Tag: Anthony Thomas

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Michigan vs Alabama – Looking Back – 2000

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

The third installment of the series looking back at football games between Michigan and Alabama takes us to the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2000. It’s difficult to fathom, but there was a time when people didn’t recognize Tom Brady’s excellence.

Brady spent the first half of 2000 platooning with Drew Henson. Henson was the more recruited quarterback, having been rated as a five-star recruit in high school. Brady gradually seized full-time control of the quarterback position as the season went along, and Michigan’s play improved with Brady at the helm.

Twice, Michigan fell behind by 14 points, but each time Brady calmly rallied the Wolverines, honing his reputation as the master of comeback victories.

Trailing 14-0, Brady connected with David Terrell for a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter, one for 27 yards and one for 57 yards. By halftime, the game was tied at 14 apiece, and fans realized they were watching a classic.

Alabama reclaimed the lead and the momentum in the third quarter when Shaun Alexander scored on a 50-yard run and Freddie Milons added a 62-yard punt return to extend Alabama’s lead to 28-14.

Undeterred, the Wolverines came roaring back again. Brady found Terrell again for a 20-yard scoring strike and Anthony Thomas added a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the score and send the game to overtime. Brady wasted no time in overtime, throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Thompson. Hayden Epstein added the extra point, and the Wolverines had the lead for the first time. Alabama responded promptly as Andrew Zow threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Carter. A mere extra point by Ryan Pflugner would now tie the score.

Except, Pflugner’s kick sailed wide, and the Wolverines claimed the Orange Bowl championship with a 35-34 overtime victory. It’s always tempting to wonder how Michigan’s season might have turned out had Brady been the sole quarterback since the first game, but that was useless to consider now. Michigan had won the Orange Bowl and concluded the decade of the ’90s with a bang.

We thank YouTube and ABC Sports for the attached broadcast.

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Michigan Football vs Michigan State — Looking Back – 1998

The fourth installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State takes us back to 1998. The offseason preceding the 1998 football season was arguably the most enjoyable of the modern era of Michigan football. The previous season, Michigan finished with a perfect record, a Big Ten championship, a Rose Bowl championship, and even a share of the national championship. Michigan Stadium had been expanded by 5,000 seats to reclaim its status as the nation’s largest on-campus stadium, and the Wolverines had landed the top overall player in the 1998 recruiting class, quarterback Drew Henson, and a very explosive running back, Justin Fargas. The offseason party lasted a long time in Ann Arbor. Unfortunately, a little too long.

The Wolverines started the season with losses to Notre Dame and Syracuse. Charles Woodson had left early for the NFL, and Marcus Ray had been suspended for dealing with an agent. By the time the Wolverines finally woke up from their offseason party, it was clear the Wolverines still had lampshades from the party on their heads, when they should have been wearing the winged helmet.

By the fourth game of the season, those helmets were on, and they buckled tightly. Michigan State roared into The Big House, and following a Bill Burke touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress, the Spartans led, 10-3. After a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Michigan State got the ball back, but Paul Edinger missed a field goal, giving the ball back to Michigan. Tom Brady then put the ball in the very capable hands of Anthony Thomas, who rumbled 69 yards to tie the score. The Wolverines led by three at the half, but Michigan State had the momentum, and the ball starting the second half. That’s when the Wolverines regained their identity. The defense shut out Sparty in the second half, Jay Feely kicked his third field goal of the day, and 49-yard pass from Brady to Marcus Knight set up a Brady sneak, and Michigan went on to beat Michigan State, 29-17, highlighting all the usual strengths of a Lloyd Carr team.

The Wolverines finished 10-3 in 1998, losing to Ohio State, but topping Arkansas in a bowl game. The shame is that if the Wolverines had started the season with the same focus they had the previous year, things might have turned out much better.

Thanks to YouTube, ABC Sports, and YouTube poster CMB 7686 for the video. As always, I own nothing, and I do not profit in any way from this blog post.

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Michigan vs Ohio State Football – Looking Back – 1997

The fifth and final installment of the series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State takes us back 20 years, to 1997. The economy was roaring, the world was starting to take an interest in this new thing called the Internet, and Michigan entered the season facing arguably the toughest schedule in the country, while critics snickered not so quietly that the Block M stood for mediocrity.

