Tag: Lloyd Carr

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Little Brown Jug — Looking Back – 2005

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins

Well, there’s no rest for the weary. Just a few days after defeating USC, the Wolverines face the reality of battling for the Little Brown Jug. Minnesota will be hungry after losing to Iowa, so our guys will really have to get after those “Fleckers!”

The first installment of this series looking at the Little Brown Jug rivalry illustrates the fact that you can’t underestimate any opponent. The 2005 Wolverines felt confident entering their game against Minnesota. On paper, the Wolverines could match up with anyone, but their performance seldom lived up to their potential.

It started off like so many other games. Garrett Rivas made a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter, and the Wolverines were ready to take charge. The only problem was, they never completely took control of the game. Still, after a Minnesota field goal tied the game at 13 apiece in the third quarter, the Wolverines grabbed the lead right back when Steve Breaston zigged and zagged his way to a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give Michigan a 20-13 advantage. Unfortunately, the score occurred so quickly that the defense got virtually no rest, and it showed as Minnesota tied the game on the ensuing drive.

Michigan still had some chances, but a pall settled over Michigan Stadium when Rivas pulled a pair of field goal attempts wide left. Late in the game, Minnesota faced a 3rd down and 10 yards to go when Laurence Maroney swept around the right end and ran 60 yards to give the Golden Gophers a first down at the Michigan 15-yard line. With one second to go, Jason Giannini kicked a 30-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 23-20 win. The game exemplified Michigan’s season in a microcosm. The Wolverines finished the season with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses, falling to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl.

Many thanks to YouTube and YouTube poster RXwolverine for the video of this episode of “Michigan Replay.” As always, we own nothing, and this blog post is provided strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

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Michigan vs Michigan State Football — Looking Back – 2007

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 Michigan State takes us back 2007.

Lloyd Carr’s final team began the season with a lot of expectations; too many, as it turned out. The Wolverines came in with one of the best rosters in the last 50 years of Michigan football. Quarterback Chad Henne, running back Mike Hart and offensive tackle Jake Long were all seniors with significant experience, and they led an explosive offense. Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington were dangerous receiving threats, and Carson Butler and Mike Massey were both reliable tight ends. The defense was led by outside linebacker Shawn Crable, with speedy cornerback Morgan Trent able to provide blanket coverage on receivers. Player for player, the Wolverines could match up with any team in the nation.

Unfortunately, the matchups didn’t end all that well in the first two games, as Michigan fell to Appalachian State and Oregon, starting the season with an inauspicious record of no wins and two losses. However, by the time Michigan was about to face Michigan State, the Wolverines had reeled off seven consecutive wins, and were playing with the kind of zest that led them to 11 consecutive victories in 2006. Michigan State had a new coach named Mark Dantonio, who went on to make quite an impact on the rivalry.

Things started well for Michigan. After Jamar Adams came up with a clutch interception, Hart added a couple of long runs and Henne connected with Butler to give Michigan a 14-3 lead that seemed to be commanding. Emphasis on the word “seemed.”

The second half was quite different. Jehuu Caulcrick got things started with a 1-yard plunge for a Michigan State touchdown, and suddenly, there was a footballl game in East Lansing. As the fourth quarter began, MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Davis, and the Spartans grabbed the lead. Seven minutes later, Caulcrick scored on another 1-yard run, and things looked pretty bleak for Michigan.

With precious little time left, the Wolverines woke up and started playing like a championship team. Following an injury to Henne, freshman Ryan Mallett came in to play quarterback for Michigan. Mallett was promptly sacked and stripped of the ball, but Hart alertly picked up the fumble and fought his way for 15 yards and a critical first down. Following several plays with Mallett at quarterback, Henne returned to throw a beautiful touchdown pass to Greg Matthews, and the Wolverines were back within stiking distance. Then, on 3rd & 11, Henne completed a daring pass to Manningham, who walked a veritable to tightrope to earn a first down for Michigan. A few plays later, Henne found Manningham again, as the receiver caught the ball while falling backward for an amazing touchdown. Michigan had retaken the lead, for good.

Michigan State got the ball back, and Crable promptly sacked Hoyer to stick the Spartans in a deep hole. Three incompletions later, the Wolverines took possession of the ball and the game, earning one of the most hard-fought victories in the history of the rivalry.

