Under fourth-year head coach Fritz Crisler, Michigan compiled a record of 6–1–1 (3–1–1 Big Ten), outscored opponents 147 to 41 and was ranked No.

[1] With a strong, veteran line, the Wolverines also shut out four of their eight opponents: Pittsburgh (40–0); Columbia (28–0); Illinois (20–0); and Iowa (6–0).

[3] From the 1940 team, the Wolverines lost five key starters to graduation: halfback Tom Harmon, quarterback Forest Evashevski, end Ed Frutig and guards Ralph Fritz and Milo Sukup.

[6] Michigan also returned several veteran linemen, including starting center Robert Ingalls and tackles Al Wistert and Reuben Kelto.

[1][2] In an article published in mid-September, coach Crisler predicted that Michigan's outlook for another superior team was dim.

[4] Michigan's biggest task in the pre-season was to find a player to take on the tailback position that had been filled by Tom Harmon from 1938 to 1940.

[3][4] As fall practice got underway, the leading prospects to take over Harmon's position included the following individuals: Tom Kuzma, a sophomore and a native of Harmon's home town of Gary, Indiana; David M. Nelson, who was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach; Paul White, who later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Don Robinson, who served as a heavy bomber pilot in World War II; and Harold "Tippy" Lockard, a junior from Canton, Ohio, who enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Michigan State took the lead on the third play from scrimmage with a 74-yard sweep around left end by halfback Jack Fenton.

The game's only points were scored in the first quarter after sophomore halfback Tom Kuzma returned a punt 22 yards, supported by a key block from quarterback George Ceithaml, to Iowa's 18-yard line.

The New York Times wrote: "A powerhouse line, impregnable on the defense and a juggernaut on the offense; an abundance of ball-carriers who possessed speed, force and deception, plus the knowledge of how and when to employ these weapons, stamped Michigan's superiority throughout.

The touchdown was scored on a trick play as Westfall faked a run from Northwestern's 10-yard line, handed the ball to quarterback George Ceithaml who then lateraled the ball to halfback Tom Kuzma who threw to end Harlin Fraumann in the end zone.

Minnesota won the game by a 7 to 0 score on a five-yard touchdown run by halfback Herman Frickey in the second quarter.

The crowd of 85,753 at Michigan Stadium was the largest to that date to see a football game between two Big Ten Conference teams.

Allison Danzig of The New York Times described Michigan's performance as "butchery" and "a horrendous outpouring of volcanic power" featuring bewildering trickery, "explosive running" and "obliterating blocking", and praised the Wolverines as "one of the greatest football teams ever turned loose" on Columbia's field.

[25] On December 1, 1941, the Associated Press released the results of its final football ranking poll of the 1941 season.

With 945-1/2 points and 84 of 96 first place votes, the national championship was awarded to Minnesota, the only team to defeat Michigan during the 1941 season.

[27] With respect to individual awards, fullback Bob Westfall was the only Wolverine to receive first-team All-America honors.

Westfall was a consensus All-American,[28] receiving first-team honors from the All-America Board, Collier's Weekly (selected by Grantland Rice), the International News Service, Liberty magazine, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newsweek, the Sporting News, the United Press, the Central Press Association and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.