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Michigan vs Ohio State Football – Looking Back – 1955

The second installment of this year’s series looking back at the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry takes us to 1955. The Brooklyn Dodgers FINALLY won the World Series, Americans were finally able to enjoy some peace after the conclusion of the Korean War a few years earlier, and the nation was experiencing broad, post-war prosperity. Many young people were leaving cities, buying homes in the suburbs and starting families. The American automobile industry continued to thrive and Ford introduced its new personal luxury car, the Ford Thunderbird. On the pop culture front, rock & roll was beginning to make its presence felt among American youth.

On the gridiron, Michigan raced to a 7-1 start before facing Ohio State in The Game in Michigan Stadium on Nov. 19. With that, the Wolverines were routed 17-0. The game itself can be summed up simply. Ohio State ran left halfback Howard “Hopalong” Cassady time and again, and the Wolverines simply couldn’t stop him. Michigan certainly had some outstanding players on the ’55 squad, most notably All-America tight end Ron Kramer. Still, the Wolverines were unable to succeed at much in that game, as Woody Hayes became only the third Ohio State coach in history to win two games in a row against Michigan.

The result left both teams with matching 7-2 records. Ohio State was ranked fifth in the nation by the Associated Press, and Michigan was ranked 12th.

I wasn’t able to find any video of The Game from 1955, so please enjoy the summary of the 1955 football season below, with credit and thanks to the Bentley Historical Library. As always, I own nothing and I do not profit from this in any way.

http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1955fbt.htm

About Jeff Cummins

Jeff Cummins has written about football since 1998, including nine years with The Record of Hackensack, N.J. He frequently contributes feature stories to Touchdown Illustrated, an insert in the national college football game program, published by University Sports Publications, and he has also written the official pregame stories for the game programs of the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Gator Bowl, and the BCS National Championship game. He has written the preview story for the official program for the NHL Winter Classic at MIchigan Stadium, and numerous college basketball feature stories for College Hoops Illustrated, another game program insert published by University Sports Publications. In addition, he has written stories about theater, music, physical therapy, and newsletter marketing. He’s an avid Michigan football fan and long-time New York Jets season ticket holder, and he can be reached at jeffcummins@optonline.net.