Let's Remember Some Games: Revenge is Terrifying, 1996
Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014), Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009)
Michigan's may be the only fanbase outside the old Big 12 that doesn't need to be reminded Colorado was once a powerhouse. There's no need to rehash the reason why. For the purposes of this post, all you need to know is that Michigan was looking to avenge a loss from 1994. If you need further details, the internet will provide them; don't say I didn't warn you, though.
there's also a full game broadcast, which I used for this post
ABC has the broadcast. Keith Jackson is on the call. He welcomes us to Boulder.
“If you’re gonna sell tickets you’ve gotta give them something to watch. Well, coming up is something to watch.”
We certainly get a sight to behold. Michigan's staff could not be wearing outfits that better pinpoint the era:
Magnificent.
Both head coaches are in their second seasons. While Lloyd Carr has been around the block several times as a Michigan assistant, 35-year-old Rick Neuheisel is a fast-rising star who'd spent one season as the offensive coordinator in Boulder before taking over for Bill McCartney—a Bo Schembechler assistant himself.
As for the football itself: buckle up, this is going to be a wild ride.
[Hit THE JUMP, if you dare.]
The Colorado offense features some names you may remember for very different reasons. Their quarterback is Koy Detmer, younger brother of Ty and longtime NFL backup. Their star receiver is 1997 first-round pick Rae Carruth, who was found guilty in 2001 of conspiring to murder his pregnant girlfriend. I already have some regrets about choosing this game. The starting running back is named Herchell Troutman. He's not an important figure for our purposes, that's just a great name.
We get an early indication this game is going to be a strange one. Sophomore Charles Woodson, who's already being treated as a superstar by announcers and opponents alike, is credited with a first quarter interception despite being stripped of the ball right after he caught it:
There's no replay review in 1996, so this is accepted as part of the game and we move on after one inconclusive replay on the broadcast. This almost certainly saved us three minutes of waiting for the officials to uphold the call on the field. From this point forward, Detmer avoids Woodson and picks on boundary corner Woody Hankins.
This introduces us to the Michigan offense. The broadcast focuses on Stan Parrish, the hotshot new quarterbacks coach fresh off a six-year stint as assistant head coach at Rutgers. While Mike DeBord is on staff, Fred Jackson carries the title of offensive coordinator. Scott Dreisbach is the heralded redshirt sophomore quarterback poised for a breakout after injuries shortened his 1995 season. The skill group is very green after losing RB Tim Biakabutuka, WR Amani Toomer, WR Mercury Hayes, and TE Jay Riemersma to the NFL the previous offseason.
The situation calls for creativity. Before the cameras even turn to the field, Colorado calls a timeout, because Michigan has put in Woodson on offense. When we return from the timeout, Woodson is there again, lined up at running back. He motions out wide, runs a simple fly route, draws multiple defenders, and Dreisbach's throw sails uncatchably wide. The Wolverines squeeze a field goal out of this drive because the Buffs rough the passer on a third-down throwback screen they'd snuffed out. I'm doing this for you, the people?
I forget why Carr was this annoyed but if it's because he somehow knew I would write this post, I can't argue.
Detmer, who'd come into this game with a lengthy interception-free streak, nearly throws his second in as many drives, but Marcus Ray jumps a route so early he has to turn 180 degrees to catch the ball and a pick-six slips through his fingers. Keith Jackson refers to the Big Twelve conference, in its first season of play, as the Big Eight. “I’m probably going to do that several times this year," he says.
The first quarter devolves into a punt-off with field position tilted heavily in Colorado's favor. Jackson puts the best effort one can muster for the first of many ABC promos: “Sandra Bullock, Demi Moore, and Courtney Love guest on The Barbara Walters Special.” Which, by the way... just watch the first 40 seconds. It's of a time, yet oddly timeless.
As the second quarter opens, Marcus Ray forces a fumble with a jarring hit to end a red zone threat, only for Chris Howard to fumble the ball back to the Buffs on the next play. A short time later, Colorado takes a 7-3 lead on a run up the gut. Bob Griese points out they were "showing pass" by lining up in a one-back, two-TE formation. The level of 1996 is overwhelming. A sense of normalcy returns when Jackson tells us #9 Notre Dame will take on #7 Texas next week. It's September.
That sense is shattered almost immediately.
“The Big Ten has always been known as a physical conference. Colorado would fit right in with these guys,” Griese says.
“The whole Big 12 is a good bunch of hitters,” Keith responds.
