24 years ago today! Dreisbach to Hayes!
August 26th, 2019 at 10:48 PM ^
The adrenaline’s a pumpin’
August 26th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
I was 10 at the time, and this game was when my Michigan fandom kicked into overdrive. I was a fan earlier(I have vague memories of the 28-0 M-OSU game in 1993) but I wasn't a fanatic until the M-UVA game.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
I can't imagine the horror people were feeling down 17-0 with an interim head coach in his first game. For the life of me I can't find a high res photo of the catch.
This was just a month after I was born. I had a quilt as a baby that had the Pigskin Classic shirt on it. Cool story bro.
This kickoff classic is one of the only times a visitor's name is painted in the endzone. The opposite end had VIRGINIA in orange and blue and was in the same font as our endzone.
August 26th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^
Yes, it was a very unpleasant feeling.
But that freshman kid from Ohio wearing #2 who came into the game at CB after an injury to the starter sure seemed to have a certain swagger about him right from the get-go....
August 26th, 2019 at 11:31 PM ^
Was at the game, same corner end zone where the catch was made. One of the things I’ll never forget, other than the comeback and how agonizingly slow it felt Michigan was coming to the line, was another fan nearby who was apparently from Ohio and would not stop talking up this Woodson kid.
August 27th, 2019 at 9:10 AM ^
I was there and ashamed to say we left--I remember it was hot as balls in the sun and my Dad was like we're out of here. But our car was blocked in, in the lot so we sat in it with the AC and listened as we pulled it out and we pounded on the ceiling in joy
August 27th, 2019 at 9:26 AM ^
I remember that. Seems like his name was announced several times. And also, even though he didn't see the field, this was also the first game on the sideline for a young QB who is still playing the game.
So even though the heat, the frustration and the great ending were what stood out that day, I now think of the game for the goats.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:05 PM ^
WD - Interesting tidbit about the "Virginia" painted in the opposite endzone. To your knowledge, were there other games at Michigan Stadium when this happened for a UM football game?
I'll hang up and listen.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:11 PM ^
Previously I had known this to be the only time opposing teams were featured in an endzone. When I saw rare footage of Ron Johnson's 347 yard rushing record game against Wisconsin in 1968 I learned it has happened before.
Very little footage out there of the infamous pre-Bo/50s & 60s era.
August 27th, 2019 at 9:16 AM ^
Stands at ground level we’re empty...what was the attendance?
August 27th, 2019 at 8:38 AM ^
Yeah, it was something to do with it being a "special game" called the Pigskin Classic. It was the inaugural game for college football that season and I guess rather than have it on a neutral field, this was what they came up with.
My wife and I were sitting in the opposite endzone from "the catch" so we couldn't see it that well. Other than the huge comeback, the one thing I remember about that game was how #$%&@ hot it was that day. Up in the 90's and humid. I think it's still the hottest gameday conditions I can ever remember.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:07 PM ^
It was my first game as a student. In fact, I went home to Detroit after the game because the dorms weren't open yet. And yes, it sucked being down 17-0.
No one knew at the time though that UVA was legit. Lots of NFL talent on that roster.
August 27th, 2019 at 6:42 AM ^
Casey Crawford/UVA played for the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Champs and later gave me The Pigskin Classic watch he received at the game for my birthday.
His father and I played together for years and are still best friends today.
UVA was a very good team in that era.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:00 PM ^
This was the second hottest football game I ever attended. (First is UM vs UCLA 2000, 114 degrees in the Rose Bowl). Winning the game on the last play is something everyone will never forget. Also our first game in section 32 after our row was removed in section 10 for wheelchair access.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
SMU last year was godawful.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:53 PM ^
Ha, I was also at that UCLA game. I remember it was so hot that the beers pregame were going through me like water.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^
One of my favorite games obviously.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
SI (the actual magazine) had your avatar pic as their two page table of contents picture and I had that framed or some shit for a long time, don't have it any longer.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Looking at where Mercury is in the end zone (and moving at full speed) compared to where the ball is in the air...how in the hell did he manage to get that foot down? Incredible.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:50 AM ^
Thought the same thing. And he got both feet down.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
One of the hottest games I ever attended at Michigan.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:52 PM ^
yep, it was brutal hot
August 27th, 2019 at 7:36 AM ^
I was lucky enough to sit down close to the Michigan bench. Every once in a while the mist from the cool zone would hit. Still wasn’t enough, but welcomed all the same.
August 27th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
The 5-0 Purdue game later that season had better weather. You just can NOT get comfy in humid 95 degrees packed like sardines with other sweaty people. The heat was miserable.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:51 PM ^
that was my first game as a student at Michigan. it was the Pigskin Kickoff Classic so it was not part of the student ticket package so my buddy and I sat in the corner of that endzone where he caught the pass, it was incredible.
I might be wrong, but I think this was the only game I can remember where there wasn't an official student section. Or maybe since I was a new student I just didn't get a student section seat for that game.
I kept that ticket stub in my wallet for years.
