I think
So...
I'm not sure where you got the "don't know if he had the right kind of speed for this conference" idea. Dude was legitimately fast. Not "deceptively fast for a little white guy" fast, but "well above average" fast.
His running style led to his brain getting murdered a lot, and even if he had stayed healthy I have no idea if he would have been a star. But speed wasn't the problem.
Agreed. Not even looking at
Agreed. Not even looking at numbers, I'm willing to bet McGuffie ran a better forty than Mike Hart. But I don't think the two could have had more opposite running styles. It used to drive me nuts when McGuffie would turn his back going into a pile and turtle.
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
Whether or not McGuffie is
Whether or not McGuffie was faster than Hart isn't even a question.
http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-track/mtt/mcguffie_sam00.html
At the risk of being
redundant: 10.7 in the 100? Speed was not an issue.
I don't think he would have
I don't think he would have turned his back and turtled if it were not for the multiple concussions he suffered. Nothing takes tenacity out of an athlete in a violent sport like a concussion. It is human instint to protect ones brain and that was the main problem.
"Wasn't that Michigan drive just great. That's like Patton riding into Berlin." ~Bob Ufer
Agree, I don't blame him one
Agree, I don't blame him one bit.
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
obligatory
I just remember
thinking that he lacked the front-end burst that set players with elite game speed apart. He really seemed to take a few seconds to get going both on kick offs and as a receiver. Once he got going, the kid could fly, but things always seemed to take too long develop. I also think that lead to some of the injuries, because he was going damn fast but players were already in position to meet him head on. I could be wrong, just my perception.
Yeah
You're probably right that he didn't have that Denard acceleration where step #3 was at top speed, but he had pretty good initial burst, especially given his top end speed. My memories of that year are (intentionally) fuzzy, but it seemed that his problems were more with running style, health, and the general lack of large angry unblocked peoples in his path.
He will
always have the ND game. Literally the ONLY reasons that we did not lose by 10 touchdowns.
And your memory is correct, that season never took place.
I was at that game...
In the ND student section, wearing my maize and blue, and watching Michigan fumble 37 times in the Monsoon of Rain and Sadness. I have rarely been more miserable in my fandom.
Of couse, I was also at Notre Dame Stadium in 2010. That was a lot more fun.
I've
got you tied. Seventh row corner end-zone 2005 Illinois homecoming game. My first game in over 5 years. The horrifying result was oh-so-predictable by the beginning of the fourth quarter. It then proceeded to occur in an intense slow motion that I have never before witnessed. Misery, and a long walk back to the car.
The Horror
That is all.
You
win. However 2002 Iowa may want a word with you.
People forget about Iowa in
People forget about Iowa in 02. At the time it was probably the worst home loss we suffered in decades. Cold-ass rain, turnovers, Stenavich on his back every other play. Pure misery.
Kordell Stewart
1994. Kordell Stewart. Hail Mary. I win at this game of spectator misery.
Disgruntled former moderator. I got a lot of problems with you people!
All of them
I was at all of them. I'm pretty sure I cried after the Kordell game. Worst one though was Northwestern '08. Coldest I've ever been in my life plus my last game as a student
My first Michigan game was
My first Michigan game was the Horror. People also forget how bad the following game against Oregon was. Other notables that I've been to: '08 Toledo, '08 Northwestern, '09 Illinois (still the one that stings the most).
My four years of college will be remembered as the worst 4 year period of Michigan football in history for a long, long time.
So was I
Remember how stunned the fans were in the stadium, and how quiet it was, for a few minutes? No booing, no nothing.....nobody even began to pour out of stands for a good three minutes, standing there in shock.
And I always wondered why Coach Moeller only sent three DL players after Kordell, instead of bringing the house.
Yes
It was the eeriest thing. It was like everyone in the stands was waiting for another play. I've never heard 100,000 people so quiet.
Sub Commenting
This is the furthest subreply I've ever seen somebody in a reply section, I litterally have no idea what the original topic was.
That is all.
Double Post
Double Post
Wow.
I still remember that silence too. Just total disbelief.
I kind of imagine that that is what death might be like...just an absolute I-can't-believe-that's-all silence.
After the Che Foster fumble,
After the Che Foster fumble, a guy standing in front of me in the student section turned around and hollared to all within earshot "I'M NOT WORRIED!" Other than the horrible ending, and watching Todd Collins sprint -- I mean he was booking (for Todd Collins) -- into the tunnel after said horrible ending, this is my most vivid memory of that particular game.
The Desmond Trip
I was at them all, but that was the single moment of most disbelief and misery to me.
Go Blue!
I wasn't at ND in 08
But I'll throw in the following-
89 ND Rocket Game
90 Rose punt hold Bo's last
98 Syracuse underrated suckatude
99 Illinois the SNAP
01 MSU nuff said
01 OSU Horrid first half, letting Tressel back up what he said
02 Volunteers in the Bowl game...ouch
02 OSU last wall to Title game
05 Rose Texas GROW YOUR FINGERNAILS OUT!!!
05 Alamo Nebraska Sunbelt....conference...refs...
06 OSU...not the day after Bo died.... :-(
Honorable TV mention- ND Miami '88
"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk
My factory
still has a ringing in their ears as I screamed and dropped dozens of F-bombs from the Quality lab
Good call. That was a sneaky
Good call. That was a sneaky miserable loss. I think we were top 10 at the time. 10-0 Iowa to start. We get it back to 10-9 after a punt block and a FG to start the second half. The defense goes 3 and out in the ensuing possession, and you know you've seen this game before. Michigan's come out sluggish but has woken up and will gradually pull the game out. Then, wham, fumbled punt and they lay 24 straight on us (all in the second half) in a miserable heavy mist.
