The most SATISFYING Michigan win you've ever seen...
Not necessarily the biggest upset or not necessarily even a rivalry game (although that can be factored in), but a game that made you feel as if you'd just won the lottery, football or basketball.
I'll give you mine: Football: vs Penn State, 2005-killed JoePa's undefeated season
Basketball: vs. Michigan State, 2011-at East Lansing. Sucked all of the juice out of my MSU coworkers the next day, and showed that Beilein and the Wolverines could put cracks into Izzo' machine.
April 12th, 2020 at 10:48 PM ^
The final four victory over Illinois in 1989 satisfied my hunger and dessert two days later made me unbuckle my pants and sprint down South U to Charlies
April 12th, 2020 at 11:03 PM ^
2003 vs #2 OSU. This was not only a win over the defending national champions, who were set to play for another had they won. It not only gave us the B1G championship and a Rose Bowl berth, but it was the last time we dominated (Braylon and Perry were unstoppable) an elite OSU team.
The only things that will be more satisfying will be: a basketball victory in the national championship, or the next time we win in the shoe or at home vs OSU.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:07 PM ^
Every time we beat OSU from about 1985 on was satisfying, even when beating them was normal and expected.
I may have an actual cardiac event the next time it happens.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:07 PM ^
As I mentioned recently, 1989 Rose Bowl vs USC. A catharsis of throwing off 20 years of misery and bad luck with Bo and team coming from behind in Pasadena. Prior to the game, some first-timers tailgating in a pickup truck next to us were all optimistic, and we told them from long experience not to get their hopes up. They waited around for us afterward for the best I-told-you-so I have ever received...
The 1998 Rose Bowl was a moderately distant second. Going into that game somehow I just knew we were going to win. But best seats I have had for any Michigan game- 45 yard line about 2/3's of the way up.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
Lots of great ones here. I’ll mention two I haven’t seen mentioned. 1991 vs Notre Dame. “The Catch.” They had beaten us 3 straight years in excruciating fashion. To say that one was satisfying is an understatement. 1993 @ Penn St. First matchup as conference foes. They thought they were going to own the league. Beat them at their place and delivered a “not so fast” message.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:09 PM ^
the next time we beat Ohio St so 2027
April 12th, 2020 at 11:09 PM ^
As an adult, it has to be the 2011 Ohio State win. It had been eight years. Being in attendance made it all the more satisfying.
As a kid (sort of), it has to be the 1998 Rose Bowl win (I was 17, so still technically a kid), knowing that it clinched the National Championship. Honorable mention was the 1996 Ohio State game, since that ended up being their only loss that year, cost them a share of the National Championship, and was the third time in four years that they entered The Game as a top 5 undefeated team and lost.
Basketball is a little tougher to nail down since there are so many more games. As a kid, it would have to be the '89 National Championship Game win against Seton Hall because obviously (with the Final Four win over Illinois two days earlier a close second). The '96 win over Duke at Cameron was pretty memorable and satisfying given how rare it is for Duke to lose nonconference games at Cameron. And the '97 win over Duke at Crisler was satisfying since they were the number one team in the country at the time and we came back from 18 down to beat them.
As an adult, any of the wins over MSU from the Beilein era were very satisfying, because they all made me remember the Ellerbe and Amaker eras when getting blown out by MSU was a given and MSU fans would take over Crisler. If I had to pinpoint a single game, it would be the overtime win against Kansas in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:10 PM ^
I would say ‘97 @ Penn State or 2006 @ Notre Dame. Both were road games against highly ranked marquee names. Penn State was probably the bigger win, but if we’re basing this solely off of the satisfaction I got from taking it in, those two were big ones for football.
Bball, I would throw the win over Louisville where Moe went off up there towards the top. It was cathartic.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:11 PM ^
1997 Ohio State, bar none. I went to The Game and subsequent Rose Bowl. Beating OSU for an undefeated season literally brought me to tears.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:23 PM ^
Are these Michigan football's five best wins of the past decade (2010-19)?
- 2011 vs. Ohio State
- 2012 Sugar Bowl vs. Virginia Tech (Mercedes-Benz Superdome - New Orleans, LA)
- 2016 Citrus Bowl vs. Florida (Camping World Stadium - Orlando, FL)
- 2016 vs. Wisconsin
- 2019 vs. Notre Dame
April 12th, 2020 at 11:23 PM ^
The line of the night was the guy behind me who yelled, "THEY GOTTA LIVE WITH THIS 14 YEARS!".
And then he cackled a delightful cackle.
Plus, in that downpour the stadium was in a wild frenzy pretty much the whole game. The whole thing was awesome.