August 26th, 2019 at 11:52 PM ^
That final play is definitely one of my favorite moments in Michigan Stadium. The energy was incredible(at least at the end) despite how hot it was. Makes me think of what it would have been like in 2013 against OSU if that 2 pt conversation would have been good. Grrrr.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:52 AM ^
We might have been stuck with Hoke for another year had that happened, so let's call it even and just forget any of it ever happened.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
I remember watching it at El Caliente the Tijuana sports book right across the border.
Ironically, it was Air Conditioned.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^
Good Lord, how has it been 24 years since that play?
Major thanks to Tyrone Butterfield for dropping the pass on the previous play, which gave us one more chance.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:16 AM ^
As I have said numerous times, I knocked it down to save time for one last play.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
I stand corrected.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:14 AM ^
I was there. Knocked down the pass from Dreisbach to save time for one last play. Very hot and miserable until the 4th quarter. Obviously the ending made it worth it.
August 27th, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
Butters!
August 27th, 2019 at 12:19 AM ^
Musberger; what an asshat.
Never realized growing up how much of a jerk Musberger was - only after it was pointed out to me did I pick up on it
4:41, down 0-17, finally score with 11:30 to go in 4th...
"And Lloyd Carr will not be shut out!"
August 27th, 2019 at 12:37 AM ^
This offends you somehow? Would it have been better if he said "And Michigan will not be shut out"? He's one of the nicest guys in sports. Just happened to say what he was thinking about Miss Alabama...
August 27th, 2019 at 2:06 AM ^
Yeah I totally don't understand the Musberger hate. If you can't have Keith Jackson (has anyone heard from him lately, by the way?), nothing else comes as close as having Musberger open a game with "You are looking LIVE at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan" when I'm pumped for a big game.
His comments about what's-her-name were so completely overblown--- blame the producer, if anything, who kept cutting to shots of her in the stands. If the producer is showing her on camera, what is Brent supposed to do, just let it go to dead air?
August 27th, 2019 at 9:17 AM ^
He just had a sort of annoying/cloying manner that didn't wear well with me ... every ... damn .... game.... there he was. He had none of what Keith Jackson oozed on every broadcast ... It wasn't one thing, it was everything. I don't think I would've hated him at all if he wasn't so saturated for so many years.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:36 AM ^
Wasn't this kind of an old incarnation of a "Week 0"?
August 27th, 2019 at 12:49 AM ^
Tiki and Rondee Barber both were on the field for UVA. Tiki ripped off an 81 yard run and Rondee was covering on the Hayes touchdown.
August 27th, 2019 at 12:52 AM ^
Freshman year of high school when it happened...I was in the living room watching and almost tore down the ceiling fan when Hayes caught it. It was well worth the fussing I heard from Dad about controlling my emotions. One of my early fandom/obsession moments being a Wolverine fan in NC!
August 27th, 2019 at 1:20 AM ^
My first game as a student! I was 18. ; )
August 27th, 2019 at 1:31 AM ^
That was the first UM game I ever attended. Unfortunately, every score in the game happened on the opposite end of the field from our seats. It was Lloyd Carr's first game as head coach, after Mo had been precipitously fired the previous spring for being a belligerent drunk at a restaurant. Nobody knew where the program was headed, as Michigan had the dreaded "interim" coach. It was one of the hottest football games Ann Arbor had ever seen, pushing high 90's with 100% humidity. We were seated between a redneck UM fan, who spent the whole game having a one-sided, critical conversation with "Lloyd", and a really elegant and lovely woman with a UVA polo on who kept telling me that she was glad all UM fans weren't like that fella. Every time Dreisback would make a bad throw, the guy would say "why don't you put in your son Lloyd?", as back then Jason Carr was the back-up.
August 27th, 2019 at 2:00 AM ^
I was there. Crazy hot. Even crazier comeback.
August 27th, 2019 at 2:07 AM ^
First Michigan game of my life (still got the commemorative cup, pictured below). Also the worst sunburn of my life. Probably will get commemorative melanoma eventually.
August 27th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
I used to collect those from games in the 80s and 90s. Never had that one! It's a classic! Don't let your wife throw it out.
August 27th, 2019 at 2:13 AM ^
It was also an unusual game in that Michigan scored only touchdowns: no field goals, safeties, or PAT kicks or trys.
When else has that happened?
August 27th, 2019 at 7:24 AM ^
In retrospect, we should be grateful that Remy missed that first PAT. If he hit it, and assumingly hit the next one, it’d have been 17-14, we’d have gone for a tying field goal (and no OT back then, so a 17-17 tie would have been it) and the Hayes catch would never have happened.
August 27th, 2019 at 6:20 AM ^
Too bad we didn’t have the all-important instant replay in those days. I definitely wish this moment included everyone sitting quietly for five minutes before we could celebrate again!
(Do I really need the sarc tag?)
August 27th, 2019 at 6:27 AM ^
I have a Dreisbach jersey signed by the entire 1997 team hanging in my basement. Most people that are not really UM fans assume it is a Brady jersey because they don't know that Brady wore #10 at UM.
Probably why I was able to get it so cheap. LOL
August 27th, 2019 at 6:33 AM ^
I sat in the opposite endzone. Could only tell by crowd reaction. Kind of a slow motion wave of celebration.