page_title: 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team
section_title: Week 8: at Wisconsin
hierarchical_section_title: 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team / Season summary / Week 8: at Wisconsin
caption_attribution_description: English: Bump Elliott, Pete Elliott, Fritz Crisler and Bruce Hilkene celebrate after Michigan clinched a Big Nine championship with a victory over Wisconsin Bump Elliott, Pete Elliott, Fritz Crisler and Bruce Hilkene celebrate after Michigan clinched a Big Nine championship with a victory over Wisconsin
context_page_description: The 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1947 Big Nine Conference football season. In its tenth year under head coach Fritz Crisler, Michigan compiled a perfect 10–0 record, won the Big Ten Conference championship, and defeated the USC Trojans by a score of 49–0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game. Although ranked second in the AP Poll at the end of the regular season, the Wolverines were selected as the nation's No. 1 team by a 226–119 margin over Notre Dame in an unprecedented AP Poll taken after the bowl games. The 1947 team outscored its opponents, 394–53, and has been selected as the best team in the history of Michigan football.
  The 1947 Michigan Wolverines included five players who have been inducted into the College or Pro Football Halls of Fame: left halfback Bob Chappuis, right halfback Bump Elliott, defensive quarterback Pete Elliott, defensive end Len Ford, and tackle Al Wistert. Offensive tackle Bruce Hilkene was the team captain, and quarterback Howard Yerges was the field general who became known as "Crisler's 'second brain.'" Jack Weisenburger was the "spinning fullback" and the 1947 Big Ten rushing leader.
context_section_description: In the eighth week, Michigan traveled to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin to play Wisconsin. Michigan won the game, 40-6, to clinch the Big Nine championship irrespective of the outcome of the following week's game against Ohio State. The game was played in cold, cloudy conditions amid rain and snow. Wisconsin came into the game on a four-game winning streak and "had been given a good chance to win."  The New York Times wrote that Michigan's "overwhelming superiority" was too much for the Badgers as Bob Chappuis "threw passes long and short and sliced through the Wisconsin line with increasing effectiveness."  Chappuis threw three touchdown passes, and Gene Derricotte returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown. Michigan's six touchdowns were scored by Howard Yerges (2), Derricotte, Weisenburger, Rifenburg, and Tom Peterson.  While Michigan defeated Wisconsin by 34 points, Notre Dame won a narrow victory against Northwestern, 26-19. After these games, Allison Danzig wrote:
  "While Notre Dame was yielding as many touchdowns to Northwestern's intercepting Couriers as its six previous opponents combined had scored, the Maize and Blue was furnishing one of the season's finest offensive displays in rain, snow and mud. Against a Wisconsin eleven that had won first-ten rating, Bob Chappuis, Bump Elliott and associates executed Crisler's clever concepts of attack with a speed, power and finish in their running and passing operations that marked one of the campaign's high spots."
  In the AP Poll following week eight, Michigan retook the No. 1 spot.
  Michigan's starting lineup against Minnesota was Mann (left end), Hilkene (left tackle), Tomasi (right guard), White (center), Wilkins (right guard), Pritula (right tackle), Rifenburg (right end), Yerges (quarterback), Chappuis (left halfback), Bump Elliott (right halfback), and Kempthorn (fullback).
caption: Elliott brothers, Crisler and Hilkene celebrate Big Nine championship in Wisconsin.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX200V", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "DSC-HX200V v1.00", "Image DateTime": "2013:05:07 16:25:45", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "262", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ImageDescription": "", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-HX200V", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail Software": "DSC-HX200V v1.00", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2013:05:07 16:25:45", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "38996", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4797", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Portrait Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "320", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "320", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:05:07 16:25:45", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:05:07 16:25:45", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "2331/640", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4896", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3672", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "38628", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Portrait", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24/5, 144, 14/5, 28/5]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "-16"}