April 12th, 2020 at 11:32 PM ^
1976 UM 22 - OSU 0
1977 #5 UM 41 - #3 Texas A&M 3
April 12th, 2020 at 11:48 PM ^
I would say the 1969 OSU victory, but I was only 6 and didn’t understand the significance. I would go with the 1996 frozen four championship overtime win in Cincinnati. I was there win my dad who was “on” the 52-53 team. Back then, they only dressed 2 lines and one Goalie. He didn’t dress.
His favorite player on the ‘96 team was Greg Didario(sp?). My favorite player was Turco.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:38 AM ^
2 lines ??? That is brutal. Was that a rule or why would they have so few players ? Must have been some slowwww skating going on lol.
Shifts were 2 minutes. If the goalie got hurt, then the team manager (aka — back up goalie) would run to the dressing room and get dressed, if the starter could play.
Ps. This was the era of no face mask for goalies in the pros. College goalies wore these things that were barely there.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:08 AM ^
I can't believe anybody would say their most satisfying Michigan football win was anything other than the 1998 Rose Bowl.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:29 AM ^
Well, I’d vote for the 1981 Rose Bowl. It was Bo’s first Rose Bowl win with AC and Butch Woolfolk. The 1980 season was my 9th semester as an engineering student ending in graduation in Dec. 1980. Way better ending to football as a student compared with the 1979 season. The victory over Purdue that year was extremely satisfying. We put them back in their place. The 9-3 win over OSU in Columbus was a classic defensive struggle. Screw George Rogers!
April 13th, 2020 at 12:57 AM ^
The '81 Rose Bowl would be a close second for me. If I was listing the most satisfying victories for each head coach, I'd select that one for Bo by a good margin.
But winning it all takes precedent, at least for me.
9th and final? Or 9th of XX?
Just curious. Totally not throwing stones. Dollars made me GTFO as quickly as possible.
Of course that's a fine choice, but satisfying to me also sounds like something that wasn't overwhelming and amazing. I feel like winning the national championship is way too much to just be called satisfying. That's why I chose 2011 against OSU.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:12 AM ^
96 in Columbus. I got to meet George Steinbrenner before the game. They were still smarting from 95, and the disbelief that it happened again was delicious.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:21 AM ^
2011 MBB win against MSU. Darius Morris "Get the F*#! off my court."
2006 Football, Notre Dame. "Brady Quinn gonna win 4 Heismans". Or was that Ron Powlus who was gonna win 4? I forget. My now wife and I were at the game...nothing like beating a team down in their own house.
1991 Desmond Howard, Notre Dame. My brother standing next to me in the student section. 4th and short, balls of steel play call.
2011 Notre Dame, Under the Lights. Epic win.
The undefeated OSU Cooper teams. All of those wins. '97 OSU especially...not that they were undefeated though. Again, watched it standing next to my brother in the student section. Went on the field with him after, had Jansen on our shoulders. Took a chunk of sod, kept it growing in a planter for about 7 or 8 years.
Jimmy Clausen was the future 4-time Heisman winner when he signed with the Figthings.
Beano Cook said that Powlus would win 2 Heisman trophies.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:32 AM ^
My senior season was probably the victory I remember most. Michigan upset number 1 Miami 22-14. I think the odds makers had us as a 10 point dog at home. After this game, I thought we were going to have a great season with our new starter Harbaugh. This game ended up being the highlight of the 1984 season. Mallory our great middle linebacker got injured and then Harbaugh broke his arm at Purdue.
Harbaugh broke his arm against MSU. Zurbrugg was the QB in the loss at Purdue. That year was a huge disappointment after starting out so well.
Yep, I remember now! I only got to see Michigan beat OSU once, in 1983, close game, during my time there as a student (fall of 81 - spring of 85). There's been at least two graduating classes that have not seen a Michigan victory over OSU.
Wins where they play surprisingly well after previous losses seem most satisfying to me -
1993 Rose Bowl over Washington, after getting blown out the year before
1989 NCAA Sweet 16 win over UNC after losing to them the previous two tournaments and 1989 Illinois Final Four game.
Maybe for slightly different reasons than a lot of folks here for me 2008 Wisconsin stands out. Maybe it section I was in, but those Wisconsin fans we're the worst seen of any in the Big House. The schadenfreude was glorious.
Here are some that stand out for me.
1976: Michigan 22, Ohio State 0 at Columbus. It was the first win over the Buckeyes since 1971. The four-year drought included The Tie and three heart-breaking losses, making it four straight Rose Bowl trips for OSU.
1981 Rose Bowl: Michigan 23, Washington 6. Bo finally wins. Nice season with only blemishes at ND on Harry Oliver’s 50 yard-field goal and the following week at home 17-14 against Heisman winner George Rogers and South Carolina.
