The Teams: 1985, Part I
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Previously: 1879, 1901, 1918, 1925, 1932, 1947, 1950, 1964, 1973, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1991, 1999
Special Guests: These are turning into Hardcore Histories with these interviews but what are you going to do when you've got Jim Scarcelli and Johnny Kolesar joining you to talk about the team that might have been Bo's best national championship claim.
1. SETUP AND PAYOFF
(starts at 0:50)
Sap and Seth set up the season because 1984 was rough. Has Bo lost it?
2. THE TEAM
(starts at 26:10)
The defense has a highlight video. The offense had Harbaugh.
3. THE NON-CONFERENCE
(starts at 1:04:30)
- Notre Dame 20-12: Harbaugh is 2-10 in the first half. 'Soup' Campbell's reverse is called "Sally" which Michigan only ran in the big games.
- @South Carolina 34-3: All we hear about are the Fire Ants defense. It's all over after Wilcher's helmet comes off. SC's defensive backs are coached so badly we look up who was in charge of them, and you'll never guess who it was.
- Maryland 20-0: Battle of the Baughs. Slow-motion blowout. Seth's first Michigan game? Kolesar's first pass, the defense's first stand.
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THERE WILL BE A PART II
MUSIC:
- "Glory Days"—Bruce Springsteen
- "And We Danced"—The Hooters
- “Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Download link. (right-click, download)
- What's with the theme music?
Jamie was a tough little, chiseled chunk of steel. You don't see the little bastard!
September 10th, 2020 at 9:39 AM ^
remember this team with great fondness. After the debacle of 1984 I recall us being unranked/overlooked and just slowly working our way through the non-conference and slowly rising in the rankings. A very tough D that kept us in every game and enough playmakers between Jamie Morris, Jim Harbaugh, John Kolesar, and Eric Kattus (I think Jeff Brown was a TE on this team too and he was a pretty tough guy) to get it done. Iowa game sucked and the Illinois game was a weird tie - but the OSU game and the Nebraska bowl game were really great wins. Plus the magic of beating ND, MSU and OSU in the same season......
September 10th, 2020 at 9:56 AM ^
Going into the game, I was sure South Carolina's secondary had a decided schematic advantage.
How wrong I was!
September 10th, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
God linemen were so little back then. Any of the OL would be firmly in the "PB sammiches and weight room" pile today.
September 10th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
Yeah, and you look at our DL and wonder how they could stop anyone. But I had season tickets that year, and recall Messner was virtually unblockable on passing downs. Maybe if you double teamed him. And Hammerstein was damned good too. It was certainly a different era, for sure.
September 10th, 2020 at 5:06 PM ^
I had friends who referred to him as "Fat Man" Billy Harris at the time - which.....is a little mean but also not really that accurate compared to more modern standards. And from what I could remember he could really move
September 10th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
Where can I get that shirt?
September 10th, 2020 at 11:56 AM ^
I just had 3 more people ask this. I think we gotta make it now.
September 10th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
absolutely want this shirt
September 10th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
The win over Maryland is a game that's often overlooked. They were ACC champs that year and were coached by Bobby Ross. They played #3 Penn State to a 2 point loss and lost to the 4th ranked Hurricanes by a touchdown.
Winning 20-0 and keeping them off the scoreboard at the big house was an impressive feat, even though a stand was needed.
September 10th, 2020 at 11:53 AM ^
Road tripped down to Columbia for the game as this was my Junior year. Great atmosphere and the USC folks were actually cool with us in the bars afterwards even though we blew them out.
September 10th, 2020 at 5:08 PM ^
didn't South Carolina play some stupid entrance music like 2001 Space Odyssey "Also sprach Zarathustra" - maybe I am misremembering that
September 11th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Could very well have been. My memory is a little foggy. I do remember they had these tee shirts promoting the weight lifting regime of the team and calling themselves the Iron Cocks. So that stuck in my head.
September 11th, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^
Yeah it's on the podcast
September 10th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
Time after time, MGoBlog reminds me of the great range it offers. Thanks.
September 10th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
I've always wondered about Paul Jokisch. I see these old games and whenever Michigan gets near the goal line the announcers talk about how tall Jokisch is and how Michigan allegedly loves to throw the ball up to him in the endzone. And yet, I cannot recall a single time that they even tried it let alone did it successfully. Anywhere on the field. Did Michigan really do this or was it just an announcer thing to talk about?
Dude had 6 career TDs spread over 3 seasons. So they weren't doing it very much.
December 24th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
Jokisch was terribly underutilized by Bo.
September 10th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
This podcast doesn't seem to have propagated to my usual podcast listening software? They're still showing the late August podcast as the latest...
September 11th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
It's up now, thanks!
September 10th, 2020 at 5:38 PM ^
This team had a young linebacker from Dearborn St. Alphonsus, John Duerr. The good Adrian Dominican sisters at that school gave Lou a sound education back in the fifties. Their efforts have not been forgotten.
September 11th, 2020 at 1:20 PM ^
"#51 in your programs, #1 in our hearts" --Jim Scarcelli
September 10th, 2020 at 7:49 PM ^
I can't believe Jumbo Elliot only weighed 283. I was in elementary school at the time and remember thinking he was so huge!
September 11th, 2020 at 6:25 PM ^
Awesome podcast and well worth the wait for Charlie Weiss. USC (NTUSC) was a glorious re-watch of a defensive masterpiece.
September 17th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Damn I didn't even know #13 Notre Dame, #15 SC, #17 ranked Maryland through the first three games for an unranked Michigan team coming off a poor year by Bo standards must have been quite disheartening to see on the schedule as a fan (obviously not as a player or coach knowing what they had coming)
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