Question about the 1979 Michigan-Indiana game

Submitted by SportsBrewKings on

Without giving too much boring information, I live in South Carolina and my parents are big Clemson fans. I miraculously became a Michigan fan after seeing Desmond strike the pose in 1991. I was 6. I've been obsessed ever since.

I've seen the 1979 highlights countless times but growing up in SC and not being able to attend my first Michigan game until 2006, I don't get to talk Michigan football history with many people, aside from MGoBlog, forums, etc.

Was there anything significant about the Indiana game of 1979? I realize how ridiculously awesome Wangler to Carter is by itself but is there any storyline behind that game? I've just always wondered if that game had more context or if it was simply a great moment in Michigan football history. Can anyone help?

johng

July 26th, 2010 at 8:41 PM ^

I can remember huddling with other strangers, listening to Ufer's afterglow on a radio at Elbel after the game ended.

Now, when even the fourth-best Sun Belt game of the week is televised, we get to see a lot more amazing finishes.  The play itself, weaving through tacklers to score as time expired, still holds up as something you just do not see.  All praise due to Lee Corso for the defense he called.

More than anything, these 15 seconds will tell you how powerful it was to see at the time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEF6edfexco#t=1m46s

Also, WolverineHistorian has the whole drive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWT2pzvzals

bigstick

July 26th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^

It was Lawrence Reid - not Lawrence Ricks.

Reid was a senior in 1979 and had 12 carries for 99 yards in the IU game.

Ricks was a freshman in 1979 and did not have a carry against IU.

Stats available at www.mgoblue.com, in the football section.

I PUT THIS IN THE WRONG PLACE - SORRY FOR THE DUPLICATION.

 

 

CalifExile

July 26th, 2010 at 8:45 PM ^

This was in the days of the Big 2 and the Little 8. And Indiana was one of the littlest. You just didn't lose to a team like Indiana. Maybe the Spoilermakers or Wisconsin but never to Indiana.

As always back then, we were hoping for a national championship. Watching that hope disappear against Indiana was horrendous.

Feaster18

July 26th, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^

I think it was a significant win for a combination of reasons.. Those of us who grew up with UM football in the 1970s were very spoiled, and '79 was something of a rebuilding year.   The three preceeding years, with Rick Leach at qb, had set the bar very high.   It's hard to describe to people how shocking it would have been to tie Indiana in those days, and so AC's catch allowed us to dodge a huge bullet.  

Also, there were a lot fewer last-play-of-the-game wins in those days.  Maybe this was because pass offenses were a lot less sophisticated back then, and it was harder to move down the field in a two-minute offense.   There was also less parity in college football.  So, while UM lost a few games in the closing minutes in that decade, I can't recall a single time they scored as time expired to win a game.  AC's catch marked something new. 

 

BlueInOH

July 26th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^

....Freshman year.  To corroborate points that have already been mentioned, I was 1 of 100,000+ pissed off Michigan fans who couldn't believe we were about to be tied by Fucking Indiana......at home no less.  I don't care if they were "good" that year - Indiana?!?!  Once IU tied it up with seconds to go, several thousand left the stadium in disgust.  Even with the Lawrence Reid’s heads up, WTF fumble play out of bounds, no one in the stadium thought we had a chance to score on the game’s final play.  The play evolved thru 3-4 distinct phases; the perfect pass, catch, evading two tacklers and AC high stepping into the endzone.  Thru each phase, the resulting fan reaction gradually crescendoed from a hear-a-pin-drop despondence into an absolute stand-clearing frenzy.

Besides this being a Top 5 moment in UM’s storied football history, the significance of the game and play was the establishment of Anthony Carter as a legitimate, go-to receiver & return threat as a true Freshman.  Bo knew what he had in the young AC as well as John Wrangler and gradually started opening up his play book beyond the traditional UM belly option series.  By all accounts, 1979 was a disappointing year for UM Football; the next year, the Wrangler/Carter duo played a big part in giving Bo his first Rose Bowl victory.

MMB 82

July 26th, 2010 at 11:49 PM ^

and the Carter TD was something I would never forget. The play before, it was completely obvious that L Ricks fumbled the ball out of bounds, and Corso was completely livid on the sidelines. The next year IU thought they would have a revenge game- it was 21-0 midway thru the first quarter on the way to a 35-0 final.

uminks

July 27th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^

I was listening to Ufer on the radio and was a bit  bummed after IU tied the game.  After getting bit excited about the final drive I went to get my little Brother who was 9 years old to come back and listen to the final drive, since he had gotten bored and stop listening.  When Ricks tossed the ball out of bounds there was a question about the legality of the play, but it stood and with only 6 seconds left it was great listening to Ufer call that final pass to Anthony Carter!  I'm not sure if the game was on television but remember seeing it on the old Michigan Replay show with Don Shane Sunday morning.  Now I feel old after reading these posts since many mgobloggers were born after 1979!!!!