The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2022 THE WOLVERINE 39 helmet. It was a different look for the Wolverines — a much different look. Will Perry, author of The Wolverines: A Story of Michigan Football, explained that Crisler's plan to beat the Spartans began with stopping their superstar halfback John Pingel. Crisler knew that Pingel led the nation in punting in 1937. Crisler also knew that Pingel completed almost fifty percent of his passes and averaged six yards every time he ran the ball. Oh, yes, he helped beat Michigan with two touchdown passes in the last series game. Pingel, was voted an All- American in 1938, but he was a marked man on October 1st in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines stopped him, and the Spar- tans, cold! (Perry, Page 163) Michigan's defense, led by Ralph Heikkinen and Fred Janke, forced two fumbles and in- tercepted four Spartan passes. The Spar- tans only gained twenty-five yards on the ground and were frustrated all day long by the aggressive Wolverines. Soph- omore halfback Paul Kromer scored two touchdowns and a guy named Harmon had three nice runs during limited play. A record crowd of almost seventy- four thousand (73,589) was on hand to celebrate Fritz Crisler's first win at Michigan and the first series win since 1933. It was the longest ride back to East Lansing for the Spartans in five years. The MSC winning streak ended at four games, but they still had seven games to play. Time to move on! Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final MSC 0 0 0 0 0 UM 0 7 0 7 14 SERIES UPDATE Once again, another game was in the history books. Michigan was still large and in-charge, but one game does not a season make. Fritz Crisler's foot- ballers still had a lot of work to do and so did Charlie Bachman's Spartans. For the record, the Wolverine series advantage now stood at 24 wins, 6 losses, and 3 ties. SERIES MILESTONES Fritz Crisler, like every other previ- ous coach in Michigan football his- tory, won his first series game against Michigan State. As I said earlier, it was also the debut for Michigan's now fa- mous winged helmets. It was also the first time that both teams wore a ver- sion of a winged helmet in the game. Thanks to Coach Bachman, Spartan fans had the bragging rights for being the first team in the State of Michigan to wear a winged helmet. Michigan was the second team in the state to wear a winged helmet. Of course, they became the most famous team to wear this distinctive style of headgear. The thirty-third series game also produced the largest crowd (73,859) ever to at- tend a series game. SEASON SUMMARIES Charlie Bachman's Spartans recov- ered nicely from the Michigan loss and won three straight games. Then, they lost two straight close games to Santa Clara (7-6) and Missouri (6-0). The MSC footballers finished strong with two solid wins over Marquette (20-14) and Temple (10-0). Michigan State's final record for the 1938 season was 6 wins and 3 losses. It was Coach Bach- man's sixth straight winning season. Fritz Crisler's Wolverines started fast with their victory over Michigan State. They followed the MSC victory with a 45-7 win over Chicago. In week three, they lost a close game to Min- nesota (7-6). They did not lose an- other game that year, although they did tie Northwestern. Michigan ended with an excellent record of 6 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie. They also finished sec- ond in the Big Ten. The Fritz Crisler Era was off to a nice start at Michigan and life was starting to get better again in Ann Arbor. ❑ The 1938 rivalry contest between the Wolverines and Spartans not only marked the U-M debut of head coach Fritz Crisler, but it also was the first time Michigan wore winged helmets (as seen on 1938 All-Big Ten running back Tom Harmon above). PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN