Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ( formerly Division I - A ) level . Michigan has the most all - time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history . The team is known for its distinctive winged helmet , its fight song , its record - breaking attendance figures at Michigan Stadium , and its many rivalries , particularly its annual season - ending game against Ohio State , once voted as ESPN ' s best sports rivalry . Michigan began competing in intercollegiate football in 1879 . The Wolverines joined the Big Ten Conference at its inception in 1896 , when the conference was commonly known as the Western Conference , and have been members since with the exception of a hiatus from 1907 to 1916 . Michigan has won or shared 42 league titles , more than any other college football program in any conference . Since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936 , Michigan has finished in the top 10 a record 37 times . The Wolverines claim 11 national championships , most recently that of the 1997 squad voted atop the final AP Poll . From 1900 to 1989 , Michigan was led by a series of nine head coaches , each of whom have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame either as a player or as a coach . Fielding H . Yost became Michigan ' s head coach in 1901 and guided his " Point - a - Minute " squads to a streak of 56 games without a defeat spanning from his arrival until the season finale in 1905 , including a victory in the 1902 Rose Bowl , the first college football bowl game ever played . Fritz Crisler brought his winged helmet from Princeton University in 1938 and led the 1947 Wolverines to a national title and Michigan ' s second Rose Bowl win . Bo Schembechler coached the team for 21 seasons ( 1969 – 1989 ) in which he won 13 Big Ten titles and a program - record 194 games . The first decade of his tenure was underscored by a fierce competition with his former mentor , Woody Hayes , whose Ohio State Buckeyes squared off against Schembechler ' s Wolverines in a stretch of the Michigan – Ohio State rivalry dubbed the " Ten - Year War " . After Schembechler ' s retirement , his longtime assistants , Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr , helmed the team for the next 18 years . Michigan continued its success under Moeller and Carr with a winning percentage of . 755 , eight more Big Ten Conference championships , and a share of the 1997 national title , but the era was punctuated by a number of high - profile defeats for the Wolverines , including a loss to Colorado on Kordell Stewart ' s iconic Hail Mary pass in 1994 , a controversial last - second loss to Michigan State in 2001 , and an infamous defeat at the hands of the Football Championship Subdivision Appalachian State Mountaineers in the 2007 season opener . Rich Rodriguez succeeded Carr in 2008 and was fired after three seasons in which he compiled the worst record of any coach in program history . On January 11 , 2011 , Brady Hoke was hired as Michigan ' s 19th head football coach . The Michigan Wolverines have featured 77 players that have garnered consensus selection to the College Football All - America Team . Three Wolverines have won the Heisman Trophy : Tom Harmon in 1940 , Desmond Howard in 1991 , and Charles Woodson in 1997 . Gerald Ford , the 38th President of the United States , started at center and was voted most valuable player by his teammates on the 1934 team . History . Early history ( 1879 – 1900 ) . On May 30 , 1879 , Michigan played its first intercollegiate football game against Racine College at White Stocking Park in Chicago . The " Chicago Tribune " called it " the first rugby - football game to be played west of the Alleghenies . " Midway through " the first ' inning ' , " Irving Kane Pond scored the first touchdown for Michigan . According to Will Perry ' s history of Michigan football , the crowd responded to Pond ' s plays with cheers of " Pond Forever . " In 1881 , Michigan played against Harvard in Boston . The game that marked the birth of inter - sectional football . On their way to a game in Chicago in 1887 , Michigan players stopped South Bend , Indiana and introduced football to students at the University of Notre Dame . A November 23 contest marked the inception of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program and the beginning of the Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry . In 1894 , Michigan defeated Cornell , which was the " first time in collegiate football history that a western school defeated an established power from the east . " In 1896 , the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives — then commonly known as the Western Conference and later as the Big Ten Conference — was formed by the University of Michigan with the University of Chicago , the University of Illinois , the University of Minnesota , the University of Wisconsin , Northwestern University , and Purdue University . The first Western Conference football season was played in 1896 , with Michigan going 9 – 1 , but losing out on the inaugural Western Conference title with a loss to the Chicago Maroons to end the season . By 1898 Amos Alonzo Stagg was fast at work at turning the University of Chicago football program into a powerhouse . Before the final game of the 1898 season , Chicago was 9 – 1 – 1 and Michigan was 9 – 0 ; a game between the two