FrankMurphy

November 24th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^

For me, the gold standard is the 90's. If Michigan can win at the level it won in the 90's every decade, I'll be happy. I don't expect (or even want) Michigan to be a juggernaut dynasty a la Alabama. Even in the 90's, there were programs that were more dominant (Florida State, Nebraska, et al), but Michigan did it the right way as an academically elite university with a great football program, not as a football factory with a university attached to it (e.g., Alabama, Florida State, Miami, Nebraska, etc).



Michigan's accomplishments in the 90's:



1 National Championship

5 Big Ten Championships

2 Undefeated Seasons

2 Heisman Trophy Winners

7-3 in Bowl Games

3-1 in BCS Bowls*

7-2-1 against Ohio State

4-3-1 against Notre Dame

6-4 against Michigan State

4-3 against Penn State

94-26-3 Overall (.783)

61-17-2 Big Ten (.782)



*2 of these games were Rose Bowls that were played before the BCS was formed

SFBlue

November 24th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

An interesting perspective.  Having followed Michigan football throughout the 90s, it really wasn't until the '97 season that there was no longer this feeling of nostalgia for the 80s.  In that decade, Michigan won two Rose Bowls, beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl, won five Big Ten titles.  Bo also beat Notre Dame, Miami, Florida State, USC, and Nebraska, who were the other power programs from that era. 

In the 90s, Michigan had four loss seasons from 1993 to 1996.  That stretch was followed by ten win seasons from 1997 to 1999.

After the State game, I still had faith that Hoke was the guy, and expected improvement over the last four games.  At this point it is clear to me that improvement is not going to happen this year, and what comes next is that Hoke has a 'must win' year where all the tough games are going to be on the road.  Hard to be enthusiastic about those odds, I am afraid.

FrankMurphy

November 24th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^

Not sure I agree. In those ten years, Lloyd and Gary Moeller did a number of things that Bo either never did or did only rarely: won a national championship, posted two undefeated seasons, won two Rose Bowls, coached two Heisman Trophy winners, posted a winning bowl record, etc. Also, three of those four 4-loss seasons from '93 to '96 were punctuated by wins over undefeated, top 5-ranked Ohio State teams. A win over an undefeated Ohio State team is worth 3-4 wins against any other Big Ten school. I guarantee that if Brady somehow finds a way to pull an upset this Saturday, the mood around the program will change overnight and the fanbase's confidence in Hoke will skyrocket (having said that, the chances of such a thing happening are infintesimal, especially since Urban Meyer is not John Cooper).