Change the outcome of one game in M history?
Up late here on the West Coast, decided to post a thread on a question that's had me pondering for quite some time.
If you could change the outcome of one loss in M history, which game would it be? I'm primarily thinking in football terms, but hockey and basketball are obviously applicable, too.
It's a toss-up for me: I'm one of the few people who can say they're a bigger Michigan hockey fan than football. I love both Michigan sports to death, but hockey gets the edge due to my childhood love affair with the game and my time spent in Yost as an undergrad.
For me, then, it's between 2006 UM/OSU in football, and 2008 UM/ND in the Frozen Four.
I know I'm contradicting what I just said, but man that 2006 loss in football still stings. We should've won the National Championship that year. I'd change the outcome of that game in a heartbeat.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 AM ^
question -
What about Vince Young Rose Bowl loss to Texas in 2003(?) - one play would have changed that game.
2006 OSU is obvious.
1994 - Colorado
1988 (or 1989) Notre Dame (Rocket Ishmail return game)
I dissent from the crowd on the horror - that was a necessary wakeup call to the state of the program and led to some serious self-assessment of the program which may not have happened had we narrowly escaped.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 AM ^
But the play to change is the FG at the end. Prescott needed a little more stretch armstrong in him...
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Actually, he just needed to move his hand about an inch to the side. The ball traveled between his arms.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:50 PM ^
Desmond tripped in end zone on two-pt conversion. Another interesting one-play mention would be Anthony Thomas fumbling because there was no defender within 10 yards and a first down meant icing the game. Result: 54-51 loss to Northwestern.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^
We win that, we have an undefeated regular season, Henne and Hart get their win over OSU, and Michigan goes to the NC game.
The HORROR did not ruin 2007 for me. Victory over Florida Gators and their darling Tebow (not that I actually mind him personally) sandwiched between their NC seasons was pretty sweet.
Also, if Michigan goes to NC game and wins it in 2006, Carr probably retires at the end of the season. HORROR does not happen.
Of course, that strings out a whole list of repercussions, which probably include us looking at head coach Ron English with Ryan Mallett starting at QB this year for his junior season.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 PM ^
Michigan led 9-0 in the second quarter when QB John Wangler was injured. Had Wangler not been hurt, Bo would have had his first bowl win and frankly I don't think they'd have as struggled as much at the beginning of the 1980 season, when they lost close games to Notre Dame and South Carolina but finished unbeaten. With a healthy Wangler to start off the year, maybe they win those games--and all the rest.
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 PM ^
Hands down. You just don't want to have a loss to a I-AA team.
Beating OSU is great, but you don't necessarily win the bowl after.
I also thought of the phantom TD in the Rose Bowl.
For b-ball, I wouldn't choose a game from the Fab Five era, because it would just be forfeited later. I'd say upsetting IU in 1976.
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^
Hard not to go w/ the Horror or the Colorado game, but I'm going to say Bo's last game, the Rose Bowl loss to USC. It would have been nice for him to go out w/ a win.
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 PM ^
I think I have to go with the 2006 OSU game as well. We win that game and everything about the last 3 years is completely different. Not that I would ever want to trade in RichRod for DeBord or some other Carr assistant, but especially since I was going to college in Ohio at the time I would have loved to have that precious W in what was probably the most hyped game of all time.
Actually, make that any OSU game from 2005-08. I would've dearly loved being able to beat the damn Buckeyes while I lived in their godforsaken state.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:06 PM ^
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Facebook page: Rich Rod Hope Shirt
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October 23rd, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^
Ban! Ban this cretinous purveyor of commercial merchandise who didn't pay our sitemaster to purvey his commercial merchandise.
This guy (or company) actually seems to be on every Mich discussion site on the Internet.
I find the shirts trite, and the marketing scheme annoying-bordering-on-heretical.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^
PUT IT AWAY!
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 PM ^
The 1905 team scored 495 points and gave up only 2; they ended the season with a 0-2 loss at U-Chicago. For some reason, this loss, so long ago, haunts me.
Perhaps its because of the pain it caused the punt returner whose error lead to the only points of the year being scored against his team.
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9510/October95Legends.html
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:53 PM ^
App State without question. Almost too painful to think about.
Every time I do think about it I am reminded of a terrible dream I had that my girlfriends vagina was replaced by sandpaper and razor wire.
It remains the biggest upset in college football history on almost every list.
Michigan has, or will have a chance to "correct" some of the other losses. - Not App State. If we played them and beat them 1,000 time it means nothing.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:57 PM ^
1) UM v. OSU: 2006. Anyone who says anything different is fucking high. We had a chance to play in the Natty title and almost won.
2) The Horror: 2007. The reason why this isn't #1 should be clear: We got killed by Oregon the next week at home, and were still able to salvage the season by beating Florida in the Cap1 bowl game. If we win this game, it doesn't change our season at all, given the loss to Oregon.
3) The Chris Webber Game. I have been following Mich basketball since the fab five (was in like 2nd or 3rd grade) and this was crushing to me as I would have won some money in my dad's office pool. The first time I was ever emotionally upset about a sports game that I didn't play in. Appropriate it was Michigan (grew up in Missouri too, so not a natural connection).
October 24th, 2009 at 12:38 AM ^
#1 1979 - The Phantom Touchdown by Charles White. Don't even need to change the play, just get the call right.
#2 1994 - Colorado hail mary
#3 The Horror
October 24th, 2009 at 2:18 AM ^
I also would vote for the 2006 OSU game, but here are some other "honorable mention" candidates:
(1) 1992 Notre Dame: Already in field goal range on what would have been the game's final drive, Elvis Grbac throws a perfect pass to a wide open ND safety. ND runs the clock out and the game ends in a 17-17 tie. Michigan went on to tie two more games that season and finish 9-0-3, with a final AP ranking of #5. ND finished #4.
(2) 1998 Ohio State: after losing the first two games of the season to Syracuse and ND, Michigan rattled off 8 straight wins headed into Columbus to play the 9-1 Buckeyes. A win would have given Michigan an outright Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
(3) 2004 Rose Bowl: after defeating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten, Michigan heads to Pasadena with a 10-2 record and a #4 AP ranking to face the undefeated Pete Carroll buzz-saw.