teams in Chicago decided the third Western Conference championship . Michigan won , 12 – 11 , capturing the program ' s first conference championship in a game that inspired " The Victors , " which later became the school ' s fight song . Michigan went 8 – 2 and 7 – 2 – 1 in 1899 and 1900 , results that were considered unsatisfactory relative to the 10 – 0 season of 1898 . Yost , Wieman , and Kipke era ( 1901 – 1937 ) . After the 1900 season , Charles A . Baird , Michigan ' s first athletic director , wrote to Fielding H . Yost , " Our people are greatly roused up over the defeats of the past two years , " and gave Yost an offer to come to Michigan to coach the football team . Upon arriving at Michigan , Yost famously ran up State Street and proclaimed to a reporter , " Michigan isn ' t going to lose a game . " Yost certainly delivered , with the 1901 Michigan team demolishing its opponents . In the first season under head coach Yost , a lopsided victory over Buffalo drew national attention and marked the arrival of Yost ' s " Point - a - Minute " teams . The Buffalo team beat Ivy League power Columbia earlier in the year and was favored over a Michigan team the Buffalo newspapers had dubbed " Woolly Westerners . " Michigan scored 22 touchdowns in 38 minutes of play , averaging a touchdown every one minute and 43 seconds . Buffalo quit 15 minutes before the game was scheduled to end . " The New York Times " reported that Michigan ' s margin of victory was " one of the most remarkable ever made in the history of football in the important colleges . " At the end of the season , Michigan participated in the inaugural Rose Bowl , the first bowl game in American football history . Michigan dominated the game so thoroughly that Stanford ' s captain requested the game be called with eight minutes remaining . Neil Snow scored five touchdowns in the game , which is still the all - time Rose Bowl record . The Tournament of Roses Association held chariot races and other events in lieu of a football game for the next 15 years . With the victory , Michigan secured its first of eleven National Championships . The next year , 1902 , would feature a contest between Michigan and the Wisconsin Badgers . The two teams were undefeated since 1900 , and the crowd ( 20 , 000 – 22 , 000 ) was the largest in western football history . Michigan won , 6 – 0 , leading the " Detroit Free Press " to call it " the greatest football game ever played on a western gridiron . " The undefeated 1902 team outscored its opponents 644 to 12 , earning Michigan ' s second national championship . In 1903 , Michigan played a game against Minnesota that would start the rivalry for the Little Brown Jug , the oldest rivalry trophy in college football . Yost sent a student assistant to purchase a five - gallon water jug from a local store . After the game ended in a tie , Yost forgot the jug in the locker room . Custodian Oscar Munson discovered it and brought it to L . J . Cooke , who painted the jug brown and wrote " Michigan Jug - Captured by Oscar , October 31 , 1903 . Michigan 6 , Minnesota 6 . " When Yost requested that the jug be returned , Cooke responded that " if you want it , you ' ll have to win it . " The game marked the only time from 1901 to 1904 that Michigan failed to win . Nonetheless , Michigan still succeeded in capturing the 1903 national championship . In 1904 , Michigan would repeat as national champions while recording the most lopsided score in Michigan football history , a 130 – 0 defeat of the West Virginia Mountaineers . From 1901 through 1904 , Michigan didn ' t lose a single game and won a national title each year . The streak would finally be halted at the end of the 1905 season by Amos Alonzo Stagg ' s Chicago Maroons , a team that won the national title that year and would later go on to win two Big 9 ( as the Western Conference was now being called with the addition of Iowa and Indiana ) titles in the next three years . The game , dubbed " The First Greatest Game of the Century , " broke Michigan ' s 56 - game unbeaten streak and marked the end of the " Point - a - Minute " years . The 1905 Michigan team had outscored opponents 495 – 0 in its first 12 games . The game was lost in the final ten minutes of play when Denny Clark was tackled for a safety as he attempted to return a punt from behind the goal line . Michigan would tie for another Big 9 title in 1906 before opting to go independent for the 1907 season . The independent years were not as kind to Yost as his years in the Big 9 . Michigan suffered one loss in 1907 . In 1908 , Michigan got battered by Penn ( a team that would win the national championship that year ) in a game in which Michigan center Germany Schulz took such a battering as to have to be dragged off the field . In 1909 , Michigan suffered its first lost to Notre Dame , leading Yost to refuse to schedule another game against Notre Dame ( the schools would not play again until 1942 ) . In 1910 , Michigan would play their only undefeated season of the independent years , going 3 – 0 – 3 . Overall from 1907 to 1916 , Michigan lost at least one game every year ( with the exception of 1910 ) and failed to capture a national title . Michigan rejoined the Big 9 in 1917 , after which it was called the Big Ten . Yost immediately got back to work . In 1918 , Michigan would play the first game against Stagg ' s Chicago