Diary of a Michigan fan

Rich Eisen, ESPN

Nov. 26, 1997

Even after his Wolverines beat the Buckeyes once again, Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr took a little bit of heat, but when doesn’t he?

Michigan quarterback Brian Griese, acknowledges the crowd with a rose in his hand after he led the Wolverines to a 20-14 win over Ohio State.

In the locker room after the big win, Carr told his players they had “reached the summit.” Many folks thought he should have reserved such talk until after the Wolverines finished the entire season as a perfect No. 1, not just the regular season. But I understand exactly what he meant. This moment has been a long time in coming, and I’ve only followed the Wolverines for a dozen years. It was back in the fall of 1985 that I got accepted to the University of Michigan. It all started for me, personally, on New Year’s Day 1986 when I figured if I was going to the school, I should find out what all this crazy Michigan football stuff was all about. Being from New York City, I absolutely had no clue what college football was all about. I mean, you had Rutgers … Fordham … and, yikes, Columbia. I grew up on Staten Island, minutes away from Wagner College, home of famous All-American alumnus tight end Rich Kotite. You get my drift? I knew about the funky Michigan helmets and I had heard of Bo Schembechler. So, I tuned in the Fiesta Bowl — Michigan versus Nebraska, a matchup we’d sure like to see this year, huh? — and watched the Wolverines win 27-23. Michigan finished second in the AP poll. “Wow, I’m going to a school that battles for national titles and wins bowl games,” I thought. Silly me. Basically, I got spoiled. Just like my first college football experience, the second came in front of a television set.

1986

The first Michigan game of my student career: Sept. 13, 1986, Michigan at Notre Dame. Jamie Morris ran wild behind Jumbo Elliot and the Wolverines won 24-23 in a classic that caused Morris to make the cover of Sports Illustrated. “Wow, I’m going to a school that beats Notre Dame,” I thought. Silly me. Have you ever felt the rush of walking into a stadium filled with 106,000 people, all there for the same purpose? It’s quite intoxicating. I felt it for the first time on Sept. 20, 1986, when Michigan waxed Oregon State 31-12. Actually, there were only 104,748 people there that day, but it looked like 106,000. Singing “The Victors,” arms “Hailing” in unison … The audible rumble as the Wave approached your section. Awesome. Four weeks later, there were nearly 106,000 folks in the Big House when Michigan beat Iowa on a last-second field goal by Mike Gillette, avenging the loss to Chuck Long and the top-ranked Hawkeyes the previous year. Thousands of folks stormed the field. I watched from my awful freshman seats in awe. “Wow, I go to a school that never loses a game,” I thought. Silly me. The day of Officially Awakening and Smelling of the Coffee came Nov. 15, 1986, when a coronation turned into a wake. The 9-0, second-ranked Wolverines needed one more win to enter the Ohio State game perfect, just like they did this season. It didn’t happen. Behind the waterbug-like running of quarterback Ricky Foggie and slashing legs of Darrell Thompson, Minnesota shocked Michigan 20-17. I could barely move. My first loss at Michigan. There would be many more. The national title hopes were dashed, but the Rose Bowl ones were not. Michigan beat Ohio State and Earle Bruce the following week in the Horseshoe to make the Rose Bowl for the first time in four years. Michigan lost the Rose Bowl to Arizona State and John Cooper, whose subsequent hiring at Ohio State was primarily based on that game. I was disconsolate. We went 9-0 only to blow a gimme at home and then, after the high of making the Rose Bowl, another loss to end the season. A friend of mine at the school, a Michigan native and lifelong fan, told me of that roller coaster ride: Get used to it. Eventually, I did. For the remaining three seasons at the school, Michigan’s title hopes were dashed just as the season started. Notre Dame beat Michigan in the season openers in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

1987

The 1987 season was a disaster. After losing to Notre Dame, quarterback Demetrius Brown got color blind in the Michigan State game, throwing three interceptions against the hated intra-state rivals. I learned to hate Spartans in that game. Later in the season, Michigan lost to Ohio State and Bo suffered another heart attack. Gary Moeller coached the Wolverines to victory in the Hall of Fame Bowl against Alabama, 28-24. Final record: 8-4. Final ranking: 19th. Yikes.

