Historical significance of 78-0
Scoring 70 or more has only been done 22 times in Michigan history.
It was only the second time EVER that we scored 70 or more on the road.
Also was only the 4th time we did so in a B1G game.
Let's take a look-
Date | Opponent | Result |
11/24/1888 | vs Albion | W 76-4 |
10/8/1892 | vs Michigan Athletic Association | W 74-0 |
11/18/1893 | vs Northwestern | W 72-6 |
10/26/1901 | vs Buffalo | W 128-0 |
11/23/1901 | vs Beloit | W 89-0 |
9/27/1902 | vs Albion | W 88-0 |
10/8/1902 | vs Michigan State | W 119-0 |
10/25/1902 | vs Ohio State | W 86-0 |
11/8/1902 | vs Iowa | W 107-0 |
10/8/1903 | vs Albion | W 76-0 |
10/10/1903 | vs Beloit | W 79-0 |
10/21/1903 | vs Ferris State | W 88-0 |
10/8/1904 | vs Kalamazoo | W 95-0 |
10/12/1904 | vs Physicians & Surgeons (Chi) | W 72-0 |
10/19/1904 | vs American Medical School (Chi) | W 72-0 |
10/22/1904 | vs West Virginia | W 130-0 |
10/25/1905 | vs Albion | W 70-0 |
11/25/1905 | vs Oberlin | W 75-0 |
10/21/1939 | at Chicago | W 85-0 |
9/25/1976 | vs Navy | W 70-14 |
11/7/1981 | vs Illinois | W 70-21 |
10/8/2016 | at Rutgers | W 78-0 |
October 12th, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^
If someone had shown this to Harbaugh on Saturday morning, we probably would've won 131-0. Can't be outdone by the 1904 team like that.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:05 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^
....and because you are in middle school, unlikely AAPD or security would have stopped them.
October 12th, 2016 at 1:33 PM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^
To avenge Gary Moeller's Illinois firing?
EDIT: Did not even read the post right below mine. Not good etiquette on my part.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
I remember hopping the short wall post game in the 80's and walking around on the field a few times, but I wouldn't characterize these events as "storming the field." More like "hey I'm on the field and no one is stopping me! Let's play throw around this half-empty 2 liter of Bartles & James!!"
October 12th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^
Thank you for your support.
October 12th, 2016 at 3:30 PM ^
Because there was anger and revenge in the air over Mike White's practices and Illini treatment of Mo, and because we were down 21 to 7, maybe even at the half, before blasting them to the moon! 70 points was fun!!! I was at both those home 70 pointers.
October 13th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:40 AM ^
... Coach Moeller got fired by Illinois and Bo had them punished on the field that year.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
True story
October 12th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
Then came back and outscored them 63-0. Nice finish! I drove with my dad to Ann Arbor from Kalamazoo and took the SAT at Pioneer at 8 a.m. on that day so I wouldn't have to miss the game.
October 12th, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^
Interesting that none of those are close games at all, and most feature goose eggs, whereas if you'd expanded your criteria by one more point to include games in which Michigan scored 69, there'd be a 69-67 game up there.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:03 AM ^
All but three are in the "modern era". Level of competition, all teams with 85 scholarships, yada, yada - it makes it harder to score 70 points in the time of color TV.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:16 AM ^
modern era.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
Scratch that... reverse it.
October 12th, 2016 at 12:48 PM ^
85 scholarships - don't think that was an issue at the turn of the century because teams usually had no more than 20-30 players. The catch is there really wasn't a bench to clear in blow outs so the starters played most of the game.
Also, I believe at the turn of the century TDs were only worth 4 pts with the conversion worth 2 pts.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
was the 69-67 game?
October 12th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^
vs. Illinois in 2010; 69-67, 3OT.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^
by a defensive play!
October 12th, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^
Actually 67-65.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^
Whoops, my bad lol.
October 12th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^
I don't understand how we don't get the facts on this exactly right, since this seems like the only classic Michigan win BTN ever shows in the offseason.
October 12th, 2016 at 6:58 PM ^
*Behind UTL1 and 2011 Michigan/OSU.
October 12th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^
Illinois 2010.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^
was in the big house. and denard started and got hurt in the second half. tate took over from that point.
October 12th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
just wasn't sure if that was the one he was talking about, because he had the score slightly off.
October 12th, 2016 at 3:59 PM ^
Tate Forcier Illinois game, in 2009, featured a truly epic second half collapse.
October 12th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^
Easily one of the most ridiculous, if not THE most ridiculous game in Michigan history. It was like watching NCAA football on a video game console where both teams were running nothing but money plays.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:23 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 1:07 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 12th, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^
Man, October, 1904 must have been a great month to be a Michigan fan. In addition to the 4 70+ point victories that month, listed in your table, they also beat Case 33-0, Ohio Northern 48-0, @Ohio State 31-6, and @Wisconsin 28-0, for a grand total of 8-0 in October, by a cumulative score of 509-6.
Harbuagh's got some catching up to do. ;-)
October 12th, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
East Lansing ... Harbaugh and the team will put a nice dent in that deficit.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^
What makes it even more amazing is that most of Michigan's non-conference games in the Point-a-Minute era were less than the regulation 70 minutes (two 35-minute halves). The teams would agree before the game to play 20- or 25-minute halves, etc., and the losing team would often concede at some point in the second half (as Stanford did in the first Rose Bowl). What allowed Michigan to run up such high scores in many shortened games was the kickoff strategy back then... the team that was scored upon had the option to either kickoff or receive. In that era with games often massively turning on a turnover or penalty, teams usually chose to kickoff back to their opponent who had just scored, to try to keep the ball out of their own end. Michigan spent huge chunks of those games on offense.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:29 AM ^
These were the college football rules in 1901...
* The field was 110 yards long.
* Games lasted 70 minutes, with two thirty-five minute halves, but games could be and often were shortened.
* Players played both offense and defense, and if a player left for a substitute, he could not return to the game.
* No forward passing was allowed.
* Tackles and guards were allowed to run the ball.
* Three downs were allowed to gain 5 yards for a first down.
* Touchdowns and field goals each counted five points. Extra points were worth one point. No two-point conversions were allowed.
* After a touchdown, the scoring team received the kickoff, which helps to explain why the scores of games were so lopsided.
I don't know when these rules were changed but it's that last one that's really surprising. If the scoring team kept receiving the kickoff until they had to punt, RichRod's teams here would have lost by scores of 250-48 and 198-35.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
I think the rule was, "after a touchdown, the team that was scored on was given the option of kicking or receiving, and often chose to kick (because field position was so important and fumbles were much more common)."
If you look at the play-by-play of the Georgia Tech-Cumberland game (222-0), you see that Georgia Tech kicked off and received after touchdowns with about an equal frequency:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080527172833/http://www2.cumberland.edu/a…
Admittedly that's 1916 and not 1901, but I think the kickoff rules always gave the option to the team that was scored upon, until the rule was quietly changed once teams stopped choosing to kick off by the 1940s or so.
October 12th, 2016 at 11:58 AM ^
The one that works so well to frustrate your little brother when playing basketball.
October 12th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
October 12th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be out drinking with my bitches. Maybe cooking? Watching my kids roll a wheel with a stick?? Either way, probably not watching football, sadly. Because I would really enjoy that 1902 MSU thrashing.
October 12th, 2016 at 12:00 PM ^
have a time travel device? Go back and watch all the games!