Rose Bowl, 1978: Just like the TCU game, but in the Bo Era
The TCU game brought back some very old memories for me. One in particular, really: the Rose Bowl of 1978. Michigan and Rick Leach (favored to win, ranked #4) against underdog Washington led by Warren Moon.
Washington just felt so much more prepared for the game, and soon it was 24-0. Michigan, like in many bowl games of that era, just having so little success running the ball. In the second half, though, Michigan puts on a furious rally. Late in the fourth, UM scores to get close, 27-20 (but in one of those things that seem to happen in UM bowl games, has a botched snap on the extra point, which would have made it 27-21). And finally, one last chance for UM. Leach marches them down into scoring range, almost landing a beautiful touchdown pass. Then, an odd play where Stanley Edwards (yes, Braylon's dad) almost catches one off of his helmet at the 2, but somehow the Washington defender grabs it, and game over.
My own memories: my dad, so mad, yelling at the TV for Bo to throw it more. Me wondering why it mattered so much to him (the same things my kids wonder, now). The second half, the offense opening up, and suddenly Michigan looking ferocious. But, as seemed to be commonplace back in the day, falling just short, and another bowl loss.
While the TCU game felt a little different, to us old timers, it sure was reminiscent of so many of those Bo-led bowl games.
Wikipedia article: here
Bentley library article: here
Grainy youtube video: here
January 8th, 2023 at 4:14 PM ^
But they easily could have been, that is what was so frustrating.
January 8th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
First bowl game I ever attended.
January 8th, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
Good recall. I remember that game. This TCU game had some of that game, some of the "trouble with the snap" type of "this never happens" stuff, two pick sixes??? trick play at the 2, me yelling at the TV on that one. I wasn't even recovered from that when the first pick six happened, then the bad call and I knew they would fumble (yelling at the TV again ""QB sneak don't hand off!!"") I didn't return to any sort of normal until late in the third quarter 41-38.
My summary, this was the best Michigan team in many, many years, and one of the worst games in terms of vodoo type shit in forever as well. Unless Georgia kills TCU by 21 or more like we should have (4 tds plus or minus in that game) then we would have probably beaten Georgia as well in the final. Georgis the team that barely beat OSU, in Georgia.
January 8th, 2023 at 9:29 PM ^
If Harrison Jr. had been able to play the full 60, OSU likely would have beaten Georgia in what was essentially a home game for the Dawgs.
January 8th, 2023 at 4:03 PM ^
This is a legitimate comparison.
We lost both of those games for the same reason: We dominated a relatively weak Big Ten and it made us overconfident for the bowl game. We thought that we could do what we did all season: run the ball down people's throats.
When it became clear that we couldn't, we got tight and error prone. We did not adjust until it was too late.
Both results could have been different, but we were not prepared for a fight. Both opponents stopped what we wanted to do, what we did best. We were not ready with a well rep'd Plan B ready to go expeditiously.
Harbaugh has some Bo in him in that respect.
January 8th, 2023 at 4:31 PM ^
Michigan 10, USC 10
January 8th, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
Touchdown for media darling USC. It doesn’t matter that the ball was lost at the three or four yard line.. that’s Charles White and USC.. give it to them…. USC is a very pretty team… just look at their Song Girls…
January 8th, 2023 at 6:16 PM ^
Bad camera angle, obviously he scored ( confirmed by replay official).
/ssssssssssss
The official who called this a touchdown was from Minnesota. The other officials conferred with him and he refused to reverse his call.
Just one of many blatant screw jobs by the refs for Michigan football.
January 8th, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
Hard to find any good video footage or replay of Michael Jackson's INT of Leach pass to Stanley Edwards on that last drive. TV cameras did not do a good job during the game. To my knowledge only photographer Larry Sharkey of LA Times captured the freak event with photograph.
FWIW Michigan had huge pass plays in that '78 Rose Bowl.
Michigan lost to TCU because of turnovers, and being forced out of their bread-and-butter offensive game plan, which is to maul and demoralize the opposition into fine powder on the ground. Michigan's defense gave up big plays all game long, and paid for it dearly.
January 8th, 2023 at 4:57 PM ^
Out of all the incredibly frustrating Michigan bowl losses I've watched this one might have hurt me the most because of the tremendous comeback and getting down to the goddamn 2 yard line only to lose the ball on a fluke interception. I still remember where I was (visiting my dad in Asheville NC) and watching the ball bounce off Edwards's helmet right into the fucking arms of a Washington defender sums up Michigan bowl games for me.
Just once I'd like to see the ball bounce in favor of Michigan during a big bowl game. We always miss our field goals or the opponent makes theirs; we always fumble right into their arms while their fumbles bounce frustratingly away from us; our bad passes go right into their arms while their errant passes are dropped by our guys, and so on and so forth, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
If it's not an evil curse, the universe seems to have a particular pickle up its ass about Michigan football.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:06 PM ^
Hoke - Sugar Bowl - Va Tech is the "just once" you seek.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:18 PM ^
VT??
January 9th, 2023 at 9:12 PM ^
Corrected TY!
January 8th, 2023 at 8:23 PM ^
Agree with you 100%. That loss was far more painful than the loss to TCU.
The last 2 offensive series in the TCU game were not the work of a team -- or at least a coaching staff -- that deserved to win:
- Clock management just before the last TD cost them how much time??? 30 seconds? 45 seconds? Last drive has a lot more potential with 90 seconds on the clock instead of 40 or 50
- Final drive -- highly improbable, especially for this offense, to go 75 yards in under a minute with zero timeouts. Aside from the false start (on 2nd down?) and the botched snap (on 4th down), it looked to me like they completely avoided the middle of the field -- where 3 well executed plays had the potential to gain 35-40 yards in about 30 seconds.
I don't remember a lot of detail from 1978, but Michigan worked themselves all the way back into that game and needed 5 yards and a 2 point conversion to tie that game.
Last week's game was...not like that at all.,
January 8th, 2023 at 5:04 PM ^
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's like we intentionally play with one arm tied behind our backs.
January 8th, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
The root cause of all of this is that we overpower a weak Big Ten and then are not ready for a fight in bowl games. We think we can get away with being one-dimensional until it is too late.
In bowl games where we were the clear underdog like the Capital One Bowl against Florida or the Orange Bowl against Alabama, we stepped up. We knew we had to fight with both hands from the start. And so we did.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:45 PM ^
It's almost like the people who ask "why arent we developing a better passing game?" against Hawaii and Rutgers aren't being negative, they've just seen it bite us before.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^
Of the four QBs in the CFP, JJ probably had only half the live game passing reps that the other three had.
And he was the QB that needed reps the most.
He perhaps does not throw two pick 6's in the CFP if he had more passing-under-duress reps in actual game situations during the season.
Would have rather had those pick 6's in September than in December.
January 8th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
Whenever Michigan is favored in a bowl game against a quality opponent, it's almost a guaranteed loss.
We virtually never uncork anything truly new in a bowl game. It's that Michigan mentality of believing we're so good that even if the opponent knows what we're going to do, we'll still beat them.
January 8th, 2023 at 7:08 PM ^
Capital One Bowl - Henne/Hart after the App State loss week 1 - Carr goes 5 wide and hands Tebow his only bowl loss.
January 8th, 2023 at 9:27 PM ^
Carr's offense in that bowl was brilliant and bittersweet.
He had the talent to install that offense two or three years prior.
Imagine what mid-00s Michigan football would have been like with that offense....
January 9th, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
Or maybe, as my father used to say, they would go out to Pasadena and spend too much time at "Dizzy Land"
January 8th, 2023 at 5:58 PM ^
I had flashbacks to that game during the TCU game as well. Biggest letdown and missed opportunity in a long time
January 8th, 2023 at 6:46 PM ^
Back in the days of 1 minute commercial breaks!
January 8th, 2023 at 7:11 PM ^
The TCU loss is right there as a gut punch with 2016 and JT Was short because of the importance. Michigan has as good a team to play Georgia as close as ohio did or even just slightly better. It will sting for some time or until we can get past a semi-final.
This team did more then I expected but left so much on the table.
January 8th, 2023 at 9:24 PM ^
The 2016 OSU game and this year's TCU game are 2 games I will literally never get over
January 8th, 2023 at 10:52 PM ^
So I die twice. 🙄
January 9th, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Totally. I was thinking of the same game. But I was really thinking of the entire 70s - something was going on with Schembechler to where the team just could never get up for post-season games.