1995 Purdue (5-0 game)

Submitted by WolverineHistorian on

Well, like I mentioned before, I wish the picture was better.  But you still get to see the snow as well as Biakabutuka and Mercury Hayes diving into water on the sidelines.

Plenty of chances to score inside the 10 yard line but came away with zero points 4 out of 5 times. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j460bLNZ6To 

 

MGoPacquiao

July 1st, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^

Thanks. I convinced my dad to drive my friend (who was a Purdue fan) and I from South Bend for the game.  The weather was horrible the entire way there and never improved.  Definitely the coldest game I've been to, and I'd say the stadium only had at the most 75,000 people.  It's one of the most memorable for me, even though a lot of time was spent huddled in whatever shelter we could find.

Evil Empire

July 1st, 2011 at 5:23 PM ^

I got there totally late and wish I'd left early.  I remember some hack writer criticizing Michigan for having such a nailbiter against Purdue...someone who had clearly read only the score.

Haven't watched the video yet, but I recall a sure Purdue TD ending with an incompletion or a Boilermaker simply falling down.  The only thing worse would have been losing 6-5 or 7-5.  The next year was worse.

Mfan1974

July 1st, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^

sitting in Charleston SC. in a University dorm watching that game.  It was the only M game I got that year that wasn't at a bar and it was awful. mmmmmmmmemories

FingerleBlues

July 1st, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^

I will never forget the numbness in my fingers during that game.  The marching gloves are not gore-tex and tend to ignite when placed in front of the heat cannons on the sidelines.  Very memorable game for me. Thank you for sharing!!

BlueGoM

July 1st, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^

At the time I worked evenings and Saturday mornings, so no football games for me.  I remember getting back to my apartment to watch the 2nd half, looking at all that snow and rain and thinking to myself that not being able to go to the games wasn't so bad...

 

lunchboxthegoat

July 1st, 2011 at 3:29 PM ^

If I recall correctly this is the game that Nate Delong was Michigan's punter and ended up "getting the game ball" or personally singled out by Lloyd as being a key to the game. He quit football after that year, i think. My brother was his long snapper in high school...one of the only people from Wyandotte Roosevelt High School to go to a big time school and actually produce anything...

jmdblue

July 1st, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^

Couldn't get my wife (or anyone else) to go so I sat alone in our 2 seats.  I wrapped myself in Dad's then 40 year old wool M blanket and was  only nominally miserable temperature wise.  Past that all I remember was how badly I wanted not to lose given what the fans put in to be there.

Mi Sooner

July 1st, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^

just before the game with my dad and his two sisters.  my aunties live in A^2 and drove to the game.  just as we were about to leave, i asked for my ticket to go; my dad's younger sister said if you're so will I.  clearly the older ones were the smart ones -- going home to watchthe game from the comfort of the livingroom.

I am still freezing just thinking of that game, and i felt real bad for mercury hayes belly slide through the mud lake right in front of me.

 

MileHighAnnArborite

July 1st, 2011 at 3:58 PM ^

My senior year of high school.  I so badly didn't want to go, but couldn't break my consecutive game streak the year before moving.  Made to the end along with what looked like about 30k other people.  I may remember this wrong, but didn't we elect to kick off in both halfs of that game?  First time I'd ever seen that.

BlueDragon

July 1st, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^

I like playing Ultimate Frisbee barefoot (on grass surfaces, not asphalt), and I especially like playing it in the rain.  Everyone else always seemed a little more tenative when it was raining, or maybe it was the competitive Wolverine in me coming out in the cleaner Northern Michigan rain.

jmblue

July 1st, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^

Maybe in regular clothes, but in pads and a helmet, you feel pretty much invincible as far as the weather is concerned.  The only really bad things would be a lack of footing (which could lead to sprained ankles and such) and a slippery ball.  I'd much rather play in that weather than have to sit through it, unless I were a QB (for them, it must suck).

Roy G. Biv

July 1st, 2011 at 4:52 PM ^

I was there, and walking to the stadium with the ice pellets falling sideways was unpleasant.  I think there was also rain mixed in, so we could be wet to optimize the discomfort.  And if there was ever a case study in whether attendance is tickets sold/actual attendess/combination thereof, that game was it.  We're lucky if there were 70K there, but of course it was announced as 100K+.

 

readyourguard

July 1st, 2011 at 4:57 PM ^

I picked my buddy up in Berkley to head to the game when we both said, "F this."  We went to a bar on Woodward (1812, I think) and watched the game from the comfort of a couple bar stools.

 

BigBlue86

July 1st, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^

one of the few homes games I missed growing up. It was due to having my tonsils taken out and I couldn't go. I would have stuck it out if I were there but it sure didn't look pleasant on TV as I sat there in a warm house eating ice cream.

tylawyer

July 1st, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^

Two weeks later those of us who stuck this game out got to witness one of the more satisfying victories, and dominant individual performances, I've ever witnessed first-hand.  I still have a picture of me and a couple of friends with the scoreboard in the background reading Michigan 31, Ohio State 23.  

jmblue

July 1st, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^

That's the funny thing.  Our bad-weather games are almost always a week or two before OSU.  For OSU itself, the weather cooperates (as much as you can expect for late November).  In the 100th game (2003), it was even warm.

Zone Left

July 1st, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^

I want a ruling, does attending that game qualify a fan for a Fandom Endurance Level III Merit Badge? I know they won, but wow it was bad and I stayed for the whole damn thing.

Also, WH, the video quality is fine. It's just great to relive a game like that from the comfort of SoCal.

South Bend Wolverine

July 1st, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^

What's fascinating about this is how thoroughly we dominated this game, despite the close score.  We played almost the entire game on Purdue's side of the field, but just couldn't punch it in.

imafreak1

July 1st, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^

The only thing that got me through this game was the bottle of Jagermeister that we snuck in and then put in a glove to take swigs from. Despite the score, I was never very concerned. Scoring for Purdue just seemed a bridge too far. It wasn't like Alstott was going to break one out for a TD.

The safety happened directly in front of us which was nice. I remembered it as being Woodson blitzing which clearly was not the case. Apparently, Woodson took away half my brain when he took away half the field.

Great work as always WH.