Previously: 1984 Miami, 1985 Notre Dame, 1985 South Carolina, 1985 Minnesota, 1985 Ohio State
The Highlights: WolverineHistorian
The Setup: Although Michigan finished second in the Big Ten to Iowa, their victory over Ohio State earned them a top-notch bowl bid; the fifth-ranked Wolverines would face off against the sixth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, who'd climbed as high as #2 in the polls before falling to Oklahoma in their regular season finale.
The Wolverines were looking for their tenth win of the season. Bo Schembechler also wanted to improve his 2-10 bowl record. He'd have to do it in his first matchup against Tom Osborne.
[Hit THE JUMP.]
The Game: Aside from some dashes into the secondary by running back Jamie Morris, Michigan couldn't get much going on offense in the first half, mustering only a 42-yard Pat Moons field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. The low point came when Jim Harbaugh was stuffed on a 4th-and-1 QB sneak after Nebraska gained the lead in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Michigan's vaunted defense had uncharacteristic struggles against Nebraska's triple-option attack. The Huskers put together first-half touchdown drives of 63 and 74 yards; M's defense had allowed multiple TDs in just one game all season. From Michigan Football: From The Pages Of The Michigan Daily:
"We weren't shocked, but we were upset and mad that we let something like that happen," said [defensive lineman Mark Messner] who finished with nine tackles. "Their offensive linemen weren't firing off the ball like we thought they would. They were more of a reading, pushing team. They were opening holes that were just big enough, and we weren't closing them fast enough."
Needless to say, this performance didn't please Schembechler. In the immediate aftermath of the game, he mostly downplayed his halftime speech—this is from the same Daily article as the above:
"We just made some adjustments," said Schembechler. "I didn't yell at them. I didn't give a speech — I'm no Knute Rockne," he growled in mock indignation.
In Bo's Lasting Lessons, however, he expanded a bit on those "adjustments."
Now, I know I just got through saying that halftime is a time for engaging in cool-headed analysis based on the facts at hand, and calmly charting a new course for the second half. And it usually is.
But there are times when there are no tactics to discuss, because tactics aren't the problem. For me to go up to the chalkboard and start making some fine-tuned adjustments—hell, I'd just be whistling Dixie. This wasn't a technical problem. This was just an old-fashioned butt-kicking!
You've got to remember, too, that at this time, I'm 2-10 in bowl games, and I'm frankly getting pretty sick of it.
I never threw chairs during halftime—but I threw one that day. I was just that ticked off.
The Bob Knight gambit did the trick. On the opening drive of the second half, the Huskers faced third-and-ten on their own 24 and tried to play it safe with a halfback draw, but All-American lineman Mike Hammerstein swiped the ball free and the Wolverines pounced on it. After Morris weaved through the Husker defense to set up first-and-goal, Gerald White dove over the pile to cut the deficit to four points.
The third-quarter onslaught was on. On the ensuing possession, safety Ivan Hicks laid a huge hit on quarterback McCathorn Clayton, forcing another fumble that Messner recovered in Husker territory. Big runs by Morris and White led to another short touchdown run, this an option keeper by Harbaugh, who barely managed to snake the ball across the plane:
The turnovers energized the defense, which forced a punt after two TFLs—nearly forcing another fumble in the process, though the runner's knee was down—and an incompletion under heavy pressure. Erik "Soup" Campbell went back for the return, but he wouldn't get the opportunity; Dan Wingard's punt barely made it off his foot before freshman David Arnold, who ran off the edge unmolested, laid out and blocked it with authority:
Although Michigan could only muster another Pat Moons field goal after recovering at the Nebraska six, the tide had turned. Following yet another defensive stop and a pair of Morris scampers into the secondary, Harbaugh tallied his second score on an option keeper. Michigan's 24-0 outburst in the third quarter gave them a 13-point edge.
They wouldn't relinquish the lead, though the proceedings got a little hairy in the final minutes after Osborne benched Clayton for talented freshman Steve Taylor, who cut the lead to 27-21 on a QB sneak with 2:29 left. With Michigan backed up against their own goal line on fourth down on the next possession, Schembechler made the wise choice, calling for punter Monte Robbins to kill as much time as he could before stepping out the back of the edge zone for an intentional safety instead of risking a blocked punt or a short field for Nebraska.
Robbins killed 17 seconds, leaving Nebraska with 1:22 on the clock and no timeouts for the last-gasp drive. On third-and-five, Taylor came under fire and heaved the ball well past any Nebraska receiver—and directly to M's Garland Rivers, who picked off the pass to seal the game.
The victory capped a 10-1-1 season that would stand as arguably Schembechler's finest, something he acknowledged to the Daily even though the conference title had eluded them:
"At the beginning of the season, we were just a long shot team," said a jubilant Schembechler after the game. "My only disappointment was not winning the (Big Ten) championship. Even at that, I've enjoyed this team tremendously. This team has given me the most satisfaction I've ever had."
The Harbaugh: Harbaugh had a pedestrian outing, completing 6/15 passes for 63 yards and making little impact on the ground outside of his two short touchdown runs. He took care of the ball, however, which allowed Morris to have one of the best outings of his career, rushing for 156 yards on just 22 carries.
The Most '80s Screencap of the Game: Yeah, this'll do.
The GIF gracing the top of this post isn't too bad, either.