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Coach's Corner: A Bravado Is Born
Posted at 5:45am — 9/27/2014
Long before he turned the sweatshirt-tucked-into-khakis look into a fashion misstatement, well before he traded postgame handshakes for tossing opposing coaches out of the way, abrasive San Francisco 49er head coach Jim Harbaugh was abrasive University of Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Or, as his former coach Bo Schembechler affectionately used to call him, “Harbaugh!”
In November of 1986, Harbaugh entered the week of his third Michigan-Ohio State game by touching the third rail. At an innocuous Monday press conference, in front of a handful of half-attentive reporters, the Wolverines all-time career passing leader at the time dropped a bomb.
“I guarantee we will beat Ohio State and go to Pasadena.”
It’s a statement that stunned the college football world. Players on both teams cocked their heads like dogs who just heard someone say “outside?” The words caught the attention of not only Harbaugh’s coach, but his coach’s mentor as well. He may have been gravely ill but Woody Hayes was alive, and you knew that bold declaration reached his hospital room like a bolt of lightning.
As it turned out, the Wolverines backed up their cocky signal-caller’s prediction, beating the Buckeyes in Columbus, 26-24, and earning the school’s 12th trip to the Rose Bowl. It’s since become a part of the lore of the game’s biggest rivalry. But what few people remember is the school responsible for his Joe Namath moment. Hint: it certainly wasn’t That School Down South.
Heading down the stretch, the 1986 Michigan football team was an absolute powerhouse. Riding the momentum of the previous year’s #2 national ranking, capped by an impressive Fiesta Bowl win over Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Wolverines returned much of the defense that led the nation in points allowed. Not to mention all the key players from a productive offense led by Harbaugh, the NCAA leader in passing efficiency.
They began the season in South Bend by outscoring Notre Dame and ruining the Irish coaching debut of Lou Holtz. They went on to shut down Deion Sanders and Florida State, then steamroll eight other opponents on their way to a flawless 9-0 record and #2 ranking in both polls. All that stood before them was a walk- through at the Big House with lowly Minnesota, and the stage would be set for another epic battle in Columbus for the Big Ten title.
Someone forgot to tell lowly Minnesota about the walk-through part.
In what would be the most incredible upset of the entire season—and this was a season that ended with Penn State knocking off everyone’s #1 Miami for the national title—the 5-4 Gophers under coach John Gutekunst pulled the rug out from the Wolverines with an epic 20-17 win. Gone were hopes for a national championship. In sudden, serious jeopardy was the all-but-wrapped-up Big Ten title and an opportunity to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, both of which would have been clinched with a win. The game in Columbus would have had no bearing on any of that. All they needed was to beat lowly Minnesota.
Quarterback Rickie Foggie and his electric tailback Darrell Thompson shredded the Wolverine defense all afternoon, as Minnesota took advantage of five maize and blue turnovers. When tailback Gerald White scored to knot the score at 17, however, it appeared that Michigan would wake up from its nightmare and escape defeat.
Yet, as each event of the final minute played out, no one in the stands could believe what they were watching. The Gophers moved the ball across midfield. Foggie eluded the Wolverines defense and jitterbugged 31 yards, well inside field goal range. Foggie centered the ball at the Michigan 13 before burning his team’s final timeout. Chip Lohmiller booted a 30-yard field goal as time expired.
The jubilant Minnesota team swarmed the field and descended upon the Little Brown Jug, yanking it from its handsome blue box nestled behind the Wolverine bench, and paraded it around the Tartan Turf. Everyone wearing maroon and gold wanted a turn to hold it, to touch it, heck, to even see what the darned thing looked like.
Michigan fans, particularly those who had already made travel plans for Pasadena (myself included), sat motionless in their seats or in front of their TVs, unable to speak. As it turned out, Harbaugh did all the speaking for them two days later. And he hasn’t piped down since.
Written by GBMWolverine Message Board Contributor — Chris Hill
Go Blue — Wear Maize!
Long before he turned the sweatshirt-tucked-into-khakis look into a fashion misstatement, well before he traded postgame handshakes for tossing opposing coaches out of the way, abrasive San Francisco 49er head coach Jim Harbaugh was abrasive University of Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Or, as his former coach Bo Schembechler affectionately used to call him, “Harbaugh!”
In November of 1986, Harbaugh entered the week of his third Michigan-Ohio State game by touching the third rail. At an innocuous Monday press conference, in front of a handful of half-attentive reporters, the Wolverines all-time career passing leader at the time dropped a bomb.
“I guarantee we will beat Ohio State and go to Pasadena.”
It’s a statement that stunned the college football world. Players on both teams cocked their heads like dogs who just heard someone say “outside?” The words caught the attention of not only Harbaugh’s coach, but his coach’s mentor as well. He may have been gravely ill but Woody Hayes was alive, and you knew that bold declaration reached his hospital room like a bolt of lightning.
As it turned out, the Wolverines backed up their cocky signal-caller’s prediction, beating the Buckeyes in Columbus, 26-24, and earning the school’s 12th trip to the Rose Bowl. It’s since become a part of the lore of the game’s biggest rivalry. But what few people remember is the school responsible for his Joe Namath moment. Hint: it certainly wasn’t That School Down South.
Heading down the stretch, the 1986 Michigan football team was an absolute powerhouse. Riding the momentum of the previous year’s #2 national ranking, capped by an impressive Fiesta Bowl win over Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Wolverines returned much of the defense that led the nation in points allowed. Not to mention all the key players from a productive offense led by Harbaugh, the NCAA leader in passing efficiency.
They began the season in South Bend by outscoring Notre Dame and ruining the Irish coaching debut of Lou Holtz. They went on to shut down Deion Sanders and Florida State, then steamroll eight other opponents on their way to a flawless 9-0 record and #2 ranking in both polls. All that stood before them was a walk- through at the Big House with lowly Minnesota, and the stage would be set for another epic battle in Columbus for the Big Ten title.
Someone forgot to tell lowly Minnesota about the walk-through part.
In what would be the most incredible upset of the entire season—and this was a season that ended with Penn State knocking off everyone’s #1 Miami for the national title—the 5-4 Gophers under coach John Gutekunst pulled the rug out from the Wolverines with an epic 20-17 win. Gone were hopes for a national championship. In sudden, serious jeopardy was the all-but-wrapped-up Big Ten title and an opportunity to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, both of which would have been clinched with a win. The game in Columbus would have had no bearing on any of that. All they needed was to beat lowly Minnesota.
Quarterback Rickie Foggie and his electric tailback Darrell Thompson shredded the Wolverine defense all afternoon, as Minnesota took advantage of five maize and blue turnovers. When tailback Gerald White scored to knot the score at 17, however, it appeared that Michigan would wake up from its nightmare and escape defeat.
Yet, as each event of the final minute played out, no one in the stands could believe what they were watching. The Gophers moved the ball across midfield. Foggie eluded the Wolverines defense and jitterbugged 31 yards, well inside field goal range. Foggie centered the ball at the Michigan 13 before burning his team’s final timeout. Chip Lohmiller booted a 30-yard field goal as time expired.
The jubilant Minnesota team swarmed the field and descended upon the Little Brown Jug, yanking it from its handsome blue box nestled behind the Wolverine bench, and paraded it around the Tartan Turf. Everyone wearing maroon and gold wanted a turn to hold it, to touch it, heck, to even see what the darned thing looked like.
Michigan fans, particularly those who had already made travel plans for Pasadena (myself included), sat motionless in their seats or in front of their TVs, unable to speak. As it turned out, Harbaugh did all the speaking for them two days later. And he hasn’t piped down since.
Written by GBMWolverine Message Board Contributor — Chris Hill
Go Blue — Wear Maize!
