Content Idea - Reader Input Desired
I'm cooking up a summer content idea for all you fine people and wanted some input before I get going. The overarching idea is a weekly breakdown of sorts of an old Michigan football game... I'm not sure exactly how it would be formatted but essentially the concept is I, a baby who hasn't seen any games from before 2007ish, and Craig Ross, a guy who has seen every Michigan game for 50+ years, would watch an old Michigan game together (from any time spanning the late 60s up through the mid-2000s).
We'd watch the game, Craig talking about what he remembers and how what we're watching lines up with his memory, and me taking it all in and observing what I'm noticing (watching the game for the first time) and how it compares to a modern lens/what I'm learning about it. After we watch the game, I'd write up a piece about the game blending in both Craig and I's analysis, dropping in clips of the game, breaking down big plays, and then some context being added before and after the game about the lead up to the game, how the game impacted that season overall, and how it squares with Michigan football history overall. The idea is the pieces would be part nostalgic (since most of you folks are much older than me) but also in hopefully interesting and informative looks back in time as we get ready for another season.
Assuming all of you, the readers, think this isn't a garbage idea for content, I'd like to know which games you'd most like to see us break down. Obviously I can't guarantee we have perfect footage of every game you nominate and I'd pick the most enticing ones, but let me know which ones stand out as the most interesting to see broken down in retrospect, or the ones you'd most like to have me watch, having never seen any of these before. I'd love to hear from all of you!
It's love to listen to this in podcast format?
Livestream it on a saturday and then edit it down to about 10 minutes of highlights for a post on tuesday.
Any M-OSU game is good, as are any competitive M-MSU or ND.
The entire 1997 season.
High ranked matchups...
When we got undressed by FSU and Syracuse.
The Anthony Thomas fumble game against NW.
The early PSU games when they joined the conference.
The first UM-PSU game in 1993 at Beaver Stadium. What a great game - that 4-down stand inside the 5!!! Awesome game!
The 67-65 OT win against Illinois. Everything good and bad about the Rich Rod era in one game.
I thought I was watching a Big 12 game.
JimCareyDryHeave.gif
That game was about the worst I ever felt after a UM win.
Oh look, Mikel Leshoure's open on another wheel route.... Maybe the Lions can draft him!
Don't know all of the legalities, but this would make for an excellent video podcast.
The Game 2003
Penn St 2005
Capitol One Bowl vs Florida 2008
1978 Clemson OSU Gator Bowl. J/K but that would be fun!
For me the 1979 Indiana game was epic. Not as sexy as ND/OSU/MSU games, but this one made the biggest impression on me as a kid. Corso thinking a tie is good as a win can keep sucking it. Ufer lost his cotton pickin mind calling it.
And dear God, Alex - if you and Craig review this game and don't include Ufer clips in the review, I'll fly to Ann Arbor and force feed an entire Ufer tape to you.
(Yes, there are several tapes/CD/albums, whatever, of Ufer clips from various games you can purchase. And they are well worth the minimal cost! Especially as the season gets near...)
Cool idea. The good games have already been mentioned in thread.
I was there.
I still cant explain.
How Drew Henson, David Terrell, A--Train, Marquise Walker, Maurice Williams, Bass, Hutchison, Backus lost to Darnell Autry and Northwestern.
I fear my soul will only R.I.P. with a UFR.
Well. They didn’t lose to Darnell Autry. They lost to Zak Kustok, Damien Anderson, Kunle Patrick, and a bunch of other guys you’ve either never heard of or don’t remember.
Autry’s NU teams had way more talent. If we have to see Alex and Craig do a loss (and I don’t want them to) the 2000 NU game is definitely one to autopsy because there was no way that NU team belonged on the same field as THAT Michigan roster. I remember NU QB Brett Basanez laughing manically at me one time as I went through the Michigan roster with him position by position. He asked how they ever lost a game let alone to that NU squad.
My suspicion is that NU’s “Winning Edge” conditioning program, additional hitting in practice, and “jet” hurry up offense gave them too many advantages in any aspect of the game that wasn’t pure talent.
I once had an athletic trainer who was with Texas for the M vs Vince Young Rose Bowl, then came to Northwestern. He told me that Northwestern spent much less time in walk throughs and way more time hitting and playing full speed than Mack Brown ever would allow. He said he had heard Carr was similar to Brown in that he was much more concerned about alignments and walk throughs and never wanted anyone to get injured. This makes sense of course when you have the talent advantage.
This was when we realized Jim Herrmann's D sucked and he lucked into 1997 after Benedict Arnold Mattison did the 1st of true back stabbings of UM coaches.
I was at the PSU game the next week (A Trains last home game) and he got huge cheers.
