A BRIEF HISTORY OF UolM RUNNING UP THE SCORE

Having read the recent article, HERE'S PROOF THAT UM "RAN UP THE SCORE" AGAINST MSU IN 2002 FOOTBALL GAME, it seemed that a lot was left out.

Those chUMps are whining about a single TD. Yet those obsessive historians ignore their sordid past.

Let's take a look. Just a sample, mind you, otherwise it would have to become a serial post.

The largest margin of victory of the Spartans over UolM was in 1967, a 34-0 shutout. Using 34 points as the marker, UolM has exceeded that margin of victory over the Spartans 12 times.

10/12/1898: 39-0
10/8/1902: 119-0
10/12/1907: 46-0
10/12/1912: 55-7
11/4/1922: 63-0
10/3/1925: 39-0
10/9/1926: 55-3
9/29/1945: 40-0
11/9/1946: 55-7
9/27/1947: 55-0
10/8/1983: 42-0
11/2/2002: 49-3

With the exception of the 1983 game, all of those were played in AA.

In 1902, MSU (Michigan Agricultural College) had a total enrollment of 689 students, which included 158 women. In 1902, UolM had a total enrollment of 3792 students. No gender deliniation provided in the records.

Compare this to 2007, when UolM had 41,042 students versus Appalachian State with 13,997 students. That was a D-IA versus D-IAA with a student body ratio of greater than 3:1. In 1902, the student body ratio was about 5:1, which makes it more of a D-I versus D-III match.

So, go back to the 1902 score and decide whether or not UolM ran up the score. One other datum to consider when viewing that score - UolM was recruiting, MAC was not. UolM was the equivalent of a semi-pro team and MAC was barely out of the club sport category.

Fast forward to 1937, when NCAA reclassified MSC as a Major football program. MSC had a total enrollment of 1203 students, which included 503 women. UolM had a total enrollment of 11,777 students, which included 3514 women. That is almost a 10:1 ratio (> 11:1 male students).

Scrolling forward, MSU enrollment had achieved parity with UolM prior to the 1978 NCAA split of Division I into I-A and I-AA.

1945: UolM 15,437 MSC  4,308
1954: UolM 30,570 MSU 16,234
1964: UolM 37,945 MSU 31,268
1974: UolM 42,495 MSU 43,459
1984: UolM 34,347 MSU 40,272
1994: UolM 36,408 MSU 40,254
2004: UolM 39,533 MSU 44,836
2014: UolM 41,924 MSU 50,085
(Main campus enrollment only, Fall enrollment)

Of the 12 games played where UolM ran up the score, 10 of them happened when they were beating up on a team from a much smaller school. They did this all the time.

Year Record PF-PA
1901 11-0-0 550-0
1902 11-0-0 664-12
1903 11-0-1 565-6
1904 10-0-0 567-22
1905 12-1-0 495-2

Who did they play?

1901
Albion (MI) in AA
Case Institute of Technology (OH) in AA
Indiana in AA
Northwestern (IL) in AA
Buffalo (NY) in AA
Carlisle Indian School (PA) in Detroit
Ohio St. in Columbus
Chicago (IL) in AA
Beloit (WI) in AA
Iowa in Chicago
Stanford (CA) in Pasadena

1902
Albion (MI) in AA
Case Institute of Technology (OH) in AA
Michigan St. in AA
Indiana in AA
Notre Dame (IN) in Toledo
Ohio St. in AA
Wisconsin in Chicago
Iowa in AA
Chicago (IL) in Chicago
Oberlin (OH) in AA
Minnesota in AA

1903
Case Institute of Technology (OH) in AA
Albion (MI) in AA
Beloit (WI) in AA
Ohio Northern in AA
Indiana in AA
Ferris St. (MI) in AA
Drake (IA) in AA
Minnesota in Minneapolis
Ohio St. in AA
Wisconsin in AA
Oberlin (OH) in AA
Chicago (IL) in Chicago

1904
Case Institute of Technology (OH) in AA
Ohio Northern in AA
Kalamazoo (MI) in AA
Physicians & Surgeons (IL) in AA
Ohio St. in Columbus
American Medical (IL) in AA
West Virginia in AA
Wisconsin in Madison
Drake (IA) in AA
Chicago (IL) in AA

1905
Ohio Wesleyan in AA
Kalamazoo (MI) in AA
Case Institute of Technology (OH) in AA
Ohio Northern in AA
Vanderbilt (TN) in AA
Nebraska in AA
Albion (MI) in AA
Drake (IA) in AA
Illinois in Champaign
Ohio St. in AA
Wisconsin in AA
Oberlin (OH) in AA
Chicago (IL) in Chicago

45 home games, 4 neutral sites, 8 away games

Homefield advantage was very real in those days. Keep in mind, the Model T production started in 1908. The Wright Brothers went to Kitty Hawk in 1903. The first practical airplane was flown in 1909. The modern toilet was designed in 1906. A team typically travelled by train, arriving in time to walk to the stadium carrying their gear just in time for the game. Trains of that age typically ran at 20-30 mph, so a team would have to leave several hours to arrive in time, sometimes travelling overnight and sleeping on the train. Food service on trains was non-existent.

(We won't even get into whether the thugs recruited by UolM actually enrolled.) FYI, in 1906, UolM was censored by the Western Conference (aka Big Ten) for failure to comply with conference recruiting regulations.and members were not allowed to schedule games. UolM left the conference in 1907 and was readmitted after 10 seasons.

So 80% of those games were at home and more than half were versus non-peer opponents. Go back and look at the scores. Did UolM run up the scores on any of those teams?

Perhaps a second look at the recent MSU TD will be seen in a slightly different light.

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