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]

[Malcolm Emmons, USA TODAY Sports]

The opponent: The 1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish were coming off a national title and an 11-1 season the preceding year. The Irish had been #5 entering their Cotton Bowl appearance against #1 Texas, when they proceeded to smack around the Longhorns and in the process win the consensus national title. The team they rolled over into '78 under head coach Dan Devine was expected to be very good, earning a preseason ranking of #5, but there were reasons to be skeptical. They had lost three high draft picks off the roster, all of whom had been All-Americans, TE Ken McAfee, DE Ross Browner, and CB Luther Bradley. DE Willie Fry and OG Ernie Hughes also went in the next two rounds of the 1978 NFL Draft. Still, hope for the '78 campaign centered on the return of starting quarterback Joe Montana for his senior season. 

Significant air exited the hype balloon for Notre Dame's 1978 campaign right at the start, when they lost the season opener to unranked Missouri by a baffling 3-0 score at home. The Tigers got revenge on their former coach Devine by holding the Irish offense, which had finished fifth nationally in scoring the preceding season, to zero points despite allowing 334 yards of offense (source). Notre Dame turned it over three times and that contributed to five total ND trips inside the Mizzou 25 which came up scoreless. A poor showing by Montana (4/17, 2 INT) left the Irish reeling with an 0-1 record going into the ABC nationally-televised battle with Michigan the following week. 

[Michigan Athletics]

The season context: Michigan had opened up their 1978 season with a preseason ranking of #4 and did nothing to dent it by beating up on a horrible Illinois team (coached by Gary Moeller!) 31-0 at the Big House. Though Notre Dame had taken a severe hit to their image in week one, the Irish were still ranked #14 and so the week two rivalry meeting provided the Wolverines an opportunity to climb upwards in the polls and cobble together a resume to take a run at the national title. Two subpar squads followed Notre Dame on the non-conference schedule (Duke and Arizona), so the ND test was the marquee non-con matchup on the '78 schedule for the Maize and Blue. 

The personal context: Craig Ross was living in Ann Arbor at the time and told me he did not own a television at his house in 1978. For road games that were televised (not all were in the 70s), he would have to coordinate to watch the game elsewhere, doing so for this game at the home of his college roommate, he told me. As for my personal anecdotes, the best I have is that my aunt was enrolled at the University of Michigan at this time and knew Rick Leach during their shared college days. 

-------

 

What happened 

Let's start with three quick fun notes I collected from our viewing before kickoff: 

1.) the Michigan cheerleaders came out of the tunnel doing cartwheels, which Craig noted was a fixture of that time

2.) the ABC broadcasters note that "Notre Dame is a co-ed institution now" (Notre Dame accepted their first full-time female undergrad in 1971)

3.) Craig: "take a look at that, something you'd never see today: a guy in the crowd wearing a suit!" 

Michigan gets the ball to begin the game and hands off to Russell Davis, running the triple option out of the wishbone (much to Craig's chagrin). Davis goes straight ahead and fumbles, with the Irish recovering. Not a great start!: 

A few plays later, on the first passing attempt of the game, Montana rolls and fires to a wide open TE Dennis Grindinger, safety Mike Harden busting in coverage for Michigan: 

7-0 Notre Dame. One interesting thing about the PAT, Notre Dame was employing a straight-on kicker! If you watch the above clip long enough for the extra point, you'll get a glimpse at a football practice that was waning at the time and is now completely extinct. 

Michigan's offense takes the field again and Craig continues to voice his displeasure about the wishbone and the limitations of the formation as a passing vehicle. Michigan moves the ball decently well on this drive, Craig pointing out Rick Leach's excellent play aiding the ground game ("as a general rule, Leach made really good decisions in the triple option"). However, the drive stalls in Notre Dame territory after Harlan Huckleby drops a nice throw from Leach and Bo punts on 4th & 10 from the Notre Dame 34 [CR = "you've gotta be fucking kidding me"]. In support of Craig's anger, Michigan punter Gregg Willner bangs the punt into the end zone and the Wolverines gain only 14 net yards off the punt. 

