page_title: 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team
section_title: Michigan State
hierarchical_section_title: 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team / Season summary / Michigan State
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of R. George Babcock, University of Cincinnati athletic director
context_page_description: The 1925 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1925 Big Ten Conference football season. The 1925 season was Fielding H. Yost's 24th as the head football coach. Michigan compiled a 7–1 record and outscored opponents by a combined score of 227 to 3. The 1925 team won the Big Ten Conference championship and was ranked second in country behind Dartmouth in the Dickinson System rankings.
  The only points allowed by the team were in a 3 to 2 loss to Northwestern in a game played in a heavy rainstorm on a field covered in mud five or six inches deep in some places. Michigan shut out seven of its eight opponents and allowed only four first downs in the last three games of the season.
  Quarterback Benny Friedman and left end Bennie Oosterbaan, sometimes referred to as "The Benny-to-Bennie Show," were both consensus All-Americans and became known as one of the greatest passing combinations in college football history. Friedman finished second in close voting for the 1925 Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy, which is awarded to the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten.
context_section_description: Michigan opened the 1925 season on October 3, with a 39–0 victory over Michigan State College in Ann Arbor.  A crowd of 30,000 persons set a Ferry Field record for the first game of a season.  The game was the 20th meeting in the Michigan – Michigan State football rivalry.  Michigan had won nine straight games, eight by shutouts, dating back to 1916.
  Michigan scored twice in the first quarter.  The first touchdown came on a 65-yard run by Benny Friedman.  Later in the quarter, Friedman completed a pass to Charles Grube for a 20-yard gain and then completed another pass to Bruce Gregory for a 30-yard gain and a touchdown. After a scoreless second quarter, Michigan led 13–0 at halftime.
  In the third quarter, Michigan scored three touchdowns.  The first came on a pass from sophomore halfback Louis Gilbert to fellow sophomore Bennie Oosterbaan for a 40-yard gain and a touchdown.  The game marked the first in a Michigan uniform for both Gilbert and Oosterbaan.  On the next drive, George Babcock ran 68 yards for a touchdown after "scooping up a fumble on the dead run."  Gilbert kicked the extra point, and Michigan led, 27–0.  Later in the quarter, Friedman intercepted a pass and then completed a pass to Oosterbaan for a 24-yard gain and a touchdown.  The New York Times noted that Oosterbaan "sparkled in his play" and that both of his touchdowns came on "clever catches and smart running."  Gilbert kicked two extra points, and Frederic Fuller kicked one.
  Michigan's starting lineup was Grube (left end), Hawkins (left tackle), Lovette (left guard), Thisted (center), Edwards (right guard), George Babcock (right tackle), Flora (right end), Friedman (quarterback), Fuller (left halfback), Gregory (right halfback), and Molenda (fullback).  Players appearing in the game as substitutes for Michigan included Bennie Oosterbaan (left end), and Louis Gilbert (left halfback).  Michigan's team captain and center Robert J. Brown did not appear in the game due to a foot injury.
caption: George Babcock (pictured) scored after "scooping up a fumble on the dead run."
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