Category: Football

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins Highlighting Key Rivalry Games

If you went by the records, there was no reason to expect much from the 1964 Wolverines. The previous season had been a disappointment, as had many of the past dozen seasons.

However, the Wolverines had one thing in their favor coming into the 1964 season, maybe the most important thing: They had a lot of talented players coming back.

The first and final installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us back to 1964. Lyndon B. Johnson was now president. The national economy was growing, unemployment was dropping, and The Beatles appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and took the nation by storm. And back in Michigan, the Wolverines were quietly returning a pretty good group of football players, including a pair of All-Americans, Robert Timberlake and William Yearby.

When the Wolverines arrived in Columbus, they knew it wouldn’t be easy to beat the Buckeyes. Sure enough, the game started in very slow, plodding fashion.

Finally, late in the second quarter, the patience paid off. After Ohio State muffed a punt, John Henderson pounced on the ball for Michigan at the Ohio State 20-yard line. Two plays later, Timberlake threw a 17-yard pass to Jim Detwiler, who literally landed on the goal line to give Michigan a 7-0 lead.

After Ohio State missed a pair of field goals in the first half, the Wolverines clamped down on the Buckeye attack in the second half. Rick Volk intercepted an Ohio State pass in the fourth quarter and the Wolverines took over at their own 28, with a little more than five minutes left to play. On Ohio State’s next possession, the Buckeyes drove to the Wolverines’ 43-yard line, but the drive stalled, and Michigan took over possession and ran out the clock, shutting out Ohio State 10-0, in Ohio Stadium, a feat that’s not easily accomplished in any era.

With the win, Michigan advanced won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the Rose Bowl, where the Wolverines trounced Oregon State, 34-7. The Wolverines finished the season with a record of 9 wins and 1 loss, and were ranked No. 4 in both the AP poll and the coaches’ poll. In retrospect, only a failed two-point conversion against Purdue prevented a perfect season and a likely national championship. In all the 1964 Wolverines rank as one of the most under appreciated teams in the school’s illustrious football history.

Thanks to YouTube and YouTube poster WolverineHistorian for the highlight film of this game. As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com own anything and do not profit in any way from this blog post, which is intended strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins Highlighting Key Rivalry Games

9-3. The mere mention of that score brings smiles to the faces of Wolverines everywhere, as they remember the legendary “Snow Bowl” in 1950.

But no, this isn’t about that game.

The fourth installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us back 1980, thirty years after the Snow Bowl. By this time, Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States, the automobile industry that fueled the midwest for decades had changed significantly, and American society was undergoing massive changes. Some new things were occurring, and in some instances, old things were being revived.

One thing that never needed revival was the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State. In 1980, both teams entered “The Game” with perfect records in the Big Ten and the conference title on the line, as it has been on many occasions. With both teams playing stingy defense, every possession would be critical. Michigan coach Bo Schembechler was acutely aware of this fact, and he designed a game plan that featured a lot of running, with backs Lawrence Ricks, Stan Edwards and Butch Woolfolk repeatedly probing the Ohio State forward wall, secure in the knowledge that if the Buckeyes overcommitted to stopping the run, Michigan receiver Anthony Carter had the speed to make them regret that choice.

Nonetheless, Ohio State grabbed the early lead when Vlade Janakievski kicked a 33-yard field goal to put the Buekeyes up, 3-0. The Wolverines didn’t take long to respond, though. With their backs repeatedly pounding the Ohio State defensive line, the Wolverines drove into Ohio State territory, where Ali Haji-Sheikh kicked a 43-yard field goal to send the teams to their lockers at halftime with the score tied, 3-3.

Michigan used the same game plan in the second half, and when the Wolverines drove to the Ohio State 13-yard line, John Wangler connected with Carter in the end zone to give Michigan a 9-3 lead.

With a one score lead, Michigan appeared poised to take firm control of the game when Stan Edwwards threw an option pass into the Ohio State end zone. However, the Bucheyes were ready, and they intercepted the pass, thwarting Michigan’s threat.

Ohio State had one final chance, on a 4th down and 25 yards to go from the Michigan 47-yard line. Buckeye QB Art Schlichter faded back to pass, but he never saw Robert Thompson, who hit Schlichter right in the chest and drove him to the ground, securing Michigan’s win

The victory sent the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl, where they routed Washington, 23-6. The 1980 team was marked by a dominant defense, which produced one of the best efforts by a Michigan defense at Ohio Stadium in the last 60 years.

Thanks to YouTube poster WolverineHistorian for the highlight film of this game. As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com own anything, and we do not profit from this blog post, which is intended strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins Highlighting Key Rivalry Games

The third installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us to 1975.

Few games have changed as quickly and dramatically as the 1975 game. MIchigan was playing at home, and in the early 1970s, Michigan Stadium had been an impenetrable fortress for the Wolverines. Michigan had not lost a game at Michigan Stadium since Missouri defeated the Wolverines on Oct. 4, 1969, more than six years earlier. Head coach Bo Schembechler had the team winning, and athletic director Don Canham used clever marketing and attractive ticket prices to ensure that “The Big House” was frequently a jammed house.

After giving up an early touchdown, Michigan seemed to take control of the ’75 game when quarterback Rick Leach scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to give MIchigan a 14-7 lead with just 7:11 remaining.

Just a little more than seven minutes. Seven minutes to complete an undefeated regular season. Seven minutes to begin a celebration that grandchildren would be told about decades later.

Then, as the shadows on the field grew, Ohio State came back.

With Ohio State just half a yard away, fullback Pete Johnson burst over the goal line to tie the score. Suddenly, the mood changed in Michigan Stadium, as memories of recent horrors against the Buckeyes started to rear their ugly heads.

Michigan had 3:18 left to reclaim victory. Leach faded back to pass, and heaved the ball, only to see Ray Griffin, Archie Griffin’s brother, intercept the pass and return it to the Michigan 2-yard line. From there, Johnson banged, battered, and backed his way into the end zone, and the Wolverines were right back where they started, trailing by a touchdown.

One final possession ended in an interception, retulting in a 21-14 loss to Ohio State and ending Michigan’s hopes for a trip to the Rose Bowl. Instead, Michigan played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, where the Wolverines fell to the eventual national champions, 14-6. It was a disappointing end to a promising season, but better things lay ahead for the Wolverines, who returned a solid nucleus of players the following season.

Thanks to YouTube and YouTube poster Jess Chabot for the video of this game.

As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com own anything, and we do not profit from this blog post, which is intended strictly for the enjoyment of readers.