The good news is that everyone in Maize and Blue heard that criticism, and by the beginning of the season, they were seething with anger, and they were absolutely determined to prove their critics wrong. Lloyd Carr, who proved to the best master motivator in 1997, had just finished reading “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer, a book about a harrowing ascent of Mount Everest in the most dangerous storm in the history of Mount Everest climbs. Carr found out that Lou Kasischke, a member of the climbing party, lived nearby, and he persuaded Kasischke to talk to the Michigan team about the challenges he faced while climbing Everest.

Michigan entered the game with a perfect record, while Ohio State entered with the perfect opportunity for revenge. The last two seasons, Michigan had ruined perfect seasons for the Buckeyes by upsetting Ohio State. Throw in the fact that Ohio State wide receiver David Boston had taken a potshot at Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson in the media, and it’s easy to see why there was so much tension in the pre-game build-up.

Midway through the second quarter, the game was locked in a scoreless tie when Michigan quarterback Brian Griese found Woodson on a post-pattern for a 37-yard gain. Two plays later, freshman Anthony Thomas crossed the goal line to give Michigan the lead. By the middle of the third quarter, the Wolverines had extended that lead to 20-0. That’s when things got a little bit nerve-wracking. Boston finally beat Woodson for a touchdown, and then OSU linebacker Jerry Rudzinski forced a fumble from Griese, and all of a sudden, Michigan’s lead was down to 20-14. That’s when every Michigan fans started to sweat during a game in which the temperature was in the low 20s.

Fortunately for Michigan, the defense stood tall at the most critical moments, and a huge hit by Marcus Ray on Boston changed the momentum. Just a few minutes later, Michigan’s defense had held, and Griese took the snap and ran out the clock.  The final score was Michigan 20, Ohio State 14. The win gave Michigan the Big Ten championship with an 11-0 record, and Michigan went to the Rose Bowl, where the Wolverines topped Washington State to finish the perfect season and capture the Associated Press National Championship.

In my 54 years, that was the biggest Michigan-Ohio State game of them all, and I doubt I’ll see any victory bigger than that one in my lifetime. That win serves as the bar for every Michigan win over Ohio State.

Thanks to ABC Sports and YouTube posters Stephen Barnett and Dr. Sap. As always, we own nothing, and this blog and video are posted strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJs0Cohmjg

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Michigan Football vs Michigan State — Looking Back — 2000

The fifth and final installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State takes us back to 2000. Prior to the new year, there were widespread fears about Y2K, and what it would mean to computers around the world. There were fears of mass transit problems, complete with concerns that Y2K could seriously hurt the trains in this country.

As it turned out, the Y2K computer problems never materialized, and computer problems were really Michigan State’s only hope of stopping the A Train, Anthony Thomas. In his final game against the Spartans, Thomas rushed 25 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a whopping seven yards per carry. Throw in a Michigan defense that had bad memories of the previous year in East Lansing, and it was the perfect recipe for a 14-0 shutout of the Spartans.

The game started with junior quarterback Drew Henson deftly mixing the run and the pass, but the Wolverines failed to score very much. In the first quarter, Thomas punched the ball over from the 1-yard line, and that was really all Michigan would need. Later in the game, the Wolverines’ defense put its stamp on this game with a goal line stand that ended with Michigan linebacker Victor Hobson stripping the ball away and Eric Wilson making the recovery to give Michigan possession of both the ball and the momentum. In the third quarter, Thomas scored on a 31-yard run that was just icing on the cake. The Wolverines’ defense had already established which team was better.

All in all, the Wolverines were young in 2000 and struggled when playing away from Michigan Stadium. The Pasadena heat doomed them in an early season loss to UCLA, and losses to Big Ten foes Purdue and Northwestern prevented the Wolverines from going to a more serious bowl. The season ended with a 31-28 win over Auburn in the Citrus Bowl, hardly a fitting conclusion to the careers of Thomas and offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson. Henson left school permanently in the offseason, lured by the baseball dollars of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Thanks to ABC Sports and YouTube poster WolverineHistorian. As always, we own nothing, and this video and blog are strictly for the enjoyment of readers.