Flashback: 1996 Colorado game

Submitted by WolverineHistorian on

I had been meaning to make a better copy of the Fail Mary game against Colorado for a while now.  I finished it and then watched the final minute and had nearly forgotten how that last play was set up and how disaster nearly screwed us again against the Buffs. 

First to give some perspective for that time, Colorado was one of the best college football programs in America.  This Buffs team would finish 7th in the final polls.  The game is in Boulder and we're just two years removed from the Kordell Stewart saga. 

With 1:30 left in the game, we have a 7 point lead and the ball at our own 40.  We start taking knees so Colorado can burn their last timeout, which they did after 2nd down.  On the 3rd down knee, there's 37 seconds left and Keith Jackson points out the slight difference from the play clock which is about 1-2 seconds less.  On 4th down, Dreisbach takes a knee with 8 seconds left for some reason giving Colorado one play.  The silent stadium suddenly comes to life and we're in this horrible position again, only the mishandling of the clock gives the Buffs a much easier hail mary attempt from our 37 yard line.  Even Bob Griese has this WTF voice when he asks, "Is this weird or what?"

This Hail Mary had a chance with it slightly bounching off the finger tips of Woodson and Chuck Winters, dangerously close to a Colorado receiver a few feet behind them.  Thankfully, he was just out of reach and the ball bounced to the turf off to his left.  No disaster this time but can you imagine the shitstorm had the Buffs caught it again all thanks to Michigan mishandling the clock?  Lloyd took blame for the clock issue in the Michigan Replay episode but he and Brandy sort of change the subject rather quickly. 

The game would have gone to overtime.  1996 was the first season college football had overtime.  Thankfully, that didn't happen. 

Skip ahead to 12:03 to see the ending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CInU2NhmDo

Beforehand, there's some great catches by Tai Streets and a few shots of Mattison on the sideline. 

NewYorkWolverine

July 31st, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^

Sure, Lloyd could have managed the clock better, but we should note several points. First, the team went on the road, and "gutted out" a win in a tough spot. That would bode well for them the next season. Next, the defense held a lead. Yes, I know that Rae Carruth could have come down with the ball on that last play, but he didn't, and the defense only gave up 13 points. Not bad.

The '96 team had Jarrett Irons, David Bowens and Chuck Winters, all of whom were gone by '97, yet, the cupboard was anything but bare. By '97, there were plenty of rumblings about the block M standing for mediocrity, but few of us really recognized just how talented and tough that '97 team was, until the season was over, and much of the team's mental toughness can be traced to this '96 game against Colorado.

Just an opinion, i know, but that '96 Colorado game was a sign of things to come.

Larry Appleton

July 31st, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

One thing I remember standing out to me about the defense that game was their ability to completely shut down Koy Detmer as a runner. He was no Denard, but they did run the option with him a few times and he could scramble.

Seeing that properly defended was like a breath of fresh air. For years, Michigan had consistently shown an inability to defend a QB who could run. Whether it was Kordell Stewart, ND's McDougal, or Illinois Johnny Johnson, Michigan always seemed to end up losing games they shouldn't have just because they couldn't just TACKLE THE DAMN QB!!!

In this game, they showed a change in preparation that would carry through the '97 season. Of course, the following year they went up against Donovan McNabb, and it was "here we go again!"

Bando Calrissian

July 30th, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^

Definitely listened to this one on the radio at a friend's house, one of those "let's spend all Saturday doing the entire month-long project due on Monday!" deals. I just about ran through a wall during the last minute. Phew.

Wasn't this one of the games David Bowens lit up an opposing offense?

Wolverine Devotee

July 30th, 2014 at 8:05 PM ^

My man! Back at it with the edits. 

I'm glad you re-did this one. The original was under 7 minutes. 

Hope this isn't the last one for awhile. 

Perd Hapley

July 30th, 2014 at 8:27 PM ^

LMFAO. Asks Keith Jackson "do you remember what happened 2 years ago?" Keith response " ha ha ah yea I am still getting residuals on that."

Edit: he said he wishes he was getting residuals on that game. Lol

jcouz

July 30th, 2014 at 9:47 PM ^

The end of the 1996 game was managed much worse than the 1994 game except the last play turned out differently. That was about as incompetently managed as one could possibly imagine. I was watching when it happened but my jaw just dropped in awe from watching it again just now. I would want a coach fired for shit like this. Good lord

Bando Calrissian

July 30th, 2014 at 9:55 PM ^

1996 was also the year of the Will Carr Goal Line Offense experiment? Cost us a game at Purdue, if memory serves. Shit never worked.

Sometimes I wonder what 1995 and 1996 would have looked like if not for Scott Dreisbach's traitorous thumb and a few really strange coaching decisions here and there. Those teams both limped through what should have been far better seasons, with a lot of guys that won us a national championship.

Wolverine Devotee

July 30th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^

They hilariously tried running Will Carr in the infamous 5-0 win vs Purdue in 1995 on 3rd and short, and every single PU defender knew who was getting the ball. He got the ball and went straight into a wall of defenders.  

Lloyd Carr's "interim" tag was dropped the following week and he was given the permanent job.

Ray

July 30th, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^

I lived in Colorado during those years and went to all three games. The first game was especially heartbreaking.

A couple weeks after that I went running down the Boulder Creek path wearing a Michigan T-shirt and came across Bill McCartney, who upon seeing it just smiled a bit. Can't say I blamed him.

Next game I led the U-M section in the Victors after a field goal. We won, of course--and my wife was bummed because she hoped to show off her pregnant belly on national TV with a block M painted on it, but the baby came early. So she was home with the new addition while I went to the game.

Next time was epic, and I will never forget Woodson's interception early on Hessler. Heralded a perfect season.

The baby girl who came early is now In day 2 of her orientation at U-M. Talk about proud.

Wolverine In Iowa

July 30th, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^

I conveniently must have put this game, despite victory, away in some sort of rarely accessed memory bank.  I was about to call you a troll, o wise seer WH, until I realized that we played the Buffs three times in the Carr era, winning twice.

I shall watch your video.  :)

reshp1

July 30th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^

Cool story bro time.... I was 13 during the 1994 CO game, just starting to follow football seriously. I had a job stuffing newspapers for my neighbor, who delivered the paper to probably 50% of our town. Papers, particularly the Sunday paper comes in big bails, with the actual paper separate from the glossy ads.  Prior to delivery, they have to be assembled and then bagged up. It was a really tedious job that took forever. My neighbor, being a huge Michigan fan, would have the game on in his garage to help pass the time as we worked  (me, him, and his son who was slightly older than me). My parents, being first generation immigrants, didn't follow sports so this was pretty much my first exposure to real fandom.

Anyway, when.. well, that happened, my neighbor just flipped out and let loose a string of expletives before realizing we kids were there. He tried to say something, but instead just stormed off muttering under his breath. His son and I were absolutely dumbfounded. The guy was a really mild mannered guy and a hardcore Christian and I don't think his son had ever heard him swear before, I certainly hadn't. His son finally worked up the courage to go check on his dad after 15 minutes and quickly came back to tell me I should just go home.

Needless to say the paper didn't get delivered that Sunday. The next week, he very sheepishly apologized for losing his temper and admitted that was the first time in 25 years of running the paper delivery that he missed delivering the Sunday paper.

 

TL;DR  my boss at the newspaper delivery service was so upset by the 94 loss, no one in town got the Sunday paper that week. 

UofM626

July 31st, 2014 at 1:04 AM ^

Just killed me w that Hail Mary, I was 26 yrs old and ready to fucking kill someone that day. Only a handful of games in my life have I ever been as mad as that game. People don't remember here unless your a bit older that Colorado was the typical SEC team back In The day with all there cheating and issues on campus, but did they ever had athletes! They raided Cali back in the day for players!

flashOverride

July 31st, 2014 at 4:04 AM ^

I remember this game well. I was super-bummed because it was the day after 2Pac died (I was a freshman in high school). My Dad had the usual Michigan game gang in the bar in our basement. In addition to the ending, Colorado also had a TD pass called back on either a false start or illegal motion penalty, I can't remember. It was a legit call, but definitely an "Are you kidding me???" moment for a Colorado fan, I'd imagine. Great game, though. I attended three that year, the opener against Illinois, road trip to Minnesota, and Sparty. That 1996 team was a tough one to get a bead on.

2timeloozer

July 31st, 2014 at 6:50 AM ^

In 95, we were sitting in the front row, north endzone Said to my wife:"They can't win. He can't throw it that far." No wonder she still takes everything I say with a grain of salt!

Evil Empire

July 31st, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^

we could have been much more creative.  How about Dreisbach taking a snap and running straight back to the corner of the endzone, turning around, and waiting to see if anyone came after him.  If someone gets close, dive out of bounds.  Then you get a free kick from the 20, which you could kick to the non-Rae Carruth up men and either recover it or tackle them.  No way they would get time to run a play.  So many better options than the way it actually played out.