Ok MgoBloggers, let's get a little pre-season talk going here. Which offensive lines since 1997 have been the best OL's Michigan has had. Let's try to rank them.
I thought that myself when I read that article that talked about a Data Scientist(tm)
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Best Michigan offensive lines
August 21st, 2011 at 9:20 PM
#1
Best Michigan offensive lines
Follow me on Twitter @gfraley05
August 21st, 2011 at 9:27 PM
#2
Im just here waiting on the
Im just here waiting on the "There are..." post
August 21st, 2011 at 9:31 PM
#3
well
you know it comes at like midnight. So pick out your favorite OL's while you wait haha
Follow me on Twitter @gfraley05
August 21st, 2011 at 9:31 PM
#4
i nominate the 2000
i nominate the 2000 o-line.
LT jeff backus
LG steve hutchinson
C david brandt
RG jonathan goodwin
RT maurice williams
every one of those guys was a senior in 2000, and if i remember correctly, they all found an NFL field very early in the following year.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:33 PM
#5
Didn't
like 4 of them start as rookies in the NFL?
Follow me on Twitter @gfraley05
August 21st, 2011 at 9:46 PM
#6
yep, it looks like backus,
yep, it looks like backus, hutchinson, brandt, and williams all started at some point in 2001. goodwin didn't get there until 2002 and didn't start until 2004, but he started all 16 games last season.
ridiculous college o-line.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:43 PM
#7
2000
That team lost an early-season game at UCLA because (a) Henson was injured and (b) a bad call took away a late Jeremy LeSeuer INT. Then they lost @ Purdue and @ Northwestern due to defensive meltdowns. But the O-line was dominant the whole season.
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 AM
#8
Purdue game
While the defense wasn't great, I don't think the offense can be without blame. The offense absolutely dominated the first half (4 possessions and 4 TD's), but only managed to put 3 pts on the board in the second half.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:46 PM
#9
It did achieve big things.
It did achieve big things. It managed to get not one but TWO ESPN Classic/Big Ten's greatest games with the heartbreaking loss at Purdue by one point and the even more heartbreaking loss to Northwestern when the A-Train simply forgot to hold on to the ball so he could run 70 yards for a touchdown.
Every time they're on (and they seem to be on about every 2-3 hours) I want to throw up all over again.
August 21st, 2011 at 10:05 PM
#10
Ugh
That should be it's own thread; "moments than made you say NOOOOOOOOO"
I nominate that moment, Stewart to Westbrook, and PITCH IT TO BREASTON!!!1!
August 21st, 2011 at 10:39 PM
#11
I was at that Northwestern
I was at that Northwestern game. Still hurts thinking about the fumble.
I also remember a strange feeling of satisfaction after watching the Northwestern fans spend a solid 45 minutes unsuccessfully trying to tear down their goal posts.
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:24 AM
#12
Thanks - this knowledge
Thanks - this knowledge actually made me feel better even in retrospect...
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:49 PM
#13
Haha
That's the Northwestern difference.
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:06 AM
#14
history
Memories of those games make me cringe whenever I hear someone say "We need to get back to the GREAT defenses that Michigan has always had."
Yeah, we do need a @#$%load of improvement on that side of the ball, but let's be careful with our references. May I suggest '97?
August 21st, 2011 at 10:14 PM
#15
Came here to say this, yes.
Came here to say this, yes. This should be the goal for our current O-Line recruiting, and think we're off to a good start.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:43 PM
#16
whichever line
whichever line had Pape and Lentz, i believe 2002, that was a good year.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:47 PM
#17
"fat elvis" will forever hold
"fat elvis" will forever hold a place in my heart.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:06 AM
#18
The 2002 line had an
The 2002 line had an Achilles' heel: no right tackle. Courtney Morgan, a natural guard, tried to play there and was just overmatched. The matchup between him and the Iowa DE (Devries?) alone was enough to stymie our whole offense that day. The Iowa DE was in the backfield all game long and we got killed.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:54 PM
#19
Let's guess which players
Let's guess which players will be in the "There Are" thread
August 21st, 2011 at 10:00 PM
#20
hopefully
hopefully well see some of the greatest wolverines that never were, like Cobrani Mixon!
