The new coach undeniably had good material to work with in his first team. Most of the men comprising it had been well trained in the finer points of the game by his predecessor and included such exceptional players as Captain Hugh White, '02_l_, tackle; Curtis Redden, '03_l_, end; Neil Snow, '02, full-back; Harrison S. ("Boss") Weeks, '02_l_, quarter; and Everett Sweeley, '03, half-back; while to this list were added that year Martin Heston, '04_l_, one of the greatest backs in the history of the game; the center, George Gregory, '04_l_; and the old reliable guard Dan McGugin, '04_l_. This team under Yost's astute and resourceful direction proved invincible, and became one of the greatest elevens in the history of football. Whether it could have dealt successfully with the Eastern champions will always be a question, but it certainly found little effective opposition in the West; for the final record showed an uninterrupted succession of victories with not a point scored against the team. The total tells the story, 550 points to 0; with the University of Buffalo beaten by the extraordinary score of 128 to 0. The final game of the season was played with Stanford at Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day, 1902. The quality of the team was shown by the fact that they won by a score of 49 to 0 in spite of the fact that they had been in training for four months, and left Michigan in zero weather to play in what was to them a summer heat. Snow was given a place that year on Caspar Whitney's All-American Team, while Walter Camp selected Snow, Weeks, Heston, and Bruce Shorts, '01_l_ (tackle), for the All-Western team.
Except for the fact that the eleven was scored upon twice, once by Case and once by Minnesota, the record in 1902 was much the same as in 1901, 644 points to their opponents' 12.
Although there were many changes in the team the following year, there was a consistent development of team-work, which, combined with Heston's extraordinary ability in carrying the ball, enabled Michigan to go through the season with only one score against the team, in a tie game with Minnesota. The 1904 team, though it was scored upon three times, was also uniformly victorious under the leadership of Heston, who was twice given a place on Camp's All-American, as well as his All-Time All-American team chosen in 1910. The 1905 Championship passed to Chicago, however, though the team was scored upon only by the two points which lost Michigan the final game with Chicago. This defeat came as a result of an error in judgment which cost Michigan a safety instead of the touch-back that might easily have changed defeat into at least a tie. The following men composing this team were very generally selected for All-Western honors; Thomas S. Hammond, '06_l_, half-back; Joseph S. Curtis, '07_e_, tackle; and Henry F. Schulte, '07, guard, who were members of the 1903 and 1904 elevens, and Adolph ("Germany") Schulz, _e_'04-09, center. Not a little credit for the record of this team must also be given to the captain, Fred S. Norcross, '06_e_, while John C. Garrels, '07_e_, end, destined to hold a record only second to Niel Snow, as an all-round athlete, and Walter ("Octy") Graham, '08_e_, who proved extraordinarily active at end and later at guard, in spite of his 215 pounds, first won their "M's" as players on the 1905 eleven.