It didn't have the soul crushing elements of the Horror or the Kordell Stewart game, but it was a truly unpleasant game.
I was at that game.
I was at that game. My stepdad and I are were seated in front of 3 Iowa fans. At the start of the game, Michigan fans were heckling them, telling them to go back to the corn fields. By the end of the game the Iowa fans were screaming how glad they were that they hadn't stayed back home to pick corn.
I also remember there being a set of small field goals set up in the Crisler parking lot where kids could try kicking it through the uprights. Someone remarked that they should take the best kid and have him replace Brabbs that day....truer words were never spoken.
The Horror was bad... but the
The Horror was bad... but the emotional impact of the Oregon game felt worse... (most of the stadium left early)
I know I've said this before,
I know I've said this before, but the Oregon game was not that big of a deal (to me). Yes, it sucked to lose and to lose badly. But Oregon was a VERY good team that probably should have beaten Michigan even if we were at full strength...but we weren't because Henne was injured. Beating a team like Oregon with our freshman backup QB would have been a pretty significant upset, in my opinion.
Michigan was already way down
Michigan was already way down when Henne got hurt, though. I'm pretty sure he got injured late in the 2nd quarter, at which point the score was already 32-7.
Oregon was very good though. They had a good chance at the title game that year until Dixon got hurt.
My neighbor was a starter for
My neighbor was a starter for that Oregon team and he told me that was his most memorable victory during his 4 years. Kind of cool, I guess. In a sh-tty sort of way.
Disgruntled former moderator. I got a lot of problems with you people!
When the opposing running
When the opposing running back is joking in the huddle, trying to figure out which Michigan defensive lineman is going to give up next, I think that qualifies as a big deal
Oregon plays for National Title
and Dennis Dixon wins the Heisman if he doesn't get hurt that year.
Last two games I have been to
Last two games I have been to were the Horror and Toledo. I have sinced stopped going for fear of what will happen next time.
2005 IL??? Are you thinking
2005 IL??? Are you thinking MN? Gary Russell 60 yard run on 3rd and 10 with their backup QB in as they were trying to run out the clock.
Unless you are an IL fan and speaking of their homecoming in which case I think they were pretty terrible in the Mid 2000s, so i can't imagine one game being that much of a heartbreaker.
UM 2001-2005
Really terrible in 2005.
They didn't win a conference game. Can't imagine any one was worse than the others.
"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk
Yes
Minnesota. I have no idea what prompted that mistake. Perhaps the game v. Illinois tonight, or perhaps because the last game I attended before that was a loss to Illinois in the Brady era.
I too have a dog named Maizey. Awesome.
Worst me was my first time at the Big House
Illinois game '91 . . . that hurt! Three ties that year! Anyone surprised that the rules were immediately changed?
You have gotta' love this . . .
How about worse/most miserable game that we won?
I'll vote for the 1995 5-0 victory over Purdue with miserable weather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j460bLNZ6To
Myself and a friend stayed until the end and I know this is sacriligious to admit but there is no way that there were more that 100,000 at the game that day. It was just brutal. A cold, wet, driving horizontal sleet that made it almost impossible to look at anything other than your feet. Ouch.
That was actually 1992. In
That was actually 1992. In '91 we beat Illinois on the road.
The rules weren't immediately changed after that. It was in 1996 that overtime was introduced.
Not to be a topper, but...
I was in London on my honeymoon and had the bad luck of going to a pub that night with the Mrs. only to find 3 ND fans there (this was on top of having already been to the Newcastle United vs Hull City match where my beloved NUFC lost). After talking a bit with them I found out they were all from Illinois (One was an ND grad) and were a pretty cool bunch, but as soon as I mentioned that I bleed maize and blue they dogged me all night.......Wish I could see them again right now after how the last 3 years have gone for Michigan when facing ND...........
"But a true champion, face to face with his darkest hour, will do whatever it takes to rise above. A man fights, and fights, and then fights some more. Because surrender is death, and death is for pussies." - Kenny Powers
He has above average
Uh...speed was definitely not
Uh...speed was definitely not his problem. He was really fast, but he was tiny and went down quickly
The Bleacher Report disagrees
The Bleacher Report disagrees with your assessment of Sam's speed. A sub 4.4 40 is blazing.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1046423-the-50-fastest-returning-play...
I was thinking about McGuffie
I was thinking about McGuffie the other day so I youtubed his mixtape. If there was ever a ninja in a football uniform, he was it.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. - Ephesians 6:11
He always ran
to upright, whether he played a lot or a little he was going to be vulnerable on the football field.
Easy question. He wouldn't
Easy question. He wouldn't have played. Maybe special teams.
"im saying to myself should i do it should i not. I crossed the goaline and hey...fuck it" Desmond Howard on his Heisman pose
McGuffie had a low ceiling. He moved well laterally and had some nice "scat" to him, but I don't know if he had the right kind of speed for this conference, in either spread or pro-style. And not to harp on his injury issues because as you said he was leaned on quite a bit right out of the gate, but I just don't think he was going to be anything close to an every down or even most down player here.