Following the game, Hart referred to Michigan State as “little brother,” an infamous quote that fired up the Spartans for more than decade to follow. But on this day, Hart performed in a clutch manner, and the Wolverines earned a win for the ages.

Thanks to ABC Sports, YouTube, and YouTube poster Pizza Pizzichetti for the accompanying broadcast of this game. As always, I own nothing, and this blog post is strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

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Looking Back — Michigan Football Season Openers – 1995 Virginia

Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins

The third installment in this week’s series looking back at opening games takes us to 1995.

Gary Moeller’s tenure as head coach at Michigan ended abruptly. Simply put, the program was in turmoil, and it’s difficult to remember just how dark the mood was around the Michigan football program following Moeller’s resignation. That was the environment in which Lloyd Carr began his tenure as the new Michigan head football coach.

Initially, Michigan hired Carr as head coach on an interim basis. He started his tenure as head coach with a passionate speech about the pressures of the job at his first press conference. Despite those challenges, few interim coaches achieved as much success as Carr.

The 1995 season began on a brutally hot day at home in Michigan Stadium, in the Pigskin Classic against the Virginia Cavaliers. Oddsmakers expected Michigan to win the game handily, but Virginia proved an extremely tenacious opponent. Mike Groh scored on a quarterback keeper to give the Wahoos the early lead, and then Tiki Barber broke a tackle and outraced Chucky Winters to extend Virginia’s margin. After Virginia kicked a field goal, Michigan was trailing by a whopping 17 points, and it looked like the Carr era was off to a rocky start.

Trailing by a wide margin in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines suddenly woke up and started playing Michigan football. Quarterback Scott Dreisbach connected a couple of times with Mercury Hayes, with Hayes wrestling the ball away from Ronde Barber on the second pass to give the Wolverines first down and goal to go at the Virginia 3-yard line. Dreisbach then handed off to Ed Davis, who ran right up the middle for a touchdown, and the Wolverines started to seize the momentum. On a later possession, Dreisbach was under pressure and barely got the pass off to Hayes, who scampered down the sideline for a touchdown, and Michigan was within one score, though time was not on the Wolverines’ side.

The clock started to work against Michigan, limiting the Wolverines’ time for a comeback. Finally, it all came down to one play. Four seconds to go. Fourth down, with the ball on the Virginia 15-yard line. Michigan had to have a touchdown on this play, or Lloyd Carr would lose in his first game as Michigan’s head coach.

Dreisbach took the snap and threw a fade pass into the corner of the north end zone, where Hayes caught the ball and narrowly managed to get one foot in bounds. Touchdown, Michigan!

The victory was arguably the most exciting win of any season-opening game in Michigan history. Carr’s first team defeated Ohio State to end the regular season, and the university named him the head coach and removed the “interim” tag. He enjoyed an excellent career at Michigan, leading the team to a perfect season and the Associated Press national championship in 1997. Carr coached the Wolverines for 13 seasons, and many coaches would be thrilled to have his record as a head coach.

Thanks for YouTube, ABC Sports, and YouTube poster Rxwolverine2 for the highlight film included below. As always, neither I nor anyone associated with umgoblue.com own anything, and we do not profit from this blog post.

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Michigan vs Michigan State Football — Looking Back – 1998

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

The fourth installment in this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State takes back to 1998. As years go, 1998 started in heady fashion for Michigan. The Wolverines had just completed their first perfect season since 1948 and were named the AP National Champions. The school had just added 5,000 seats to Michigan Stadium, restoring The Big House’s status as the largest on-campus stadium in the country. The Wolverines had signed the top high school quarterback of 1998, Drew Henson, and one of the top running backs in the country, Justin Fargas, whose father played the role of “Huggy Bear” in the 1970s TV series, “Starsky and Hutch.”

Yes, 1998 started as a grand year for Michigan football. The greatest threat of injury came from players patting themselves on the back.

Unfortunately, the season started with a National Championship hangover. Not only had Charles Woodson departed for the NFL, but Marcus Ray had been suspended several games for talking with an agent. Suddenly, things weren’t so good for the maize and blue.

