Michigan is the new Northwestern

Submitted by ssuarez on

I was just watching the 2000 Michigan / Northwestern game, and I couldn't help but feel like I was watching Michigan's new offense (Northwestern) vs. one of the quintessential michigan offenses of recent history. Here is the link if you want to reminisce about the best of what Michigan's offense used to be, or see how exciting we can be in the future (think Northwestern + better athletes).

Video on Hulu

Also, keep these things in mind while viewing:

1. Randy Walker was in his second year as head coach at Northwestern
2. Northwestern went 3-8 in 1999, and 8-4 in 2000
3. Announcers routinely stressed the importance of Randy Walker's strenuous conditioning program, and weight lifting sessions.

Mattinboots

September 2nd, 2009 at 7:48 PM ^

That sounds great! Consistent sub-par seasons and mix-in the occasional flirtation with mediocrity. That average crowd of 35,000 (too high?)is something to be envied too.

teldar

September 2nd, 2009 at 9:52 PM ^

if ESPN is to be believed, it would appear that NW's offense that year was just about a carbon copy of RR's the previous year.

When coach Walk went down there in 2000, I've heard Rich tell some funny stories about, they didn't just come down and studied the offense. They took everything, the hand signals, how he called it.

This quote was taken from Pat Fitzgerald and would imply that Walker just about took RR's offense verbatim.
This was, however, attributed to stories from RR to PF, so may not have been completely factual. But it does give the impression that it took another year before significant modification began. (At least to me)

teldar

September 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 PM ^

I actually read both links. The one from smartfootball is obviously a little (or lot) more in depth than the on one ESPN. The upshot of both?
Walker learned his offense from RR. Both articles say that. Perhaps Walker modified it significantly after that, but both sites seem to agree that the lasting impact was Rodriguez.

Smart football DOES say that Walker deserves as much credit as Rodriguez for taking the spread mainstream. But this does not even begin to imply that Walker was the initial mind behind the spread.

The important part of this article from smart football is that Walker helped to make it MAINSTREAM. It does NOT indicate that Walker taught the spread to RR initially. It quite obviously states the opposite. (see first italics) To state otherwise would be something like... yellow journalism?

BTW, I negged you for your lack of reading comprehension and your continued argument about who taught who the spread despite the article that you yourself linked.

Maize_and_Drew

September 2nd, 2009 at 10:12 PM ^

1. Walker and Wilson learn the spread from RR.
2. Walker and Wilson take that offense to NW.
3. NW puts up 50+ against Michigan in 2000. (2nd year)
4. Wilson is now the OC at Oklahoma.
5. Wilson and RR are good friends.
6. RR visited Oklahoma earlier this year.
7. Oklahoma has mad game on offense.
8. Oklahoma uses their TE's.
9. Michigan has TE's.
10. _____________________________ Fill in the blank.

Maize_and_Drew

September 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 PM ^

I'm just hoping to see the tight ends used a bit more this year. Michigan has produced a lot of good TE's over the years and I would hate to see that end.

Either way, RR visiting Oklahoma is a good sign he's looking to expand his playbook a bit, making Michigan that much better.