The Wolverine

2022 Michigan Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1473191

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 36 of 163

THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 35 "We were very frustrated," recalled Skene. "We were running the ball at will. We were doing whatever we wanted out there, but we were giving them the ball, and giving them the ball, and giving them the ball. "As offensive linemen, you work so hard getting to that level of effectiveness. When your teammates are putting the ball on the ground and giving it away, it tends to push emotional buttons very fast. "I remember walking off the field. Ugh. We didn't lose; we didn't win. But it felt a heck of a lot more like a loss than a neutral, tie situa- tion. Ties just suck." The Wolverines absorbed another dose of that bitter medicine the very next week, this time against a worthier foe. Ohio State grew its grass to bush-hogging height to slow Wheat- ley, knocked Grbac from the game early and played Michigan to a 13-13 standoff in Co- lumbus. OSU head coach John Cooper opted to kick the extra point rather than going for the win after his team scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Herbstreit to Greg Beatty with 4:24 left. Then-Ohio State President Gordon Gee noted, "This tie was one of our greatest wins ever!" The visitors didn't feel the same. "There isn't any doubt in our minds that if Elvis hadn't been hurt in that game, we'd have won easily," Skene said. "[Junior quarterback] Todd Collins comes in and gets into that hud- dle early in the game. The look on his face was like he has seen a ghost — many ghosts. "His eyes were wide open, and it's natural, being thrown into that situa- tion. That's the loudest stadium I've ever played in. You can't even hear yourself when you're screaming at each other. We're trying to make our calls. "Everitt ended up making the adjust- ments at the line, making the audibles. We'd come to the line, look at the de- fense and tell Collins what play to call. We'd been doing it all season, and we were so good at it. "We managed to get through." But not win. Wheatley ran away from Washing- ton's Huskies in the Rose Bowl to help Michigan win a 38-31 shootout. He car- ried only 15 times, but bolted for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Wolver- ine's demonstrative win. Grbac hit Mc- Gee with a 49-yard touchdown pass and the 15-yard game-winner with 5:29 left. The contest marked revenge for a blowout win by Washington in the same venue a year earlier. It also capped a highly successful campaign that could have produced a national title. Epilogue The Wolverines of '92 make no apologies. They never walked off the field having lost a game, never failed to win a Big Ten championship and never faced defeat against Ohio State. But those ties … "It just adds to the mystique of college football," Hutchinson said. "There was this impure process we went through, that we had to get through before they said, 'Yeah, let's add some sort of overtime scenario.'" "We sleep well at night, knowing we absolutely would have won those games," Skene said. "But we didn't. Those were the rules. We didn't lose, but we didn't win those games. "Having never lost to Ohio State is some- thing that my classmates and I feel pretty good about as we walk through life. "When you measure up those things, and you look at last year's team and our struggles the last 15 years against Ohio State, people start to understand how big of a deal that really is. "For those of us that have been through it, we certainly understand how big of a deal that is." Nobody who lived that season will forget — the dominance and the what-might-have- been angst. ❑ What Others Said About 1992 Here are other comments regarding the Crew Of '92, from various sources: "The ties, some of them end up making good conversation in social events. Not for the coaches, for the fans. But sometimes those things that happen to you make you stronger, not weaker." Head coach Gary Moeller Freshman cornerback Ty Law made an impact in his first college season with 49 tackles, including 37 solo and 1 for loss, to go along with 4 pass breakups. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Head coach Gary Moeller led Michigan to a 9-0-3 record and a final Associated Press ranking of No. 5 in the country in 1992. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 1992 BIG TEN CHAMPIONS Coach: Gary Moeller Captains: Corwin Brown, Elvis Grbac, Chris Hutchinson Overall record: 9-0-3 Conference record: 6-0-2 (first place) Date Opponent Result Sept. 12 at Notre Dame T, 17-17 Sept. 19 Oklahoma State W, 35-3 Sept. 26 Houston W, 61-7 Oct. 3 Iowa W, 52-28 Oct. 10 Michigan State W, 35-10 Oct. 17 at Indiana W, 31-3 Oct. 24 Minnesota W, 63-13 Oct. 31 at Purdue W, 24-17 Nov. 7 at Northwestern W, 40-7 Nov. 14 Illinois T, 22-22 Nov. 21 at Ohio State T, 13-13 Jan. 1 Washington* W, 38-31 * Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. Final Rankings: AP, No. 5; ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 "Michigan-Ohio State. A game for the ages. Stone, I think." Bernie Lincicome, The Chicago Tribune, 1992 "Everyone says, 'Gamble, Coach!' Then we lose, and all I hear is how many times we've lost to Michigan." John Cooper, Ohio State head coach "It feels like a loss to me. I haven't beaten Michigan yet, and now I'll never be on a team that beats them." Kirk Herbstreit, Ohio State quarterback

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Wolverine - 2022 Michigan Football Preview