Iowa at Michigan

As the 1981 season opened, it appeared this game would be a Belt match-up but with preseason No. 1 Michigan as defending champion.  An opening day loss to Wisconsin changed that.  Now 5^th ranked at 4-1, the Michigan Wolverines of coach Bo Schembechler hosted the 12^th ranked, 4-1 Iowa Hawkeyes of coach Hayden Fry who were defending The Belt.  The Hawkeyes used 3 field goals from freshman PK Tom Nichol to claim a 9-7 win over the powerful Wolverines & retain The Belt.  Nichol connected on field goals of 20 & 36 yards in the 1^st quarter as the Hawkeyes took a 6-0 lead.  Midway through the 2^nd quarter, the Wolverines faced a 3^rd & 15 situation from the Iowa 17-yard line when QB Steve Smith found All-American WR Anthony Carter open in the corner of the end zone on a touchdown pass giving Michigan a 7-6 lead they held through halftime.  Iowa tried to establish momentum on their first drive of the 3^rd quarter as they attempted to converted a 4^th & 2 play from the Michigan 45-yard line but Iowa’s RB Phil Blatcher was hit by Michigan’s LB Ben Needham & a fumble followed.  Neither team recovered the ball before it rolled out of bounds at the Iowa 40-yard line but Michigan took over possession on downs.  Two plays later, Smith hit Carter for a 29-yard gain to the Iowa 10-yard line.  Three plays after that, Smith tried to connect with TE Dave Betts but Betts was hit trying to make the catch & the ball deflected into the hands of Iowa’s LB Mel Cole for the interception.  The Hawkeyes took the turnover & drove to field goal position before Nichol converted the 30-yard attempt giving Iowa a 9-7 lead.  Michigan got into Iowa territory once more in the game but that drive was stopped when Hawkeyes’ All-American DE Andre Tippett & All-Big Ten DT Mark Bortz tackled Carter short of the marker on a 4^th down reverse.  Iowa’s QB Gordy Bohannon threw for 127 yards while the Wolverines’ Smith threw for 108 yards with a touchdown but also an interception.  Michigan’s RB Butch Woolfolk, who entered the game as the nation’s 4^th leading rusher, was held to just 56 yards rushing as the Hawkeyes defeated the Wolverines for the first time since 1962.  Iowa finished the season 8-4; Big Ten Co-Champs & ranked 18^th nationally while the Wolverines finished 9-3 & ranked 12^th nationally.  Michigan would play for The Belt again in 2 weeks.

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Washington at Michigan

After the upset of top-ranked Miami, the Michigan Wolverines of coach Bo Schembechler were 1-0 & ranked 3^rd nationally as they welcomed the 16^th ranked, 1-0 Washington Huskies of coach Don James.  Washington featured All-Pac 10 players DT Ron Holmes, LB Tim Meamber, & LB Fred Small as well as QB Hugh Millen & RB Jacque Robinson.  Washington used the same formula to defeat Michigan as the Wolverines had used against Miami.  The Huskies intercepted 3 passes of Michigan QB Jim Harbaugh & caused 2 fumbles in the 20-11 victory.  Washington got the only points of the 1^st quarter when PK Jeff Jaeger hit a 25-yard field goal.  Michigan tied the game at 3-3 in the 2^nd quarter when PK Bob Bergeron hit a 52-yard field goal.  The Huskies took the lead for good after LB Joe Kelly intercepted Harbaugh at the Wolverines’ 25-yard line.  Washington’s RB Rick Fenney finished the short drive with a 2-yard touchdown run giving Washington a 10-3 lead which they held through the half.  On the Huskies first possession of the 2^nd half, Millen connected WR Mark Pattison who ran untouched 73 yards into the end zone for a 17-3 advantage.  Jaeger’s 38-yard field goal accounted for the only other points of the 3^rd quarter.  Michigan’s only touchdown came in the 4^th quarter when Harbaugh hit WR Vince Bean for a 7-yard touchdown pass but the Wolverines were not able to successfully attack the Washington defense.  Millen finished with 167 yards passing with a touchdown completing 13 of 16 passes while Harbaugh threw for 183 yards with a touchdown but 3 interceptions.  The Wolverines finished the season 6-6 while the Huskies finished 11-1 & ranked 2^nd nationally.  Michigan would play for The Belt again in 2003.

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Leading up to the 2009 NIT Season Tip Off on November 16th, Pickin’ Splinters will be counting down the top 25 of the college hardwood nation.

‘08 – ’09 Results: 21 -14 (9 – 9 Big Ten) Lost in the second of the NCAA Tournament, 73 – 63.

Coach: John Beilein 31 -36 (2 seasons at Michigan) 582 – 354 31 seasons

Key Returners:

DeShawn Sims – 15.4ppg, 6.8rpg

Stu Douglass – 6.1ppg, 1.4rpg

Manny Harris – 16.9ppg, 6.8rpg, 4.4apg

Laval Lucas-Perry – 6.5ppg, 1.7rpg

Zack Novak – 6.7ppg, 3.5rpg

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 11/26 vs. Creighton, 11/27 vs. Marquette or Xavier, 12/2 vs. Boston College, 12/19 at Kansas, 1/17 vs. UConn

Stat of Identity: 75.7% from the free throw line – 11th in the country.

By Paul Gotham

John Beilein has made a career of reclamation projects. Beilein’s recent stop on his basketball odyssey is right on schedule. After finishing 10 – 22 his first season, the Wolverines improved to 21 – 14 last year. Beilein returns his top five scorers from a Michigan team that earned the school’s first berth to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.

Everything for Michigan starts with Manny Harris. The 6’5″ guard gets the motor running. He hit 33% (52 – 159) from the three point arc and led the Wolverines with 154 assists (next highest was 60). Harris also led the Wolverines with 110 turnovers. As the young Wolverines mature, Harris’s miscues will decrease, and his assists will increase. Harris accumulated 43 steals a season ago.

As freshmen, Stu Douglass and Zack Novak each dropped 52 three-pointers. Both converted less than 34% from long range. Another year of maturity and both these guards should finish more.

Laval Lucas-Perry will be one of four guards that will start for the Wolverines.

At 6’8″, DeShawn Sims is the tallest in the Michigan starting five. Beilein incorporates a five-out system on offense. This allows Sims to draw taller opponents out to the perimeter where he can use a back door cut.

When Michigan needs to slow down and run half-court offense, 7’0″ red shirt freshman, Ben Cronin, and 6’10″ Zack Gibson provide size off the bench.

25 | 23t | 23t | 22| 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11

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AP Photo/, The Detroit News, John T. Greilick

Plenty of outstanding performances to choose from this week. I am giving credit where credit is due and handing Tate Forcier my POTW.

The true freshman might have caught lightning in a bottle, but he went 23-33 for 240 yards with two touchdowns while leading the Michigan Wolverines from behind to defeat Notre Dame, 38-34.

The native of San Diego also proved he could get it done on the ground as he rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries. The biggest of which came on a fourth down scamper for a touchdown. Forcier caught the Irish defense unprepared and slipped a would-be tackler behind the line of scrimmage.

If all that is not enough, Forcier put a 50 yard pooch punt inside the ND five yard.

Forcier showed moxie all day. He recovered well after a pair of critical mistakes. One a botched snap on second down at the goal line and later an interception that led to Notre Dame taking the lead late in the fourth.

On the final drive of the game, Forcier led the Wolverines 58 yards down the field. On the final play of the game (after his previous pass was dropped in the end zone), Focier found Greg Matthews for the winning score.

Who gets your POTW?

(AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!    Notre Dame did everything they could to hand Michigan a win today, and the Wolverines gladly accepted the gift.   I don’t know what hurts more … the gut-wrenching defeat for the Irish or the fact that Charlie Weis & Co breathed life back into Michigan’s program … one that was in complete disarray 2 weeks ago.   Either way, this game exemplified the EXACT reason I could not buy into any prognostications having the Irish go undefeated or 11-1.    Make no mistake, this was a total team loss as there were several huge errors made by several different Irish players, but the real disappointing thing was this:   with ND nursing a 34-31 lead with the ball and only about 2:20 left in the game, we needed a “real coaching staff” at that point to cement what should have been a nice victory.  Instead, amateur hour ensued on the Irish sidelines enabling Michigan to walk away with the gifted 38-34 win.

The first half was very frustrating for ND as they tallied over 300 yards of offense, but led by only 3 at halftime 20-17.   Several penalties on the offense nullified numerous big plays for the Irish and probably cost them at least 7-10 points.    The costly penalties would continue to hurt the Irish in the second half.  The kick-off that UM returned for a TD was symptomatic of another problem that hurt ND several times in this game and has been a problem for many years now:   a kicker with a wimpy leg who can only kick it to the 10 yard line (or worse).    And given the final score, the nullification of what we thought was ND’s first TD on a screen pass was yet another bad break in the first half.    Apparently, the replay official was the only one who thought that Armando Allen CONCLUSIVELY was out of bounds on his way to the endzone and he inexplicably overturned the call on the field.   ND settled for a FG and lost 4 valuable points.   Lastly, with some momentum after taking the lead 20-14 with about 90 seconds left in the half, another crappy kick-off helped Michigan to a gift FG to close within three before the whistle.  The Irish could have easily been ahead by maybe a 30-14 margin while demoralizing the Wolverines, but their inability to capitalize would come back to haunt them.   On a positive note, ND came back from an 11 point deficit in hostile territory … something they would do again in the 4^th quarter.

For much of the second half, the Irish defense was unable to stop a rejuvenated UM offense.   One of ND’s Achilles heels, shaky run defense, contributed to another deficit as Michigan gashed the Irish D for several big runs … between the tackles.   None was bigger than Tate Forcier’s 33 yard TD scamper on a 4^th and 3 play to give the Wolverines a 31-20 lead early in the 4^th quarter.   The Michigan freshman proved to be the best player on the field today as he made several big plays … many of them nice improvisations after escaping the rush.     What was real disturbing for Irish fans is that you got the feeling that the freshman Forcier was the ONLY player on the field that could beat us.   Yet, Jon Tenuta’s defense failed to stop him and it was one of the main things that cost ND the ball game.

There were more disturbing tendancies and errors in the second half.  1) The normally sure-handed Golden Tate dropped two passes … one in the end zone and one long bomb that woulda been a TD.  2)  At times, the Irish offense looked confused and squandered two timeouts while also suffering a delay of game penalty.  3) When ND really needed a good punt from the veteran Eric Maust at the end of the 4^th quarter, he obliged with a measly 27 yarder and wasn’t even rushed.     Despite all of this, the Irish showed some poise and came back from a second 11 point deficit to take a 34-31 lead with 5:10 remaining.

After a rare good defensive set, the Irish forced a Michigan punt and got the ball back at about their own 18 yard line with about 3 mins left.    The Wolverines had all 3 timeouts left.   On first down, ND ran the ball with Armando Allen gaining a first down to about the 31.   Good call … and, at this point, I’m sure ND fans were getting more confident that we might actually pull this one out … assuming of course that we wouldn’t do anything stupid.   Hold that thought.    On 1^st and ten from the 31 … Robert Hughes runs off tackle for a 1 yard gain.    There’s about 2:35 left and Michigan is forced to use a TO.    And this is when ND needed “a real coaching staff” instead of the in-game circus act under the CW bigtop.   I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking RUN THE BALL on 2^nd down … make ‘em use their 2^nd time out and maybe ya get 3-5 yards.   Or … if you dare think about passing … do something quick and real high percentage … afterall, what we really need is just one more FIRST DOWN.   A FIRST DOWN!!!   Hit super TE Kyle Rudolph 10 yrds downfield!!!   But NO …. Charlie calls for a pass … yet another deep ball to Not-so-Golden Tate and it falls incomplete.  Clock stops with only 6 seconds expiring.   UM still has 2 TO’s left.   3^rd and nine now.     You could still run at this point … maybe a draw … or even run a screen pass … again, at least make ‘em use a TO if you don’t  get the first down.    Clausen threw a quick 11 yard sideline pass that was wide open, but he probably rushed the throw and it was another incompletion.   I have no problem with the call for a pass in this situation, but this is the pass and the pattern they should’ve gone for on 2^nd down!!!!   Charlie …. If you really have to pass on 2^nd down (very debatable), go for the high % 12 yarder and a first down.   A first down wins the game!!!

So what ensued after this abysmal play-calling was the pathetic punt by Maust (hey Eric … ya might be able to kick it 45 yards if you’re not clutching your esophagus with both hands … you almost missed the ball entirely).   Then, predictably, the Irish could not stop THE FRESHMAN Forcier as he escaped several times to scramble and complete clutch passes … eventually leading to the dagger score with 11 seconds left.   More poor in-game coaching as the Irish coaches failed to tell their players to get the first down, fall down and use the final timeout instead of wasting time running around.

Again, what we saw today was a pretty talented and determined Irish squad that showed some guts in coming back from two 11 point deficits in a very hostile environment.   ND players definitely made a lot of mistakes … any one of which could’ve been the difference in the ballgame.   But ND needed their coaching staff to maintain their poise and close the deal when they had the lead with two and a half minutes left.    Instead, we all saw another data point that extends the disturbing trend of a team underachieving largely because its coaching staff is apparently not skilled enough to meet the challenge.  An experienced and talented Irish team under Parseghian, Devine or Holtz would’ve certainly won this game today.

Unfortunately, ND’s national title hopes are again dashed very early on in the season.   To be honest, I never thought the Irish were title caliber this year … did you?   The defense is still too raw up front and of course, there’s this issue about the capability of the coaching staff.    But they can still have a very good season … and they will …. BUT ONLY IF THEY BEAT MICHIGAN STATE NEXT WEEK.   Given MSU lost to Central Michigan at home today, the Irish should beat them in South Bend.   Keeping team morale up after today’s heart-breaking loss is the immediate challenge for this challenged ND coaching staff and it’s something they have not excelled in during past seasons.   Hopefully, they can get this one thing right … otherwise , a loss to MSU will indicate that another tragic season is underway and the predictable coaching search will undoubtedly ensue.    Next week’s game is unquestionably a must win game for Charlie Weis.

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