Notre Dame's RB Jerome Heavens rumbles for a first down on the opening play of the next drive and Notre Dame begins a march into Michigan territory. However, McCartney's defense is able to get their first stop of the game on this PBU by Gene Bell: 

Nice pressure there from DT William Jackson and MG Dale Keitz to help make that play possible for Bell [Craig = "Bo loved these short, stubby middle guards like Keitz]. Notre Dame punts from well inside Michigan territory and unlike their opponents on the previous drive, they convert on it by pinning the Wolverines at their own 3. Michigan doesn't do much with it, Harlan Huckelby fumbling but Leach recovering the ball, eventually leading to a 3rd & 15 that Bo waves the white flag on (draw play and punt). 

Notre Dame's prompt stop results in good field position for the offense in green, starting the next drive in plus territory. After gaining a first down, Dan Devine draws up this beautiful throwback play for Montana to TE Dean Masztak: 

Mark Braman's PBU eventually puts a halt to the drive and Devine sends out the FG team for a 32.5 yard kick. Joe Unis, the aforementioned straight-on kicker, sees his kick get blocked: 

Michigan takes over possession and again sees the offense sputter. At the end of the first quarter, the Wolverines, save for the blocked FG, are playing terribly. Leach is airmailing receivers (Craig mentions Leach's funky and slow release that limited his effectiveness as a passer) and the defense is allowing Notre Dame to move the ball on a down-to-down basis, even if timely stops were the difference. Yardage at the end of the first quarter was 96-9 in favor of the Fighting Irish(!). 

They do produce their first three-and-out to start the second quarter, in part thanks to a poor pitch by Montana on ND's option play. Michigan takes over around midfield and feeds Russell Davis, who plunges for nine yards. Two plays later, Leach picks up 3rd & short with his legs. Next play we get a solid glimpse at Huckleby's wheels: 

On the next 3rd down, Notre Dame jumps offsides (not their first in this game) but Huckleby picks it up anyway to get the ball inside the ten. Leach pays it off on 2nd & Goal: 

Notre Dame seizes control of the game right back on their next drive, letting Joe Montana finally throw the ball. He drops in a beautiful ball on the run and then the offensive line for the Irish starts to gain traction up front against the Wolverine DL. They are also being cheered on by a DIY mascot: 

Montana continues to sling the ball and get Notre Dame down to the goal line. From there, Vagas Ferguson hammers it home: 

A show-off drive for both the Irish OL, who decisively won their battle, and for Montana, who showed glimmers of the future pro star he'd be. 14-7 ND. 

Michigan receives the ensuing kickoff and we are right back to the Rick Leach Struggle Bus. When the drive is done, Leach is 1/8 through the air for five total yards. Unsurprisingly, that showing results in a Michigan punt, giving Notre Dame possession with three minutes to go in the half, but the defense does its job. As the Irish punt it back the other way, Craig notes that Bo liked to put two returners back deep on punts, something that Craig liked. 

The Wolverines' next possession starts with 1:30 to go in the first half, but the offense shows no interest in picking up the pace or adjusting to situation. Leach finally uncorks a good throw down the seam for a first down but Huckleby's drop ends the drive. At this point, it would be fair to say that Leach is playing poorly as a passer, but the receivers aren't giving him any help either. Michigan punts, Notre Dame runs out the clock, and we go to halftime with a 14-7 Irish lead. At this juncture Michigan's offense has been iffy, the passing game has been dreadful on both ends, the defense has been okay (opportunistic more than consistent), but penalties (particularly offsides calls) are favoring the side in the winged helmets. 

Notre Dame gets the ball to start the second half, as you may recall that the opening drive of the game saw a quick Michigan fumble. The Irish offense begins another march down the field, with Montana scrambling for a key first down along the way. Then we get the biggest swing moment of the game: 

That fumble is the turning point for what would follow, a moment of reprieve for the reeling Michigan defense and it was after that that the Michigan offense and Leach in particular got going. He started off on the next drive with his bread and butter on the ground, leading Craig to remark "Leach was really good at showing the toss, keeping, and going upfield". Example: 

Not long after, faced with a 3rd & long, Leach scrambles and finds a man for a first down, a huge conversion for the Michigan offense. That was when you started to sense that the wily lefty from Flint was heating up, followed up by this throw to Doug Marsh in the end zone: 

From Notre Dame driving to go up two scores to Michigan tying the game at 14-14. We have ourselves a ballgame. 

Just as Leach was finding his wheels in the passing game, the wheels for Joe Montana were coming off. Notre Dame got the ball, drove a bit before winding up in 3rd & 10, and then saw this happen: 

Montana never saw Jerry Meter lurking. Set up with great field position, Michigan takes advantage. On the first 3rd down they face, Michigan sees Leach hit a wide open Marsh for a first down. Two plays later (the first play of the fourth quarter), wide open Marsh again: 

Brian, who had joined our watch of the game at this point: "Doug Marsh apparently created the invisible cloak to evade secondaries that Jeremy Gallon later purchased".  

The Wolverines missed the extra point, so Michigan now led Notre Dame 20-14, their first lead of the ballgame. The next two possessions were a return to the game's dull offensive slog, dueling quick punts, leading to this exchange about the nature of two option offenses slamming into each other: 

*me*: "Whenever a run goes for more than 7 yards, it feels like a huge accomplishment" 

*Brian*: "7? More like 3" 

Notre Dame has the ball about five minutes into the fourth quarter, Michigan's defensive line turning the tide in the trenches and getting home consistently on Montana's pass attempts and bottling up the run well. The effect was getting Montana out of his rhythm. First he leaves a deep shot way over the head of his receiver. Next he makes an ill-advised decision to throw off his backfoot on the run: 

That floating duck is snatched by safety Mike Harden, but it's stellar pass rush that helps force Montana into a poor decision. On the second play of the ensuing Michigan drive, Rick Leach uncorks another beauty: 

Ralph Clayton gets popped there at the end of the play but it counts as a TD all the same. Michigan went for two to make it a full 14 point lead, but the Irish overwhelm the right side of Michigan's line and sack Leach to make it 26-14 with around nine minutes to play in the contest. Notre Dame got the ball and went three-and-out again, Montana making another extremely questionable decision, a near interception yet again: 

One note at this point in the game: the Irish were rolling Montana out on the vast majority of pass attempts, possibly as a counter to Michigan's success rushing the passer(?). Notre Dame decides to punt, down two touchdowns with eight minutes to go in the game against a largely rushing opponent. At this point, Craig deems ND coach Dan Devine "a total hamster" (you can ask him to explain whatever that means). 

Michigan receives the punt and offers up Notre Dame a chance to jump back in the game on a poor throw from Leach on third down, but ND LB Bobby Leopold drops it: 

That's a possible pick six if Leopold stays on his feet and catches it. Instead, the Irish let Michigan off the hook and Bo punts it back the other way, now with 6:33 left to play. On second down of the next drive, Montana delivers a strike down the seam that then results in a "fumble", forced by Gerald Diggs: 

I went back and forth on whether this would've been an incomplete pass or a fumble under today's rules, but the thing I'm sure of is it would've been a looooong review. At first blush, I was almost certain it would've been ruled incomplete, but on replay, Haynes takes two quick steps and begins to turn before he's hit. Is that enough to constitute possession? I'm not sure. Regardless, it's another huge break for Michigan and though they don't do anything with the ball, they are able to bleed another 2.5 minutes off the clock and punt it back with just 3:48 left to play. 

