What happened in 1997?
Serious question: What happened in 1997 that allowed us to win the national championship? To be clear, I'm not asking something as simple as we had a dominating defense and we won every game.
Rather, I am more focused on the fact that the undefeated season just seemed to come out of nowhere.
Here is what I remember going into the season: We we coming off four seasons with 4 losses ever season. Even 1992 was so weird with 3 ties. Lloyd Carr was in his third season (which meant he had records of 8-4 & 8-4). What made those last two years good was beating Ohio State.
I remember that Michigan was pretty low in rankings. I looked it up and we were ranked #14. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1997-polls.html
The main two things that I think happened were (1) Charles Woodson fulfilled all of his potential, and (2) Brian Griese became a NFL (draft worthy) quarterback. Both of these were a bit unexpected, although to be fair there had been rumblings about Woodson when he was a freshman and Griese is the son of a Hall of Fame quarterback (which I think gives some advantages).
But what else was it that people didn't predict about Michigan in 1997 when they ranked us #14?
P.S. What I did not remember was that Penn State was ranked first in the pre-season. Penn State finished #16 that year (after losing to Michigan State (14-49) in the last game and then Florida in the bowl game), which still makes me happy.
For some reason, I've always had a distaste for them because after they joined the Big Ten, someone kept putting up "Penn State is coming" stickers all over Ann Arbor and then they made a huge deal of how their 1,000th football game would be a first-ever matchup with Michigan (link). Even Keith Jackson was saying stuff like ""Penn State represents what I like to call the fabric of collegiate football."
Michigan won 21-13 (link).
October 18th, 2022 at 12:41 AM ^
This was my wallpaper for years.
October 18th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^
Great iconic picture from the season.
One thing that still amazes me is how the team was able to play in cold/warm weather, against powerful teams and speed teams and we matched up every time.
Go Blue.
October 18th, 2022 at 12:52 AM ^
I was 9 years old in 1997, but I was at every home game and to me it just felt like whenever something needed to go right, it did. I don't know if that was talent or cohesion or luck, or some of all three, but watching our defense stop Notre Dame's offense after Michigan turnovers three times in the fourth quarter, the year felt special already - and there were very few times when we were forced to doubt that. Down 14 to Iowa at half time, and giving OSU the ball back for one chance to win at the end are the only really scary moments I remember.
Interested to read some more analytical comments, but as a kid it just felt like destiny. Definitely built up a lot of confidence in Michigan that year that would only sometimes be warranted in the future.
October 18th, 2022 at 2:47 AM ^
My preseason 1997 was that we would improve and only have 3 to 4 loss season. Offense worried me the most, since the OL was so young. Usually your OL does not play well until they are Juniors or Seniors. But the D turned out to be much better than projected with Woodson's play. The offense was kind of vanilla. Everything just came together. We came back and beat Iowa and held off OSU. I remember 1986 when I got all hyped up about Michigan but as the season progressed and thought we would have not problem beating MN. Oh well, the team played sluggish and Foggy had a big game against us.
October 18th, 2022 at 3:09 AM ^
I think what happened was that for once it all kinda worked out. It probably helped that we could play an overachieving but ultimately not as talented Wazzu in the Rose Bowl for once. If there had been a 4 team playoff at the time, who knows what would have happened. The Noles certainly wouldn't have been a walkover in the semifinal.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:18 AM ^
Charles Woodson happened and we had a defense that is legitimately in the "best ever" conversation.
The offense just had to not screw things up. It has explosive players, but by and large ball control was the name of the game.
You knew if they could get to 17 it was game over.
It was more fun to watch the defense in '97 than it was the offense. You couldn't miss a play, they were that dominant.
October 18th, 2022 at 8:29 AM ^
Great posts! That was a different time and game. I feel the need to understand 1997 having witnessed PSU 2022. WTF? We could be that good. We could be better.
The commonality with our current season is fortune. I can't wait 25 years to read that post (I will be dead.)
Ferda! Fortune favors the bold. May we all not let it go to our heads and just appreciate the team. Michigan allowed an opportunity for greatness in 1997, not unlike this season.
Good fortune to this team!
Go Blue!
October 18th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
I think the path would be much more difficult this year. OSU wasn't great that year, whereas they're most likely a top 5 team this year. The OSU game was in Ann Arbor that year as well. Then you still gotta win in Indy, which wasn't the case then either. And finally rather than playing a non-powerhouse Pac-10 champion in the Rose Bowl we would have to beat two elite teams who're also in the hunt for the national title.