1993 National Semifinal: Michigan 81, Kentucky 78 OT at the Superdome in New Orleans. A great win at the time. Both teams were one-seeds and the winner would face North Carolina, another one-seed.
Kentucky was arguably the 'best team in the country'. That was the real national title game. An absolute classic.
Urban legend has it that during the game Webber asked Mashburn for tickets to a NBA game since Mashburn was (likely) going pro at the time. Then, of course...
1991 - OSU. Hello Heisman
1991 - Norte Dame - Pure Desmond, Pure Michigan.
1993 - Ty Wheatley’s Rose Bowl.
1997 - Penn St.
2000 - Brady Bunch Orange Bowl
2006 - Notre Dame - Brady Quinn beatdown
I'm defining "seen" as "live and in person".
M over CC in the 96 national championship, because we won a national championship. OT was intense. Years after I met Marty Turco who told me his parents went to every game that year and after they won, his old man lit a cigar inside Riverfront Coliseum. The smile on his face was cool to see.
I was at Michigan Stadium the last time we beat OSU. So that one.
No particular order:
Anthony Carter versus Indiana.
Rick Leach over OSU.
Tyrone Wheatley over UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
Tyrone Wheatley over UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
Wheatley never played UCLA—you must be thinking of Washington.
2016 at MSU. MSU had won three in a row, trouble with the snap was the year before. My dad's 80th birthday, the whole family was there. Me and my dad are the only two UM fans in the family. Rest are MSU fans. UM controls the entire game. But MSU goes for 2 with one second left to "lose with dignity." Peppers returning the fumled try 100 yard for 2 points.
Last game I was ever able to watch with my dad. It was a great day.
Go Blue!
Michigan vs. Akron 2013.
2016 wins against Sparty, Wisconsin, and Penn State.
Most satisfying game I was physically in attendance for was 2011 OSU. Even if the glory was short lived due to Urban’s inevitable arrival, they still won. And I was there. No one can ever take that away from me.
Most satisfying game, period, was the ‘08 Capital One Bowl. Season started with sky high expectations, and then a whole bunch of stuff happened and all of a sudden we’re 8-4, taking on a Florida team with the golden boy Heisman winner, and a team at his back that didn’t take Michigan even remotely seriously. Also being from Florida I was surrounded by UF fans who thought their team walked and water and was bigger than Jesus himself. I don't think anyone even gave Michigan a chance that day.
While it was really frustrating to see Lloyd finally open up the offense, in his last game no less (made you wonder what they could've done if they played that way the whole year), it was amazing to see him get to ride off into the sunset after wiping that smug look off Meyer’s face and see the rest of the Florida team walk off the field in shame and disbelief. They got punk'd in their own backyard, in a stadium loaded with their fans. Season was still a massive disappointment overall, but you can’t argue with the ending. Aside from the 2015 BWW bowl, that was the last bowl game I remember where Michigan looked as good, focused, and prepared as it did.
I can watch Adrian Arrington Houdini catches over the Florida secondary all day.
Reading this thread on a Monday morning is quite satisfying. I was at the 97 OSU game and Woodson going HAM on David Boston... the punt return TD and then flat out shutting the door on any comeback chance. That was quite satisfying. But the PSU game from the same year was the most satisfying, IMO. It was a thorough gutting on their home turf.
Has to be UTL I, for the sheer schaudenfreude effect on ND fans. Also, the wonder that was Denard and those final 26 seconds. And it was my sons' earliest experience of Michigan football.
The Heisman Pose game. It was so much fun to watch all of the downtrodden OSU fans slinking toward the exits en masse before the game was over.
Here are a few that come to mind that I've been in the stands for:
- 2018 BTT vs. MSU at MSG
- Final Four Wins in Atlanta and San Antonio
- 2005 Penn State
The 73-74 MMB team and season was certainly an exciting and interesting one. I was 20 years old and taking a year off from college to help with the family business. I loved watching that team. Michigan went from being unranked until the middle of the season to ending up #6 in the final poll. The Purdue game at Crisler was perhaps the most fan thrilling games I have witnessed. Michigan was unconscious-shot well over 60%, put up 111 points and just ran the Boilermakers off the floor.
1991 over Notre Dame with the Desmond Howard catch. At the time Notre Dame was probably the program in CFB. Michigan had suffered a few heartbreaking loses to the Irish over the previous couple of seasons.
I don't really have a way to answer this question. I would say the greatest games were the Kansas Sweet 16 and the MSU 2004 football game.
As for very satisfying ones that I don't think I've seen mentioned, the 2008 win over Duke and 2000 Orange Bowl. Someone probably mentioned the Orange Bowl but I didn't see it.