Maroons since Chicago ended Michigan ' s winning streak in 1905 . Michigan defeated the Maroons , 18 – 0 , on the way to a 5 – 0 record and Michigan ' s fifth national title . The next three years were lean , with Michigan going 3 – 4 , 5 – 2 , and 5 – 1 – 1 , in 1919 , 1920 , and 1921 . However , in 1922 Michigan managed to spoil the " Dedication Day " for Ohio Stadium , defeating the Buckeyes 19 – 0 . Legend has it that the rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game . Michigan went 5 – 0 – 1 in 1922 , capturing a Big Ten title . In 1923 , Michigan would go 8 – 0 , winning another conference championship and another national title . The 1924 Wolverines , coached by George Little , saw their 20 - game unbeaten streak end at the hands of Red Grange . After the 1924 season , Little left Michigan to accept the head coach and athletic director positions at Wisconsin , returning athletic director Yost to the head coaching position . Although the 1925 and 1926 seasons did not include a national title , they were memorable due to the presence of the famous " Benny - to - Bennie " combination , a reference to Benny Friedman and Bennie Oosterbaan . The two helped popularize passing the ball in an era when running held dominance . Oosterbaan became a three - time All - American and was selected for the All - Time All - American team in 1951 , while Friedman would go on to have a Hall of Fame NFL career . Yost stepped aside in 1927 to focus on being Michigan ' s athletic director , a post he had held since 1921 , thus ending the greatest period of success in the history of Michigan football . Under Yost , Michigan posted a 165 – 29 – 10 record , winning ten conference championships and six national championships . One of his main actions as athletic director was to oversee the construction of Michigan Stadium . Michigan began playing football games in Michigan Stadium in the fall of 1927 . At the time Michigan Stadium had a capacity of 72 , 000 , although Yost envisioned eventually expanding the stadium to a capacity well beyond 100 , 000 . Michigan Stadium was formally dedicated during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes that season to the tune of a 21 – 0 victory . Elton Wieman became Michigan ' s head coach in 1927 . That year , Michigan posted a modest 6 - 2 record . However , the team ended 1928 with a losing 3 – 4 – 1 record and Wieman was fired . Replacing Wieman was Harry Kipke , a fomer player of Yost ' s . From 1930 to 1933 , Kipke would again return Michigan to prominence . During that stretch , Michigan won the Big Ten title every year and the national championship in 1932 and 1933 . During this span Kipke ' s teams only lost one game , to Ohio State . After 1933 , Kipke ' s teams fell off the map , going 12 – 22 from 1934 to 1937 . The 1934 Michigan team only won one game , against Georgia Tech in a controversial contest . Georgia Tech coach and athletic director W . A . " Bill " Alexander refused to allow his team to take the field if Willis Ward , an African - American player for Michigan , stepped on the field . Michigan conceded , and the incident reportedly caused Michigan player Gerald R . Ford to consider quitting the team . Needless to say , four years without success had become unacceptable at Michigan , and Yost began work on hiring another head coach . Overall , Kipke posted a 49 – 26 – 4 record at Michigan , winning four conference championships and two national championships . Crisler , Oosterbaan , and Elliott era ( 1938 – 1968 ) . For his successor , Yost targeted Fritz Crisler , who at the time was coach of the Princeton Tigers . Crisler wasn ' t very excited to leave Princeton , so when Michigan invited him to name his price , he demanded what he thought would be unacceptable : the position of athletic director when Yost stepped down and the highest salary in college football . Shockingly for Crisler , Michigan accepted and Crisler became the new coach of the Michigan football program . Upon arriving at Michigan , Crisler introduced the winged football helmet , ostensibly to help his players find the receivers down field . Whatever the reasoning , the winged helmet has since become one of the iconic marks of Michigan football . Michigan debuted the winged helmet in a game against Michigan State in 1938 . Two years later in 1940 , Tom Harmon led the Wolverines to a 7 – 1 record on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy . Harmon ended the season by scoring three rushing touchdowns , two passing touchdowns , four extra points , intercepting three passes , and punting three times for an average of 50 yards in a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes . The 1943 season included a # 1 ( Notre Dame ) vs . # 2 ( Michigan ) match - up against Notre Dame , a game the Wolverines lost 35 – 12 . Michigan ended the season at 8 – 1 , winning Crisler ' s first Big Ten championship . Crisler had reversed the misfortune of the end of the Kipke era and returned Michigan to one and two - loss seasons . From 1938 to 1944 , Michigan posted a 48 – 11 – 2 record , although the period lacked a national title and only contained one conference title . Yet , Crisler ' s biggest mark on the game of football would be made in 1945 , when Michigan faced a loaded Army squad that featured two Heisman trophy winners , Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis . Crisler didn ' t feel that his Michigan team could match up with Army , so he opted to take advantage of a 1941 NCAA rule that allowed players to enter or leave at any point during the game . Crisler divided his team into " offensive " and " defensive " specialists , an act that would earn him the nickname " the father of two - platoon football . " Michigan still lost the game with Army 28 – 7 , but Crisler ' s use of two - platoon football would shape the way the game was played in the future . Eventually , Crisler ' s use of the platoon system would propel his team to a conference championship and a national title in 1947 , his final season . The 1947 team , nicknamed the " Mad Magicians " due to their use of two - platoon football , would cap their season with a 49 – 0 victory over the USC Trojans in the 1948 Rose Bowl . Crisler finished with a 116 – 32 – 9 record at Michigan , winning two conference titles and one national title . Crisler continued as athletic director while Bennie Oosterbaan , the same Bennie that had electrified the world while making connections with Benny Friedman 20 years earlier , took over the football program . Things started off well for Oosterbaan in 1948 with the Wolverines earning a quality mid - season victory over # 3 Northwestern . Michigan would finish the season undefeated at 9 - 0 , thus winning another national championship . Initially , Oosterbaan continued Crisler ' s tradition of on - field success , winning conference titles each year from 1948 to 1950 and the national title in 1948 . The 1950 season ended in interesting fashion , with Michigan and Ohio State combining for 45 punts in a game that would later be known as the " Snow Bowl . " Michigan won the game 9 – 3 , winning the Big Ten conference and sending the Wolverines off to the 1951 Rose Bowl . Subsequently , Michigan ' s football team began to decline under Oosterbaan . From 1951 to 1958 , Michigan compiled a record of 42 – 26 – 2 , a far cry from the success under Crisler and Yost . Perhaps more importantly , Oosterbaan posted a 2 – 5 – 1 record against Michigan State and a 3 – 5 record against Ohio State over the same time period . Under mounting pressure , Oosterbaan stepped down after 1958 . In place of Oosterbaan stepped Bump Elliott , a former Michigan player of Crisler ' s . Elliott continued many of the struggles that began under Oosterbaan , posting a 51 – 42 – 2 record from 1959 through 1968 ( including a 2 – 7 – 1 record against Michigan State and a 3 – 7 record against Ohio State ) . Michigan ' s only Big Ten title under Elliott came in 1964 , a season that included a win over Oregon State in the 1965 Rose Bowl . Following a 50 – 14 drubbing at the hands of Ohio State in 1968 , Elliott resigned , opening the way for Michigan athletic director Don Canham to hire Bo Schembechler . Schembechler era ( 1969 – 1989 ) . It took 15 minutes for Don Canham to be sold on Bo Schembechler , resulting in Schembechler becoming the 15th coach in Michigan football history . At the time , Schembechler ' s current employer , the Miami RedHawks , could have thrown more money at Schembechler , but Canham managed to sell Schembechler on Michigan ' s tradition and prestige . Schembechler ' s respect for Michigan was evident early on when assistants complained about how the equipment they had was worse than what they had to work with at Miami . Schembechler gestured to a rusty chair and said , " See this chair ? Fielding Yost sat in this chair . See this nail ? Fielding Yost hang his hat on that nail . And you ' re telling me we had better stuff at Miami ? No men , we didn ' t . We have tradition here , Michigan tradition , and that ' s something no one else has ! " Schembechler immediately got to work in turning around his team . He had a reputation for being hard on his players , causing 65 of his 140 players to quit the team before the season even started . In response , Schembechler promised his team " Those Who Stay Will be Champions , " assuring the players that remained that their efforts would be rewarded . Schembechler ' s first team got off to a moderate start , losing to rival Michigan State and entering the Ohio State game with a 7 – 2 record . Ohio State , coached by icon Woody Hayes , entered the game at 8 - 0 and poised to repeat as national champions . The 1969 Ohio State team was hailed by some as being the " greatest college football team ever assembled " and came into the game favored by 17 points over Michigan . Michigan shocked the Buckeyes , winning 24 – 12 , going to the Rose Bowl , and launching The Ten Year War between Hayes and Schembechler . From 1969 to 1978 , one of either Ohio State or Michigan won at least a share of the Big Ten title and represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl every season . In 1970 Schembechler failed to repeat on the magic of 1969 , that year losing to Ohio State 20 – 9 and finishing at 9 – 1 . However , in 1971 , Schembechler led Michigan to an undefeated regular season , only to lose to the Stanford Indians in the Rose Bowl to finish at 11 – 1 and miss out on a chance at a national championship . From 1972 to 1975 , Michigan would fail to win a game against Ohio State ( powered by phenom running back Archie Griffin ) , finishing at 10 – 1 , 10 – 0 – 1 , 10 – 1 , and 8 – 2 – 2 . However , Michigan did tie Ohio State in 1973 , only missing out