We perhaps may have benefited from it that year, but it's quite obvious why (1) the national title back then wasn't really a 'thing' explicitly planned or competed for (hence the now no longer used term "mythical national championship") (2) fans used to having undisputed champions from the pro leagues were clamoring for a change to the system.
October 18th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^
What every champion needs sooner or later. A little luck. That year we came close to losing to Notre Dame, Iowa, and Ohio State. In fact, if I recall correctly, on OSU's last drive the OSU receiver had our cover man beaten badly and would have easily scored a late go-ahead touchdown, but the receiver dropped the perfectly thrown ball from Joe Germain. Them's the breaks.
October 18th, 2022 at 10:41 AM ^
What happened in 1997? Great question.
For me, it all started that summer when I got a hold of the Sporting News College Football Preview magazine, specifically: 'The M Stands for Mediocre'. I cannot find a link, but great related story here:
https://www.si.com/college/michigan/football/michigan-football-dream-se…
I cannot believe how offended I was by that article. A recent grad who took Michigan Football so personally. I like to think the entire fanbase, coaches and players, also read that article and took it so personally.
I was at the home opener when we thoroughly dominated Colorado and vanquished the curse of the Hail Mary. My favorite play of the season is not one most fans will remember. It symbolizes to me, the whole season. Home game vs Northwestern. I was in the North End Zone. NW was driving towards South End Zone. Pass play, the QB is back to drop. Nobody open so he takes off. Wide open running lane, could have gained a lot of yardage. But he spies my favorite player from that season downfield. Tommy Hendricks. I sensed he was intimidated, changed his decision, and took a small gain or even a loss, can't remember. The point is not the result of the play, but the fact he visibly changed his decision based on not wanting to get blasted by Hendricks. He did not want to pay the price.
In hindsight though, what really happened was the talent. A once in a lifetime player (Woodson), along with an offensive line that eventually placed every player in the NFL, great depth, so much future NFL talent. The TE waggle with Tuman became a thing. Timely special teams. The perfect QB to go with a dominant defense. Great running game, the defensive secondary was amazing. No weakness on that team at all, except for maybe WR depth?
I used to get really bothered by 'sharing' the title with Nebraska. I remember them claiming the better talent and 'Vegas would have us the favorite on a betting line'. But hindsight is 20/20. If you take both rosters man for man and look back on their entire careers, it is not even close. Michigan had by far the better talent compared to Nebraska. So in my heart we are the sole champions from 1997.
Thanks for making me bring that year back to top of mind. Thanks for the memory.
Go Blue!
October 18th, 2022 at 1:23 PM ^
We recruited men with names worthy of a national championship defense.
October 18th, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
The Free Press recently came out with a weekly podcast that dissects each game of the 1997 season, week-by-week, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the National Championship.
It's called "Road to the Victors" -- it's been pretty interesting so far.
October 18th, 2022 at 6:43 PM ^
I don't know that I can add much more than the already great work done on here, but as a sophomore during that year, my personal additions are this:
1). We braced for a shoe to drop that never dropped.
2). Charles Woodson is as special a player in college football history as any that has played the game.
3). The entire defense was a collection of names that sounded amazing together and played like one determined unit at all times.
4). A running game that got just enough to keep defenses honest, but had four guys, Chris Howard, Chris Floyd, a freshman A-Train, and Clarence Williams, all of whom averaged better than four yards a carry, but also provided depth and could catch a bit out of the backfield.
5). Weirdly replacing Fred Jackson as OC with OL coach Mike DeBord worked. I know DeBord became a bit of a punchline, especially in his second stint with Lloyd, but his offense was perfect Lloydball, don't make mistakes, run QB Waggle Bullshit when you need a first down, and use Charles Woodson when you need some magic.
It was damn fun. And we've been chasing that ever since.
October 18th, 2022 at 10:01 PM ^
I recall being ranked around #14 in preseason polls and not expecting much in the coming season. I think it was an Athlon sports college football preview that referred to our defense as "ferocious" under Ron English. With names like Sam Sword, Rob Swett, and Jaret Irons on defense I remember Brent Musberger commenting "now those are some defensive names!". I also remember Michigan gave up less than 100 points heading into the Rose Bowl, or some crazy stat like that.
And I think i remember being drunk a lot on Saturdays watching these games.