BTN Greatest Games -- 1998 Rose Bowl
The game is on right now on the BTN. Crazy to hear Keith Jackson referring to Michigan's secondary as "probably the best in the country." God, those were the fucking days. Marcus Ray. Weathers, Tommy Hendricks, and some dude named Woodson. Press coverage all around.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:09 PM ^
Ryan Leaf's last stand!
Tai Streets had a great game and Woodson did his whole covering everybody shutting down half the field thing.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:15 PM ^
But re-watching this thing, that defense was really amazing. Bordering on illegal.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:54 PM ^
Funny you mention illegal, I thought I just heard Keith Jackson say that UM was the most penalized team in the country. I'm not saying it's not a GREAT defense, but you'd think a Carr team would be anti-penalty. Maybe it was just the young gusto Carr being overly aggressive (too bad that didn't last) to get big hits etc.
Note- He said this while UM was on defense but I have no clue what the breakdown was.
Anyone else laughing how different football was 11 years ago? even the production value seems so retro.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:33 PM ^
With a defense like that, what would our record be this year so far? 8-2, 9-1? I'd even venture to say that we would have the chance to be undefeated with the way our offense puts up points. They would put up even more than they have per game so far, as they would have the ball more often.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:40 PM ^
but that defense.....wow. I'd just take the secondary from that team. Hell, I'd just take the safeties from that team.
And the offense was no slouch. OL = Hutchinson, Backus, Jansen. I forgot how much I liked RB Chris Howard, too.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:54 PM ^
If we had a killer defense, we probably would be looking at a two loss season--even with a freshman QB, shitty OL, etc.
So, the D is the only one big hole to fill. Of course, that hole reminds me of the Grand Canyon...
November 10th, 2009 at 8:56 PM ^
For me it's a toss up:
-Woodson's INT in the endzone
-Griese's long TD bomb to Streets
November 10th, 2009 at 8:59 PM ^
I know I'm comparing apples to oranges, but how many players from this year's team could start on the '97 team? I know that was a national championship team and this team is far (very) from that. If you think about it, it just proves the lack of talent on the team now. I'd say nobody on the offense. Maybe a wide-out could be the 3rd receiver behind Shaw and Streets, when Woodson wasn't in. A healthy Minor could back-up at RB. On D, could you imagine adding B. Graham to that defense? I'm not even sure he'd start ahead of James Hall or Glen Steele. Mike Martin would probably be in the d-line rotation. Warren maybe at CB. None of the other starters this year would even be on the depth chart.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:02 PM ^
Damn that defense hit hard!
November 11th, 2009 at 10:00 AM ^
Tommie Hendricks was a bad ass. A safety that actually played the position well. Man, I miss the good ole' days.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:25 PM ^
Shouldn't the current players be watching this a lot? You'd think there would be some motivational value in seeing Tom Brady congratulate Brian Griese after a bomb TD pass to Tai Streets en route to a national championship.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:37 PM ^
Gary Moeller knew where college football was heading and he started bringing in those "undersized" LB's like Dhani Jones who could RUN....God bless Lloyd but for every Jones, Harris, Foote and Hobson, there are a McClintock, Diggs, Ezeh and other slow footed guys in the middle.
Just sit and watch the speed on this D and it is just absolutely ahead of it's time. This is what I truly believe RR is trying to bring back to Michigan..guys like Dhani Jones who could absolutely get to the spot and didn't have to be 245lbs to make a tackle on a big back.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:43 PM ^
Gary Moeller did not bring him into Michigan. He graduated in 2000. I don't think he even played much in the 1998 Rose Bowl, but I could be wrong on that. And I'd actually welcome back Scott McClintock to the current linebacking core.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:48 PM ^
But he was bringing in a lot more speed and Lloyd stuck with it for a couple years....
However, slowly but surely he started going for these hulking guys who just didn't have the foot speed to match up.
That to this day is my one and only complaint I could ever make about LC. You just watch some of the speed and it's really depressing to see at one point Michigan was ahead of the curve in the big 10 and all of a sudden went of course.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:02 AM ^
He definitely played a lot, even had 2 sacks IIRC
November 12th, 2009 at 12:47 AM ^
I remember Sam Sword (nice guy) joking with the media that he was going to be a great cheerleader, because he wasn't going to see the field a lot, even though he was a starter, because with all those 5 WR formations, there was going to be a lot of extra DBs and more of the younger, speedier LBs. (Gold and Jones).
November 12th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^
Sam Sword is a great person. I've met him quite a few times at my work as he's passing through town. Absolutely great individual.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:41 PM ^
I was at this game. What a great setting and definitely an unforgettable experience. Geez, do you think there was enough talent on the field that day? How many members of this team went on to the NFL--and some are still playing more than 10 years after this game. Defense, defense, defense wins championships!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:46 PM ^
graduated in 99, like Gold and a lot of the defense. Gold is the one who didn't play as much during the year but did get playing time in the Rose Bowl. Back then I assumed the line of fast LBs would never end, and the Hutchinsons would never end. By 2000, the defense was way down but the offensive line peaked. Within a year or two after that, neither line was good any more. Kudos to Lloyd for winning as many games as he did with subpar offensive and defensive lines. 2003 Oregon- we couldn't run when it mattered. Lloyd's Bowl run of 1997 to 2000 was largely done on Moeller recruits.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:51 AM ^
None of Moeller's recruits would have even been on the team in 2000 (unless they got a medical redshirt AND a redshirt). '99 could have only been redshirt seniors. And so on down. And the thought that the Assistant Head Coach and D.C. has nothing to do with getting recruits...does not compute.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:13 AM ^
That everyone wishes Moeller would have never freaked out the way he did? Where would we be right now if he remained the coach? It's crazy that it was over 10 years ago. It really doesn't seem that long ago. What a great season 97 was. I loved watching Woodson and Boston go at it.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:54 AM ^
That is back when everyone thought Jim Herman was a defensive coordinator god.
But a big hit to UM D and recruiting started when Greg Mattison left after 96 to go to Notre Dame - I believe in part so that his kids could go free to ND. IIRC Mattison played a large part in recruiting and his resume backs up a pretty good d record - which now includes being the D coordinator of the Ravens after getting a couple of NCs at Florida. I remember being bummed when Mattison left UM - especially after the Herman luster wore off quickly - can you say Syracuse 98.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:17 AM ^
because super recruit Grant Irons decommitted and with to ND with him.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
Is it true Jim Hermann filled a vacancy created by Mattison voluntarily leaving Michigan for ND? Really? And can anybody explain why the huge improvement in the defense after 1996 when Mattison left. Should we give Hermann credit for that or not. I saw very few games in 1996, as I live in the southwest and did not have cable then.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^
Yeah, Mattison got a sweetheart deal at ND (including the above mentioned free tuition), and Hermann was promoted. And actually, since you didn't get to see a lot of it, our defense was very good in 96, the strength of our team. It was our offense that had problems (and carried over to 97, to some extent). If you remember, 96 was the 13-9 Ohio State game. Hermann did unleash the dogs a bit in 97, but probably more to the fact that all that talent had matured to it's full height. I always regretted we kinda let that style slip away...but maybe we didn't have the horses to do it anymore. (Though I think you can still be that aggressive without ALWAYS having to have a Woodson on the field...that component just lifts it to greatness).
November 11th, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^
I didn't even realize Howard was our main back. I always think of Anthony Thomas since his name is prominent in Wolverine history. My favorite part of the whole game was when we won.