The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/382426
MICHIGAN FOOTBALL the modern series with Notre Dame, with the longest drought through- out that time period being just four years, from 1993-96. Michigan might have endured s o m e s u b d u e d m o m e n t s a f t e r the loss in South Bend, but failure against the Irish doesn't necessarily mean that U-M can't field a Big Ten champion-caliber team. During the 15 seasons that Michi- gan has lost to the Irish since 1978, seven times the Wolverines were able to rebound, save their season, and win the Big Ten title. Bo Schem- bechler did it four times (1980, 1982, 1988 and 1989), Gary Moeller did it once (1990) and also won the con- ference in 1992 when Michigan and Notre Dame tied, and Lloyd Carr achieved it twice (1998 and 2004). Losing against Notre Dame doesn't destroy the season for Michigan, and winning against the Irish doesn't guarantee success. Since the begin- ning of the modern series with the Golden Domers, wins against Notre Dame and conference titles occurred in the same season only five times. It happened twice with Schembechler (1978 and 1986), once for Moeller (1991), and twice with Carr running things (1997 and 2003). Rich Rodriguez was 2-1 against the Irish as Michigan's head coach and Brady Hoke is now 2-2 after the 31-0 drubbing that ended the series. Rodriguez never produced a Big Ten title and Hoke is still looking to bring one to Ann Arbor. History shows that despite a bad loss to Notre Dame, a Big Ten championship isn't out of the question. BIG TEN APPEARS VULNERABLE IN EARLY- SEASON CONTESTS The Big Ten Conference wasn't exactly strutting a fortnight into non-conference play. Week two of the college football season claimed many victims within the conference, including the two programs that fig- ured to have the best chance to rep- resent the Big Ten in the first college football playoff. Michigan State attempted to go out to Eugene and hand Oregon's Ducks now that it's available? Butt: "I think would be a great honor. At the same time, I could make my own number a Legends number. That's a decision above me. Numbers really don't matter to me, but I would be really honored, try to go out and make the most of it." The Wolverine: People seem to be … well, enamored with your last name. Has that always been the case? Butt: "I've been getting it my whole life. I love my last name. I always tell peo- ple, 'You can't forget a man with the last name of Butt.' You always remember that one. And being a tight end, you know … butt … tight end. It comes with it." — Chris Balas