In Your Opinion: What are the greatest Michigan Football games of all-time?
Just rewatched The Game. You know what game I'm referring to...and it got me to thinking.
Interested to see what the board thinks. What do you all think are the greatest Michigan football games of all-time?
(And to be a little clearer, in my opinion, the greatest doesn't have to be the best actual football game. Just because we played a nail-bitter at Indiana awhile back...or those close Hoke games versus Northwestern, doesn't make it the greatest game. Okay, that's not clearer at all...interpret it however you want.)
January 14th, 2022 at 9:49 AM ^
You say that record and it doesn’t sound great. But the losses weren’t just close; Notre Dame and Miami finished 1 and 2 that season and that order was settled in a game on the field that was itself a classic. We were every bit as good as those teams, and just barely lost. The USC team we beat was a top 5 outfit themselves.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:08 AM ^
Good point HP. The best games didn't always result in a win. I broke by mothers lamp in the living room as Iowa kicked a goddam field goal in a 1 vs 2 showdown. I was grounded for a month.
January 13th, 2022 at 11:37 PM ^
I remember being at the 2010 UM vs Illinois game that was bonkers. For the sheer bonkers-ness of it, this game belongs on the list. Plus, the Illini think they're in a rivalry with us.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:47 AM ^
The only Illinois game that ever left an impression on me was 1981. Eason was killing us; it was already 21-7 Illinois early 2nd quarter and they'd driven into the red zone yet again and were about to go up three scores...and Eason threw an interception at the goal line and Michigan scored the next 63 points.
January 14th, 2022 at 1:40 PM ^
I def remember the 2009 game. We were up 13-7 at the half, get a long pass to Roundtree at the start of the 2nd half that looked like a TD but on review he was just shy of the goal line. 4 straight attempts from inside the 1 get stuffed. I think Juice Williams had a 80 yard run for a TD on the ensuing drive, and all of a sudden him and the Illini are cooking against us, they end up winning big, like 35-13 and shutting us out in the 2nd half. Juice had like 100 yds passing and rushing and a couple other Illini RBs had 100 yds rushing. Ugh, the come down from being up nearly 2 scores to suddenly falling apart when we couldn't punch it in. It left a mark.
ugh.
42-27! WHOO!
January 14th, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
I liked those Juice Williams teams because they always played OSU tough. I think the Illini beat the Buckeyes at least once in that era. Not that we were in a position to take advantage for most of that era, but still...
January 14th, 2022 at 5:22 PM ^
It was 2007, just hours after we lost to Wisconsin in Camp Randall and I thought our big ten hopes were done. Was on the way back from Madison when me and my roomies heard it over the radio of that big buick we were driving. Completely turned around our mood. That gave us a chance to win the big ten at the game the next weekend. we did not.
January 15th, 2022 at 11:06 AM ^
That was my first game at the big house. I was a kid and it was awesome. Anthony Carter & Butch Woolfolk became my first favorite players that day.
January 13th, 2022 at 11:40 PM ^
24-12, nothing else is close. 42-27 this year is up there.
January 13th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
2010 Illinois?
/runs and hides
January 13th, 2022 at 11:52 PM ^
Lots of great games mentioned, but I must say I especially enjoyed pummeling the crap out of ND in the rain in 2019.
January 14th, 2022 at 7:44 AM ^
I enjoyed that one almost as much as the pummeling in 2006, which seemed to come out of nowhere.
Actually any pummeling of the Irish ranks pretty damn high for me.
January 14th, 2022 at 5:25 PM ^
The 2007 pummeling is mostly forgotten because of the 2 games that preceded it, but the 2007 Penn State win is when I started to believe in that team again. Their finest hour was definitely the Citrus Bowl, a rough season for a decorated class, but in the end they came out with one heck of a last hurrah for Lloyd
January 14th, 2022 at 12:22 AM ^
Michigan vs PSU 2005. Henne to Manningham.
January 14th, 2022 at 2:09 AM ^
Oh good call. That one is underrated.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:34 AM ^
2021 OSU
Nat Champ Rose Bowl
1995 OSU
2011 ND
2004 MSU
1979 Indiana
January 14th, 2022 at 8:59 AM ^
Finally, someone listed 1979 Michigan v. Indiana.
Score tied 21 all. 6 seconds left on the clock. No overtime then. John Wangler to Anthony Carter for a game-winning TD as the clock expired. Watch it on YouTube - Ufer goes crazy. The win got us to 7-1 with only a 10-12 loss to Notre Dame. Ended up losing to Purdue 21-24, OSU 15-18 and North Carolina in the Gator Bowl 15-17. Ended up 8-4 and final ranking of 18th. Four losses by a total of 10 points. If there is such a thing, it was a great 8-4 season.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:56 AM ^
1. 1969 Ohio (modern era begins)
2. 1948 Rose Bowl (unprecedented post bowl AP vote and set the tone for post-war Big Ten dominance)
3. 1997 Ohio (set up a Heisman and first AP title since 1948)
4. 1902 Rose Bowl (birth of the program and Yost revenge game)
5. 1986 Ohio (Harbaugh calls his shot and Michigan wins the conference and the 1980s)
6. 1998 Rose Bowl (clinched a national title)
7. 1977 Ohio (Bo gets a win to even his record against Woody and clinch the Rose Bowl)
8. 2021 Ohio (breaks a modern era slide and sets up first conference title in 17 years)
9. 2006 Notre Dame (exciting and satisfying win after two tough losses in the series)
10. 2000 Orange Bowl (Michigan comes back from two 14 deficits and Tom Brady caps his Michigan career by beating Bama)
January 14th, 2022 at 1:08 AM ^
I forgot one
1994 Penn State at Michigan
Perfect Fall Day, Penn State's juggernaught of a team #3 against #5 Michigan, A long TD run by Tyrone Wheatley lit the fire that turned the 2nd half of drab 3-16 halftime deficit into one of the best and most exciting halves of football I've ever witnessed.
January 14th, 2022 at 9:29 AM ^
This one came first to mind for me, too. The best football game I've seen in person. That first Wheatley run was like a firework had exploded on the field and totally changed the whole stadium.
The team bounced back in the aftermath of the Kordell Stewart Hail Mary loss. Fought to take the lead, only to have (eventually undefeated and #2) PSU come back and win in the final minutes. That was enough to wreck the rest of the season with non-competitive losses to Wisconsin and OSU. But that PSU game was incredible.
(The 1994 ND game would also make my list.)
January 14th, 2022 at 2:10 AM ^
Well I only read the first page and didn't see it mentioned but one of my all-time favs was AC's catch against Corso's Indiana team.
A sure defeat snatched away by Carter.
My pic for best though has to be '69 against osu.
January 14th, 2022 at 5:20 AM ^
Biakabutuka running wild against OSU in 1995.
January 14th, 2022 at 5:44 AM ^
i'm just going with the ones i actually attended, and the top one with the obvious 'recency bias'
1. 2021 42-27, don't you know?
2. 1993 rose bowl - washington can't stop ty wheatley
3. 2019 thumping of ND in the rainstorm
4. 2010 triple OT game v. illinois *sleeper pick of the bunch - OT was kind of new and putting aside, well, a lot of bad football, it was still a barn burner to win 67-65.
January 14th, 2022 at 6:29 AM ^
I'll always remember that Illinois game as the one where we scored 67 points and did not cover. Must be a record or something,
January 14th, 2022 at 6:28 AM ^
UTL1 and it is not close. Distant second maybe that game v UCLA in 1988? 89? When we won with an onside kick - I think that is the only one we ever pulled out of our ass like that?
January 14th, 2022 at 7:17 AM ^
I attended both of those games and both were incredibly exciting since they were both big come from behind wins in the last minutes. Leading into those last few minutes of each game, few would have ever expected M to win -- everything had to go right for that to happen. And it did each time! I would say that the UCLA game had to be one of the best away games, at least.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:32 PM ^
ND 2006 was a pretty damn good away game. Lamar Woodley Pick 6 RUFKM?
January 14th, 2022 at 6:43 AM ^
I think the 1995 OSU game would have to be considered as well. The Biakabutuka game is one of my all time favorites.
January 14th, 2022 at 7:09 AM ^
Can't argue with any of the top ones. I am surprised that scrolling through I didn't see many mentions of the 2007 Capital One Bowl.
Senior Hart/Henne, finally healthy unloaded a barrage of punches on Urban Meyer-led Florida. This was a different UofM from how they looked all season, and man it was fun to watch Lloyd just let it all out.
January 14th, 2022 at 11:37 AM ^
That was a really good, fun game. Probably gets knocked down on the list because the stakes of a Citrus Bowl...eh. But yeah, good game.
January 14th, 2022 at 7:26 AM ^
I'm going to break this thread for a minute lol. I'm a guy that appreciates history and gravitate away from "the newest thing"...but...