on the Rose Bowl due to a controversial vote that sent Ohio State to the Rose Bowl and left Michigan at home . Another notable event occurred during the 1975 season , with the first of Michigan ' s record streak of games with more than 100 , 000 people in attendance occurring during a game against the Purdue Boilermakers . From 1976 to 1978 , Michigan would assert its own dominance of the rivalry , beating Ohio State , going to the Rose Bowl , and posting a 10 – 2 record every year . After the 1978 season , Woody Hayes was fired for punching an opposing player during the 1978 Gator Bowl , thus ending The Ten Year War . Michigan had a slight edge in the war , with Schembechler going 5 – 4 – 1 against Hayes . However , while Schembechler successfully placed great emphasis on the rivalry , Michigan ' s bowl performances were sub - par . Michigan failed to win their last game of the season every year during The Ten Year War . The only year in which Michigan didn ' t lose its last game of the season was the 1973 tie against Ohio State . After the end of the Ten Year War , Michigan ' s regular season performance declined , but their post season performance improved . The 1979 season included a memorable game against Indiana that ended with a touchdown pass from John Wangler to Anthony Carter with six seconds left in the game . The play was made famous by Bob Ufer ' s emotional radio narration : " Under center is Wangler at the 45 , he goes back . He ' s looking for a receiver . He throws downfield to Carter . Carter has it . [ unintellibible screaming ] Carter scores . . . . I have never seen anything like this in all my 40 years of covering Michigan football . . . . I hope you can hear me – because I ' ve never been so happy in all my cotton - picking 59 years ! . . . Johnny Wangler to Anthony Carter will be heard until another 100 years of Michigan football is played ! . . . Meeeshigan wins , 27 to 21 . They aren ' t even going to try the extra point . Who cares ? Who gives a damn ? " . Michigan went 8 – 4 on the season , losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 1979 Gator Bowl . In 1980 , Michigan went 10 – 2 and got their first win in the Rose Bowl under Schembechler , a 23 – 6 win over the Washington Huskies . Michigan would go 9 – 3 in 1981 to get Schembechler ' s second bowl win in the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl . In 1982 , Michigan would win the Big Ten championship while being led by three - time All - American wide receiver Anthony Carter . Michigan would fall to the UCLA Bruins in the 1983 Rose Bowl . Without Anthony Carter , the Wolverines would not win the Big Ten title in 1983 , going 9 – 3 . In 1984 , the Wolverines suffered their worst season under Schembechler , going 6 - 6 with a loss to national champion BYU in the 1984 Holiday Bowl . Michigan needed to reverse its fortunes in 1985 , and they began doing so with new quarterback Jim Harbaugh . Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a 5 – 0 record , propelling them to a # 2 ranking heading into a game with the # 1 Iowa Hawkeyes . Michigan lost 12 – 10 , but wouldn ' t lose another game the rest of the season to finish at 10 – 1 – 1 with a victory over Tom Osborne ' s Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl . In 1986 Michigan won the Big Ten at 11 – 2 , suffering a loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 1987 Rose Bowl . The departure of Harbaugh after 1986 once again left Michigan on tough times as Schembechler ' s team stumbled to a 8 – 4 record in 1987 . However , Michigan would bounce back again in 1988 and 1989 , winning the Big Ten title outright both years at 9 – 2 – 1 and 10 – 2 with trips to Rose Bowl . From 1981 through 1989 , Michigan went 80 - 27 - 2 , winning four Big Ten titles and going to a bowl game every year ( with another Rose Bowl win obtained against the USC Trojans after the 1988 season ) . Bo Schembechler retired after the 1989 season , handing the job over to Gary Moeller . Under Schembechler Michigan posted a 194 – 48 – 5 record ( 11 – 9 – 1 against Ohio State ) , and won 13 Big Ten championships . Moeller and Carr era ( 1990 – 2007 ) . Gary Moeller took over from Schembechler for the 1990 season , becoming the 16th head coach in Michigan football history . Moeller inherited a talented squad that had just played in the 1990 Rose Bowl , including wide receiver Desmond Howard . Moeller led Michigan to a 9 – 3 record in his first season , tying for the Big Ten championship but losing out on a Rose Bowl bid to the Iowa Hawkeyes . The next two years , Moeller ' s teams would win the conference outright , setting marks of 10 – 2 and 9 – 0 – 3 . In 1991 , Desmond Howard had a memorable season that propelled him to win the Heisman Trophy , the award given to college football ' s most outstanding player . The 1992 team , led by Elvis Grbac , would post a 9 – 0 – 3 record , defeating Washington in the 1993 Rose Bowl . Moeller would lead Michigan to 8 - 4 records in both 1993 and 1994 . The 1994 season was marked by an early - season loss to Colorado that included a Hail Mary pass from Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook to end the game , leading to the game being dubbed " The Miracle at Michigan . " After the 1994 season , Moeller was found intoxicated at a Southfield , MI restaurant in an incident in which Moeller was caught on tape throwing a punch at a police station , which resulted in his firing . Michigan athletic director appointed Lloyd Carr as interim head coach for the 1995 season . Carr became the permanent head coach after an 8 – 2 start and Michigan finished his first season at 9 – 4 . Carr had similar success in his second season , going 8 - 4 and earning a trip to the 1997 Outback Bowl . Carr returned a strong squad for the 1997 season , led by cornerback and punt returner Charles Woodson . Michigan would go undefeated in 1997 , with the defense smothering opponents ; the only team to score more than 20 on Michigan that year were the Iowa Hawkeyes . Overall , the Michigan defense only allowed 9 . 