Notre Dame's next drive sees Montana begin to get his mojo back, undercut by continued penalty troubles for the Irish. And then yet again, his receivers fail him: 

Dean Masztak coughs it up and Michigan recovers, the fifth straight ND turnover (three fumbles, two INTs). That's the nail in the coffin for Notre Dame. Michigan seemingly gets a first down but it is ruled short on a completely mystifying ball spot, forcing the Wolverines to punt one more time. The upshot of this is it allows Michigan to even up the score, after this safety sack on Montana with just over a minute left: 

The sack by star DT Curtis Greer (with some help by poor pocket skills from Montana) makes it 28-14, one of the more roundabout ways to get to 28 that you'll see. BJ Dickey subs in for Michigan to run the final drive after the free punt, as the time ticks away and the Maize & Blue secure a rivalry victory. 

 

[Notre Dame Media Relations]

The Aftermath

Game analysis and takes: Not unlike the 2004 Michigan State game that we covered previously in this series, this matchup was another tale of two halves sort of game. Notre Dame throttled Michigan in the first quarter and were still solidly ahead at halftime. They were better on both sides of the ball and had the better QB. But the first fumble early in the second half began the slide into collapse for Notre Dame. They turned it over on the majority of possessions in the second half and punted on the rest. Their offensive line, which had gotten solid push early in the game, was flailing and endangering Montana with more regularity. Notre Dame started rolling Montana out, but it had only mixed success and led to some costly throws along the way.

Of course, the receivers fumbling two different stellar passes from Montana and a dropped potential INT on defense loom large too. As does the early missed field goal in the game. When you mix in the constant stream of penalties, frequent offsides and then personal fouls in the second half, Notre Dame was a mistake-prone side. They took advantage of Michigan's early fumble but from that point on, were the team shooting themselves in the foot. Too many errors and miscues, a team with no resiliency when the going got tough, no way to stop the bleeding. 

For Michigan, the game's trajectory was linked to the improved play of their defensive front seven and Rick Leach as the game went along. Their secondary was pretty good too, after the first quarter, but were helped by defensive line disrupting Montana's rhythm and the general flow of ND's passing game. Jerry Meter, Curtis Greer, and Dale Keitz in particular stood out as having strong games for Michigan defensively. Some of their success was taking advantage of Notre Dame errors (three fumbles is evidence of that), but it was still a very strong performance by the Wolverine defense as a whole. 

[Cleveland.com]

Leach's improvement as the game progressed was dramatic. He was adept at running the option offense throughout but his passing game ran very hot and cold, from mostly dreadful early to strong late. It's not like he had a huge number of pass attempts to begin with, but Leach started connecting down the field with more consistency, dropping in a few dead-on passes for touchdowns. In this era of football, that's all you needed. And especially in comparison to Montana, Leach didn't turn it over. All keys to Michigan winning.  

My overarching take on this game is from the standpoint of someone who has not watched any 1970s college football before this game and is adjusting to watching a game of this sort. As a holistic product, this game was quite a dull watch, I have to say. A predominance of rushing plays that amount to stacks of meat slamming into each other for only a few yards at a time, a lack of much creativity or passing to spice things up. I've always had an affinity for the triple option as a wild-card scheme to throw teams off their game, that Army-Oklahoma game from a few years back as an example. But two option teams facing off against each other has severe watchability problems, be it the Army-Navy game in the present or this one from 1978. 

Rick Leach was never a particularly exceptional passer, but the presence of Joe Montana in this game underscores that point and questions the wisdom of the schemes at the time. Though Montana had his struggles with the turnover in this game, you could definitely see plenty of signs of a future Hall of Fame pro quarterback. Late in the game his statline read 15/26 for 196 yards, a 57% completion percentage for 7.5 YPA. Not bad, especially for a game with as many ups-and-downs as he had. His balls down the field were largely accurate and Montana hit some tight windows. The signs of what Montana would grow into in the West Coast Offense were there, but he was definitely held back by playing in Devine's offense. Or as Craig put it: "Devine has Montana, so what are you gonna do? Pound the rock, bro". 

[Inside USC]

What it meant: With the win over Notre Dame, Michigan moved up to #4 in the polls. After a 52-0 thrashing of Duke the following week, Bo Schembechler's team ascended to #3, but dropped two places following a tight win against Arizona. Their lone loss of the regular season would come on October 14, when the Wolverines lost to the Kirk Gibson and Ed Smith-led Spartans, the only team to score more than 17 points against the Michigan defense that season.