1988

After losing to the Irish in the 1988 opener, Michigan came home to face Jimmy Johnson and the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes. The fans were rabid about whupping up on Jimmy. I remember several members of the Michigan hockey team snuck a keg into the stadium on a wheelchair. They were rowdy. So was a guy wearing all Miami clothing sitting in front of them. Big mistake. They flat out stripped the poor guy naked. A friend went outside to buy him clothes at the concession stand, which, of course, sold only Michigan apparel. The guy came in wearing all Miami stuff, and left wearing all Michigan stuff. But he left with the win. Michigan led 30-14 with 8 minutes and change left. Final score, Miami 31, Michigan 30. The third-biggest comeback of any Michigan opponent ever. Talk about depressing: 0-2 to start the season. Michigan won every game after that, including the Rose Bowl, which, as Bo would always point out, was the most important thing to accomplish.

1989

It was a mantra he repeated constantly prior to the 1989 season, which they entered a preseason No. 1: Winning the Big Ten and winning the Rose Bowl. That’s Michigan’s raison d’etre, he said, without saying raison d’etre, of course. I thought, deep down, Bo didn’t feel that way. His demeanor after losing to Notre Dame at home on opening day showed that Bo, deep down, indeed wanted that national title. Raghib Ismail had run back not one but two kickoffs. Bo was furious that his team allowed the Rocket to run one back on them and told his team at halftime that he was going to start the second half by kicking one right at the damn Rocket and, by God, they were gonna tackle him. They didn’t. Still haven’t. Final score: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 19.

Michigan senior Eric Mayes, rallies his team before the start of their game against Ohio State.

Maybe Bo was so upset over losing that shot at an undefeated national title drive because he knew it would be his last season. He shocked everyone by retiring prior to the Rose Bowl, which, fittingly, he lost for the eighth time. Bo’s Final Record: 21 years, 194-48-5 record, no national titles. My final student numbers: four years, 38-10-1, no national titles celebrated.

1990

The Gary Moeller Era had a familiar feel to it. Ranked fourth overall, 1990 began with a season-opening loss … to Notre Dame. Once again, end of national title hopes right off the bat. Can’t even get a sniff. All possible remaining hopes at the Holy Grail and the Rose Bowl went out the window when Michigan subsequently lost two straight conferences games (against Michigan State and Iowa) for the first time since 1979. The Wolverines season ended at the Gator Bowl, of all places.

1991

In 1991, Michigan learned its lesson. Don’t start the season with Notre Dame! It worked, as the Wolverines beat Boston College in the warmup-for-Notre Dame-game and then actually, finally beat Notre Dame, thanks to a gutsy 4th-and-1 call by Moeller: a pass to Desmond Howard, who caught it by his very fingertips for a touchdown. The Wolverines were 2-0 for the first time since my freshman year. Could Michigan finally be a national title contender? They had a chance to prove it right then and there as top-ranked Florida State paid a visit. Michigan got spanked. Terrell Buckley picked off Elvis Grbac on the first set of downs and outran Howard to the end zone. The imagery couldn’t have been more stark. Final score: Florida State 51, Michigan 31. Desmond still won the Heisman, quite an accomplishment at Bo’s 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust institution, and Michigan still went to the Rose Bowl … and lost. Typical.

1992

Would the Wolverines ever have their cake and eat it? Not in 1992, a cruel and unusual year. Unusual: Michigan actually enjoyed their first undefeated season in 19 years. Cruel: three ties. Three ties! Could a team do that if it even tried? A season-opening tie against, who else, Notre Dame. Ties against Illinois and Ohio State closed the regular season and an actual Rose Bowl win toasted it off. Final record: 9-0-3. Final ranking: fifth. No losses, but still no national title.

1993

And it certainly didn’t happen in 1993. After a season opening shellacking of Washington State (foreshadowing perhaps?), Michigan, ranked third overall, lost to … Notre Dame. Again. This time three subsequent conference losses — one to hated Michigan State — did Michigan in. A late-season victory at Ohio State salvaged something, as did a win over North Carolina State in the Hall of Fame Bowl.

1994

Nineteen ninety-four brought about some most unique heartbreak. Michigan actually beat Notre Dame, a victory made even sweeter by the fact that the series was taking a two-year respite. Past that hurdle for only the second time in eight years, Michigan hosted Colorado, which they were leading by six points with seconds remaining. And then Kordell Stewart threw one about 70 yards in the air, and we all know what happened then. Michigan later lost to Penn State, an interesting new hurdle Michigan had to leap in its national title/Rose Bowl trek. The loss wrecked the conference season, which was further wrecked by a Homecoming loss to Wisconsin and a loss to Ohio State, still Cooper’s only win over Michigan as Buckeye coach. Those last two losses, as well as the loss of his senses in an offseason altercation, cost Moeller his job.

1995

Enter Lloyd Carr, in whom no one had any confidence. Everyone except his players, many of whom, as freshmen, got to play throughout 1995 thanks to injuries and lack of senior talent. That experience would all pay off this year. Just ask then-Big Ten Freshman of the Year Charles Woodson. The Wolves started that season 5-0, including the largest comeback in school history, a 17-point comeback that Michigan capped against Virginia in the Pigskin Classic on a last-second touchdown. But the Wolverines were not the school of destiny. Of all schools, this was Northwestern’s year. The Wildcats beat Michigan, which then later lost to Michigan State and Penn State. As usual, Ohio State provided a season salvage, as Michigan ruined the Buckeyes’ national title hopes with a 31-23 shocker.

1996

Northwestern ruined things for Michigan again last year, this time wrecking a 4-0 start, which included the exorcising of the Colorado ghost in Boulder. Other ignominious firsts in Carr’s second season: the first loss to Purdue in 12 years. Following that, a loss to Penn State. But, once again, Carr’s Wolverines beat Ohio State, ruining another title hope for the Buckeyes. A season-ending loss to Alabama in the Outback Bowl — to Bo, Outback is the place where he’d take his offensive line for a yelling session, not a Bowl — caused an offseason of trepidation.

1997

Coming into this season, Michigan didn’t even have a clear-cut quarterback, let alone a clear-cut path to the Rose Bowl. The Big Ten looked to be as strong as it had ever been. Iowa, Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State all in the Top 25. Who knew Wisconsin and even Purdue would spend time there this season, too? Sure enough, Carr trotted Brian Griese out against Colorado in the opening game. And, like all moves he made this year, it turned out to be brilliant. The defense seemed to be special. And all of a sudden, Woodson began to mount an assault on the Heisman Trophy. The non-conference schedule was filled with skeletons in the closet. Not only Colorado (remember the Hail Mary) but, ugh, Notre Dame again! Even though the Irish was experiencing a down year, it took an all-out effort for Michigan to win, 21-14. Like the previous year, Michigan entered the Northwestern game 4-0. No big whoop. Michigan cruised. Next up, home against Iowa and this seemed to be the game in which Michigan would, as usual, drop the ball. Turnovers came from an unlikely source: Griese, with three interceptions in the first half! But Michigan prevailed 28-24 and improved to 6-0. Could we perchance to dream? I called a high school friend of mine who went to Michigan with me and we ran down the rest of the schedule, which was laden with potential losses that had typical Michigan written all over them. At Michigan State? See 1995, 1993, 1987, etc. Home for Minnesota? See 1986. At Penn State? See 1995. At Wisconsin? See 1993, 1981, when the Badgers upset preseason No. 1 Michigan on opening day. Home for Ohio State? Well, that would be typical in the fact that Michigan owned Ohio State and the one year they need to beat them, they don’t. As it turned out, Michigan won them all. Just like Michael Corleone did at the end of “The Godfather,” Michigan settled all family business. Colorado, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin and, best of all, Ohio State. A Michigan team with a killer instinct? A Michigan team with a killer defense? A Michigan team that gets the breaks? A Michigan team with a sense of destiny? A Michigan team with a Heisman Trophy candidate? A Michigan team going through a tough Big 10 season unblemished? A Michigan team spending the month off before the Rose Bowl as the consensus top-ranked team in the country? That has never happened in the same season. Never. So, you go on about summit reaching, Coach Carr. And even if you lose the Rose Bowl, (gee has that happened before?) no one can ever take away the most magical regular season Michigan probably ever had. This one’s for all the friends I made sitting in the freezing cold for much of my four years in Ann Arbor, watching the boys in Maize and Blue; for all the fans who suffered through the heartbreaking seasons before I even heard of the Wolverines; for all the people who remember Michigan’s only other national championship back in 1948.

Go Blue!