The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/418536
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? then suffering the unfathomable col- lapse against Miami at home, coming from ahead by 16 with 7:16 remain- ing to lose 31-30. "That was a fairly young team," Williams recalled. "It really helped us later in the year. We didn't lose an- other game that year. It just showed us what happens when you do everything right, for three quarters and seven minutes, then do everything wrong for the next eight. "We had to learn from that. It's like anything in life. You make your best and greatest strides when you fail. We failed each other in that situation, as a defense. We allowed that offense to put up 17 points in a span of six minutes. " A l l t h e m i s t a k e s , we easily could have avoided had we kept our composure, stayed in the game, stayed focused and executed." The Wolverines still finished No. 4 in the nation, outgunning Ohio State 34-31 in Columbus and knocking off USC 22-14 in the Rose Bowl. They came back and went 10-2 the follow- ing season, losing only the opener to the Irish, 24-19, and Schembechler's final game in Pasadena. Williams, like all his teammates of that era, plays the what-if game with regard to a handful of contests. "Back-to-back trips to the Rose Bowl, outstanding seasons, marred really by only one or two plays that caused us to lose games we had won," he mused. "Those last two years, we gave up three touchdowns on special teams in those two [Notre Dame] games. One on a punt re- turn by Ricky Watters, and two by Rocket Ismail. To hold those Notre Dame teams to zero offensive touch- downs was an impres- sive feat. They kicked a bunch of field goals, but they never scored on our defense. If you take those plays out, we win those ball games easily." Williams savored the c h a m p i o n s h i p s a n y - way, while confirming in his own mind that law school held the key to his future. Little did he know, his coach was about to get out of the game as well. Assistant coach Gary Moeller guided the Wol- verines in Tampa's Hall of Fame Bowl a couple of years earlier, when Schembechler underwent open- heart surgery. Williams didn't know what was coming at the time, but recognized signs in retrospect. "You started to see Mo being much more involved, much more active from an offensive standpoint," Wil- liams said. "Bo was still very much involved, still ran practice from top to bottom, and he was very much involved with every player. W i l l i a m s g r a d u a t e d from law school at the University of Michigan in 1993, and he has worked as an attorney for the past two decades. PHOTO COURTESY TIM WILLIAMS