1. 2021 OSU: I'm 38 and when I'm 68 (God willing) it will be the game I look back to and talk about. This is my '69 osu game. I've never had a michigan game that brought my to tears watching it almost two months later. I was crying, my wife was crying, my 9 year old daughter was crying when they won. My dad (who was the one that has the connection to UM football the last 40 years) dad in '18 without seeing UM win that game in a long time so it amplified the emotion for us. I've never been emotionally moved by a football game like that.
2. 2004 MSU
3. 1997 osu
4. 1997 psu
5. 1995 osu
January 14th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
yeah 2021.
Same situation for me - my dad who passed in '18 and all I could think of was how much he would have enjoyed seeing this game.
January 14th, 2022 at 7:31 AM ^
42-27
January 14th, 2022 at 7:34 AM ^
Some of the most memorable are not necessarily wins.
Braylonfest was unreal.
UTL I
Biakabatuka vs Eddie George
Desmond’s extended catch and Heisman pose.
Appalachian State
The Colorado Hail Mary
Desmond getting tripped/tackled in the end zone vs MSU
The muffed/blocked punt vs MSU
Raghib Ishmail returning two kicks against us in a 1v2 battle.
2016 OSU
Devin Gardener on a broken foot vs OSU
QB Jim Harbaugh guaranteeing victory over OSU.
Any OSU game we won.
January 14th, 2022 at 12:33 PM ^
Tim Brown did us dirty too - 87?
January 14th, 2022 at 8:11 AM ^
1993 Rose Bowl. Wheatley goes off and we get revenge on Washington in an absolutely fantastic game to watch and rewatch.
January 14th, 2022 at 8:12 AM ^
There is only ONE greatest of all time game, but you must be of a certain generation to appreciate all it encompassed. The 1969 osu vs M game stands alone.
January 14th, 2022 at 9:11 AM ^
How is that game really better than the 2021 game?
I feel like they are very close, and that level upset in a big game is actually a lot harder to come by today. The top teams are so much better than they were back in the 60s and 70s, with the ability to sign Free Agent QBs, and recruit nationally a lot easier.
January 14th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
04 MSU, hands down
January 14th, 2022 at 8:18 AM ^
Brady Orange Bowl
Tai Streets OSU game
AC Indiana game
January 14th, 2022 at 8:37 AM ^
Braylonfest I must agree was excellent. However, the Rose Bowl loss to the Vince Young led Texas team was one of the greatest games (and individual performances) I have ever seen, despite the poor outcome this may be the greatest to me.
January 14th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^
Vince Young did the same thing the following year on an even bigger stage v USC for the national championship. That guy was an incredible college football player.
January 14th, 2022 at 8:44 AM ^
I'll preface this by saying this is not only the greatest Michigan game I've ever attended in person, but the single greatest sporting event that I've been to. Last years (2021) game against Ohio State. The snow, the crowd, the intensity, the VICTORY. It had it all. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it. It was so great, that after the 6 hour drive (that normally takes 2 1/2 hours) home, I watched the game again in it's entirety before I went to bed. Simply incredible.
January 14th, 2022 at 11:42 AM ^
Agreed! And I had that same 6 hour drive back to Rockford white-knuckling it all the way. Was supposed to have a flight out of GRR that night but missed it because the drive took so long.
January 14th, 2022 at 8:53 AM ^
2008 Capital One Bowl deserves some more love.
January 14th, 2022 at 10:57 AM ^
That's what I meant (called it the 2007 Cap One Bowl)
January 14th, 2022 at 9:03 AM ^
1997 Iowa game. Tim Dwight took a punt for a TD as time expired in the 2nd quarter. Looked like a loss until Brian Griese and the defense controlled the 2nd half.
January 14th, 2022 at 9:13 AM ^
I was at that game...we were getting blown out. The end of the game was unlike any experience that I have ever had. People just standing there, screaming their heads off for what seemed like an hour after the game.
January 14th, 2022 at 9:21 AM ^
Was there too, trock. Kept screaming don't kick it to Dwight! He took a kickoff back deep into M territory to set up an Iowa FG. Their only points in the 2nd half. Amazing comeback.
January 14th, 2022 at 11:02 AM ^
That was the only game of the 97 season I never watched. I had a high school marching band event that day. Though I could see the scores, I couldn't watch the game. Our VCR didn't record the game...and well...I knew how the rest of the season played out so I just never went back and watched it.
I assumed that would have been a very frustrating game to watch, not one of the "best"