The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 25 This is the story of Schembechler's greatest bounce back on the football field, recalled by two of the young stars from that crew. They can barely fathom that it's been 40 years, but the memories still flow freely. Agony Sets An Angry Edge Nobody can fully appreciate Michi- gan's 1985 season without first under- standing 1984. In a word, it proved mis- erable. Schembechler's worst season of his 21 in Ann Arbor, a 6-6 tumble that left everyone fuming and the head coach furious. Sure, bad luck played a role. A fumble by a yo u n g r u n n i n g ba c k against Michigan State left new starting quar- terback Jim Harbaugh scrambling to recover the ball. It would be 1985 before he recovered completely, the Spar- tans diving on the exposed quarterback and breaking his arm. Forty years later, that back remembers it well. "It was my freshman year," noted Ja- mie Morris, who'd eventually rush for 4,392 yards (the U-M career record at that time) and 25 touchdowns. "We lost our quarterback, Jim, when he broke his arm. That was unfortunate. And yes, I was the one who dropped the ball. … Jim dived for the ball. Having Jim Harbaugh out hurt our offense badly." It hurt more than Harbaugh's arm and Michigan's offense. The 3-1 Wolverines lost that game to MSU in Ann Arbor, 19-7, then spiraled downward, dropping four of their last seven games, including 21-6 at Ohio State and 24-17 versus BYU in the Holiday Bowl. Harbaugh plaintively asked Schem- bechler to not forget about him. He needn't have worried. Schembechler didn't forget anything, particularly the bitter taste of losses equaling wins in a season. Spring football in 1985 loomed like Parris Island for would-be Marines. "Spring ball was not fun," understated Mark Messner, an All-Big Ten defen- sive lineman for the '85 crew. "That's where 'Those Who Stay Will Be Cham- pions' came about, because that's true. As spring ball was over and leadership, meaning our captains, took over and everything started to click, there was a tenacity that really evolved out of that team. I don't want to say it came from desperation, but a re-acknowledgment of our program being the way it's sup- posed to be." It didn't come painlessly. Morris and Messner each endured '84 as freshmen, Messner wondering if he'd arrived at Michigan during a downturn and Morris approaching spring ball '85 with some bad advice. Morris, who now hosts a sports talk radio program, The M Zone, on WTKA in Ann Arbor, recalled: "People were tell- ing me, 'You're going to love spring ball. We're going to open up practice in shorts and shoulder pads. We're going to wear helmets, but we're not going to hit.' Next thing I know, [equipment manager] big Jonny [Falk] comes in, first practice, and shouts 'FULL PADS!' He set the tone real quick, brother. Real quick. "Bo chose his first team. 'I want Mor- ris at tailback, I want [Bob] Perryman at fullback.' He chose them all and said, 'I want goal line. Let's find out.' And we got after one another. We hit for 20 days — 20 ungodly days. It was hell. Mess is not tell- ing you a lie. It was hell." Strength and conditioning coordinator Mike Gittleson wasn't leaving anything to chance, and Schembechler picked up where he left off, Messner assured. "Bo made sure practice wasn't over," Messner recalled. "Back then, we didn't have maximum hours of on-field coach- ing. So, if it wasn't right, we didn't leave. It just kept on and on until we had a mistake-free of- fense. And on defense, Bo wanted to have everything executed perfectly. We couldn't leave the practice field until it was right. "We had to stay posi- tive through that whole piece of physical drudg- ery. There's really not an end game in it, or a reward. There was just practice, for a month. Then you get to practice against each other in a spring game. Whoopee! But at least we knew it was over. "We had guys leave the program. We had transfers. My roommate transferred to UCLA." Morris recalled a teammate losing his contact lenses on the field. Ball boys were instructed to put orange cones around him, and another was sent a message while he searched. "Bo made one of the ball boys come out and let him know that if the ball was coming his way, he better get out of the way," Morris remembered. "That's how harsh he was. We didn't stop practice to help somebody find their contacts. Nope. He was ornery, he was mean, he cussed you, he called you every name in the book. He wanted you angry. "'I want to wipe that smile off your face,' he would say to me." Those who stayed were ticked off. They'd suffered, and they'd make others do the same. "There were a couple of things we had to prove," Morris added. "We had to prove the old man didn't lose it. We had to prove that we're Michigan again. Bo said something like, 'These helmets used to be worth 10 points. People would come into "It hurts, and it will never go away. We had a chance to be the No. 1 team in the country, and we would have ridden that all the way." RUNNING BACK JAMIE MORRIS, ABOUT MICHIGAN'S LONE LOSS IN '85 — A 12-10 DEFENSIVE BATTLE AT IOWA'S KINNICK STADIUM DURING HIS SOPHOMORE SEASON 1985 Michigan Football Record: 10-1-1 overall; 6-1-1 Big Ten Final ranking: No. 2 (Associated Press and Coaches polls) Head Coach: Bo Schembechler Captains: Brad Cochran, Eric Kattus and Mike Mallory MVP: Mike Hammerstein Date Opponent Score Sept. 14 NOTRE DAME W, 20-12 Sept. 21 at South Carolina W, 34-3 Sept. 28 MARYLAND W, 20-0 Oct. 5 WISCONSIN W, 33-6 Oct. 12 at Michigan State W, 31-0 Oct. 19 at Iowa L, 12-10 Oct. 26 INDIANA W, 42-15 Nov. 2 at Illinois T, 3-3 Nov. 9 PURDUE W, 47-0 Nov. 16 at Minnesota W, 48-7 Nov. 23 OHIO STATE W, 27-17 Jan. 1 vs. Nebraska* W, 27-23 * Fiesta Bowl, Tempe, Ariz.