Love the idea. ‘86 Iowa please. Gillette walks it off
That was a great game. Iowa and UM played 3 games in 4 years decided by last second FG (we won 2 of 3). Beautiful day - sunsplashed day and sat with my sister in the other end of the field. Because of the nright sunshine, when Gillette kicked it, I lost flight of the ball but then saw the entire North EZ jumping up and down in excitement and knew it was good.
BTW: the former recruiting guy (3 day employee) is in the post game video celebration next to his dad for the Pat O'Brien interview.
Agree with the no losses thing, but if you are going to do one my personal favorite was the Rose Bowl loss to Vince Young/Texas.
‘85 v Iowa is a heartbreaker in that the team was so good that year
That was before my time (I would have been 2), but I went to the 04 Rose Bowl game in my last year in college. Super fun even though we lost.
our buddies were on that '85 team, harbuagh, jumbo jon elliot, the hammersteins and the mallorys. i had graduated the year before.
and yeah, if you can get over the loss in '04, that was a barn burner.
Michigan - Minnesota 2003.
An old-time game I’d like to hear CR’s take on was Wisconsin in 1968, a.k.a. Ron Johnson’s crowning glory as a Michigan RB. 347 yards in miserable November weather, upper 30’s, rain, and mud. I was there as a 16 year old, and other than Ron running in beast mode, I mostly remember being miserable. I would love to hear you two compare the reasons for run dominance vs. our recent run game.
[Edit] here’s some highlights, perhaps you can find full game footage.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gbnFs_mQD9Q&pp=ygUXTWljaGlnYW4td2lzY29uc2luIDE5Njk%3D
I was there, too. What a performance. The weather was incredibly miserable and there couldn't have been more than 30,000 people in the stands. But it was worth it. Those were the days -- when you could count on butt kicking teams like Wiscy and Iowa by 30 points or more every year.
I second any games with Ron Johnson.
My first time at Michigan Stadium was in 1967, I was 10, vs Navy. Sadly, we lost even though Johnson had over 200 yards.
Alex, please keep in mind Michigan and most schools did not have weight rooms until the late 1960s or early 1970s.
Thanks for bringing this up.
I was in college and attended that game.
One of the worst weather games, ever.
Cold, wet/ice. There were no more than 2,000 people there by the end, in my recall/estimation.
Johnson was the only player on the field who seemed to be able to stand up for more than a step or two, in my memory.
He set the NCAA record of 347 rushing yards in that game (I hope this is right) but I am now suspicious since it seems like Heston must have rushed for more in the point a minute years, though no one might have been keeping track. One of these days, I will go through the old Dailies and see what can be pieced together.
Again, IIRC, that record was broken by another Big Ten back not long thereafter. Mike Adamle?
Yeah, I want to see this one again, too.
1978 Michigan at ND..Resumption of the Series after a long lay off.Leach vs Joe Montana.Whole game on you tube.
I second/third/etc the 1991 ND game. Not only was I in the stadium… lets face it, it was the breakout Desmond game. And it was a crazy game, the momentum of the game shifted against us — our mojo was killed — when ND had an OL injured that took like a 20 minute break. And the ending of the game was spectacular.
The BC game the week earlier was the prelude to Desmond’s performance vs ND. The game wasn’t competitive or interesting other thand Desmond’s 4 TDs in a variety of ways (I was also at that game in Boston… the BC fans had never seen an opponent fan base descend on their campus like we did.)
Cant help but also shout out to Amp Lee for killing the mood a week later….
Top feel-good wins:
1. 1997 Ohio State
2. 1969 Ohio State
3. 1998 Rose Bowl vs. Washington State
4. 1995 Ohio State
5. 2004 Michigan State
6. 1996 @ Ohio State
7. 2006 @ Notre Dame
8. 2000 Orange Bowl vs. Alabama
9. 1979 Indiana
10. 1971 Ohio State
Top instructive losses:
1. 2000 @ Northwestern
2. 2005 Rose Bowl vs. Texas
3. 1989 vs. Notre Dame
4. 2003 @ Iowa (or @ Oregon)
5. 1999 vs. Illinois
6. 1979 vs. Ohio State
7. 1968 @ Ohio State
8. 1972 Rose Bowl vs. Stanford
9. 2001 Michigan State
10. 2001 Ohio State
Some noteworthy ties:
1. 1973 Ohio State
2. 1992 Ohio State
3. 1992 Illinois
Some underrated gems:
1. 1997 Iowa
2. 2002 Penn State
3. 2003 Ohio State
4. 2004 Purdue
5. 2002 Washington
2003 comeback at Minnesota
2003 vs OSU
2004 Braylonfest
2006 vs Notre Dame
1999 Penn St
1997 Iowa, Penn St, OSU
2002 Brabbs from 44
The games most like to live through are the Little Brown Jug games.
Ricky Foggie-Chip Lohmiller
Lawrence Maroney-Marion Barber
The Friday night Metrodome comeback...
I got lucky the game moved to Friday night. Baby girl was born the next day.
What a weekend.
Talk about a season turnaround moment. The 2003 team plays for the national championship with better special teams that had already cost them two games. Iirc, the special teams coach was fired the week between Iowa and Minnesota (?).
Could we go WAY WAY back to like the epic point a minute teams, or even earlier to the game that inspired The Victors? I know sometimes newspapers hade detailed drive charts and accounts from that era
This again and again.
The 1905 loss against the Chicago Maroons that ended the Point-A-Minute years would make an especially interesting episode. Just now found out that Michigan played "Kalamazoo" and "Albion" that year. Wow.
I'd read it for sure. Off the top of my head:
- any of the Ten Year War games or the "We Own Cooper" era games
- Why we needed the miracle Wangler to Carter to beat Indiana
- the renewal of the ND games in the late 70's and some of those Lou Holtz era games were great when we won and sucked when we lost
- the first few PSU v UM games
- bowl game wins over Alabama (1987/88 and 2000)
Bring back “This Week in Twitterverse”, more Unverified Voracity, and shorter articles about a bunch of random sports stuff from UofM and across the nation.
This also may be an opportunity to focus on some lower profile Olympic sports which a lot of readers may appreciate.
Love any and all content, though, thank you Alex!!!
Elvis to Howard vs ND.
The Florida St game from 1991. I know it's reliving a loss but I'd like to hear some expert breakdown on why we lost. The only talk in the newspapers the next day was how slow Michigan was compared to FSU. Was the loss mainly because of the difference in team speed? I attended that game but I don't remember much.
I was at the game - truly two top 5 teams in talent. But yes the team speed at the skill positions was noticeably different. Other than Desmond, FSU had the edge with guys like Amp Lee and Terrell Buckley (pick six on play 2 of the game). Edgar Bennett was a tough guy to stop.
One I've watched a few times on YouTube for fun. Final score 51-31 but game was closer until midway through 4th quarter.
Yeah, like Tybert said, FSU had more speed. But the shitty part for me was that Moeller slowed it all down in the 2nd half and tried to force the running game - you know, the 'Michigan Way'... The 1st half was a track meet that Michigan was keeping up with, but that was FSU's game. For the 2nd half, Moeller kept running up the middle and stopped using the edge plays/passes that hit FSU hard, but didn't take any time off the clock. Meanwhile, FSU kept up with its track meet first half. Eventually, it just wore out Michigan's defense.
I've always put that game squarely on Moeller's shoulders. He did not do the thing we usually give him credit for around here - opening up the offense in ways Bo never could have imagined. Instead, he lost his nerve and went all-Bo in the 2nd half...
I'd love to see one of those early games we played against Penn State after they joined the conference. They were supposed to be this great team and we bludgeoned them. Must have been in the 90s. Also, I think it was the 80 OSU game -- it was at Columbus and we beat Art Schliechter with an interception during the final drive. My one time at the toilet bowl as a student. We won and got straight out of town. Good times.
Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, that was the game Michigan won in Happy Valley with the goal line stand. But then Penn State won the next three years.
The 1994 game was a classic but M lost at home. The 1995 game was played after a massive snowstorm that required Penn State to bring prison labor in to clear snow from the stands; lots of it was piled in the stadium and their fans were throwing snowballs at M's players, including one that hit Mercury Hayes the face. That prompted Paterno to take a bull horn and tell the fans to knock it off. Penn State won the game, sealing the win with a fake FG. I remember being at the 1996 game and Penn State winning but not much else from that one, other than Greise coming in late off the bench and throwing some dimes. That may have been where he started to win the QB spot for good.
Then the 1997 "Judgment Day" win started M's long winning streak against Penn State--I don't think M lost to them again until 2008.
Any content with Craig Ross I'm down for
This sounds awesome.
Lots of great ones already mentioned. One that I think deserves more love was 1996 at Ohio.
Was the game that got the ball rolling for the ‘97 season. Buckeyes undefeated and eyeing a national championship. They go into halftime up 9-0. Griese comes in for the 2nd half, defense shuts them down and Michigan scores 13 to win 13-9.
If you also did a live stream of you and Craig watching a game together (and posted a link to the source so we can watch along with you), that would be fun too!
The osu biakabatuka game and the sparty Chris perry 56 Carries games are my choices for the helplessness they inflict.
2000 Orange Bowl v Alabama. GREAT comeback, maybe Brady's best game at Michigan, thrilling ending.
This is a really neat idea, and it would be great if you could do one representative game from every season since 1969. That would probably take several summers to accomplish, so in lieu of that, maybe break it out into coaches and decades. Like one summer for Bo in the 70's, one for Bo in the 80's, one for the Moeller era, one for the Carr era, and then please stop there.
Regardless of how you set it up, I'm looking forward to reading the write ups!
Iowa game in '97 please. It's the one game that year I couldn't watch on TV so I listened to it on the radio while mowing the lawn, we had a lot of lawn.