5 points per game and ended the season ranked # 1 in the AP Poll , giving Michigan its first national championship since 1948 with a victory in the 1998 Rose Bowl . For his efforts , Woodson won the Heisman Trophy and was selected 4th overall by the Oakland Raiders . During this era under Carr , Michigan began to establish for itself a reputation as a quarterback school , with future NFL quarterbacks such as Brian Griese ( 1993 – 1997 ) , Tom Brady ( 1996 – 1999 ) , Drew Henson ( 1998 – 2000 ) , John Navarre ( 1999 – 2003 ) , and Chad Henne ( 2004 – 2007 ) all playing for Michigan . With this string of quarterbacks , Michigan had a starting quarterback that would join the NFL every year from 1993 through 2007 . Under Tom Brady , Michigan would go 10 – 3 and repeat as Big Ten champions in 1998 , but in 1999 Michigan lost out on the conference championship at 10 – 2 to a Wisconsin Badgers team led by Ron Dayne . Drew Henson led Michigan to a 9 – 3 record and a tie for the Big Ten championship in 2000 . During Lloyd Carr ' s first six years , he had compiled an excellent record of 5 – 1 against the Ohio State Buckeyes . Ohio State ' s coach , John Cooper , had compiled a 2 – 10 – 1 record against Schembechler , Moeller , and Carr . On top of that , Ohio State had entered the game against Michigan undefeated with national championship aspirations on three of those occasions ( 1993 , 1995 , and 1996 ) . This , combined with Cooper ' s 3 – 8 bowl record led to his firing after the 2000 season and replacement by Jim Tressel . Tressel immediately ushered in a new era in the Ohio State - Michigan rivalry , upsetting the Wolverines 26 – 20 in 2001 , his first season at the helm . This came on the heels of another last - second loss in which Michigan State defeated Michigan with a pass in the last second of the game in a controversial finish that led to the game being referred to as " Clockgate . " Despite these setbacks , Michigan ' s 2001 squad , led by John Navarre , went 8 – 4 with an appearance in the 2002 Florida Citrus Bowl . Again under Navarre in 2002 , Michigan compiled a 10 – 3 record , but included another loss to Ohio State , who would go on to win the national championship . Carr got over the hump against Tressel in 2003 as John Navarre and Doak Walker Award - winning running back Chris Perry led the Wolverines to a 10 – 3 record , a Big Ten championship , and an appearance in the 2004 Rose Bowl . For the 2004 season , Carr turned to highly - rated recruit Chad Henne to lead the Wolverines at quarterback . Michigan went 10 – 3 to tie for another Big Ten championship and earn a trip to the 2005 Rose Bowl , but the season again included a loss to Ohio State , who only went 8 – 4 on the season . Carr , who had started off with a stellar record against Cooper ' s Ohio State , seemed to have much more trouble beating Tressel ' s version of the Buckeyes . In addition , Michigan was beginning to have a reputation for struggling with the spread offense , with teams such as the Purdue Boilermakers led by Drew Brees in 2000 , the Oregon Ducks in 2003 , and the Texas Longhorns led by Vince Young in the 2005 Rose Bowl all putting many points on Lloyd Carr ' s defense . In 2005 , Michigan struggled to make a bowl game , only going 7 – 5 , with the season capped with another loss to Ohio State . Expectations were tempered going into the 2006 season ; however , a 47 – 21 blowout of # 2 Notre Dame and an 11 – 0 start propelled Michigan to the # 2 rankings going into " The Game " with # 1 Ohio State . The 2006 Ohio State - Michigan game was hailed by the media as the " The Game of the Century . " The day before the game , Bo Schembechler passed away , leading to Ohio State to honor him with a moment of silence , one of the few Michigen Men to be so honored in Ohio Stadium . The game itself was a back - and - fourth affair , with Ohio State winning 42 – 39 for the right to play in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game . Michigan would lose to USC in the 2007 Rose Bowl , ending the season at 11 – 2 . Going into 2007 , Michigan had high expectations . Standout players Chad Henne , Mike Hart , and Jake Long all opted to return for their senior seasons for one last crack at Ohio State and a chance at a national championship , causing Michigan to be ranked fifth in the preseason polls . However , Michigan ' s struggles against the spread offense reared its ugly head again as the Wolverines shockingly lose the opener to the Appalachian State Mountaineers . The game marked the first win by a Division I - AA team over a team ranked in the Associated Press Poll . The next week , Michigan was blown out by Oregon , another spread team . Despite