page_title: 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team
section_title: Game 8: at Penn
hierarchical_section_title: 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team / Season summary / Game 8: at Penn
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of Michigan football center William Cunningham from Grove City, Pennsylvania
context_page_description: The 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1899 Western Conference football season. In their third and final season under head coach Gustave Ferbert, the team compiled an 8–2 record, tied for third in the Western Conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 176 to 43.
  The team opened the season with seven consecutive shutouts, outscoring opponents in those contests by a total of 109 to 0. However, Michigan finished the season by going 2–2 in its final four games, losing to Penn and Wisconsin. After the 1899 season, Ferbert resigned as Michigan's head coach to travel to Alaska to participate in the Klondike Gold Rush.
  Allen Steckle was the team captain. Leo J. Keena was the team's leading scorer with 32 points on five touchdowns and seven goals from touchdown. Three Michigan players were named to the 1899 College Football All-America Team, as selected by The Philadelphia Inquirer: end Neil Snow, halfback John McLean, and tackle Richard France. Snow, McLean, and France were also named to the 1899 All-Western college football team.
context_section_description: Michigan traveled to Philadelphia to play the University of Pennsylvania Quakers on November 11, 1899. At the time, Penn was one of the three top football teams in the country. Michigan scored first on a 22-yard touchdown run by John McLean around Penn's left end.  Neil Snow missed the kick for the goal after touchdown, and Michigan led 5 to 0 at halftime. Penn's All-American Truxtun Hare scored a touchdown in the second half (also missing its goal after touchdown attempt) to tie the score at 5 to 5. Michigan re-took the lead when McLean and Allen Steckle carried the ball to Pennsylvania's ten-yard line, and Michigan tackle, Charles McDonald, then carried the ball over the goal line for Michigan's second touchdown. Michigan's Everett Sweeley missed the goal after touchdown, and Michigan led 10 to 5. With less than seven minutes left in the game, Hare scored his second touchdown of the game, and Pete Overfield kicked the goal after touchdown to give the Quakers the win with a final score of 11 to 10.
  
  Although Michigan lost by a final score of 12 to 11 on Penn's Franklin Field, the Wolverines gained national respect with a good showing against the Quakers. The New York Times reported on the results of the game as follows:
  "The game was a royal battle from start to finish, and was marked by both brilliant and poor playing by both teams. Pennsylvania earned her victory because she had to play harder for her two touch-downs than did Michigan. The latter team, although beaten, was not disgraced, for the Western boys made their Eastern rivals work hard for every inch of ground they gained. ... The game was a beautiful one for the spectators to look at. Both teams were about as evenly matched as they could be. The Quakers excelled in line bucking and in kicking, while Michigan far outplayed Pennsylvania when it came to skirting the ends. McLean, Michigan's left half back, was almost invariably used for end running, and his brilliant sprinting around Pennsylvania's ends often brought applause from the followers of the Quakers. The interference accorded him was almost perfect, and this, in a great measure, helped him in gaining ground."
  The game also featured a duel between two of the best centers in the country, Penn's Pete Overfield and Michigan's William Cunningham. Cunningham was Michigan's first ever All-American in 1898, when he was selected as a first-team All-American by Caspar Whitney, and Overfield was picked by Walter Camp as the first-team All-American of 1898. The New York Times reported on the match-up of Cunningham and Overfield as follows: "The duel between Cunningnam and Overfield, the centre rushes, was interesting. Both are high-class players, and they played with a dash that was inspiring. Cunningham had much the better of it during the first half, but in the second period Overfield, through better staying qualities, made big holes through Michigan's bulky centre."
caption: All-American center William Cunningham faced Penn's Pete Overfield in 1899.
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