Yet another in-game promo tells us Domino's has introduced their "newest sensation," the Roma Herb Crust pizza. A yo-yo has magically appeared in my hand. Send help.
My oncoming existential crises is stalled by a moment of levity when Griese relays a quote from Michigan running back Clarence Williams about playing in Colorado for the first time: “I don’t think the latitude here is going to bother us any.”
Williams runs in Michigan's first touchdown moments later, so apparently the latitude doesn't bother him, though this is a case where replay review (and HD television) would have changed the course of the game:
That ball is out. It rolled out of the back of the end zone for what would've been a touchback. Somehow I'm having a hard time mustering sympathy for Colorado, though.
As Detmer and (ugh) Carruth move the ball down the field in response, Keith gives us another wonderful quote: “[Neuheisel] said ‘the higher you climb on the ladder, the more your rear end’s exposed. There’s a certain amount of truth to that.”
Detmer hits Phil Savoy with an inch-perfect fade that eludes Woodson's swiping hand by a hair, though DE David Bowens—a monster presence in this game—jumps over the line to block the extra point and keep the Wolverines within a field goal.
At halftime, it's 13-10, Buffs. When we return, sideline reporter Lynn Swann says Carr told him he wants to see Michigan pass more(!), specifically to sophomore receiver Tai Streets, who's already broken open deep a couple times only for Dreisbach to miss him. Michigan's first drive of the half ends when Streets, the only receiver in a route, steps out of bounds making a third-down catch between two bracketing defenders. Thanks a lot, Stan.
Following a Michigan stop, Remy Hamilton ties it at 13 with his second field goal. More importantly, ABC's producer trolls the hell out of Griese, the legendary Purdue quarterback, while Jackson notices the crowd has become restless for a specific reason:
I could listen to that duo fill days worth of dead air. Two more Jackson quotes from these few minutes of play:
“Sam Sword, a sophomore from Saginaw.”
“Al Michaels hosting. Heart-stopping, they say, so take your nitro pills and a glass of water with you. Prime time special showcasing the greatest sports moments of all time. And Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills will be at Three Rivers Stadium against the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers on ABC’s Monday Night Football, right here on ABC.”
My television just turned over to Twister in standard definition. Call the Ghostbusters.
Later in the quarter, with the score still knotted, Michigan gets another break when Colorado's punter mishits one and gets a horrible bounce:
This is enough for Michigan to break through, though it takes a ridiculous double-tip catch from Streets to set up The People's Rollout to a wide open Jerame Tuman in the end zone. Neuheisel got aggressive on his next drive, going for it on fourth down around midfield. Did I mention Bowens had a great game? Watch #6 Matrix-dodge the pulling guard, then make the play on the sideline:
Sheesh.
The score is 20-13. You may note this is the final score. It's hard to believe given the events of the fourth quarter.
For starters, Detmer completes a pass to himself after Bowens murders his left tackle, prompting Jackson to say, "I quit." (Thankfully, he doesn't.)
Detmer keeps picking on Hankins. For several gut-wrenching seconds, it looks like the game is on the verge of being tied when James Kidd beats Hankins clean down the sideline for a touchdown catch. Then comes a plot twist with the perfect narrator:
Hold the phone!
The drive continued deep into Michigan territory, where a crunching hit by Ray set up a fourth and one with 6:27 remaining. Detmer had Savoy open on a slant against Hankins but missed low and wide. Another break.
Lloyd Carr is only in his second season as a head coach. Bob Griese knows Lloyd, however, and chooses to speak a haunting truth as the Wolverines take over: “Michigan has a tendency, in these situations, to get conservative, Keith.”
Colorado has the ball back by the five-minute mark. Michigan's defense gets another quick stop. The Buffs choose to punt, giving the Wolverines the ball at their 20 with exactly four minutes to play. Williams picks up a first down in two runs, prompting Jackson to say "that just might do it."
On first down, Williams runs for four yards. Driesbach kneels on second down. The Buffs use their final timeout with 43 seconds left. This is when it's important to point out the clock rules of the time. Instead of a 40-second play clock that starts at the end of the previous play, the NCAA used a 25-second play clock that began when the official spotted the ball, which added some variance to the length of time a play would take.
It's fair to say Carr, Jackson, Parrish, Dreisbach, and whoever else was involved in the decisions of the final minute did not take this into account. I can't describe what happens, I can only show you the video:
And you thought the free halftime Hail Mary that Brady Hoke handed Penn State was bad. This wasn't just brutal mismanagement; this was brutal mismanagement with a side of HORRIFYING TWO-YEAR-OLD DEMONS.
Colorado's ensuing short-field attempt at a 1994 repeat came dangerously close to connecting. This post, and perhaps this blog, is here because it did not.
I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, Pogs are raining from my ceiling.
Your Moment of Keith
Whew.
Your Moment of (Will) Carr
His act of kindness pulled a shoulder pad out.
I wasn't born for that game in 94 but I'd imagine my dad's reaction was the same as it was in 01 when Michigan went to E. Lansing... But damn we need to get those coaching shirts back, I remember stumbling on a highlight of this game and being baffled as to why I'd never seen those before, a great retro look to be sure
My parents had their friends over for the '94 game. About 15 seconds before the hail mary one of them knocked over his (empty) beer bottle onto my head. Pretty shitty half minute for me.
Those polo shirts were hideously ugly. They remind me of the "splotch" ties every recent graduate in my workplace was pairing with white dress shirts.
That 4th down play was so very Lloyd Carr. If you have time outs run the clock to zero and call a TO. Then plan your strategy. So many times in key moments I see time out taken into the locker room. Usually at half.
The 94 game was on ESPN classic last night, too. I watched the end, because I hate myself.
Lloyd Carr calls a timeout on fourth down, with the ball, with ~20 seconds left, with 3 seconds left on the play clock, from the opponent's 40. It was something like 4th and 4.
The end of game clock management there is staggering.
Gary Moeller was still the coach.
My (hazy) recollection is that we had a critical false-start penalty on that series, which led to that 4th down.
It's worth pointing out how absolutely *furious* a significant--or at least vocal-- portion of the Michigan fanbase was when Michigan went internal and hired Lloyd Carr in '95 instead of conducting a national search and going after Rick Neuheisel.
Impressive how far CU has fallen since we played them 3 times back in the 90’s. Their series of coaching disasters did not help.
Neuheisel - gets worse every year and has first losing season in 97 where Michigan killed them and then flees to Washington
Barnett – Kept CU in the conversation with decent seasons before getting fired due to numerous scandals. Somewhat amazingly in the context of today's world he was suspended in 2004 due to a scandal around using sex and alcohol with recruits. As part of the scandal their former place kicker, Katie Hnida told sports illustrated she was raped and sexual harassed while on the team. Barnett responded with this quote to a reporter, "It's obvious Katie was not very good," he said in that infamous sound bite. "She was awful. Katie was not only a girl, she was terrible, OK? There's no other way to say it." Despite all this he was reinstated and coached the team in 2005 and did not resign until University leaders were tipped off that he had tampered with sworn testimony.
Dan Hawkins – 16 and 33. Famous "Go play intramurals, brother, go play intramurals," quote.
Jon Embree – 4 and 21
Mike MacIntyre – 30 and 44 – Team makes first bowl in forever in 2016 going 10 and 4 and ranked 15. He wins coach of the year. Follows that up with two 5 and 7 years and gets fired.
Mel Tucker – Goes 5 and 7 – just like MaIntyre did the last two years. This standout performance convinces State that he is the solution and they throw a bunch of money at him to leave, which he does.’
Karl Dorrell – TBD but I am guessing it won’t go well.
Structurally - Colorado is simply NOT set-up for success. The local fan-base doesn't really care that much (Boulder is a hippie outdoor town, and Denver is a 100% Broncos town). Colorado HS football talent isn't that great either.
It's truly remarkable what Bill McCartney did there from 1982 to 1994. The year before, CU lost a home game to Drake (who would decide to drop football temporarily just a few years later), lost to Nebraska & Oklahoma by a combined 106-0, and eked out a 3-point home win over K-State when K-State football was at historically awful levels.
From those depths, McCartney built CU into a national power. It was in an incredible job by him.
I doubt that CU returns to those levels any time soon, if ever.
My father (RIP) certainly was upset about the internal hire, though I don't remember him mentioning Neuheisel as someone he would have preferred. His big arguing point was that internal promotions meant we were hiring the assistants who weren't good enough to be hired for better jobs elsewhere. I don't think I properly appreciated this until I was listening to one of the Bo-era Teams podcasts last year, and realized there were multiple assistant coaches that year who left and subsequently won national championships as head coach somewhere else.
