The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? safety. It was a great position in that, every play, you had a critical assignment and you were involved. It was a physi- cal position." Three of the most successful, yet bittersweet, seasons in the history of Michigan football followed that fresh- man campaign. Thornbladh played on three consecutive Big Ten championship squads, compiling a 31-2-1 record, yet he never performed in a bowl game. The Wolverines steamrolled through an 11-0 regular season in 1971. Led by All-American guard Reggie McKenzie and a host of other standouts, Michi - gan outscored its opponents 421-83, in- cluding a 10-7 win over Ohio State at Michigan Stadium that rendered Hayes apoplectic. The OSU coaching icon infamously tore apart the sideline markers in that contest, when U-M's Thom Darden se - cured a game-clinching interception. But Thornbladh spent that afternoon, and the Rose Bowl, on the sidelines himself. He'd injured a knee days earlier, blocking U-M linebacker Carl Russ in practice. Although Thornbladh could only look on that afternoon, he did so with enthusiasm. "I remember the tremendous emo - tion," Thornbladh said. "I remember Coach Hayes tearing up the yard mark- ers after what he called a controversial interception by Thom Darden. But we were clearly the better team. We domi- nated the game in every way, but it re- mained close because it was Ohio State- Michigan." Pasadena in itself was no letdown, but a 13-12 loss to Stanford proved tough to take. Schembechler pushed so hard in preparation for that game, U-M didn't seem to have enough left in the tank, Thornbladh mused. "In subsequent years, Bo backed off," he noted. "He didn't go as hard on us. I just felt like we were a little worn out." The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry ab - solutely dominated those years, and the dominant team didn't always prevail. In 1972, the Wolverines rolled into Colum- bus at 10-0, having surrendered merely 43 total points on the year. That afternoon, they led OSU in first downs (21-10), total yards (344-192) and plays (83-44) … and lost, 14-11. Running back Harry Banks appeared to cross the goal line early in the fourth quarter, but was thrown back and of - ficials spotted the ball inches from the goal line. On the subsequent fourth- down play, the Buckeyes stopped quar- terback Dennis Franklin short. "Today, with instant replay, had Harry scored, we would have won that game," Thornbladh noted. "We always felt like he was over. He went over the plane, and then was pushed back. Today, with instant replay, the outcome of that game might have been different." The sixth-ranked Wolverines sat at home during the bowl season, per Big Ten rules. That's why Thornbladh grit - ted his teeth a bit over hearing a couple of present-day players sounding am- bivalent about the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2013. "Do you know what our teams would have done for the opportunity to go play in the Buffalo Wild Wings game?" he said. "We could have crawled to the game, over hot coals. That was all we wanted to do — gain recognition, play,