Favorite Games (Irrational)
The season of random summer conversation starters is winding down, but not quite over. Today I wanted to pose the question of what games from Michigan history people have an irrational fondness for. No obvious choices like 1997 Ohio State or the Syracuse game in the Final Four. I'm looking for random blow-outs, unimpressive wins, or any other form of game that is generally unmemorable, but that you go back and watch the highlights of (or replay them mentally) again and again. Might be because of a favorite player or a weird play, could be because of a friend or family member you went to the game with - your reason is up to you.
For me, the Air Force game a couple years ago ranks high. Denard was absolutely fantastic at points, ending up with 101% of Michigan's total yardage. Also, I love watching the triple option, so getting to see Air Force was nice, if frustrating. Thankfully we did manage to slow them down just enough that I can remember it fondly.
1999 Citrus Bowl against Arkansas. Great game, set the stage for the next season. First game I was old enough to watch start to finish and remember all of it. Games I irrationaly love that aren't Michigan games are 2010 Boise-Nevada and 2011 OK ST and Iowa State.
1981 Michigan 70 - Illinois 21
Down 21 - 7 early.
Bo Beatdown.
First home game after Ufer passed, moment of silence during which Ufer scoring horn was heard.
Anthony Carter 6 catches, 154 yards, 2 TDs
Steve Smith with a Denard-esque 116 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs (to go with 3 passing TDs)
Victory over hated rival (/s).
Beautiful afternoon of football.
I liked the AF game a lot too. It was particularly conflicting for me, a lifelong Michigan fan but an AFA graduate. I was left with a very unfulfilled feeling... proud that my Falcons showed up strong but disappointed because the Michigan of 10 yrs ago probably would have won with the second stringers in by the 4th qtr.
Illinois 2012. I was in the front row on the 50 yard line on the Illini side. I was a little drunk and heckled them the whole time (nothing offensive or cruel). It was very fun and memorable.
2006 Michigan-Notre Dame. Enough said. 47-21 on the road. I don't know if I followed your criteria but who cares. That game was awesome. 
That was 2007 and boy did we need that win after what happened the previous 2 weeks (We also blanked them 38-0 in 2003 I believe too).
I was at that game too with my buddy whose grandfather played for Knute Rockne at ND.
I'll go 2009 Notre Dame. In retrospect, one crappy team beating another crappy team with a QB who utter flames out a year later. But man, at the time, the future was so bright. I still like watching the highlights because it reminds me of a time when hope was high and life worth living.
2010 Notre Dame, if only for the fact that I love it when the coaches' playing calling mirrors the way I'd call an NCAA video game - rush Denard right; rush Denard left; rush Denard up the middle... Can Denard average double-digit yds a carry? Sure, why not. Can Denard break an 80+ yd TD run? Let's try.
I felt a similar feeling when Gavin Groninger dropped 6 triples on Georgia Tech during (IIRC) Jamal Crawford's freshman year. As a slow white boy who would hang around the perimeter waiting for a kick-out triple try, I was able to live vicariously through Groninger for 40 minutes.
97 Michigan State. This was back when we beat them regularly, so it was a rather pedestrian 23-7 victory. However, my friend knew a trustee for MSU, so we got 50 yard line tickets on the home side of Spartan Stadium. Their fans were talking lots of shit to us after Sedrick Ervin's TD on that fake punt to go up 7-0, but we got the last laugh after 23 straight points and Woodson's ridiculous interception on the sideline. We also got to go into the press box at halftime and met Herbstreit and Corso. It was a good day.
This one definitely. It was a close game until Woodson's ridiculous interception. Poor Saban.
The 2007 Illinois game was a fun one. Went down with some family to attend, Illinois had a good team with Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall. We were down 14-3 early but Henne willed the team to victory with Mike Hart out due to injury. Also, it was the first night game I've ever attended and the atmosphere was unreal.
I came on to mention the same game (and I didn't attend it). That was the App State year and many teams would have collapsed, but this was one of the gutsiest wins I remember and maybe the one I felt most proud about afterward. Hart was out, Henne was banged up, and Illinois was fired up (night game) and good. Really fun win.
1984 vs. #1 Miami of Florida
In an otherwise forgettable year, Michigan opened its season by beating defending national champs Miami 22-14. First-year Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson saw his QB Bernie Kosar fumble once, get sacked three times, and throw six interceptions in the loss.
http://collegefootballbelt.com/1984/1984%20Game%20Summaries/Miami,%20FL…
Miami won the NC by beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl the season before with Kosar at QB. I sat in the first row behind the Miami bench. I didn't heckle them until Kosar threw interception #6. I yelled at the backup QB who was standing right in front of me "Hey #14 - You must really suck. Kosar throws six picks and you are still on the bench". That QB was Vinnie Testeverde, who won the Heisman two years later. Good call on his suckiness by me.
2012 vs. Iowa. I loved how thoroughly Iowa was manhandled and it was awesome seeing Denard and Devin both in the backfield.
I also really enjoyed the Minnesota game from that year. On the road, Devin's first start, and the week after the Nebraska loss - this could have been a disaster. I loved seeing them bounce back and it kind of seemed to me like the game where Gallon kind of broke out.
I still remember the waterfalls gushing onto the field from each of the gates at the bottom of the section stairs.
The 1996 season was the first one I got to experience as a Michigan student myself (having experienced many before that as a fan growing up), and we won that game 20-14, as I recall. It seemed like a lot of offense for what was, as you said, a veritable monsoon, but we were just that talented.