the early rough start , Michigan would go on to win their next eight games and went into the Ohio State game with a chance to win the Big Ten championship . However , Michigan once again fell to the Buckeyes , this time 14 – 3 . After the game , Lloyd Carr announced that he would retire from Michigan after the bowl game . In the 2008 Capital One Bowl , Carr ' s final game , Michigan defeated the Florida Gators , 41 – 35 . Carr ' s accomplishments at Michigan included a 122 – 40 record , five Big Ten championships , and one national championship . Rodriguez era ( 2008 – 2010 ) . Following Carr ' s retirement , Michigan launched a coaching search that ultimately saw Rich Rodriguez lured away from his alma mater , West Virginia University . Rodriguez ' s arrival was the beginning of a major upheaval at Michigan . Rodriguez replaced the pro - style offense that had been used by Carr and replaced it with his spread offense . The offseason saw major attrition in Michigan ' s roster . The expected starting quarterback Ryan Mallett departed the program , stating that he would be unable to fit in a spread offense . Starting wide receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington both decided to forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft . After the offseason ended , Michigan faced a depth crisis and was forced to start players with very little playing experience . Michigan entered the 2008 season with uncertainty as to how the new regime would handle the transition . Michigan ' s season ended up being among the worst in the program ' s history , as the team posted a 3 – 9 record and missed a bowl game for the first time since 1974 and suffered their first losing campaign since 1967 . The 2009 season saw many changes from the previous year . A new practice facility replaced Oosterbaan Fieldhouse as Michigan ' s indoor practice facility , and two new quarterbacks , Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson , became the focus of the offseason . The week before the season began , however , the " Detroit Free Press " accused the team of violating the NCAA ' s practice time limits . While the NCAA conducted investigations , Michigan won its first four games , including a last second victory against its rival Notre Dame . The season ended in disappointment , however , as Michigan went 1 – 7 in its last eight games and missed a bowl for the second straight season . Rodriguez ' s final season began with new hope in the program , as Robinson was named the starting quarterback over Forcier . Robinson led the Wolverines to a 5 – 0 start , but after a defeat to Michigan State at home , the Wolverines finished the season 2 – 5 over their last seven games . Michigan did , however , qualify for a bowl game with a 7 – 5 record , and clinched its bowl berth in dramatic fashion against Illinois , with Michigan winning 67 – 65 in three overtime periods . The game was the highest combined scoring game in Michigan history , and saw Michigan ' s defense give up the most points in its history . Michigan was invited to the Gator Bowl to face Mississippi State , where it lost 52 – 14 . The Michigan defense set new school records as the worst defense in Michigan history . In the middle of the season , the NCAA announced its penalties against Michigan for the practice time violations . The program was placed on three years probation and docked 130 practice hours , which was twice the amount Michigan had exceeded . Rodriguez was fired following the bowl game , with athletic director David Brandon citing Rodriguez ' s failure to meet expectations as the main reason his dismissal . Rodriguez left the program winless against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State , and compiled a 15 – 22 record , the worst record of any head coach in Michigan history . Recent history ( 2011 – present ) . Michigan announced the hiring of Brady Hoke on January 11 , 2011 . Hoke led the Wolverines to a successful first season , beating rival Notre Dame in Michigan ' s first night game at Michigan Stadium in a spectacular comeback . Despite losing to Iowa and Michigan State , the Wolverines finished with a 10 – 2 regular season record with their first win over Ohio State in seven years . The Wolverines received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl in which they defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies , 23 – 20 , in overtime . Home venues . Washtenaw County Fairgrounds ( 1883 – 1892 ) . In the early days of Michigan football , Michigan played smaller home games at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds with larger games being held in Detroit at the Detroit Athletic Club . The Fairgrounds were originally located at the southeast intersection of Hill and Forest , but in 1890 moved to what is now the site of what is now Burns Park . Regents Field ( 1893 – 1905 ) . In 1890 , the Board of Regents authorized $ 3 , 000 for the purchase of a parcel of land along South State Street . In 1891 a further $ 4 , 500 was authorized " for the purpose of fitting up the athletic field . " Michigan began play on Regents Field in 1893 , with capacity being expanded to over 15 , 000 by the end of the field ' s use . Ferry Field ( 1906 – 1926 ) . By 1902 Regents Field had grown inadequate for the uses of the football team as a result of the sport ' s increasing popularity . Thanks to