The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Top Five Michigan's Best November Finish Of The Past 20 Years Michigan's victory over Ohio State closed out a strong final month of the regular season, an accomplishment the Wolverines haven't enjoyed in a while. They've de- livered plenty of charges to the checkered flag in the past, though, and voters on TheWolverine.com picked the five best from the past two decades: 1997: 4-0 — 90 percent 2003: 3-0 — 5 percent 1991: 4-0 — 3 percent 1999: 3-0 — 1 percent 1993: 3-0 — 1 percent 1. 1997 — There wasn't much doubt about this runaway winner, given that U-M's November sweep led to a Rose Bowl, a perfect 12-0 season and a national champion- ship. Still, this four-game stretch featured a dollop of drama to go along with one of the most dominating performances ever by a Michigan team. The Wolverines began the final drive by throttling Minnesota, 24-3, before turning their eyes to Happy Valley in a key matchup of the ESPN-ballyhooed "Judgment Day." The Wolverines owned the afternoon, and Penn State, 34-8, showing themselves to be the No. 1 team in the land. They followed with a gritty, 26-16 victory at Wisconsin, then battled Ohio State to the final seconds before emerging triumphant at home, 20-14, to head for Pasadena and football immortality. 2. 2003 — Michigan's Big Ten championship squad featured a senior quarterback in John Navarre, and many veterans itching for their first conference title since 2000. The Wolverines got there, but only by taking down their two fiercest rivals in the process. U-M opened the month at Michigan State, and appeared to control the game until some bizarre bounces put the Spartans back in it down the stretch. The Wolverines held on for a 27-20 win, and easily triumphed in the other half of the road couplet the following week, beating Northwestern, 41-10. That left Ohio State, and the Wol- verines left no doubt. They beat the Buckeyes, 35-21, to claim the title and the Rose Bowl berth. 3. 1991 — Michigan dominated the conference during Desmond Howard's Heis- man Trophy season. An NFL offensive line and a veteran quarterback in Elvis Grbac churned into the final month with a non-conference loss to Florida State the only blemish on their record. Once they hit that final stretch, Michigan simply picked up steam. The Wolverines crushed Purdue at home, 42-0, and blasted Northwestern the following week, 59-14. The offensive fireworks dimmed but the defense shone when U-M hit the road for Illinois, Gary Moeller's squad winning, 20-0. That set up the biggest challenge of the year, but the Wolverines simply overpowered the Buckeyes, 31-3, with Howard put- ting an exclamation point (and a memorable pose) on his award-winning season. 4. 1999 — Tom Brady's final weeks in a Michigan uniform featured an amazing ar- ray of opponents, and the sort of resilience that allowed the Wolverines to finish No. 5 in the nation that season. A pair of mid-year slipups, resulting in a three-point loss at MSU and a six-point home defeat against Illinois, dampened their title dreams, but U-M made others pay. They started the stretch in a breeze, taking down Northwestern, 37-3. Then life got much tougher. The Wolverines traveled to Penn State, clawing out a 31-27 comeback victory. They then held off Ohio State at home, 24-17, setting up an Orange Bowl bid they won in thrilling fashion against Alabama. 5. 1993 — The Wolverines struggled to a 4-4 record in pre-November action, but pulled it together for a strong drive down the stretch. The Todd Collins-led squad pushed through an unbeaten final month to earn its way into a Jan. 1 bowl game. They weren't challenged as much as the first two months might have hinted, either. U-M opened November by taking down Purdue at home, 25-10, then traveling to Minnesota and rolling over the Golden Gophers, 58-7. That left a No. 5-ranked Ohio State team that entered Michigan Stadium brimming with confidence and left utterly empty handed, saddled with a 28-0 loss. — John Borton 46 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2011 Hoke has been named his league's Coach of the Year in three of the last four seasons, at three different coaching stops in three dif- ferent conferences. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 2011 Schedule Date Opponent Result/Time Sept. 3 Western Michigan W, 34-10 Sept. 10 Notre Dame W, 35-31 Sept. 17 Eastern Michigan W, 31-3 Sept. 24 San Diego State W, 28-7 Oct. 1 Minnesota W, 58-0 Oct. 8 at Northwestern W, 42-24 Oct. 22 Bye Oct. 15 at Michigan State L, 28-14 Oct. 29 Purdue Nov. 5 at Iowa Nov. 12 at Illinois Nov. 19 Nebraska Nov. 26 Ohio State W, 36-14 L, 24-16 W, 31-14 W, 45-17 W, 40-34 BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR Michigan's Brady Hoke was named BRADY HOKE NAMED the Hayes-Schembechler Big Ten Coach of the Year, as chosen by the conference coaches, and he also was named the Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year recipient, as voted on by the media. Hoke directed the Wolverines to their first 10-win campaign since 2006, turning around a program that had won just 15 games in the three years prior to his arrival. The Maize and Blue's six conference wins, mean- while, equaled the number of Big Ten victories from 2008-10 under then- head coach Rich Rodriguez. "He deserves it," fifth-year senior center David Molk said. "He's a great coach. A great mentor. A great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." Hoke is the first Wolverine boss since Bo Schembechler in 1989 to