I remember Clarence Williams put up over 100 yards on the ground that day, and Dreisbach threw for nearly 300 yards himself. Strangely, the only one of our three TDs that came from the ground was scored by Scott himself, I believe.
BC's quarterback? Some dude named Matt Hasselbeck, as I recall.
1994 Penn State game. We lost the game, but there was alot of good back and forth action in the second half.
The offense of that '94 PSU team was as potent as I've ever seen on a college football team, before or since.
the 1993 Penn State game. Down 10 - 0. Alexander punt return for a TD, huge goal line stand beat them in Happy Valley. Wheatley, Irons, Toomer M standouts ! and we had no FG kicker (what a surprise / s)
Go Blue!
2007 Oregon ????
Go Blue!
was still better, with no gimicky quick tempo offense.
Oregon averaged 38 points per game
Penn State averaged 47
I forgot about that game. I think I might still have a copy of it on VHS somewhere.
That game has a nickname: Judgement Day. Yes it was great, but not sure it qualifies.
If I remember correctly the 97 team didn't allow a team to score in the 4th quarter for the entire regular season. That D was Tremendous!
At Penn St, the Nittany Lions scored a TD and 2-pt conversion to make the final 34-8.
That was a fantastic defense; Penn St had been ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. UM was ranked #4 in both polls.
Michigan 52, Purdue 21.
Anthony Carter's last home game, the crowd was in a celebratory mood from the beginning, Lawrence Ricks ran for almost 200 yards and Carter had one of the best touchdown catches of his career early in the 4th quarter (at 7:50 of the highlight package).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P29DF9A7Nyw
2002 Washington stands out for me. Brabbs kicking the game-winner and Perry running for three TDs. Best part of the highlights is Rick Neuheisel's face while he's looking to shake hands with Lloyd after the final kick.
I didn't have a ticket, and a little before the game my girlfriend of one year dumped me. I left her room in Bursley and just wandered down to a lounge where a large group was watching the game. The kicking was so terrible all game that I thought Lloyd was crazy when he sent in a new guy for a last-second kick--I thought a hail Mary had a better chance. And then we Brabbs nailed it, and the world was once again a good, happy place.
I saw the beginning of this game and heard the end on the radio as Mercury Hayes caught a touchdown in the corner of the endzone for the win. I was in middle school and my friends and I played football all the time in our street. After that game we had a play called "Mercury Hayes" where we would run a post-corner and try to catch the ball just before falling over the curb and onto the grass. Exciting radio call, great play and great way to end the game. Plus, we relived that moment hundreds of times on the street so I'll never forget it.
August 2nd, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
This game gets my vote... living in Virignia, it was a great Monday to go to work.
Michigan at Purdue MBB - Big Dog was brilliant, cementing my belief that he is the best college basketball player I have ever seen. Back and forth affair, Purdue fails to convert mutliple chances under the basketball with time expiring, Jalen does a victory lap all the way to the other end of the floor.
Also, the 2002 Outback Bowl - Awesome win over Florida in a really good, often forgotten, bowl game.
Michigan trailed Iowa 21-7 after Tim Dwight returned a punt for a TD as time in the 1st half expired. The offense was horrible in the first half. Michigan clawed back into the game in the second half despite 3 Griese INT's. A Griese to Tuman TD late in the 4th put Michigan ahead for good 28-24. It wasn't pretty by any means...but it was a large hurdle to clear on the way to an undefeated season.
I loved that game then and still occasionally throw it in the DVD player. I went absolutely nuts in the living room while our German exchange student laughed at me.
As a teacher in the summer, I have not only a lot of down time, but when I'm in the home office doing prep work for the next year, I put a UM game on in the background. These are staples in my collection along with the higher profile ones.
Other games...
'95 OSU - Biakabutuka video game, only UM fan in the room at my friend's house
'96 OSU - UM defense overshadowed by Streets' long TD catch & run
'97 Colorado - Woodson... enough said
'97 PSU - agreed, most complete game I've ever seen a UM team play
'97 Minnesota - 2nd best defensive performance of that season (lots of '97 games not just b/c of the national championship, but that was the first season where I got to watch every UM game on TV - somehow every game showed up on the two cable channels we had that were ABC affiliates)
'00 OSU - Still say no UM QB ever had more talent than Drew Henson
'05 PSU (Touchdown Manningham! Michigan wins!) deals PSU its only defeat of the season, my first UM game where I sat at the 45 instead of the student section or upper corner
'08 Minnesota - Only football game on tape in history of the game of football where Nick Sheridan looks competent
'09 WMU - my wife's first visit to Michigan Stadium, Denard TD on first college play
'13 Indiana - Jeremy Gallon with best WR performance since Edwards in '04, that game should be shown to HS wideouts to show them how to play the position when you don't have the most size/speed. Gallon ran perfect routes and fought for the ball.
since at the time, it seemed like the RR years were turning the corner and we would have the Forcier for 3 more years and he was awesome.
In hindsight, that set expectations way too high and both Tate and RR didn't really pan out.
1991 FSU beat us soundly, but it was the most fun I've ever had at a loss. Their fans were awesome and the friendliest visitors I can ever recall. It was freshman year and from the "Fuuuuuuuuck the Seminolessssss" chant (mocking their thing) to the general good time from the night prior, the loss never really stung like one might think.