The 1948 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in the

1948 Big Nine Conference football season The 1948 Big Nine Conference football season was the 53rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Nine Conference (also known as the Western Conference and the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1948 college footb ...

. In their 14th year under head coach

Bernie Bierman Bernard W. Bierman (March 11, 1894 – March 7, 1977) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces. Bierman was t ...

, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 203 to 94. Guard

Leo Nomellini Leo Joseph Nomellini (June 19, 1924 – October 17, 2000) was an Italian-American Hall of Fame American football offensive and defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers and professional wrestler. He played college football for Minnesota and ...

was named All-American by

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

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(AP),

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

, The Sporting News, INS, Look Magazine, Football Writers Association of America and the American Football Coaches Association. Nomellini and end

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

were also named All-Big Ten. Halfback

Ev Faunce Everett George Faunce (June 12, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American football player and coach. Faunce played college football at Iowa State University in 1945 before transferring to the University of Minnesota The University of Minnesot ...

was awarded the Team MVP Award. Total attendance for the season was 308,556, which averaged to 61,711. The season high for attendance was against Purdue.

Schedule

Game summaries

Michigan

In week 5, Minnesota met Michigan in the annual Little Brown Jug game. The game was matched No. 1 Michigan against No. 13

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Michigan won the game, 27–14. Despite being held to 22 rushing yards, Michigan gained 261 yards on forward passes. At the start of the second quarter, Gene Derricotte fumbled a punt on Michigan's 15-yard line, recovered the ball, ran backward to the two-yard line, and fumbled again. All-American

recovered the ball and carried it into the end zone to give Minnesota a 7–0 lead. Michigan drove to the Minnesota one-yard line on the next drive, but Tom Peterson fumbled and Minnesota recovered the ball at the 16-yard line. Two drives later, Michigan finally converted on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Wally Teninga to Tom Peterson. Less than 90 seconds after Peterson's tying touchdown, Michigan took the lead when Ed McNeill blocked a Minnesota punt, and Quentin Sickels recovered the ball at the one-yard line. Peterson ran it in for his second touchdown. Minnesota drove to Michigan's one-yard line at the end of the second quarter, but the clock expired and Michigan led 13–7 at halftime. Minnesota took a 14–13 lead in the third quarter on a 69-yard drive capped by a touchdown run by Everett Faunce. On the next possession, Michigan drove 77 yards and took a 20–14 lead on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Dick Rifenburg, who fumbled at the five-yard line, but the ball and continued into the endzone. In the fourth quarter, Wally Teninga intercepted a Bill Elliott pass on Michigan's 11-yard line and returned the ball 26 yards. Chuck Ortman connected with Leo Koceski on a jump pass that covered 62 yards (the last 50 by Koceski after the reception) to give Michigan its fourth touchdown. After watching Michigan's dominating performances over the best teams in the Big Nine Conference, Walter W. Ruch wrote in ''The New York Times'' that there could not be much doubt that "Oosterbaan has fashioned perhaps the finest team in the country."1949 Michiganensian game summary, p. 108.

References

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