1985 purdue

The Teams: 1985, Part II

Seth • September 17, 2020 • 10:41am

PART I is here and covers the players and the nonconference games. Also people liked my album artwork so yeah, we made the T-shirt. I can't break it in for you like that but we put it on the softest shirt available.

If you people want the sweatshirt above you're out of luck because I made it off something I found on e-Bay and then Ace bought. But you can still get in on the Brown Jug Shirt through the end of today.

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The Sponsor: If you're buying or reselling, talk to Matt Demorest at HomeSure Lending now and see if you can't lock in a low rate while it lasts. In addition to being more ethical, knowledgeable, hands-on, intelligent, and fun to work with, Matt's exactly as excited for Michigan hockey as you are.

Previously: 1879, 1901, 1918, 1925, 1932, 1947, 1950, 1964, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1985 p.1, 1988, 1991, 1999

Special Guests: These are turning into Hardcore Histories with these interviews but what are you going to do when you've got Jim Scarcelli and Johnny Kolesar joining you to talk about the team that might have been Bo's best national championship claim.

[Writeup and player after THE JUMP]

The Teams: 1985, Part I

Seth • September 10, 2020 • 9:09am

The Sponsor: School's started and you don't know where to put it. If you're moving, talk to Matt Demorest at HomeSure Lending now and see if you can't lock in a low rate while it lasts. In addition to being more ethical, knowledgeable, hands-on, intelligent, and fun to work with, Matt didn't steal John Beilein then run him out of town.

Previously: 1879, 1901, 1918, 1925, 1932, 1947, 1950, 1964, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1991, 1999

1. SETUP AND PAYOFF

(starts at 0:50)

Sap and Seth set up the season because 1984 was rough. Has Bo lost it?

2. THE TEAM

(starts at 26:10)

The defense has a highlight video. The offense had Harbaugh.

3. THE NON-CONFERENCE

(starts at 1:04:30)

Notre Dame 20-12: Harbaugh is 2-10 in the first half. 'Soup' Campbell's reverse is called "Sally" which Michigan only ran in the big games.
@South Carolina 34-3: All we hear about are the Fire Ants defense. It's all over after Wilcher's helmet comes off. SC's defensive backs are coached so badly we look up who was in charge of them, and you'll never guess who it was.
Maryland 20-0: Battle of the Baughs. Slow-motion blowout. Seth's first Michigan game? Kolesar's first pass, the defense's first stand.

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THERE WILL BE A PART II

MUSIC:

"Glory Days"—Bruce Springsteen
"And We Danced"—The Hooters
“Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

Jamie was a tough little, chiseled chunk of steel. You don't see the little bastard!

Unverified Voracity Says Goodbye Toks

Brian •

Harbaugh of the day.

.@LilTunechi - Proud to be a fan of my man Lil Wayne. Hope you like the jersey as much as we like seeing you in it! pic.twitter.com/itjd1ZSf9T
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) June 20, 2015

The man knows his rappists.

Also, Harbaugh interviewed during the 1992 Northwestern game:

Battle stuff. Tyus Battle has not committed to Syracuse as of this instant. There's been no news from his visit as the Battles go radio silent:

"Ty and I are not making any comments until we figure things out," Gary Battle wrote in a text message.

Insider chatter holds that Battle will also visit UConn and that distance is apparently a problem. Publicly stated reasons are rarely the actual reasons, so take that with a grain of salt.

Michigan is not sitting on its hands. Four-star OH SG Jarron Cumberland, #62 on the 247 composite, is on campus right now. He will likely get an offer, and may drop immediately. Steve Lorenz put in a Crystal Ball for Cumberland at 8 AM today. (Josh Langford is off the board after he committed to—sigh—Michigan State.) Michigan clearly does not think this Battle decommit is a momentary dalliance.

