How great was the 1985 Michigan Defense?
October 26th, 2016 at 7:56 PM ^
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October 26th, 2016 at 9:08 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:52 PM ^
I had a turf burn on my hip so bad in college I couldn't move when wearing pants (even bandaged) without screaming for about three days.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:10 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 8:36 PM ^
LOL -- Scrolled down the thread planning to post exactly this. Great minds.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:38 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 8:56 PM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 8:57 AM ^
It's been enjoying too much Kowality Kielbasa.
Thanks for some levity on the morning after the Indians' loss.
October 27th, 2016 at 3:26 PM ^
I was hoping that the OP was just going to answer with "2x Better than the '85 Bears."
October 26th, 2016 at 8:18 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 8:27 PM ^
6 first downs; 1 for 13 on third down.
Rushing: 35 carries, 56 yards (1.6 ypc); Passing: 6 for 19, 1 INT, 83 yards; Total: 54 plays 139 yards (2.6 ypp).
Michigan had 20 first downs and 336 total yards on 71 plays.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:30 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:03 PM ^
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October 26th, 2016 at 9:39 PM ^
That's a totally garbage offensive day for Michigan too. <5ypp is pretty bad
October 26th, 2016 at 8:34 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 8:57 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:00 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:05 PM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 12:53 AM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 1:12 AM ^
October 28th, 2016 at 10:39 AM ^
That was in the dark days before OT (god I hated tie games). Iowa won the conference outright. UM finished the season 10-1-1 by beating Nebraska in The Fiesta Bowl.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:10 PM ^
I watched that iowa game on tv with my grandfather while visiting him in Florida. He was a Bo hater and between his shit talking and that last second field goal I couldn't take it anymore. We exchanged a few unpleasant words and I went back to my hotel. The old man got off light - I should have smacked him. :)
October 26th, 2016 at 10:56 PM ^
Oh my God the Hawkeye fans were a cocky lot and when we lost it was pure friggin hell
October 27th, 2016 at 1:25 AM ^
I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew!
October 27th, 2016 at 6:39 AM ^
After a loss as I was after that 1985 Iowa game. I thought we definitely should have won it. Then Iowa went to the Rose Bowl and got ass-stomped by some team (maybe UCLA?). It's a good thing I've mellowed in my old age.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:37 PM ^
As good as they were, what happens at 4:50 has got to be the least athletic looking sack celebration I've ever seen.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:55 PM ^
If the playoffs had existed in 1980, I think Michigan wins the National Championship that season.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:24 PM ^
Here were the AP standings at the end of the regular season:
1-Georgia (11-0), SEC Champion
2-Florida State (10-1) [L to Miami]
3-Pittsburgh (10-1) [L to FSU]
4-Oklahoma (9-2), Big 8 Champion [L to Stanford & Texas]
5-Michigan (9-2), Big 10 Champion [L to ND & SC]
6-Baylor (10-1), SWC Champion [L to SJSU]
7-Notre Dame (9-1-1) [L to USC, T Ga Tech]
8-Nebraska (9-2) [L to Oklahoma & FSU]
9-Alabama (9-2) [L to Miss St & ND]
10-Penn State (9-2) [L to Neb & Pitt]
Georgia was the obvious #1; Florida State was the obvious #2.
The other two are arguable. Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Michigan, Baylor and Notre Dame all deserved consideration for the third and fourth bids. I suspect the decision might have gone against Michigan, whose biggest win was against #11 Ohio State.
But yes, Michigan was possibly the best team in the nation at the end of the 1980 season; too bad that awful pass interference call had to go against them in the Notre Dame game. That plus an ill-advised fake punt against South Carolina are all that stood between Michigan and the #1 rating.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:35 PM ^
That was the year of that super-hyped late season ND-Alabama game then ND tied GT and Miss. State beat Alabama 6-3 the week prior to that game...when ND beat Alabama, both polls floated ND back up to #2 then an on probation USC team stomped on ND in Los Angeles...and the Sugar Bowl was stuck with ND.
Florida State was actually not highly thought of at that point in time and could have well been left out of a playoff scenario (Pitt was probably the more marketable independent).
Georgia, Pitt, Oklahoma, Michigan is your final 4 there.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
I agree they weren't highly thought of, but they clearly deserved the #2 seed that year. Florida State beat Pittsburgh, 38-22, in October, the week after they won at then-#3 Nebraska. You can't give Pitt the "Independent bid" over Florida State--they have the same record, FSU arguably played a tougher schedule, and FSU won the head-to-head matchup.
Georgia, Florida State, Oklahoma and (ugh) Notre Dame get the 4 bids. I'm giving it to ND because of the h2h win over Michigan, combined with the slightly better record.
October 27th, 2016 at 1:32 AM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:40 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 8:41 PM ^
Why aren't the players talking shit back and forth? They're just like, congratulating each other after good plays.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:14 PM ^
The '85 team is still my favorite Michigan team and the defense was phenominal. They only gave up 5 touchdowns during the regular season and that Fiesta Bowl vs high-powered Nebraska is one of the all-time great MIchigan bowl wins. Three flippin points from perfection.
October 26th, 2016 at 11:06 PM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 2:45 AM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^
That's my favorite team as well - my sophomore year in school. What a relief it was from the previous year, going 6-6 after Harbaugh broke his arm in the MSU game. That defense was outrageous, and I can remember it being a disappointment watching the 10th game of the year, a night game at Minnesota in the Metrodome, when the team surrendered its first PAT of the season during late game garbage time.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:21 PM ^
and Hammerstein were unblockable some games. Terrific defense, that loss to Iowa still pains me.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:40 PM ^
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October 27th, 2016 at 8:11 AM ^
That was the first road game i ever attended. Ended up spending the night in the Johnson county jail.
October 26th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^
October 27th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^
that Hammerstein TFL at 4:15 is just so smooth... and he and Messner that entire year were dominant.
Hammerstein was 1st team All American, as was DB Cochran iirc.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:49 PM ^
I was in high school in 85, I remember being more excited to watch the defense than the offense because they were so good. That was the first time I really got into watching defense, since my M heroes before that were Leach (local), AC (duh--AC), and Steve Smith (local). Hammerstein, Messner, Cochran, and apologies for all the names I'm forgetting were beasts.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:54 PM ^
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October 27th, 2016 at 1:21 AM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 9:57 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 11:02 PM ^
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October 26th, 2016 at 9:58 PM ^
against Jim Everett are tremendous.
October 26th, 2016 at 10:22 PM ^