Saturday Night Football: 1995 Michigan vs Miami Redskins

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

A game I've been waiting to do for a long time now.

This was a game that featured pick sixes by both defenses and a ton of special teams blunders.

After Michigan cruised to a 31-0 halftime lead, Miami U capitalized on multiple boneheaded mistakes to score 19 straight points and make it a game in the 3rd quarter.

This game has some very interesting notes.

  • Most obviously: Miami U was still called the Miami Redskins. They changed their name to the Miami RedHawks in 1997.

     
  • This was Michigan's first game against a MAC team in 52 years. Their last prior to this was a replacement game against WMU in 1943. Michigan was supposed to play Michigan State on 9/25/1943, but MSU cancelled their season due to WWII, so WMU filled in. The tickets were already printed when the schedule change took place, so the tickets for that game against WMU said Michigan vs MSU on them.
     
  • Randy Walker was MU's head coach. He would later take over at Northwestern after Gary Barnett left for Colorado. Walker passed away after the 2005 season and assistant Pat Fitzgerald took the head coaching job over for 2006.
     
  • Mercury Hayes' spectacular diving catch for a TD that nobody ever talks about at 09:30

LSAClassOf2000

July 25th, 2015 at 6:07 PM ^

Grew up watching Larry Osterman and Jim Northrup cover games when WDIV was not covering the Tigers on a given night. Actually, I gained a fair amount of popularity on my street because we were the only family with PASS. Fred McLeod had the Pistons call for years, as I recall - those were some good times indeed.

DISCUSS Man

July 25th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^

I was at this game and couldn't remember anything in particular except for that great catch by mercury!

DISCUSS Man

July 25th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^

I was at this game and couldn't remember anything in particular except for that great catch by mercury!

Willis

July 25th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^

This game was the first I got to see in person. Got goose bumps, and still do, when we walked into the bowl and could see the field and crowd for the first time. There was an old fella, had to have been at least 70, sitting right in front of us sporting an old school Miami University varsity sweater with the big red M. Any time they made a decent play he went nuts, and there were several Michigan fans who started to heckle him every time we scored or made a good play. When Miami finally got on the scoreboard the old man stood up, turned to face the crowd, and gave the most enthusiastic double middle fingers I have ever seen. That was the fall of my senior year of high school, and my buddy Joe and I still laugh and imitate the old man every time we get together for a game or end up talking about Michigan. That was a great day.



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rob f

July 25th, 2015 at 5:48 PM ^

great catch by Hayes and thinking he was destined to be our next Heisman winner (remember, he had that game winner vs the Virginia Caviliers in the first game of '95).

Other than that, it was a frustrating game to watch, as our sloppy play allowed Miami to get within striking distance in the 2nd half.

Redskins, huh?  I had nearly forgotten that used to be Miami's nickname.  Washington should have followed Miami's lead years ago.

rob f

July 25th, 2015 at 6:43 PM ^

at all.  If the Washington NFL franchise was named after redskin peanuts and had something like these guys

Anyone got a pic of -MrPeanut-? 

...depicting their mascot since the inception of the team, then fine.  But they don't. 

I have (and had) absolutely no problem with colleges that were named after tribes, such as the CMU Chippewas and EMU Hurons.  Those names honor tribes.  But "Redskins" is not a tribe; instead, it's a derogatory term toward a race of people. 

In this day and age, what is to be gained by using such a demeaning nickname?  Would it be OK for  teams to call themselves other obviously offensive nicknames, such as "The Darkies"  or "The Yellowskins" for instance?

Wolverine Devotee

July 25th, 2015 at 6:23 PM ^

I'm pretty sure that Florida State is the last school that has a Native nickname and that's because they got approval apparently. 

D1 schools that have changed their names-

  • Dartmouth Indians to Big Green
  • Colgate Red Raiders to Raiders
  • Stanford Indians to no nickname and then Cardinal in 1981
  • UMass Redmen to Minutemen
  • Eastern Washington Savages to Eagles
  • William & Mary Indians to Tribe
  • St. Bonaventure Brown Indians/Squaws to Bonnies
  • Siena Indians to Saints
  • Eastern Michigan Hurons to Eagles
  • Marquette Warriors to Golden Eagles
  • St. John's Redmen to Red Storm
  • Quinnipiac Braves to Bobcats
  • Louisiana-Monroe Indians to Warhawks
  • Seattle Chieftains to Redhawks
  • Arkansas State Indians to Red Wolves
  • North Dakota Fighting Sioux to TBA

MotownGoBlue

July 25th, 2015 at 10:50 PM ^

I was under the impression the Sioux were a peaceful nation i.e. "Dances with Wolves." The term "fighting" probably rubbed a few the wrong way, so this I understand. I can't say much on behalf of the "Fighting Illiniwek" (though there appears to be a youth "Camp Illinek"). Costner has yet to make a film, keeping me much in the dark. /s

UMgradMSUdad

July 25th, 2015 at 5:52 PM ^

Miami had a pretty decent team that year, too.  They went 8-2-1, with a win at then #25 Northwestern, and an average margin of victory against MAC opponents of 21 points. Their only other loss was a 2 point loss in the season opener against Ball State.

Wolverine Devotee

July 25th, 2015 at 6:14 PM ^

Holy shit I completely forgot that this Miami U team was the only team Northwestern lost to in the 1995 regular season.

They lost to MU a week after upsetting Notre Dame on the road. 

One of the commentators was talking about how that stop on the final play of the game will help Michigan next week. The next week was the loss to that Northwestern team that played in the Rose Bowl. 

Ty Butterfield

July 26th, 2015 at 12:25 AM ^

The first year my Dad and I had season tickets. Will never forget the Mercury Hayes TD in the Virginia game. Glad we kept out tickets as our 20th season of going to games together will feature Harbaugh!

Wide Open

July 26th, 2015 at 2:56 AM ^

The marshmallows. Holy crap the marshmallows.

HBD WD.  May you not find yourself on a brewery tour in Milwaukee that offers free samples, for at least another 12 months.

LDNfan

July 26th, 2015 at 3:50 AM ^

Wait a min..did I hear 'Offensive Co-Ordinator FRED JACKSON' after that double reverse early in the game? I think I knew this but it still surprised me. How long was he the OC? I take it that he was 'demoted' to RB coach at some point.