The game was the 13th meeting between the two programs, and Michigan had won all 12 of the prior games by a combined score of 351 to 37. Michigan opened its 1909 season at Ferry Field with a 3–0 victory over the team from Cleveland's Case Scientific School. Under competent coaching such as they will have the men will learn a lot about the Michigan style of playing and this will be invaluable when they come up for the Varsity team in future years.' Prentiss Douglass was hired as the coach of the freshman team, and he led the freshman to a 5-0 record. Yost said at the time, 'It is to the freshmen that we must look for our future Michigan teams and I am glad that it has been decided to allow us to have such a team.

Michigan's Board in Control of Athletics also re-established a freshman football team in 1909 after the freshman football program had been ceased four years earlier.

The rule changes for 1909 included reducing the value of a field goal (whether by drop kick or place kick) from four points to three points. The 1909 season was played under changed rules. By the time training camp ended two weeks later, the team had grown to 22 players, and The Michigan Alumnus reported that it promised to be one of Michigan's best teams in years, with 'one of the speediest and most aggressive backfields in the west, if not in the country.' The most significant loss from the 1908 team was All-American center Germany Schulz. Twelve men reported on the first day of camp, including five veterans who had won varsity letters on the 1908 team: team captain Dave Allerdice, quarterback William Wasmund, guard Albert Benbrook, James K. Michigan's fall training camp began on September 20, 1909, at Whitmore Lake. However, I am not so sure that that time has come.' He noted that the 'training table' was the biggest obstacle to Michigan's rejoining the conference and contended that the training table was 'a great factor in getting the men into the condition necessary for hard football' and avoiding serious injuries. He told the press, 'I always have thought that Michigan's place is in the conference, and moreover, I have thought that when conditions were so we could return, it would be the only thing for us to do. In September 1909, Barthelme stated his intention to return Michigan to the conference, though he did not think the time was yet right. The change in athletic directors led to speculation that Michigan might be prepared to return to the Western Conference. In July 1909, Michigan hired Philip Bartelme as the school's second athletic director following the resignation of Charles A. Andrew Smith was also named the first-team All-Western center, despite having only moved to the position for the last two games of the season. Magidsohn was the first Jewish athlete to win a varsity 'M' at the University of Michigan. Allerdice, who was the 1909 team captain, also received first-team All-American honors from The New York Times and syndicated sports columnist Tommy Clark. Both of Michigan's halfbacks, Dave Allerdice and Joe Magidsohn, were chosen by Camp as second-team All-Americans and also received first-team honors on Walter Eckersall's All-Western team in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Left guard Albert Benbrook was the first Western lineman (and the fifth Western player at any position) to be selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp. Several players from the 1909 Michigan team received recognition for their performance. The 1909 Minnesota game was the first game played for possession of the Little Brown Jug, the oldest rivalry trophy in college football.

In Minneapolis, they defeated the previously unbeaten 1909 Western Conference champions from Minnesota, 15–6. In Philadelphia, they defeated the 1908 national champion Penn Quakers, 12–6, breaking the Quakers' 23-game winning streak. The Wolverines then finished the season with impressive road victories over two of the best teams in the country. Following the game, a Detroit newspaper described Notre Dame's predominantly Irish-American lineup as a group of 'Fighting Irishmen', giving birth to the team's nickname. The team's sole setback came in the fifth game, losing to Notre Dame (11–3) for the first time in nine games between them. The team began its season with four consecutive victories, including close calls against Case (3–0) and Marquette (6–5) and dominating performances against Ohio State (33–6) and Syracuse (44–0). The Wolverines compiled a record of 6–1, outscored opponents 116 to 34, and held six of seven opponents to six points or less. The 1909 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1909 college football season.

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