I agree, wish they would add some more games to the lineup. I do love this one though.
That defensive backfield was "just-a-guy" Ryan Mundy playing next to three top-line talents. They were good, but should've been great.
but with the talent Carr had in his last five years, he should have won more. And he won a lot. Making this perhaps the stupidest accurate criticism ever.
I defended Carr tirelessly during his career, and I still appreciate what he meant for Michigan--not having any embarrassing ethical problems in the closet from his era is a huge, huge plus. And he recruited well and genuinely cared about his players.
The problem was that his staff stagnated and covered its shortcomings with talent, playing just well enough to avoid thinking that there was any real problem with what they did. It's not that they embraced bad philosophies, fielded inferior players, or refused to adapt--they weren't capable of executing their vision properly.
Perhaps the best example of this was the special teams debacle in 2003 that cost Michigan the Oregon and Iowa games and nearly caused disaster in others. They showed a willingness to adapt--they adopted the spread punt to try to fix things--but they proved incapable of coaching anything other than what they knew.
And what they knew could have worked if they had executed it well. Carr liked run-first, strong defense game management. And the thing is, you can win that way--Jim Tressel ate our lunch with that plan, and Nick Saban has won three of the last four titles with the same idea. But you need good players (Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, LaMar Woodley, Leon Hall... we're good there) and you need to do everything well.
Michigan in the mid-00s did not do everything well. And they consistently lost games they shouldn't have.
Carr was a B or B-plus coach, but the staff was below-par and he had the misfortune of coaching in an era of rapid coaching escalation. The second half of his head coaching career was a time when A/A-plus coaches like Stoops, Carroll, Saban and Meyer were moving the goalposts, and he didn't keep up.
Hoke has taken Carr's "real," gained new and needed financial support to employ an above-average staff, and looks ready to bring it. The circle is completing.
2006 was better. It had seniors Woodley, Long, David Harris, Breaston, Ecker, Hall, not to mention juniors and sophomores Henne, Hart, Branch, Jamison, Mundy, Manningham, and Arrington. If they beat OSU, I really think they could have beat Florida.
That was one horsecrap PI call. I guess there's no changing the suck of the refs in these games.
Couple of really bad pass interference calls, one just on Marlin Jackson and one earlier on #13.
Freshman Henne is... a freshman, forgot he was so inaccurate and unable to throw the ball away before getting sacked.
Stanton is even better than I remembered, the run defense is subpar. I guess to set up a great comeback you have to get down haha.
John L Smith... Hilarious
Freshman Henne had a nice season, but you can't really expect a freshman to have everything together. I actually think the 2004 team, despite my griping, performed pretty close to its potential. The Texas team they nearly beat in Pasadena turned out to be pretty good.
Stanton was really good. He reminds me of Tebow or Manziel and a lot of the Northwestern QBs.
I forgot how Hart could just pull a rabbit out of his hat and get yards despite being put in a "poor damn Toussaint" situation.
and then watching the rest of the game at the concession stand TVs.
Great game.
I hate you.
Simply the best late game performance by a WR in UM history.(Sorry, AC!)
BTN features a Michigan-laden day today as well when it comes to Michigan games of the past, although a fair number of these are also typical selections for their Classic College Football series. In the 1999 game anyway, I remember one Brooks Bollinger leading a comeback effort by the Badgers, but alas, we recovered the onside kick. The Rose Bowl in 1993, as most here know, contains a beautiful performance by Tyrone Wheatley (15 carries for 235 yards, I believe) - if you haven't seen this one before, do watch it.
9 AM - 1995 Northwestern at Michigan
11 AM - 1999 Michigan at Wisconsin
4 PM - 1990 Michigan State at Michigan
6 PM - 1993 Rose Bowl
I think I'll skip the 9am and 4pm showings and DVR the 11am and 6pm games. The '93 Rose Bowl is still my favorite UM bowl game, with the 2000 Orange Bowl a very close second. Wheatley might have flirted with 300 yards rushing if not for the back spasms he was dealing with.