Keith Jackson
The discussion of America's best college football announcer and the Keith Jackson talk in Brian's latest blog got me to start doing some research. I'm trying to compile a list of every Michigan football game Keith Jackson ever broadcast. Now, I obviously have a ton of old games but he started broadcasting long before I was born so I'm going to need some help on games from the mid-80's and before. I'll need help with the losses too since I tend to block those out to the best of my ability.
The following are UM games I know for certain that Keith did:
*2004 USC (Rose Bowl)
*2003 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*2003 Oregon (Eugene)
*2001 Washington (Seattle)
*1998 Ohio State (Columbus)
*1998 Penn State (Ann Arbor)
*1998 Washington State (Rose Bowl)
*1997 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1997 Wisconsin (Madison)
*1997 Penn State (Happy Valley)
*1997 Notre Dame (Ann Arbor)
*1997 Colorado (Ann Arbor)
*1996 Ohio State (Columbus)
*1996 Penn State (Ann Arbor)
*1996 Colorado (Boulder)
*1996 UCLA (Ann Arbor)
*1996 Illinois (Ann Arbor)
*1995 Penn State (Happy Valley)
*1994 Illinois (Champaign)
*1994 Penn State (Ann Arbor)
*1994 Colorado (Ann Arbor) Oy.
*1993 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1993 Penn State (Happy Valley)
*1992 Washington (Rose Bowl)
*1991 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1991 Florida State (Ann Arbor)
*1990 Michigan State (Ann Arbor)
*1990 Iowa (Ann Arbor)
*1990 Indiana (Bloomington)
*1990 USC (Rose Bowl)
*1989 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1989 Illinois (Champaign)
*1989 Iowa (Iowa City)
*1989 Michigan State (East Lansing)
*1989 UCLA (Pasadena)
*1989 Notre Dame (Ann Arbor)
*1989 USC (Rose Bowl)
*1988 Indiana (Ann Arbor)
*1986 Notre Dame (South Bend)
*1985 South Carolina (Columbia)
*1984 Auburn (Sugar Bowl)
*1983 Iowa (Ann Arbor)
*1982 Illinois (Champaign)
*1981 Notre Dame (Ann Arbor)
*1979 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1979 Michigan State (East Lansing)
*1977 Ohio State (Ann Arbor)
*1976 Minnesota (Ann Arbor)
*1974 Ohio State (Columbus)
Can the folks with freakishly great memories help add to this?
But, how about the 1989 Michigan - Indiana Basketball game? I guess we would rather forget about that game.
Looking through my collection now. I'm sure there are many more.
1992 Ohio State:
1992 Illinois:
Good find. I couldn't remember if those were Keith Jackson games or Brent Musberger games. Looking back, Musberger's list of UM games is pretty long as well.
It's too bad we were stuck with Mark Jones for the OSU game where Biakabutuka ran wild.
You're doing this from memory? Damn.
The thing I'm noticing as I go back and look is how many games Musberger did, probably more than Keith Jackson. Here's one more though:
Yeah. That was stupid to forget that game. Jackson did every Michigan/Penn State game from 1993 to his retirement.
I don't know how far back Musberger goes. Of my videos, the earliest UM game he did was the 1985 opener against Notre Dame. I believe we are 5-1 when Musberger broadcasts a UM/ND game.
Musberger did the 1984 Ohio State game and likely a few more Michigan games before that. Wikipedia says he started calling college football for CBS in 1982.
Lloyd Carr's sweater at 1:00:30 in the first video is epic! I must find that!
nuff said
rose bowl game against texas in 2005 no?
Yeah he did. Still too soon for WH I guess.
Gus Johnson aside, I can't think of any announcer I'd rather have announcing a Michigan game. Keith and Bo were Michigan fans' other grandfathers. Thanks WolverineHistorian.
Don't forget Ufer. He's got to be at least a great-uncle.
Add 1987 Notre Dame game (Ann Arbor) to your list.
I love your youtube channel man, props for taking the time to do that.
This is a loss I'd like to block out... except Keith Jackson uttered my favorite thing I ever heard him say: "And the big bowl is hummin', cuz the home team is winnin'." Also: RIP Vada Murray.
Another one to forget.
Yea, but I'd love to have that defense. It was before my time, but Brown threw 7 picks and yet we still only gave up 17 points. And Little Brother was actually pretty good that year too.
I sure would love to see Keith come out of retirement and call just one more game from the Big House. The only way it could be better that having KJ come back would be if the man upstairs let us have Bob Ufer back for one more game.
Maybe DB will do a "retro" broadcast and dub Ufer calls into a game
Michigan 41 Texas A & M 3, 1977.
Watched it on TV, ABC, the blimp was here...had to be Jackson, right?
Oh, that's right. I actually uploaded that one.
My friends and I went extra early to watch Tony Franklin (Texas A&M's kicker) warm up. He was kicking 60 yard field goals with consistency and ease. Of course that was the era of tall tees and special balls for kicking, but still it was amazing.
I remember watching that game as well. I believe the SI article headline, the following week, was "It was pure Aggie-ny" or something like that. It's amazing how names stick with you; Hicks, Jolly, Tedesco & Marsh. Awesome, thanks WH.
Whoa Nellie... I love that man!!! Keith Jackson (college football) and John Madden (pro football) forever!!!
KJ also did the 1992 Ohio State game and the 1993 Notre Shame game.
He did not do the 1995 Penn State game (Musburger) or the 1991 Illinois game (ABC's "C" crew did that one).
Gator Bowl, which Michigan lost 15-17 to North Carolina.
That 1979 team really underperformed given all the talent and experience they had, plus playing Notre Dame and OSU at home.
79 had the dreadful kicking game.
We doubled ND in offensive yards but lost because of a blocked field goal in the final seconds. An Irish defender blocked the kick by standing on the back of a teammate. A stupid rule that got changed within 2 years.
A blocked punt for a TD gave OSU the 3 point win over us. We ruin another perfect season for the bucks if not for that play.
Bo complained about the kicking game on that squad for the rest of his days. I wonder what he would have said if he seen the 2010 kicking game.
1983 and 1986 with Brett Musberger and Ara P. calling a lot of UM games, while Keith and Frank covered a lot of the SEC, PAC10 and Big 8 games.
The southern twang of Jackson is because he's from Missouri, but he's lived in California a long time. There certainly was a lot of coast-to-coast plane travel for that Jackson, yet he seemed to genuine enjoy where ever it was he worked and called games (warm September games in Dallas, Norman and Athens or cold November afternoons in Columbus and Ann Arbor).
He's missed.
I know he didn't actually call the game so you don't have to add it to the list, but he did the Intro Video to last year's Rededication Game vs UConn
More of a great voice/persona than a great commentator in my opinion. I don't really care if this is popular or not but ... he wasn't that sharp. He made a lot of egregious errors, even before he got old.
Look at the Gator Bowl clip that did Woody Hayes in, for example. It is plain as day that Hayes punched that Clemson player and during the ensuing melee, Keith said "I don't know what started this." There are a lot of other facepalm calls as well, especially after the mid-1990s. "INTERCEPTION, WOODSON!" at the end of the '98 Rose Bowl, when Woodson was laying on the ground after being blatantly shoved by the receiver who made the catch several yards in front of him.
In the case of Woody, he may have just been trying to be polite and not assign blame. But yeah, in the later years he was making a lot of bad mistakes. He hung on a bit too long. Still, he was always enjoyable to listen to.