However, week 4 brought the return of the Big Ten slate of games, and a matchup with Michigan State proved to be just the tonic for the Wolverines.

It didn’t start that way, though. Tom Brady hadn’t reached the level of play fans came to expect in later years, and he was intercepted by Aric Morris on the Wolverines’ first possession, which led to a 43-yard field goal by Paul Edinger.

The Wolverines didn’t take long to respond. Jay Feely, a quiet hero in the 1997 campaign, leveled the score with a 51-yard field goal. By halftime, Michigan led by three points, and the game had the feel of another classic.

In the second half, the only thing that was classic was the performance of the Michigan defense. The Wolverines held the Spartans scoreless, while Feely connected for his third field goal of the day and Brady scored from a yard out to give Michigan a 29-17 win that provided the necessary jump start to the 1998 season, helping the Wolverines reestablish themselves as a force in the Big Ten.

Many thanks to ABC Sports, YouTube poster Pizza Pizzichetti and YouTube for the broadcast of this game. As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com profit in any way off this blog post, which is intended strictly for the entertainment of readers.

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Michigan vs Michigan State Football — Looking Back – 1995

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

Among the many traditions that are part of the Michigan vs. Michigan State football rivalry, one is rarely discussed: New coaches are usually given a brutal introduction to the series.

The third installment of this year’s series looking back at the football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State takes us to 1995. The national economy was slowly starting to wake up, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a few people discussing something known as “the Internet.” If you paid attention to college football, it was becoming apparent that Michigan’s interim head coach, Lloyd Carr, was pretty good. Unfortunately for Carr, the Michigan State Spartans didn’t plan on giving him a warm welcome to the in-state rivalry.

Of course, it didn’t help that Michigan State also had a first-year head coach named Nick Saban, and in the mid-1990s, he was just looking forward to a bright future. The matchup of first-year coaches produced a classic Big Ten battle. With snow flurries falling to produce a memorable environment, Remy Hamilton gave Michigan the first lead of the game with a 35-yard field goal. Shortly after that, Michigan State’s Derrick Mason took a punt and weaved his 70 yards for a touchdown to give the Spartans a 7-3 lead, and the momentum. By halftime, the Spartans led, 14-3, and the mood surrounding the Michigan team was as dark as the snowy fall sky in East Lansing.

The Wolverines then came out with a new resolve to start the second half. Michigan lined up in several two-tight end sets, and started to run the ball with conviction, as Tim Biakabutuka and Chis Howard took turns battering their way through the Michigan State defensive line. Finally, with three backs in the backfield, quarterback Brian Griese handed off to Will Carr, normally a defensive lineman, and Carr barely made it over the goal line for the touchdown. After Griese connected with Mark Campbell for the two-point conversion, Michigan State’s lead was cut to a mere three points. The teams then traded scores, but when Griese found Mercury Hayes in the back corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown, it looked as if Michigan was in control. The Wolverines had a four-point with 3:38 to play. Greg Mattison was coaching the defense. Jarrett Irons was playing middle linebacker. Chuck Winters was playing safety. A freshman named Charles Woodson was playing cornerback.

But Spartan quarterback Tony Banks still had time. On 4th and 11, Banks connected with Mason for an 11-yard gain, and the meaurement indicated it was a Michigan State first down. Then Woodson bobbled a would-be interception, and Mason caught the ricochet for a catch deep in Michigan territory. On the next play, Banks scrambled and saw Nigea Carter twisting around toward the goal line. Banks heaved the ball, and Carter twisted the right way at the right time for a Michigan State touchdown. Suddenly, Michigan trailed with just 1:24 left to play, in hostile territory.

Finally, with six seconds left on the clock, Michigan had one, final, desperate hope. Griese faded back to pass, and threw with all his might, but his pass landed harmlessly on the ground. Suddenly, a 7-1 MIchigan team had just lost a game they weren’t supposed to lose. It shows that nothing can be taken for granted against Michigan State.

Thanks to ESPN Classic, ABC Sports, YouTube poster ROLL TIDE Graham 2 and YouTube for the highlight film of this game. As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com make a profit off this blog post, which is intended strictly for the enjoyment of readers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukwTFhCxXK0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukwTFhCxXK0