The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 45 Falk recalled: "He said, 'One guy came in. We walked over and said what's up? What are you doing?' They guy said, 'I'm just checking to make sure the Michigan football equipment is okay.' "The officer said, 'I've got a handle on it. Thanks an awful lot for your concern.' That was at 3:30 in the morning. I'm certain the guy was checking on our equipment to make sure it was okay for us." Falk himself became a target one season while trying to set up the phones system inside Ohio Stadium. An elevator operator wouldn't let him upstairs without a pass and eventually called in some muscle via an attending sher- iff's deputy. "This sheriff comes over and he said, 'What's going on here?'" Falk noted. "She says, 'He doesn't have a pass. He's not going upstairs.' I said, 'Look, ma'am, all I want to do is get the phones fixed.' The sheriff said, 'I'm sorry, if you don't have a pass, you can't go up.'" With increasing consternation, Falk started walking to different tiers of the stadium. He eventually discovered what he thought was a different elevator. "So I pushed the button, and lo and behold, it was the same lady," Falk recalled. "She said, 'I told you, you're not getting on this elevator.' I said, 'Look, ma'am, I've got to get to the press box to fix the phones. As soon as I get the phones fixed, you'll never see me the rest of the game.' "The sheriff comes over and was going to arrest me. I said, 'Whoa, wait a minute, sir. I'm with Michigan football.' He said, 'You don't have a pass. You tried to force yourself on here. You're trespassing, and we're arresting you.'" It took the intramural sports director at Ohio State to keep Falk from rotting away in an Ohio penitentiary like Andy Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption." That's a rare assist in Columbus, and the Wolverines know nobody will be doing them any favors down there — or in East Lansing — this season. Nothing given. Everything earned. Special moments. Anyone who played in those road games understands, and might pace in their own garages this fall on two huge weekends. "Those games, your feet don't touch the ground," Thornbladh said. "When you play Michigan State and Ohio State, you give maxi- mum effort. You're as physical as you can be, and you hit as hard as you can. That's what it's going to take to be victorious. "Those kinds of emotions, you only experi- ence when you participate in sports. Some- times you'll get in those stadiums, and you can feel the excitement and the tension. It's special. It's a special atmosphere. "You can cut it. It's tangible. You can taste it. That's how those games are." ❏ Rugged On The Road Michigan has enjoyed great victories over both Ohio State and Michigan State on the road — just not recently. Here's a look back at a top five for each series. At Michigan State 1. 1997, Michigan 23, Michigan State 7 — Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson's leaping, one-handed sideline interception highlighted a dominant defensive performance that allowed U-M to take over Spartan Stadium. Woodson and teammate Marcus Ray picked off two passes each, and the Wolverines snagged six picks altogether, on the way to a national championship. 2. 1948, Michigan 13, Michigan State 7 — Michigan opened at Michigan State in Bennie Oosterbaan's first game as head coach. The Wolverines not only won the first game played at MSU's Macklin Stadium — thanks in part to a 40-yard Don Peterson-to-Dick Rifenburg touchdown pass — they went on to go 9-0 and win the national championship. 3. 1964, Michigan 17, Michigan State 10 — Amid a very dry spell against the Spartans — one victory in a dozen played — the '64 Wolverines got the job done. The matchup of national top-10 teams saw the Wolverines trail 10-3 midway through the final quarter, before halfback Rick Sygar caught one touchdown pass and threw another to lead the comeback. Michigan went on to win the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl, and finished No. 4 nationally. 4. 1989, Michigan 10, Michigan State 7 — Big Ten champion Michigan had to survive a rugged defensive struggle in East Lansing, holding on to win 10-7, thanks to a memorable goal-line stand. Leroy Hoard scored Michigan's only touch - down, the first-quarter score for the No. 5 Wolverines helping them hold off the No. 21 Spartans. 5. 2007, Michigan 28, Michigan State 24 — A hurting Chad Henne fired a pair of touchdown passes to rally the Wolverines from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Spartans. Tailback Mike Hart rushed for 110 yards and afterward called Michigan State "Little Brother," fueling MSU's already high level of hatred in the series. At Ohio State 1. 1976, Michigan 22, Ohio State 0 — Bo Schembechler's answer to his three straight losses in Colum - bus proved emphatic. The Wolver- ines and Buckeyes played to a 0-0 halftime tie, but Michigan reeled off 22 answered points thereafter. Rob Lytle rambled for 165 yards in 29 car - ries, and Michigan held the Buckeyes scoreless. No. 8 Ohio State had scored in 122 consecutive games, one shy of the all-time collegiate record. The win also turned the tide in the "10-Year War," won by the Wolverines, 5-4-1. 2. 1940, Michigan 40, Ohio State 0 — In the greatest single-game performance the series has ever wit - nessed, Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon scored three touchdowns, passed for two more, rushed for 139 yards and threw for 151, kicked four conversions, averaged 50.0 yards on three punts and returned three punts 81 yards. Buckeyes fans gave him a standing ovation as the clock wound down. 3. 1950, Michigan 9, Ohio State 3 — Michigan failed to secure a first down, rushed for only 27 yards, went 0-of-9 passing and punted 24 times. The Wolverines won the "Snow Bowl," though, by blocking one punt out of the end zone for a safety, before Tony Momsen raced in to block another and recover it for the game-winning score. The blizzard that hit Columbus beforehand made it one of the more bizarre contests in the history of the series, prompting the headline: "Roses That Bloomed In The Snow." 4. 1986, Michigan 26, Ohio State 24 — Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a win in Columbus in the wake of a crushing home loss to Minnesota, then delivered. Harbaugh threw for 261 yards and tailback Jamie Morris rushed for 216 to vanquish the No. 7 Buckeyes, who saw placekicker Matt Frantz miss a field goal that would have won it at the end. 5. 1980, Michigan 9, Ohio State 3 — Michigan needed a win to reach the Rose Bowl and earned it by clamping down on the No. 5 Buckeyes in their own stadium. The teams played to a 3-3 tie in the first half, but Michigan took control on a 13-yard touchdown pass from John Wangler to Anthony Carter. A missed conversion attempt gave the Buckeyes a chance, but Robert Thompson's late sack on OSU quarterback Art Schlichter slammed the door on a potential game- winning TD drive. — John Borton Mike Hart ran for 110 yards to help U-M come back after trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter of the 2007 game at Michi- gan State. However, his "little brother" comment lit a fire un- der the Spartans, who have lost just once to the Wolverines since. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN