rick leach

Previously: 2004 Michigan State, 1992-93 Rose Bowl

We're back to break down another vintage Michigan Football game. This is the third game of the series and today we are jumping back in time another substantial amount to cover the 1978 clash between Michigan and Notre Dame in South Bend. It features a matchup of famed quarterbacks in Joe Montana of Notre Dame and Rick Leach of Michigan and is our first game of both the 1970s and Bo Schembechler's tenure as coach. It's also a significant game for historical purposes, as it was the first edition in the re-started rivalry between the two sides, the first meeting between Michigan and Notre Dame in 35 years. After this 1978 meeting, the Wolverines and Fighting Irish would play nearly every year for four decades before the end of the rivalry in the 2020s. 

 

The team: Michigan came into 1978 on the heels of back-to-back Big Ten Championships, which included wins over Ohio State. The 1976 and 1977 seasons were close to identical, perfect non-conference slates, 7-1 records in conference featuring one random loss but wins over both MSU/OSU, and then a loss in the Rose Bowl (to USC in '76 and to Washington in '77). The 1978 season was to be Rick Leach's senior year, the starting QB entering his fourth season at the helm of Bo Schembechler's option offense. Leach was one piece of the previous year's rushing attack that mostly all returned for '78, starting tailback Harlan Huckleby (743 rushing yards in '77) and fullback Russell Davis (1013 yards), as well as reserve back Roosevelt Smith (308 yards). Both Davis and Huckleby had been All-Big Ten in 1977, as had Leach. 

The blockers in front of them had seen some changeover. Just two returning starters rolled over to 1978, the right side of the line featuring Bill Dufek and John Powers, while the remainder of the line had headed off to the draft (LT Mike Kenn had gone on to be picked in the first round, starting an illustrious pro career). Thus, new starters Steve Nauta (C), Greg Bartnick (LG), and John Giesler (LT) were filling in on an offensive line. Due to the new faces, 1978 would be an offensive line that Craig would remember as "pedestrian". 

Michigan didn't pass the ball much during this period of the Schembechler era, Leach attempting 147 total passes in 1977 over 12 games (he'd up that to 158 in 1978), but when he did throw he would be targeting returning starters at receiver spots. TE Gene Johnson was back for his senior season, while 1977's leading receiver Ralph Clayton (wingback) was also a senior starter. The 1978 team would give more attention to some relatively new faces, Doug Marsh being a breakout contributor at TE and true freshman tailback Butch Woolfolk seizing a key part of the offense (Lawrence Reid re-emerged to get 50 carries as well). The Wolverines had cobbled together a good offense in '77, but these new contributors and increased experience at the skill positions would take it to another gear, from 17th in scoring offense to 4th in 1978. 

[Bentley Historical Library]

On defense, Michigan was still running a 3-4 under DC Bill McCartney (Jack Harbaugh was DBs coach at this time). Along the line, Dale Keitz and Curtis Greer were returning starters at middle guard and shortside tackle, respectively, with Greer becoming the star of the line in 1978. Chris Godfrey rounded out the defensive front, but more stars were found at the ILB/OLB level. Ron Simpkins was a returning starter at ILB and like Greer, he'd raise his game to superstar status in 1978 en route to being an All-American in '79. Bob Hollway, Mark DeSantis, Tom Seabron, and Jerry Meter were part of the group rounding out this position, Meter also earning All-Big Ten honors in 1978.

The defensive backfield featured 1st Team All-Big Ten honoree Mike Jolly and a combination of Mark Braman and Gerald Diggs stepping up to take a starting role at halfback (corner in modern terms). Mike Harden was a fresh-faced starter at free safety and would earn all-conference honors, while the strong safety spot (known as the "wolf" at the time) entered the year with a competition between Stuart Harris and Dan Murray. As a whole, only five starters returned on defense but it wouldn't matter, Michigan finishing with the second-best scoring defense in the country in 1978, allowing only 8.8 points per game against. As Craig remembers the depth chart: "when you just look at the names, the offense was better. But the defense really achieved, except against MSU. Nobody moved the ball but MSU on us". Not bad.  

[AFTER THE JUMP: The game]

2 hours and 52 minutes

Michigan historian Dr. Sap and I have started a new podcast on the lore of Michigan football. And this time we were extraordinarily lucky to have as our guests the defensive captain of the 1976 Wolverines, Calvin O’Neal, and Bo Schembechler’s right hand man and greatest offensive line coach in football history (@ me!) Jerry Hanlon.

Previously: 1980, 1999, 1901, 1964

THE SPONSOR:

It is sponsored by HomeSure Lending. If you're buying or refinancing your home, this is the guy to talk to. He'll work on your loan directly and walk you through a process that can get really confusing really fast. I used him. Brian used him. Everyone else who used him is glad they did.

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1. GIMMICKY TOP FIVE: YOU KNOW IT’S A BO SEASON WHEN…

(starts at 1:00)

Seth & Sap set the stage for the Most Bo season of the Bo era. Lots of running, and a loss on natural grass to a future Big Ten West team. Nationally: Pitt had Tony Dorsett, USC, Alabama, and Ohio State were the other contenders. Oklahoma and Texas were great teams too.

2. SETTING THE STAGE

(starts at 11:22)

Preseason #1 to some. Bring back most of the offense, and a fair bit of the defense too, though there’s concern on the defensive line. Bo has open heart surgery in the spring. Coming off the disappointment of 1975. Run through the roster. Story of Mike Kenn: had to wait most of a week after signing day for his LOI because he was 6’6"/205—tried to make him a tight end but according to Hanlon: “It was like throwing the ball against that wall.” Story of O’Neal’s recruitment: Moeller worked him out of heading to MSU, MSU showed up with a limo.

3. THE GAMES PART I

(starts at 48:19)

We go through every game, from the one that Calvin O’Neal got an interception on to the many, many, many games when he did not. Sap plays us some clips from inside the locker room at halftime of the Wake Forest game. Bo gets hollered at for running up the score by putting 70 on the President’s Navy the week after the President visits. Fake punt takes the air out of MSU.

4. THE GAMES PART II

(starts at 1:34:06)

What happened against Purdue? What happened to Illinois when they came for senior day after that? What happened to all the record books after that game, and what was the record for passing touchdowns in a season before? Which Michigan player told Jerry Hanlon he guaranteed not just a win but a shoutout over Ohio State? Which quarterback did they have in Columbus anyway? Who took Ufer’s horn?

5. ROSE BOWL & WRAP

(starts at 2:09:21)

The players are all given hideous blue jerseys to go on the Tonight Show. Also hideous injuries during that game. Hanlon wonders what they could have done to better prepare their teams for those Rose Bowls, because they never had a good performance—Sap suggests it was getting an indoor facility so they could, you know, practice before the bowl games. We talk about where this team fits in the pantheon of teams, MVPs, most overlooked players, and how the players felt when the maize (not yellow) pants came back.

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MUSIC

• "The Rubberband Man"—The Spinners
• "The Boys Are Back in Town"—Thin Lizzy
• "Tie Your Mother Down"—Queen
• “Something He Can Feel”—Aretha Franklin
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

• Helpful iTunes subscribe link
• General podcast feed link
• Direct download link (right-click/save-as)
• What's with the theme music?

You want to beat your friends

MAYBE

The dumbest thing in the world. We are all very fortunate that we experienced the overblown seriousness of NFL reporters for a solid month before ballghazi hit. Otherwise the sheer concentrated stupidity of it would be killing us all right now. People who have tested these things tell you that it's extremely hard to distinguish between 10 PSI and 12, and yet:

And that's from Peter King's site. King is the unofficial voice of the NFL, and even he's reduced to throwing a million different articles on his site about a nothing issue.

Elsewhere lunatic screechers have demanded the Pats' removal from the Super Bowl and the ejection of Bill Belichick from the Earth's gravity well. It's enough to turn yesterday's press conferences into bravura performance pieces by the Patriots even though they were the legal crap-speak version of "both teams played hard." I'm down with anyone expressing open contempt at the assembled NFL press corps.

When this happened in college football, the Pac-12 fined Lane Kiffin and we all rolled our eyes at him, then got on with our lives. The NFL has to be so damned serious about everything, though, so we get a solid week of questions like "what can you possibly say to the children about this travesty?"

And there but for the grace of Dave Brandon's uncontrollable urge to email go us.

Harbaugh in the Orange Bowl. I enjoy the bit where he tells Tyrod Taylor that he did indeed throw a spectacularly unlikely touchdown.

Interesting times in Knoxville. A day after Tennessee (and former Michigan DL coach Steve Stripling) cut loose defensive end Marques Ford for no reason whatsoever two weeks before signing day…

"It's an ugly business," LaRosa said. " … In the nasty business, they kept it sort of honest by at least saying that they had other commits and they were pulling his commitment."

…their offensive coordinator pulls up stakes and bolts for the NFL. Turnabout is fair play there. This would be going too far in penance, though:

Jones always has maintained a tight relationship with Mike DeBord, a longtime college and professional coaching veteran, whom NFL sources told VolQuest.com this week could depart an executive-level post in Michigan's athletics department for assistant coaching opportunities back in the NFL.

That would be bonkers. DeBord hasn't coached since 2012 and hasn't had a coordinator spot since 2007.

Ford immediately committed to Rutgers, FWIW.

Angelique on Drevno. Former players are fans:

"We were a team that was pretty beaten down," former Stanford offensive lineman Chris Marinelli said. "Their first order of business was getting us stronger and we pretty quickly became a pretty scary, forceful team. We mauled people. I think people (who follow Michigan) will see that pretty fast. He will get all those guys in tune very quickly. He's one of those people who gets people in line, especially the young guys in terms of breaking habits. It will be a pretty quick turnaround."

FO and SB Nation writer (and former All-Pac-12 OL) Ben Muth:

"Drevs is O-line through and through," Muth said. "He's going to impart toughness on that offensive line. Michigan's offensive line is going to be tough and play physical.

"The great thing about that staff -- they have an identity, and they're going to impart it on you. That's something we didn't have at Stanford, and when Harbaugh got there. He said, 'This is what we run, this is how run it, and other teams are going to have to adjust to us.'"

Having an identity is going to be a welcome change after years of turnover going back even to the Lloyd Carr days, when DeBord came in and went to an exclusively zone stretch system.

HAIR. Via Dr. Sap, here's Rick Leach and Kirk Gibson chatting with each other on a 1979 edition of Michigan Replay:

Another thing on Peppers to safety. Marcus Ray points out something I'd forgotten:

In fact, Ray got an early signal from Peppers in his true freshman season.
"During the season, he told me, 'Hey, I would have preferred to play safety, but I'm a team player,'" Ray recalled. "He said he made a lot of plays at safety in high school. He said he just feels more comfortable there. I think that's a great move.

He played the spot in high school. Ray also thinks he can be Michigan's best there since… 1997. But definitely no longer than that.

Etc.: Hockey scores a lot of goals. O'Bannon legal team now suing over UNC academic scandal. Dylan Larkin putting up a lot of points.