page_title: 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team
section_title: Preseason
hierarchical_section_title: 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team / Preseason
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of Yost Ice Arena, c. 1923
context_page_description: The 1923 Michigan football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan during the 1923 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 23rd year under head coach Fielding H. Yost, Michigan compiled an undefeated 8–0 record, tied for the Big Ten Conference football championship, and outscored its opponents by a combined total of 150 to 12. The season was part of a 20-game undefeated streak for Michigan that began on October 29, 1921, and continued until October 18, 1924. During the combined 1922 and 1923 seasons, Yost's teams compiled a 14–0–1 record.
  Although no system was in place during this era to determine a national champion, the NCAA recognizes as official certain selectors who have sought to establish historic national championships. One of the official selectors, the Billingsley Report, recognizes the 1923 Michigan team as the sole national champion. A second official selector, the National Championship Foundation, recognizes Michigan as co-champion with Illinois. Illinois, led by Red Grange, and Michigan both had perfect records and, despite playing in the same conference, did not play each other during the 1923 season.
context_section_description: Michigan's 1922 team finished its season undefeated with a record of 6–0–1 and tied with Iowa team for the Big Ten Conference football championship.  Several key players from the 1922 team did not return in 1923, including fullback Franklin Cappon, right end Paul Goebel, and left end Bernard Kirk.  Cappon and Goebel were lost to graduation, and Kirk had died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in December 1922.  There were, however, several starters returning from the undefeated 1922 team, including halfback Harry Kipke, quarterback Irwin Uteritz, center Jack Blott, and tackle Stanley Muirhead.
  In May 1923, the University of Michigan's Board of Control of Athletics announced that the new field house under construction would be named after Fielding H. Yost, who had been Michigan's head football coach for 22 years.  At the time of its completion in the fall of 1923, Yost Field House was "the largest structure for competitive athletics in the world."  The structure was designed to have a seating capacity of 12,500, an indoor track with a 75-foot straightaway, basketball courts, indoor practice facilities for the football and baseball teams, locker and shower facilities for 4,200, athletic association offices, and trophy rooms.
caption: Yost Field House, dedicated on November 10, 1923
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