The loss to MSU dropped Michigan to #9 in the AP poll, but they'd run the table the rest of the way in the regular season to have an overall successful season. Wins over #15 Purdue and #16 Ohio State to close the season pushed the Maize & Blue back to top five in the country, giving Schembechler his third straight Big Ten Championship and a third straight win over Woody Hayes in what would be the final game of the Ten Year War (Hayes would be fired on December 30, 1978, after punching Charlie Bauman in the Gator Bowl). Michigan headed to Pasadena on the first day of 1979 for another crack at the Rose Bowl, but would come up empty yet again in a 17-10 defeat remembered for Charles White's infamous "phantom touchdown". Ultimately '78 would be the third consecutive 10-2 (7-1) season that ended in a Rose Bowl loss for blue. 

As for Notre Dame, the loss to Michigan was their first 0-2 start to a season since 1963, the year before Ara Parseghian arrived in South Bend. The Irish dropped out of the AP poll altogether but would return after winning four straight. They climbed the rankings with wins over ranked Pittsburgh and Navy squads and then beat #20 Georgia Tech on the road, vaulting them back to the top 10 before a meeting with #3 USC to close the regular season. Like Michigan, they would also lose to USC (in the Coliseum), a 27-25 defeat. #10 Notre Dame then faced #9 Houston in the Cotton Bowl, a thrilling 35-34 Irish win (23 unanswered in the fourth quarter to come back!!) that left them with a 9-3 record on the season. A good year for Devine, but not a great one. The team would finish with a disappointing 7-4 record in '79 before going 9-2-1 in 1980, with Devine retiring after the season. His replacement, Gerry Faust, would last five lackluster seasons, leading to the hiring of Lou Holtz in 1986. 

[Otto Gruele/AllSport]

Off Michigan's roster, Rick Leach graduated after the season, a 5th round pick in the NFL but more importantly, a 1st round pick in the MLB Draft after a standout baseball career with the Wolverines. Understandably, Leach focused on baseball, reaching the MLB and playing 799 career major league games, bouncing between the Tigers, Blue Jays, Rangers, and Giants (career OPS .704 and bWAR of 3.0). Harlan Huckleby was drafted by the Saints in 1979, first playing a season in the CFL with Saskatchewan before logging six NFL seasons with the Packers, never seeing great success but was a decent player. Russell Davis would also be drafted in the mid-rounds of the '79 NFL Draft, having a brief career ended by injuries, though he did win a Super Bowl as a reserve with Pittsburgh. With these graduations, Butch Woolfolk would emerge as the rushing star of the next several Michigan squads.  

Both Doug Marsh and Ralph Clayton were second rounders in 1980. Unfortunately neither would see tremendous NFL success. Along the offensive line, tackle John Giesler went in the first round and had a decade-long pro career with Miami. Defensive lineman Curtis Greer went 6th overall in 1980 to the then-St. Louis Cardinals, a career that would be hampered by knee problems. Fellow DL Chris Godfrey was drafted a couple years later and wound up starting on offense for the New York Giants at guard in Super Bowl XXI. A number of other defensive starters in this game would be drafted from Michigan eventually, but none had stand-out careers worth specific mention. 

On the Notre Dame side of things, Joe Montana needs no introduction. Picked 82nd overall in 1979, Montana would go on to win four Super Bowls as a starting QB, three as MVP. He'd be an 8x Pro Bowler, 5x All-Pro (1st or 2nd team), and 2x NFL MVP. Pretty good! RB Vagas Ferguson was a 1st rounder in 1980 whose pro career never materialized, while defensive players Mike Golic (DT) and Dave Waymer (FS) had stellar NFL runs that featured All-Pro nods. Neither team produced a ton of NFL players, but a couple hit it big and after all, that's why you wanted me to watch this game in the first place.