"The Game That Change College Football" - UM vs Northwestern, 2000
For those of you who have a subscription to The Athletic, and want a punch to the testicles on a Thursday morning, this is a great write-up about the 2000 UM vs Northwestern game.
To be honest, I don't really remember that game. I am sure I watched it, but I really have no recollection of it. Reading some of Lloyd Carr's quotes though, it is no wonder Michigan struggled against spread offenses for so long.
Carr: We did not have the ability to simulate as fast as Northwestern got to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball [emphasis mine]. A lot of times the defenses had trouble getting the right players into the game. They created problems that you could not solve without some rule changes.
...
Carr: You know you’ve got some problems that you can only solve with having your offense keep the ball and score every time they get it because you were facing something that you weren’t prepared for, that anybody I know felt like they were prepared for [emphasis mine]. You had to bear with it and outscore them. At halftime I told them, “Look, there’s no answer for this except we can force some turnovers, but we’re gonna try to do a couple things in terms of our substitutions because we’re really getting hurt there.”
...
[Gary] Danielson: I don’t think Michigan made any changes in defense at all. They lined up the way they used to line up [emphasis mine]. They didn’t put anybody over the slots. They gave Zak a lot of easy throws. I was just like, “Whoa, they didn’t really prepare for this game at all.”
This game followed a bye week where Michigan had two weeks to prepare for Northwestern. Carr's comment about not having the ability to simulate Northwestern is baffling to me. With all the resources and players on Michigan's roster, they had no ability to simulate Northwestern. I think they had the ability to, but chose not to. To me, this was a perfect embodiment of Lloyd Carr's mindset: we are going to run what we always run, no matter what the other team does.
Despite that, Michigan was in position to win the game, and Northwestern needed a flukey play to win it. Despite the end result, it's a great read and well done.
October 15th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
here is what i remember of this game...
for some reason ABC had to join it in progress (at least in the Windsor/Detroit area) and Michigan was losing when it finally came on... this game also happened the day/night of my slo-pitch team's team party, so we were at our sponsors having dinner and drinking and i sat at the bar watching the game downing beers, and trying to stay calm as possible since our sponsor wasn't an actual sports bar and there were families in there having dinner... when Thomas fumbled i nearly lost it...
on our last possession when we trotted Hayden out there to try and kick that 50 plus yard field goal to tie it, i looked at the bartender and said that if he misses it i want to 2 double crown and cokes... bartender looks at me like i was joking, my buddy standing next to me looks at the bartender and says "he isn't joking"... Hayden misses, 2 drinks appear in front of me, i down both drinks, finish my beer and then me and rest of the team head to downtown Windsor and i proceed to try and drink away what i had just watched...
October 15th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
Another negative article about Michigan/Lloyd Carr... "just out of the blue."
... I like the comment "...a great read and well done...". (sarcasm)
"Way to kick the dong off Michigan" -- signed a Michigan Fan.
Like we are here to critique a Northwestern grad's writing style and artistic impression in journalism on his bashing of Lloyd Carr (who got Michigan over the heart-break of 50+ years without a national championship in 1997) & Michigan football.
That's like saying the eye gouge on Patterson by PSU defense was "not a eye-pluck & well done".
What's the obsession on this board about highlighting & noting negative connotations about Michigan?
I'm not an apologist - but, I certainly don't go out of my way to repeatedly find 'negative' info/articles on Michigan and post them........ of course the Atlantic author was a journalism grad from..... NORTHWORSTERN. Biased much?
Any/every Michigan fan should 'kiss the ground' Lloyd Carr walks on.... as he gave us as alumni/fans the ever-illusive PERFECT season, we so desperately desired over the Bo/Mo years.
12-0. Heisman winner, player used on defense/offense/special teams. If Lloyd was such a traditionalist - why did he allow Woodson to take punts & play wide-receiver? Lloyd Carr was a Michigan football statesman, loyal to a fault - won big games against msu, psu, and osu.
I mean, think about this -- Lloyd was 9-2 vs Penn St, 10-3 vs msu, 5-4 vs notre dame and while 6-7 vs osu, he beat them when they were undefeated in 1995, 1996 and then -- when the chips were down in 1997 (osu revenge at epic high) -- he beat them again at home for a perfect season. And we did not choke in the Rose Bowl.
Lloyd did this while the sports media world "HATED MICHIGAN".
He is our football God. Instead - fans/writers/ whomever - - want to pick away at his legacy. Why? SHAME.
I mean, a lowly Big Ten seasonal game against a perennial football loser school, (in which Michigan lost on a fluke) and the author has the audacity to headline with 'the game that changed college football' ? Laugh. I guess Michigan really is the most powerful football program ....
Last - - - I was a little kid at a fan-friendly (spring game) Lions practice in the 1980's and after practice Gary Danielson walked off the field - - I said politely, Mr. Danielson -- "can I have your autograph?" -- he looked down at me and said "Get away from me kid" and walked off the field. I was 9 years old. For 30+ years - I celebrate EVERY Lions loss. I mean, they FIRED Jim Brandstatter for "L-O-W Mass" Brown -- a guy who admitted to not blocking his man so his QB (Scott Mitchell) would be injured?? What kind of franchise condones that? LOSERS.
Anyhow, Danielson is a HORSEFACE who hates Michigan because he got denied admission.
I CAN NOT believe that guy has had a successful career in broadcasting being such a egotistical jerk towards children.
Shit player. Shit person.
Go Blue.
October 15th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
tl;dr
October 15th, 2020 at 1:33 PM ^
In the offseason between 1999 and 2000, the Northwestern offensive staff traveled to Clemson University to learn the spread from its up-and-coming Offensive Coordinator, Rich Rodriguez.
October 15th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
That game was so lame. We looked like we had seen no film on their offense, but even with that we would have won if AT had just gone to ground after he passed the marker.
October 15th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
Back in the early 2000's a group of us were flying from DTE to Denver. Loyd was on the flight with us. The flight was delayed repeatedly we got an another flight and when we boarded, he was sitting there still just waiting. One of my coworkers who was a huge fan and had gone up to talk to him summed it up perfectly, just like game day he sticks to his plan no matter what reality around his plan is doing.
I am grateful for the passion and work he put into the team but always wonder how much more he could have done if he had been more change tolerant.
October 15th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
This game is memorable for me in a weird way.
My dad and I were watching the game and had planned on seeing Remember the Titans and bought tickets ahead of time. Because of the high scoring the game went longer than expected and we ended up listening to the last part of the game in the car radio. We pull into the parking lot of the theatre right as Anderson dropped the ball and we figured great we will come out of the movie and listen about the victory and went in to watch the movie none the wiser...little did we know what would happen.
October 15th, 2020 at 6:05 PM ^
October 15th, 2020 at 7:08 PM ^
My mom's first game. Since she had no frame of reference, she thought for a while that all Michigan games were that fun and exciting.
Little did she know the playing style that's practically in every Michigan fan's blood is the exact opposite of this high-scoring spree.
October 15th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
*big cringe emoji*
October 15th, 2020 at 8:11 PM ^
For a moment, I thought the subject line was going to end in 2014, given the usual hyperbole for M00N.
October 16th, 2020 at 1:20 PM ^
I attended this game but it was pre-college so I was still a Cats fan. We rushed the field! I went to UMich a year later and my tune changed.
Lloyd was basically unprepared for every running quarterback/spread offense, let's be serious. It was the biggest flaw and it smacked him every time. McNabb at the Big House, Troy Smith at the Shoe, Vince Young in Pasadena, even LOL Zak Kustok. I love that he refers to their offense as something mystical and legendary - Northwestern put up 14 points against a shitty TCU, 17 against a serviceable Iowa and lost 66-17 to Nebraska in the bowl game (also lost to Purdue). Michigan was the better team.