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Looking Back — Michigan Football Season Openers – 1969 Vanderbilt

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins

It’s the first week of a new football season, and this is the first series of Looking Back features I’ll write during the season. This time, I wanted to try something new. Each story will focus on the first game for a new coach at Michigan.

The first installment in this week’s series will focus on Bo Schembechler’s first game. After 10 seasons as Michigan’s head coach, Bump Elliott stepped down and athletic director Don Canham offered the job to Joe Paterno, who wanted to think it over. Canham hired Schembechler instead.

Schembechler was well regarded by other coaches, but few fans or alumni had heard of him. Schembechler had done well at Miami of Ohio, but there would be more challenges with the Michigan job. In addition to winning games in the Big Ten conference, he also had to win over the Michigan community, including alumni and fans, a difficult challenge for any coach.

On a mild day in late September, Michigan and Vanderbilt took the field at Michigan Stadium with plenty of empty seats in the stands, a problem that would not last long under Schembechler. Michigan grabbed the early lead when Garvie Craw scored on a 1-yard run over right tackle. Glen Doughty showed off the Wolverines’ big play ability when he ran 80 yards for a touchdown to give Michigan a 14-0 lead just before halftime.

In the second half, Michigan struggled in the third quarter, but used stingy defense and a reliable running game to put the game away in the fourth quarter. The result was a 42-14 Michigan victory that established a tone for Schembechler’s tenure as Michigan coach. The Wolverines played fundamentally sound football, and while it wasn’t always the flashiest approach, it did prove to be very successful.

As time when on, Schembechler’s no-nonsense approach helped the Wolverines build a solid foundation for their program. Schembechler’s insistence on discipline, fundamentals, blocking, tackling, and outstanding physical fitness established Michigan as one of the best teams in the Big Ten for the next two decades, a level of consistency rarely seen in college football. Indeed, 11 of Schembechler’s 21 Michigan teams finished the season with 10 victories or more, a testament to the consistency he established.

The first game of the 1969 season got the Wolverines off to a good start under Schembechler, and there were still plenty of thrills left in that season.

Thanks to YouTube poster Ed G. Berry for the video from this game. As always, neither I nor anyone associated with umgoblue.com profit in any way from this blog post, which is intended strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

About Jeff Cummins

Jeff Cummins has written about football since 1998, including nine years with The Record of Hackensack, N.J. He frequently contributes feature stories to Touchdown Illustrated, an insert in the national college football game program, published by University Sports Publications, and he has also written the official pregame stories for the game programs of the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Gator Bowl, and the BCS National Championship game. He has written the preview story for the official program for the NHL Winter Classic at MIchigan Stadium, and numerous college basketball feature stories for College Hoops Illustrated, another game program insert published by University Sports Publications. In addition, he has written stories about theater, music, physical therapy, and newsletter marketing. He’s an avid Michigan football fan and long-time New York Jets season ticket holder, and he can be reached at jeffcummins@optonline.net.

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