page_title: 1918 Michigan Wolverines football team
section_title: Michigan 15, Syracuse 0
hierarchical_section_title: 1918 Michigan Wolverines football team / Game summaries / Michigan 15, Syracuse 0
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of Frank Steketee
context_page_description: The 1918 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1918 Big Ten Conference football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost in his 18th season with the program. The 1918 team played in a season shortened by World War I travel restrictions and the 1918 flu pandemic. They shared the Big Ten Conference championship with Illinois and finished with a perfect record of 5–0, outscoring opponents 96 to 6. Although no formal mechanism existed in 1918 to select a national champion, the 1918 Michigan team was retroactively selected as the national champion by the Billingsley Report and a co-national champion with Pittsburgh by the National Championship Foundation. The Wolverines played their home games at Ferry Field.
  Fullback Frank Steketee was selected by Walter Camp as a first-team All-American and was one of the top kickers in the game during the 1918 season. Center Ernie Vick, and left tackle Angus Goetz were both selected as first-team All-Big Ten players.
context_section_description: On November 16, 1918, five days after the signing of the Armistice marking the end of hostilities in Europe, Michigan defeated Syracuse 16–0. The game was played in pouring rain at Ferry Field. Both teams failed to score in the first quarter, as Michigan fullback Frank Steketee missed a field goal from the 25-yard line on one drive and Knode fumbled at the Syracuse five-yard line to end another drive. Cohn and Vick both intercepted passes in the second quarter. After Knode made a fair catch on a punt and Syracuse was penalized for offsides, Steketee kicked a field goal from the 36-yard line to give Michigan a 3–0 lead. Michigan's next possession mirrored its last, as the ball was placed on Syracuse's 35-yard line after a roughing penalty was called against Syracuse for interfering with Knode as he attempted a fair catch of a punt at the 40-yard line. Steketee kicked his second field goal from the spot to give Michigan a 6–0 lead at halftime.
  In the third quarter, Steketee missed a field goal from the 32-yard line. In the fourth quarter, Vick and Knode both intercepted pass. Vick's interception stopped a Syracuse drive at Michigan's 15-yard line, and Knode's interception gave Michigan the ball at the Syracuse 21-yard line.  After advancing the ball to the 14-yard line, Steketee added a third field goal to give Michigan a 9–0 lead. Later in the fourth quarter, Steketee intercepted a pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. Steketee missed the extra point, and Michigan led 15–0.
  Steketee scored all 15 points in Michigan's win over Syracuse and received national media attention for his performance. In the Detroit Free Press, Harry Bullion wrote: "One man stood above all the rest in this sparkling triumph of the Wolverines. They'll be singing the praises of Steketee long after he trods the campus for the last time. All of the points assembled by Michigan are attributed to the educated toe and agility of Yost's brilliant fullback." The Syracuse Herald reported: "One man stood out in the Michigan triumph, Steketee of Grand Rapids.  He made the entire 15 points scored by his team and otherwise mussed up perfect good intentions on the part of the visitors."
  The victory over Syracuse also enhanced Michigan's reputation, as Syracuse and Pittsburgh had been viewed as the most powerful teams in the East.
  The Michiganensian called the Syracuse game "the best contest of the year" against the strongest team in the East and noted: "From the very first moment of play to final blowing of the whistle, the contest was one of the prettiest exhibitions of football ability that has been seen on Ferry Field."
  Michigan's starting lineup was Dunne (left end), Goetz (left tackle), Adams (left guard), Vick (center), Freeman (right guard), Young (right tackle), Morrison (right end), Knode (quarterback), Perrin (left halfback), Cohn (right halfback) and Steketee (fullback).
caption: All-American fullback Frank Steketee scored all 15 points in Michigan's victory over Syracuse.
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