At least he's still in the vaguely-affiliated other Big Ten conference. Potential name of the year running back Toks Akinribade has committed to Iowa. Michigan wasn't in the market for another tailback after taking Kingston Davis and Matt Falcon (and athletes Chris Evans and Kiante Enis), I know, but shades of LEVITICUS PAYNE here and it still hurts.

There is another, though.

More Steve Patterson stuff. Texas blog Barking Carnival is terrific, so I wanted to check in on what they were saying about the Chip Brown article on Longhorn AD Steve Patterson. Sound familiar?

Aloof and petty aren't a good combination.

The I’m smarter than everyone in the room vibe only works when you demonstrably are.

His decision-making is being driven by considerations that appear to be more about self-elevation (my running joke is that he badly wants to land a TED Talk) rather than balancing the considerations (or illusions) that make college fans unique from pro fans. I have zero interest in attending a Texas football game in person any time soon and it has little to do with the product. I sat patiently through some real dogshit in the 80s and 90s.

The current game day environment demonstrably sucks. At least for anyone with my disposition. It’s counterfeit. It’s false. And the season ticket holders we’re losing are some of the very best fans who are just tired of seeing their love of their school being exploited at every turn. Patterson wants to replace them with corporates and local transplants. Good luck with that, buddy.

Bottom line: he’s creating a situation where he will sink or swim entirely on his hires. He doesn’t have any good will banked.

That's a comment from Scipio Tex, one of the main authors at BC and one of the most incisive writers on the college football internet.

It is both sad and reassuring that Michigan isn't the only school having these problems as the old guard of school-oriented athletic directors gets invaded by a wave of spreadsheet people. (FWIW, Hackett doesn't fall in that category for me: a guy who is CEO at the same place for 20 years is not just looking to make a spreadsheet look nice and cash out.) If and when Hackett decides to go back into retirement, it's imperative that Michigan actually taps the network of high-profile athletic department employees they've seeded across the country.

Not so much, Boilers. 1985 Purdue-Michigan was a slaughter:

Apparel contract decision soon. Hackett:

"We're on our target to make our decision this summer and look for an answer soon," Hackett told gathered media after Thursday's regularly scheduled Regents meeting, adding, "We're still in the middle of that discussion."

Most rumblings indicate that Adidas is in a bad spot and is unlikely to retain the contract. Sam Webb has plenty of details($) at Scout; the upshot is that it's likely to be Nike. I had a mild preference for Under Armour, but it seems like most of the athletes have a strong one for the swoosh so whatever. The gap between the offers—reported to be significant—has apparently come down somewhat, so may as well "spend" some of the oodles of cash you bring in on making people happy.

My main reservation with going back to Nike is their tendency towards uniformz. They've been at least as demanding in that department as Adidas, and they also run the play where a bunch of their schools all have the same dubious design element at the same time. I do think a strong AD can push back against those kind of things—see Indiana basketball, Penn State, Alabama, Texas, etc.—and hopefully we've got one of those now.

A potential replacement. I haven't seen anything about this officially, but Chris Dilks is pretty plugged in and he notes that Michigan hockey does have an option to fill the holes in the roster created by early NHL departures:

[Cooper] Marody was on the edge between returning to Sioux Falls for another season of junior hockey and enrolling at the University of Michigan, but with Dylan Larkin deciding to sign with the Detroit Red Wings and opening up a spot on Michigan's roster, it looks like Marody will be playing for the Wolverines next season.

Marody had a 22-36-58 line in 52 games and should go off the board in the third or fourth round of the draft. He won't be Larkin; he should be a solid player as a freshman.

Etc.: Gasaway on shot clock overreactions. Maize and Blue Nation on how nice it is that Harbaugh is around. More budget stuff. Hyman to Toronto after forcing a trade away from the Panthers. Toronto's doing a lot of smart stuff lately. Tickets are moving like hotcakes. Mitch McGary is SNAKE GOD. Daily alum Ryan Kartje on satellite camps.