The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2021 THE WOLVERINE 21 Michigan stood No. 2 in the AP poll heading into the Big Ten championship game. Here's how U-M's other top-five teams of the last 60 years fared in postseason play: 1964: Bump Elliott's team finished the regular season No. 4 nationally with only a loss to a Bob Griese-led Purdue squad preventing the perfect record. The Wolverines hammered No. 8 Oregon State, 34-7, in the Rose Bowl to keep their ranking. 1971: Bo Schembechler's third Michigan team ran the table in impressive fashion and capped its first undefeated regular season since 1948 with a 10-7 win over Ohio State. The Wolverines lost a heartbreaker to quarterback Jim Plun- kett and Stanford, 13-12, in the Rose Bowl on a last-second field goal and finished No. 6. 1975: Michigan, once again undefeated until losing 21-14 to No. 1 Ohio State, ranked No. 5 and drew No. 3 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The Sooners' defense proved too much to overcome, holding U-M to 202 total yards in a 14-6 vic- tory. The loss dropped Michigan to No. 8. 1976: Michigan was No. 1 much of the year behind quar- terback Rick Leach before suffering a stunning 16-14 loss at Purdue Nov. 6. The Wolverines were No. 4 when they pum- meled Ohio State, 22-0 in Columbus, but finished No. 3 after losing to USC, 14-6, in the Rose Bowl. 1977: Once again, Michigan spent weeks at No. 1 before a shocking loss, this one at Minnesota (16-0). The Wolverines still ranked No. 5 heading into The Game with No. 4 Ohio State and moved up to fourth with a 14-6 victory. They lost to Washington in the Rose Bowl, 27-20, to finish No. 8 in the final AP poll. 1978: Schembechler's 10th team dropped only one reg- ular-season game, 24-15 to Michigan State, and was No. 6 when it beat No. 16 Ohio State, 14-3, in Columbus. The fifth- ranked Wolverines suffered a controversial 17-10 Rose Bowl loss to USC but remained fifth nationally. 1980: Michigan lost its first two games of the year, to Notre Dame and South Carolina, before rallying behind an elite defense. The Wolverines didn't give up a touchdown in the final four regular-season games, including a 9-3 victory at Ohio State, and took a No. 5 ranking into a postseason tilt with No. 16 Washington. Schembechler won his first Rose Bowl, 23-6, to finish No. 4. 1985: A loss at Iowa, followed by a tie at Illinois, was recti- fied by a 27-17 win over Ohio State that left U-M No. 5 head- ing into a Fiesta Bowl matchup with Nebraska. U-M van- quished the Cornhuskers, 27-23, to finish 10-1-1 and No. 2. 1986: The Jim Harbaugh-led Wolverines dropped a stun- ner at home to Minnesota before beating OSU, 26-24, in Harbaugh's 'guarantee game.' No. 4 Michigan fell to No. 7 Arizona State, 22-15, in the Rose Bowl, and finished No. 8 per the AP. 1989: Schembechler's last team ripped off 10 straight wins after a loss to Notre Dame to stand No. 3 nationally. U-M again lost to USC in the Rose Bowl in controversial fashion, 17-10, after a late penalty on a fake punt. Michigan finished 10-2 and No. 7. 1991: The Wolverines ranked fourth nationally under Gary Moeller, dropping only an early-season game to Florida State, heading into the Rose Bowl, with Heisman-winning receiver Desmond Howard leading the way. They fell 34-14 to Washington to finish sixth nationally at 11-2. 1997: Heisman winner Charles Woodson and Co. vaulted to No. 1 after a blowout win over No. 2 Penn State (34-8) and would remain there the rest of the year. Wins over No. 4 Ohio State and No. 8 Washington State (in the Rose Bowl) secured their place in immortality. 2003: Quarterback John Navarre, receiver Braylon Edwards and running back Chris Perry led U-M to an undisputed Big Ten title and No. 4 ranking heading into the Rose Bowl. No. 1 USC beat the Wolverines, who dropped to No. 6 as a result. 2006: Mike Hart and Co. led Michigan to an undefeated record and took a No. 2 ranking into Columbus to face No. 1 Ohio State. The breaks went against them in a 42-39 loss that dropped them to No. 4; a 32-18 loss to No. 8 USC dropped them to No. 8 in the final rankings. 2016: No. 3 U-M fell to No. 2 OSU in a controversial, dou- ble-overtime loss in Columbus to finish No. 5 in the regular season. A 33-32 Orange Bowl loss to Florida State dropped the Wolverines to No. 10. — Chris Balas lot of press, but they were outstanding all season. What was supposed to be a thin position simply wasn't, Harbaugh noted the Monday after The Game. Redshirt freshman end Mike Morris emerged to provide key depth, while red- shirt junior tackle Donovan Jeter had his moments. On the back end, freshman corner D.J. Turner blossomed, while Hawkins was the veteran who kept it all together on the field. Off the field, Hawkins admitted he wasn't able to keep it all together and openly wept after the win over OSU. "It's been a long time. It's an honor to be a part of this 2021 Michigan foot- ball team," he said. "I'm blessed. I'm just speechless, man. It's been a long ride. "Just doing it with the guys who love doing it, that have passion doing it, that come out there every single day and work their tails off — those are the guys I went to war with today." McNamara, too, echoed the senti- ments of every man in the locker room. "I love these boys. I know we'll be pre- pared [for the Big Ten title game]," he said. "It's been a long time coming since we beat Ohio State. We can celebrate this for however many hours are left this Sat- urday, but come Sunday morning, we'll be ready to play for the Big Ten cham- pionship." We wouldn't bet against this group to win that one, too — and perhaps even more. ❑ How Michigan's Top-Five Teams Fared In The Postseason Fifth-year senior safety Brad Hawkins admitted he openly wept after the Ohio State win and praised his teammates for their hard work and passion that made the victory possible. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN