1880 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1880 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1880 college football season . The team was the second intercollegiate football team to represent the University of Michigan . They played one game , defeating the team from the University of Toronto , 13 to 6 , at the Toronto Lacrosse Club . Michigan scored two touchdowns and one goal ; Toronto scored three safety touchdowns . The team had no coach , and John Chase was the captain . Chase later became a general and commander of the Colorado National Guard in two of the most significant confrontations between American military forces and organized labor – the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903 – 1904 and the Ludlow Massacre of April 1914 . The team ' s quarterback , Edmond H . Barmore , went into the business of building steamships from 1881 to 1886 and later operated the Los Angeles Transfer Company for approximately 40 years . Season summary . Pre - season . Although the 1880 season featured only one inter - collegiate game , that game was preceded by a series of inter - class football games . The first inter - class game was a game between the freshman and the sophomores that stretched across three Saturdays . The game began on Saturday , September 25 , 1880 , with John " Tubby " Chase serving as the referee . The game was resumed two weeks later on Saturday , October 9 . On the latter date , the game attracted a crowd estimated at 700 spectators : " The players was [ sic ] greatly impeded by the crowd , which must have numbered 700 , and which followed the ball almost as closely as the players . " The game was completed on Saturday , October 23 . Having won five of the nine " innings " played , the freshman team was declared the winner . The game was played on a field near the hospital , and " The Chronicle " ( a weekly newspaper at the University of Michigan ) commented on the violence in one of the " rushes " that occurred near the hospital : " The one which took place on the hospital steps was almost worthy of a grammar school . It would have been more to the point if the fresh . had displayed their muscle in the ring . " On October 16 , 1880 , " The Chronicle " urged every student participate in rugby : " Every student in the University is requested and urged to come out and play Rugby from two to four in the afternoon . A practice game will also be played every Saturday morning in which those more proficient in the game are invited to participate . It is desirable that every player should turn out as the committee have only their observations to guide them in the selection of a team , and in consequence of the number of players we have lost in the class of ' 80 , more than the usual quota of men will have to be chosen this year . " Because there were no other Midwestern colleges playing football in 1880 , " The Chronicle " reported with interest on a nascent effort to develop a football team at Ohio Wesleyan University . The paper reprinted an editorial from the Ohio Wesleyan newspaper declaring , " It seems to us that there ought to be enough life among the students to get up an interest in the game and play rugby , at least , once in a while . " " The Chronicle " also reported that interest in sports was diminishing among the students at Cornell University ( which became a football rival for Michigan in the late 1880s and 1890s ) , and that rugby had not been introduced there . On October 16 , 1880 , " The Chronicle " wrote that the Athletic Association ' s corresponding secretary was in correspondence with the football association at the University of Toronto concerning a game between the two schools . " The Chronicle " noted : " As Toronto is to play Harvard this fall , there is a possibility of our being able to arrange a match with the latter , and at last accomplish the long - talked of game with some eastern college . " at Toronto . On November 6 , 1880 , the Michigan football team played its only game of the season against the team from the University of Toronto . The game was the third official game played by the Michigan football team since it began during the 1879 season and the first by Michigan in a foreign country . The team left Ann Arbor on Friday morning , November 5 , on the Michigan Central Railroad . " The Chronicle " described the traveling group as " a very jolly party " that enlivened the trip with college songs . The team arrived in Toronto on Friday night and stayed at the Rossin House Hotel in the city center . Because of " damp and dismal " weather on Saturday morning , few of the players engaged in sight - seeing and the Toronto team proposed postponing the game until Monday . The teams opted to proceed with the game as scheduled on Saturday . The game was played at the Toronto Lacrosse Club starting at 2 : 55 pm and was scheduled for two 45 - minute innings . " The Chronicle " described the playing conditions : " [ T ] hroughout the whole of the first inning , the rain was increasing , and , joined with a cold wind from the north , soon drenched and all but froze both players and spectators . The ground was slippery and muddy , the water stood in pools , the ball was soon heavy , and in short circumstances were decidedly against either good playing or enjoyment of it . " The temperature became colder in the later afternoon , and the Toronto team proposed ending the game after the first inning . The teams ultimately agreed to play a shortened second inning of 37 minutes . During the first inning , Michigan was aided by having the wind at its back and running downhill on a slightly sloped field . In the second inning , the teams switched sides . The game ended at 4 : 27 pm with Michigan ahead 13 – 6 . The scoring for Michigan consisted of " one goal , two touch downs [ one by halfback William Calvert ] , and two tries for goal , against three safety touch downs which Toronto was compelled to make . " Michigan ' s starting lineup against Toronto was Elnathan P . Hathaway ( 140 pounds , fullback / goalkeeper ) , Randolph W . Brown ( 165 pounds , halfback ) , Richard Millard Dott ( 145 pounds , halfback ) , Edmond H . Barmore ( 147 pounds , quarterback ) , John " Tubby " Chase ( 178 pounds , captain and forward ) , Richard G . DePuy ( 150 pounds , forward ) , Frank Gates Allen ( 170 pounds , forward ) , William Graham ( 150 pounds , forward ) , Walter S . Horton ( 155 pounds , forward ) , William B . Calvert ( 158 pounds , forward ) , and Collins H . Johnston ( 150 pounds , forward ) . Frank Wormwood began the game as the umpire for Michigan , but he was called into the game to replace DePuy , who was badly injured after being " bunted into the fence by a Toronto man . " Charles Thomson took over as the umpire for Michigan . After the game , the Toronto team hosted the Michigan team at a reception held at the College Residence . The team spent Sunday in Toronto and departed on the 9 : 50 Great Western train on Monday morning .