That said, of course Lloyd did win a national championship here. It's a hard thing to figure, because if you don't count that year, the entire rest of his career matches my dad's prediction -- good but not great, mostly memorable because of the unexpected victories over Ohio State in the 90s. But '97 was inarguably great.
In hindsight '97 was both a blessing and a curse. No one says no to a National Championship, and the team was legitimately great, but it was by then a vintage style that worked only because it was in make a perfect team for that style that got insanely lucky with the roster. For example, the O-line was so depleted they moved Steve Hutchinson from defense and got a 1st round draft pick that they might as well have drunkenly stumbled into. The key pieces stayed healthy. Carr's prior seasons should've been evidence enough that it would've taken no less to do so. In most close games, including this one, his thick-skulled ways were clearly a liability.
The start of the '98 season (and pretty much everything after that) quickly proved that the '97 team was closer to a throwback squad than the way forward; it should've been seen as a last hurrah for old-fashioned Big Ten football, but the success of the '97 team instead put the program from coaches to fans in a frenzy of nostalgia for Bo-ball that we're still struggling to rebuild from.
Again, it'd be foolish to say "what if" because that's saying no to a National Championship. But it's human nature to learn the wrong lessons from success.
Vividly recall this game. Was my senior year at UM watching it in the shitty pink house we rented on Elm Street a stone's throw from Strickland's Market. I can still hear my one roommate screaming right before the last play "Oh God its happening again!"
And after it fell incomplete I recall a flash mob on South U that ended up on the President's front lawn...
Great game. Fun fact, I used to play Madden on a sega genesis (or maybe PS1?) with Tai Streets in S. Quad this same year. We would watch him play on Tv on Saturday and then be playing video games with him a day or two later. Those were the days.
Watching this reminded me of how good Clarence Williams was. I had forgotten. He ran tough.
The shoulder pads had a lot to do with it.
Watched this game at a NOLA French Quarter bar and just about had a heart attack when that ball got tipped up (KNOCK IT DOWN!!!) in the air on the last second Hail Mary attempt. Thankfully it fell harmlessly to the ground. Got good and hammered after that...
I hated CU for about 11 years after 1995 ... then we avenged the loss, and they got so shitty as a program that I’m not even mad anymore and just think “dang, lucky play” whenever I see the Kordell throw
At least the game was memorable.
I was there. Took a road trip. After the loss in Ann Arbor two years earlier, Michigan had to win. Colorado fans were cocky and confident all day. Michigan pulled it out in the end and the skies opened up with one of the heaviest rains I can remember as the clock hit zero. It poured for an hour. What a joyful walk across that beautiful campus revelling in the sadness of a herd of sopping wet defeated buffaloes.
Random thoughts:
(1) This game is definitely lost in the annals. Colorado was legitimately VERY GOOD in 1996, and U-M beat them in Boulder. Bill Connelly had them ranked #6 in his retrospective S&P+ for 1996, and personally I'd argue they were even better than that (I would have taken CU over both Nebraska and ASU on a neutral-field; CU lost a very close game in actual life in Lincoln during a massive sleet-storm).
(2) It gets lost in the annals because of Michigan's strange 1996. In addition to the CU win U-M beat a powerhouse Ohio State team. But the 4 very strange losses as well. Lloyd Carr wasn't quite on the hot seat on January 4, 1997, post the turnover-fest Outback Bowl loss to Alabama, but he wasn't well-loved either. The following 365 days would, of course, change all of that.
(3) Anthropomorphic Buffaloes do not work. Anthropomorphic wolves and tigers and bears work, but not Buffaloes. CU has Ralphie, and that should be more than enough for them.
(4) Those U-M polos are absolutely bizarre 25 years later.
(5) On the other side, Rick Neuheisel with the sweater-vest. He was ahead of his time in terms of showing that sweater-vest wearing coaches are not to be trusted.
(6) I remember the end-of-game Hail Mary. I was rooting for Michigan in this game, and that whole end-of-game sequence was absolutely terrifying. If the pass is complete, the odds of CU winning the game on an ensuing 2-point conversion involving a degree of craziness - those odds were 100.000000%.
That was the first year of Overtime. If that pass is caught, do they go for 2 or kick the PAT and go to OT?
Watched that game at my buddies' off campus apartment. I think we were too busy trying not to pee and risk jinxing the game to notice how badly the clock mismanagement was.
But David Bowens transferring really sucked. Dude was a beast and I'm glad he got some recognition in this game recap.
