The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW plays on offense and producing 21:55 in possession time, Michigan placekicker Mike Gillette gave the Wolverines a 10-9 lead with 10:55 left. Houghtlin couldn't connect on a 44-yard field goal attempt with 7:33 remaining, but provided the dagger with the clock reading 00:00. Asked if the pain has lessened over four decades, Messner didn't hesitate. "No, it really hasn't," Messner said. "People ask all the time, where do you like playing the least? It's Kinnick Sta- dium. Pink locker room, pink toilets and all. It's a hard place to play. They are right on top of you in that stadium, and it's straight up. The sound is immense. "They were a running program, aside from throwing quick jets to tight ends. They were smashmouth like we were. It was just hold them and try to make sure they can't get into field goal range. Keep them far enough out and let pressure do what it's supposed to do. That was our mindset. "We were confident we'd keep them out of the end zone, but it was hard to stop somebody that had that kind of meat and horsepower from moving the ball — and the clock. They did it effectively." "It hurts, and it will never go away," said Morris. "We had a chance to be the No. 1 team in the country, and we would have ridden that all the way." Morris racked up 179 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns in Michigan's 42-15 rampage over Indiana a week later. But the pain remained sharp, and the hang- over may have caught up with the Wol- verines the following week. They went into Illinois and couldn't move the foot- ball, requiring Heren's partial block of a final field goal attempt to fashion a 3-3 tie with the Illini. Morris sustained an injured shoulder, carrying only 9 times for 31 yards. White fumbled at the Illini 12 after the Wolver- ines drove the length of the field. And the Wolverines — despite yielding a com- bined 15 points in the Iowa and Illinois games — saw a second smudge on their hoped-for perfect run. "We had a bad week of practice," Mor- ris succinctly observed. "It was a lousy day. It hailed. It was freezing cold. We just didn't generate any offense. We couldn't be consistent. "The defense played its a-- off. Of- fensively, you're embarrassed for what happened there. We weren't clicking, and it was a shame. We could have beaten that team nine out of 10 times." "I don't think we thought it was going to be as much of a fight as it was," Mess- ner added. "We had to watch our backs. Rolled-up ankles, knees, cheap shots. There wasn't a lot of love lost between the two programs. We were distracted. Every other game was a physical football game. This was a game where we had to have our heads on a swivel, and our heads weren't in it like they should have been. "It was evident in our play, and then you give them the spark of life. They took advantage of every piece they could." A Fantastic Finish Devastated, the Wolverines took out their frustrations on Purdue (47-0) and Minnesota (48-7). When Ohio State rolled into town, Michigan had regained its swagger. Following a 10-10 first half, Harbaugh & Co. pulled away, 20-10, be- fore the Buckeyes clawed it back to 20- 17 in the fourth quarter. Then Harbaugh (16-for-19, 230 yards, 3 touchdowns) unleashed a 77-yard touchdown pass to freshman John Kolesar to put the game away. The iconic TD toss moved nearly every- one in the stadium to celebration — ex- cept Schembechler and Morris. Schem- bechler insisted Morris failed to pick up the blitz on OSU rover Sonny Gordon, who blasted Harbaugh as he threw. The ball still found its way, much to Morris' relief. "The linebacker stopped," Morris in- sisted. "He was going to take me man- to-man and then decided to run through to go get Harbaugh. Bo yells, 'You missed the blitz! No, I didn't. I was right, but I wasn't told I was right. He was hot." Michigan recovered from a 14-3 halftime deficit to defeat Nebraska, 27-23, in the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 1986) and cap off a 10-1-1 season with a No. 2 national ranking. From left to right coming out of the tunnel: Paul Jokisch (84), Bob Tabachino (77), Eric Kattus (81) and Jim Harbaugh (4). PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN