glen mason

[Ed-Seth: This being the 20th anniversary of the 1997 National Championship, Michigan historian Dr. Sap is taking us game-by-game through it. Previously: Those Who Stayed (Colorado); The Hit (Baylor); The Stop (Notre Dame); The Captain’s Down (Indiana); Vengeance (Northwestern), Gut Check (Iowa), Six Picks (Michigan State)]

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November 1, 1997: Michigan 24, Minnesota 3

Materials: Articles. WH Highlights

Back in 1997, I don’t think the term “Trap Game” had been used very much, let alone become part of the College Football lexicon. But twenty years ago, with a trip to #2 Penn State looming the following week, the Battle for the Little Brown Jug was definitely a Trap Game for Lloyd Carr’s Wolverines. The Minnesota Golden Gophers were a team in transition with first year coach Glen Mason. Even though they had pushed JoePa to the brink of an upset two weeks earlier, Minnesota was still bringing a butter-knife to a gunfight at Michigan Stadium two decades ago.

The Wolverines were now ranked #4 in the country and everybody was looking forward to a #2 vs #4 matchup the next week in Happy Valley. With the Nittany Lions playing Northwestern’s Wildcats, it was expected that both teams would clash the following week with undefeated records.

If Lloyd Carr’s warnings about how Minnesota pushed Penn State in a one-point loss two weeks prior didn’t get his team’s attention, the Gophers first drive sure did. Shockingly, Glenn Mason figured out that running right up the middle was the best way to move the ball against Jim Herrmann’s Michigan Defense. Before you could say, “Golden Gophers,” Minnesota was sitting on the Michigan doorstep with a first and goal at the UM 9-yard line.

[After THE JUMP: You woke the DeBord]