I was there. I had just moved back to Colorado after spending 6 years in Huntsville, AL. I made the drive up to AA for the 1994 Colorado game, so I was out for revenge.
KOA, the radio station that carries CU games also carries Rockies baseball. All August I had to endure CU promos with the audio replay of Stewart to Westbrook. Many in Colorado believed another national championship was within their grasp, as long as they beat Nebraska. Michigan was not perceived as an obstacle.
I went to the game by myself, as I had three small children at the time. I was able to scalp a ticket in the Michigan section, the north end of the west stands, below Balch Fieldhouse. Michigan fans are the best, they accepted me as one of their own because... I am.
It was a nerve-wracking game as Ace aptly described. The icing on the cake came a few minutes after the game. Many Michigan fans were exiting through the fieldhouse when it started to rain heavily. Everyone stayed in the fieldhouse to let the deluge pass. It was at the moment a spontaneous chorus of The Victors broke out. Loud and proud, much to the dismay of CU fans. Glorious!
A minute or two later, Keith Jackson and Bob Griese walked right past me. What a great day!
That was an enjoyable watch except for the agonizing clock management at the end.
Bravo Ace.
Really appreciated this entertaining post. I've been over it a couple/three times already.
I remember watching this game in real-time and still feeling the bite of '94.
This game was closer than should have been and we fought hard until the end for the win.
My favorite (I'm SO glad you captured this), was "that's called a Lick" by Whoa Nellie.
is he dead? ;) --- anyhow, it was a game called greatly by Bob/Keith - just legendary.
Anyhow, when the ball hit the ground and Michigan won, it was like the sting of '94 was gone.
GO BLUE.
I was a senior during the 1994 season, and was there for the CU game. Amazing game until THAT happened. I will never forget how the crowd went from the loudest it had been in a non-OSU game to dead silence.
I swore never to watch a replay of that ending again.
Shortly after that I joined the Peace Corps and was shipped off to a South American jungle where there was zero internet and very little TV of any kind. About a year in I had to come home for something in the fall of 1996. The first American TV I saw was an ABC promo on the flight that ran just after takeoff for this game, which of course led with the 1994 ending. I yelped and closed my eyes like Indiana Jones at the end of Raiders, while my seat mates looked at me like I was on drugs.
I was at that game. My friends and I went out to Colorado to go to the game and visit friends there. Before the game I was walking around the stadium and found the Buffalo "mascot" and one of its handlers. I said to him "What's with the fuzzy cow?" and he just looked at me with a stare. Just after the game ended, we were on the field talking to Jarret Irons' father when a huge rainstorm rolled in over the mountains.
I vividly remember watching this game at a post-match rugby social, but more than anything it reminds me what an absolute treasure Keith Jackson was.
I remember this being a terribly dissatisfying "revenge" win.
You'll remember the end of this season resulted in a very painful finish, the kind that questions the direction of the program with one glorious upset sandwiched between 3 losses. And then 1997 happened starting off with dominating these same Buff's in Ann Arbor.
Colorado went on to finish 10-2, losing a heartbreaker to Tommy Frazier led Nebraska that kept the Buffs out of the Big 12 title game. Colorado finished #8 in the polls.
It was great to win, but the 1997 game against CU, a 27 -3 win, was far more satisfying. After that game, I enjoyed telling my CU friends out here Michigan and Colorado have played 4 times (now 5 times after 2016 game) and CU has only beaten Michigan once. And that took a miracle.
The 1997 CU game was our first look at the domination that was the ensue for the Maize and Blue and took the sheen off Rick Neuheisel. Neuheisel never really recovered from that loss.
I was at this game. That stadium was so loud when they got the ball back. What wasn't mentioned in this write up was it had been nice all day and started to rain with about a minute left in the game. Thunder storm with lightning. The CU fans were convinced it was divine intervention and the Hail Mary was going to work. Scary how close they got to doing it again!
Wow. It's nice to know college coaches have always done stupid stuff. The Lloydball was strong in 1996.
I mostly missed this game the first time around because my cousin decided to get married that day and I was one of his groomsmen. In Madison, Wisconsin, mind you. (Significant portions of the Badgers 90s swim teams and cheerleading squads showed up to the reception.) Dad and I desperately and confusedly caught snatches of the game when we could in-between the festivities, both extremely anxious because we were at the '94 game and remembered it all too well.
I may be confusing this with another game from that era but didn't CU outgain us by about 2-1 margin and have a couple of drives of 100 yards that didn't end in TDs because of penalties?
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