The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/835590
THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 27 Irish, who outgained the Wolverines in yards (354-345), possessed the football 10 minutes longer (35:44-24:16), ran more plays (71-56) and turned it over just once to Michigan's three giveaways. Worse yet, the Wolverines' three fourth- quarter turnovers set up the Irish on the Michigan 47, 42 and 28. "Every time we got the ball in the fourth quarter, we had a chance to take control of the game," Carr recalled. "But we didn't. We turned the ball over." Despite seeing the table set three times in Michigan Stadium, Irish quarterback Ron Powlus and his teammates couldn't put a point on the board. The highlight for Michi- gan involved a diving defensive play to stop a touchdown. "The key play of the game was Tommy Hendricks making a great interception in the end zone," Carr said. "Not only had we turned the ball over, we'd turned it over at the short end of the field." "We gave Notre Dame every opportunity to win that ballgame in the fourth quarter," Jansen concurred. "We were fumbling it, giving it to them on short fields, giving them an opportunity to put points on the board. "Our defense just said it wasn't going to happen." Defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann unleashed a zone-blitzing torrent of talent that season, one that allowed a mere 9.5 points per game. Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord's imperative was clear, although not always carried out — limit mistakes and put Michigan in position to win. While Michigan's offense came away from the Irish escape determined to better protect the football, the defense only in- creased its swagger. "From that moment on, that defense played with a confidence and a resolve that the great defensive teams have," Carr said. "They came out of there with unbelievable confidence." Triumph Through Adversity The Wolverines cruised through their next two wins, 37-0 at Indiana and 23-6 over Northwestern. But the trip to Bloomington included a loss — a big one. Mayes went down with a knee injury, end- ing his season four games into Michigan's magical ride. "I've gone back to watch the play," he admitted. "It was a double-team. My leg got caught in the turf and twisted the wrong way. It was one of those freak injuries that happen playing the game." He'd worked as hard as anyone to prepare for the season — maybe harder, since his road involved overcoming the walk-on label and clawing his way to a starting spot. Voted a captain that year, Mayes wasn't about to let a knee turned to oatmeal keep him from remaining an emotional leader. "I can't even put it in words," he said. "Once I was elected captain, I had a personal responsibility to these guys. These are my guys. They chose me, and I chose them. "The '97 team is my team. These are my guys." Those guys would need every bit of sup- port they could get in the next one: Iowa. That game made the Notre Dame bullet dodge look like it involved paintball, com- pared to live ammo. It began harmlessly enough, a defensive battle the Wolverines would surely win. What happened in the final 2:27 of the first half, though, made it anything but sure. "I've never seen a game change so fast, from being a dogfight to where we'd put our- selves in the big hole against an outstanding Iowa team," Carr said. The Hawkeyes broke a 7-7 tie on a one- yard Michael Burger plunge. Tim Dwight then executed the punt return that nearly torpedoed a season — a 61-yard touchdown, sending the stunned Wolverines to the half- time locker room down 21-7. Carr recalled reading, early in his coach- ing career, an interview with Alabama coaching icon Bear Bryant. The man in the checkered fedora insisted a coach always has to be prepared with just the right thing to say at intermission, whether behind or ahead. The U-M boss thought long and hard, trudging up the tunnel at Michigan Stadium, and chose to lay down a direct challenge. Griese threw three first-half interceptions, the Wolverines gave the ball away on a fumble and nearly everything they'd worked to attain seemed to be falling apart. "We knew we had put ourselves in a big hole," Carr noted. "I can remember saying to them, 'Is there anybody in here who doesn't think we can win this game?'" He received a raucous affirmation that the room remained jammed with believ- ers, while Griese assured his teammates his worst half was about to turn around. "I knew at that point, it was up to me," Griese said at the time. "Most of the reason we were down was due to me. I had to come back and lead this team. There was nobody else that was going to do it." "There's no secret about how Brian came in and talked about how bad of a half he had," Jansen recalled. "He said, 'Let's put all that behind us, because I'm going to go out there and play the best half of football I've ever played.' And he did. We had guys step up and play." The Wolverines came out on fire, blitz- ing the Hawkeyes in the second half, 21- 3, Griese running for one touchdown and throwing for two more, including the game- winner to tight end Jerame Tuman with 2:55 remaining. Linebacker Sam Sword's first career interception — identified by Carr as "one of the biggest plays of the season" — sealed it, Michigan's hopes stayed alive in a 28-24 win. "Griese went out there and had a helluva second half, and that team played a helluva second half to come back and get that win," Mayes observed. "It was a crucible moment for our team in that season." It was important to the point of reckles- sness for the healing Michigan captain. The closest regular-season game in 1997 was a 28-24 victory over Iowa at Michigan Stadium, a win linebacker Sam Sword sealed with an interception with just 31 seconds left. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN