The 1911 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team represented

Michigan Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

(MAC) as an independent during the

1911 college football season The 1911 college football season was the last one before major reforms were made to the American game in 1912. In 1911, touchdowns were worth five points, the field was 110 yards in length, and a team had three downs within which to advance the ...

. In their first year under head coach

John Macklin John Farrell "Big John" Macklin (October 17, 1883 – October 10, 1949) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball and track and field, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at ...

, the Aggies compiled a 5–1 record and outscored their opponents 93 to 30.

Schedule

Game summaries

Michigan

On October 14, 1911, the Aggies lost to Michigan by a 15 to 3 score in front of 5,000 spectators at College Field in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. It was the sixth game in the

Michigan - Michigan State football rivalry Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and Michigan had a record of 4-0-1 in the five prior meetings, outscoring the Aggies by a combined total of 210 to 0. The 1911 game was the first loss by M.A.C. on their home field. Michigan threatened to score in the first quarter, but one drive was stopped when the Aggies' intercepted a pass at their own 10-yard line. On the next drive, Michigan took the ball to the Aggies' 15-yard line, but a field goal attempt by Frederick L. Conklin was unsuccessful. In the second quarter, another Michigan drive took the ball to the M.A.C. three-yard line, but Michigan was unable to score, and the Aggies took over on downs.

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the C ...

was the umpire and also covered the game for the ''Chicago Daily Tribune''. Eckersall wrote: "That Michigan met a Tartar in a team which held Yost's eleven to a 0 to 0 score in the first two periods and was the first to register a score . . . cannot be questioned. Time after time the Wolverines carried the ball inside the local's fifteen yard line only to be checked by a slow defense." In the third quarter, the Aggies took the lead when their left halfback Hill kicked a field goal from the 35-yard line. Shortly thereafter, a 30-yard gain by Otto Carpell helped set the stage for a field goal by Conklin from the 20-yard line. In the fourth quarter, Michigan scored two touchdowns. The first came on a 63-yard drive that included a 30-yard gain on a pass from fullback George C. Thomson to

Stanfield Wells Stanfield McNeill Wells (July 25, 1889 – August 17, 1967) was an All-American football player for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1909-1911. He was the first in a long line of All-Americans to come out of Massillon ...

. Wells finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run, and Frederick L. Conklin kicked the extra point. After the touchdown, Thomson returned M.A.C.'s kickoff 55 yards to the Aggies' 48-yard line. Thomson then gained 35 yards on a running play for Michigan's second touchdown. Conklin kicked the extra point. Thomson also handled punting for Michigan, and one of his punts went 70 yards. The game was played in ten-minute quarters.

References

Michigan Agricultural Michigan State Spartans football seasons

Michigan Agricultural Aggies football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims a ...

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