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:08 AM
#21
Mixon?
Do you mean the guy who washed out at Michigan and transferred to the MAC?
Sure, he did well there (All-MAC, I think), and it would have been nice to have him around, but I don't think he would have made a huge difference at UMich. AFAIK he wasn't drafted this past year.
August 21st, 2011 at 10:03 PM
#22
1992 was a good year...
Everitt, Skene, Jenkins, Cocozo and Doherty. Finished 9-0-3 that year.
August 21st, 2011 at 10:06 PM
#23
Horace Prettyman
or GTFO
August 21st, 2011 at 10:22 PM
#24
I can't remember what year it
I can't remember what year it was, but that line-up of...
Long - Hutchinson - Baas - Dierdorf - Backus
...was pretty awesome.
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:16 AM
#25
Dierdorf!
He played under Bo and was an All American in 1970!
Also Jake Long was much too young to play with Backus & Hutch who started in 1997.
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:39 AM
#26
Well that went way over your
Well that went way over your head.
August 21st, 2011 at 11:09 PM
#27
Who was the best O-lineman Michigan has had since 1997?
I imagine its between Hutchinson and Jake Long. I only saw Long so I am partial toward him.
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:08 AM
#28
David Baas was up there. He
David Baas was up there. He played guard most of his career, then switched to center as a senior, and went on to win the Rimington Award.
August 21st, 2011 at 11:52 PM
#29
1990 O-Line
I know you said since 1997, but why limit ourselves to the recent past? The '90 O-Line won the MVP for the '91 Gator Bowl. They had up to that point, the best tackle, guard, and center in my lifetime (since '70), in Greg Skrepenak, Dean Dingman, and Steve Everitt, respectively. Check out Skrepenak's Wikipedia page, it's a real eye-opener, once you get past the convicted felon part. Jake Long would rank ahead of Skrepenak, but at the time, Skrepenak was a monster. Steve Hutchinson ranks ahead of Dingman now, but that's mostly because of his time in the NFL. Everitt was the 14th overall pick in the '93 draft. If you want to talk about nasty mean streaks in an O-lineman, watch some film of Steve Everitt.
The other great O-Line that I remember is the '81 line that had All-Americans Big Ed Muransky, Bubba Paris, and Kurt Becker. If I'm not mistaken, that line also had a young Stefan Humphries.
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:00 AM
#30
Everitt
Dude played with a broken jaw one year. Broke it in the ND game and I don't think he missed a game because of it.
August 22nd, 2011 at 6:12 AM
#31
I'll need some research on this, but...
I was always fond of the linemen in the early 80's. They were all on the team together in 1980, but I can't remember if they ever all played together...can somebody look it up?
Becker, Paris, Lilja, Muranski, and Humphries.
If memory serves me correctly, they each made All-American lists at some point during their career.
I remember running into Bubba Paris coming out of the store in the South Quad basement in 1980. He quite literally filled the entire door frame.
August 22nd, 2011 at 8:53 AM
#32
1981...tough to beat this line-up
| left tackle | Bubba Paris (12) | |
| left guard | Kurt Becker (12) | |
| center | Tom Dixon (12) | |
| right guard |
Stefan Humphries (8) Jerry Diorio (4) |
|
| right tackle | Ed Muransky (12) |
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:36 AM
#33
Question....
What are the numbers next to their names designate or mean?
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:40 AM
#34
Not 100% sure, but it looks
Not 100% sure, but it looks like games started.
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:35 AM
#35
Muranski and Paris
Both filled out the door frames in SQ back in 1980. Muransky played for the Raiders but only for a short time period of 1982-1984, while Paris was a mainstay for 49ers and won three SB's,
August 22nd, 2011 at 7:15 PM
#36
Skrepenak
Was my favorite player growing up and was why I wore #75 in CYO through high school football... He's up there in the pre-97 list right?