donations from Dexter M . Ferry , work began on planning the next home stadium for the Michigan football team . Powered by a $ 30 , 000 donation from Ferry , Ferry Field was constructed with a maximum temporary capacity of 18 , 000 for the 1906 season . Ferry Field would later be expanded to 21 , 000 in 1914 and 42 , 000 in 1921 . However , attendance was often over - capacity with crowds of 48 , 000 cramming into the small stadium . This prompted athletic director Fielding Yost to contemplate the construction of a much larger stadium . Michigan Stadium ( 1927 – present ) . Fielding H . Yost anticipated massive crowds as college football ' s popularity increased and wished to build a stadium with a capacity of at least 80 , 000 . Ultimately , the final plans authorized the construction of a stadium with a capacity of 72 , 000 with footings to be set in place to expand it beyond 100 , 000 later . Michigan Stadium was dedicated in 1927 during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes , drawing an over - capacity crowd of 84 , 401 . After World War II , crowd sizes increased , prompting another stadium expansion to a capacity of 93 , 894 in 1949 . Michigan Stadium cracked the 100 , 000 mark by expanding to 101 , 001 in 1955 . Michigan Stadium temporarily lost the title of " largest stadium " to Neyland Stadium of the Tennessee Volunteers in 1996 , but would recapture the title in 1998 with another expansion to 107 , 501 . In 2007 , the Board of Regents authorized a $ 226 million renovation to add a new press box , 83 luxury boxes , and 3 , 200 club seats . For the 2011 season , lights were installed at Michigan Stadium at the cost of $ 1 . 8 million . This allowed Michigan to play its first night game at home against Notre Dame in 2011 . Rivalries . Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry . Michigan and Notre Dame began playing each other in 1887 in Notre Dame ' s first football game . Since then , Michigan and Notre Dame have played in 39 contests , with Michigan holding a 23 – 15 – 1 advantage . The rivalry is notable due to the historical success of the football programs . Michigan is ranked # 1 in all - time winning percentage and wins while Notre Dame is # 2 and # 3 , respectively . However , the schools have traded positions in the past few years , sometimes with the result hinging on the game between the schools . Both schools also claim 11 national championships . Michigan – Ohio State rivalry . Michigan and Ohio State first played each other in 1897 and have since played in 108 contests with Michigan holding a 58 – 43 – 6 advantage . The rivalry was particularly enhanced during The Ten Year War , a period in which Ohio State was coached by Woody Hayes and Michigan was coached by Bo Schembechler . Overall , the Buckeye and Wolverine football programs have combined for 18 national titles , 76 conference titles , and 10 Heisman Trophy winners . Rivalry trophy games . Michigan plays two rivalry trophy games . Michigan plays Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug , with their record in games played for the Jug , which dates to 1909 , being 67 – 22 – 3 . The Wolverines currently hold the trophy having won the 2011 contest . Michigan also competes against Michigan State for the Paul Bunyan Trophy , which was introduced in 1953 by the then governor of Michigan , G . Mennen Williams . Michigan State has held the trophy for four years running . The overall series record for the Michigan – Michigan State rivalry is 67 – 32 – 5 in Michigan ' s favor . Program records and achievements . National championships . The following is a list of Michigan ' s 11 claimed national championships : Other undefeated seasons . Michigan was also undefeated in 12 other seasons : 1879 , 1880 , 1884 , 1885 , 1886 , 1887 , 1898 , 1910 , 1922 , 1930 , 1973 , 1992 Bowl games . Michigan has played in 41 bowl games in its history , compiling a record of 20 – 21 . Before missing a bowl game in 2008 , Michigan had made a bowl game 33 years in a row and had had a winning season for 40 straight years . From 1918 to 1945 , the Big Ten Conference did not allow its teams to participate in bowls . From 1946 to 1974 , only a conference champion , or a surrogate representative , was allowed to attend a bowl , the Rose Bowl , and no team could go two years in a row , with one exception . Head coaching history . " Note : Michigan did not play any outside games in 1882 . " Individual awards and honors . Heisman Trophy voting . Twenty - six Heisman Trophy candidates have played at Michigan , Three have won the award : Team and conference MVPs . Michigan Most Valuable Player Award ( 1926 – 1994 ) , officially renamed the Bo Schembechler Award ( 1995 – present ) ; winners of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten ' s MVP also noted : Michigan Football Legend . To honor a Michigan Football Legend , a patch is placed on the upper left chest of the jersey which was worn by the Michigan Football Legend during his time as a Wolverine . Desmond Howard became the first Michigan Football Legend when a patch bearing his name on the 21 jersey was introduced prior to the Michigan - Notre Dame game on September 10 , 2011 . Hall of Fame . College . Michigan alumni inductees to the College Football Hall of Fame include : Professional . Michigan alumni inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame include :