1906 Michigan Wolverines football team

1906 Michigan Wolverines football
Western Conference co-champion
Conference	Western Conference
1906 record	4–1 (1–0 Western)
Head coach	Fielding H. Yost (6th year)
Captain	Joe Curtis
Home stadium	Ferry Field
Seasons ← 1905 1907 →

The 1906 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1906 college football season. The team's head coach was Fielding H. Yost in his sixth year at Michigan. The team compiled a record of 4–1 and outscored opponents, 72 to 30.

The 1906 season was played under two sets of new rules. First, the rules governing intercollegiate were changed to promote a more "open" and less dangerous style of play. The changes included the legalization of the forward pass and allowing the punting team to recover an "on-side" kick as a live ball. Second, the Big Nine Conference enacted new rules, including a rule limiting teams to five games (a drastic reduction from the 13 games played by Michigan in 1905) and prohibitions on the "training table" and pre-season training before the start of the academic year.

Also before the season began, university officials ruled that two of the stars from the 1905 team, Germany Schulz and Walter Rheinschild, were academically ineligible to compete in football. Despite the setbacks, Michigan won its first four games by a combined score of 72 to 13. The season opener against Case Scientific School was the first game played on the new Ferry Field. During the bye week before the final game of the season, Michigan's captain Joe Curtis sustained a severely broken leg in a practice game against the "scrub" team. The Wolverines lost their final game to the Penn Quakers, 17–0, at Philadelphia's Franklin Field.

Two Michigan players, Joe Curtis and fullback John Garrels, were selected as first-team All-Western players. Garrels, who had broken world records in the discus throw and the high hurdles, was also selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp.

On October 6, 1906, Michigan opened its season with a 28–0 victory over the team from Cleveland's Case Scientific School. The game was the first played at the newly completed Ferry Field and attracted a crowd estimated at 2,000 persons. The Detroit Free Press called the field "a beauty." The game was the 10th meeting between the two programs. Michigan had won all nine of the prior games by a combined score of 298 to 31.