the gridiron. Bennie O. took the reins from legend Fritz Crisler, who retired after leading his Mad Magicians to an undefeated season, capped in the Rose Bowl, enough to earn Michigan’s first national title since 1933.
Oosterbaan’s first game was up in East Lansing to face the improving Spartans under former Wolverine assistant Biggie Munn. The question was clear– Could Oosterbaan replace Crisler and preserve Michigan’s 15 game winning streak?
While skeptics abound, the Wolverines prevailed over the Spartans 13-6 in a tough battle. Oosterbaan would prove them wrong. The Wolverines rolled through the rest of the schedule, outscoring opponents 252-44 including a 13-3 victory over Ohio State in Columbus. Thanks to the STUPID conference rule preventing teams from going to a bowl game in back-to-back years, they were done for the year. But an unblemished season was plenty for writers to award Meechigan another national championship.
Oosterbaan coached until 1958. He served as director of alumni relations until his retirement in 1972, all told dedicating nearly 5 DECADES of his life to the university he loved. Today, three decades after his passing in 1990, Oosterbaan remains the embodiment of The Michigan Man, and one of the greatest figures in our amazing history.
GO BLUE!
