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Michigan vs. Syracuse

Michigan and Syracuse have 12 meetings on file, the first in 1908; Michigan leads the series 6–⁠5–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Michigan 5–⁠4.

Michigan wins
6
Syracuse wins
5
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1908
Longest streak
2 Michigan
Current streak
1 Michigan
Last 10 meetings
Michigan 5–⁠4
Most recent
1999

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s1–⁠1
1910s4–⁠3–⁠1
1990s1–⁠1
Both ranked
1 meeting: Michigan 0, Syracuse 1
Average margin
14.8 points; 3 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Michigan
4–⁠2–⁠1 Michigan’s record at home
At Syracuse
3–⁠2 Syracuse’s record at home
Shutouts
3

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Michigan’s biggest win1909: Michigan 44, Syracuse 0by 44 points
  2. Syracuse’s biggest win1908: Syracuse 28, Michigan 4by 24 points
  3. Upset1998: Syracuse 38, Michigan 28Syracuse had a 35% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Ranked showdown1998: Syracuse 38, Michigan 28No. 19 Syracuse at No. 13 Michigan

Coach against coach

YearsMichiganSeriesSyracuse
1913–⁠1918Fielding Yost2–⁠2Frank “Buck” O’Neill

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Michigan’s side (Yost 2–⁠2 against O’Neill). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Michigan and Syracuse, 1908 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The The sun's story of the 1908 game: bic VICTORY FOR SYRACUSE MICHIGAN ERWHELMED BY SCORE or IS TO 4. Goal From the Field Early In the Game the Only scOre for the WesteRners Five T0uchdowns Made IN Lively Fashion Beu1ldeF Vests WaFPt0Fs.

    1908 · The sun, New York, Nov 22, 1908

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1909 game: SCHOOL GAMES. MICHIGAN is VICTOR BLOW FOR SYRACUSE. 1nn 1rbOr Team SmOthers Eastern EleTen.

    1909 · New-York tribune, New York, Oct 31, 1909

  • The Rock Island Argus's story of the 1910 game: SUPERIOR Minnesota Sustains Reputation as Champions of West in Chicago Game. MAKE THE SCORE II TO o Michigan Plays Old Style Football Against Syracuse and Wins Harvard Downs Cadets.

    1910 · Rock Island Argus, Rock Island, Ill., Oct 31, 1910

  • The The Washington times's story of the 1911 game: SURE TO DEFEAT PENN

    1911 · The Washington times, District of Columbia, Nov 6, 1911

  • The Evening star's story of the 1912 game: HUMBLES MICHIGAN Syracuse Finds Itself and Beats YoSt's Team, Is to Z. PLAYED ON A WET FIELD Castle, Star of Game, Makes Touch down After a 45.Yard Run.

    1912 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 27, 1912

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Sep 18, 19996Michigan 18, Syracuse 13at Syracuse
Sep 12, 199819Syracuse 38, 13Michigan 28at Michigan
Nov 16, 1918Michigan 15, Syracuse 0at Michigan
Oct 28, 1916Michigan 14, Syracuse 13at Michigan
Oct 30, 1915Syracuse 14, Michigan 7at Michigan
Oct 24, 1914Syracuse 20, Michigan 6at Syracuse
Nov 1, 1913Michigan 43, Syracuse 7at Michigan
Oct 26, 1912Syracuse 18, Michigan 7at Syracuse
Nov 4, 1911Michigan 6, Syracuse 6at Michigan
Oct 29, 1910Michigan 11, Syracuse 0at Syracuse
Oct 30, 1909Michigan 44, Syracuse 0at Michigan
Nov 21, 1908Syracuse 28, Michigan 4at Syracuse

Every game is listed as played on the field.