[Ed-Seth: This being the 20th anniversary of the 1997 National Championship, Michigan historian Dr. Sap is taking us game-by-game through it. Previously: Those Who Stayed, The Hit, The Stop]
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October 4, 1997: Michigan 37, Indiana 0.
A defensively dominant trip to Indiana came at a high cost: team leader and sideline-to-sideline playmaker Eric Mayes [Heather Stone/Detroit News]
There’s a saying in football: good teams make it through the season without a major injury, great ones overcome them. In an otherwise rote blowout of an overmatched team, the Wolverines suffered a blow in a spot they weren’t supposed to be able to afford. Their captain and defensive leader would leave the stadium in a golf cart; the team would depart with a firm identity as a dominant defense, and a far better idea of what kind of offense they were capable of scratching out.
After winning out in the non-conference schedule, Michigan opened up Big Ten play with a trip to Indiana to face a program trying to climb out of a deep hole by hiring an offensive whiz with a penchant for trick plays.
First-year coach Cam Cameron, the same guy who was a UM assistant under Bo and Mo in the mid-80’s and early 90’s, was now the head guy at his alma mater. He vowed to make changes and bring Hoosier Football “back” to the not too distant period of 8-win seasons and bowl games under another scion of Bo, Bill Mallory.
Cam wasn’t going to hang his hat on history: he even re-designed their uniforms to look like the team that embodied success at the highest level back then. As the Hoosiers dressed for their Homecoming game against Michigan they looked an awful lot like the Bill Walsh San Francisco 49’ers; underneath they were still the same Hoosiers. Whereas Michigan under third-year head coach Lloyd Carr was trying to avoid a third disappointing 8-4 season in a row, Indiana’s definition of hope meant getting back to that same level.
Carr revealed a uniform tweak of his own against Indiana. For the first time in 20 years, Michigan changed the look of the road white jerseys. The triple stripe sleeve was now reduced to two solid, thicker maize and blue stripes with a block M (last seen in 1968) above them. The v-neck collar also sported a maize and blue trim as did the numbers. To the blue-hairs back then, it was an unnecessary change that didn’t go over very well. To the youth of the day, it was applauded. Imagine that?
[Hit the JUMP]
Michigan’s offense to this point was still trying to figure out what it was, and going through a lot of running backs to answer that. They could be punishing and unforgiving with Chris Howard, Chris Floyd and Anthony Thomas. It could be quick to the edge with Clarence Williams. Or it could be run-and-catchy with the versatile Howard and Thomas coming out of the backfield on screens and draws.
The answer came in this game: much like Roger Craig made the 49’ers’ offense roll under Bill Walsh, so did the Wolverines in 1997 with Howard. He could do it all—get you the tough yards, move the chains, catch the ball and find the end zone. This guy was tremendous! The downfield passing game still needed Charles Woodson to kick-start it, but playmakers were starting to emerge on the outside as Russell Shaw and Tai Streets made significant contributions against Indiana. That is if Griese could hit them—Michigan’s first drive settled for a field goal after Griese fired beyond the reach of tacopants when Shaw was wiiiiiiiide open.
Yet on defense, Jim Herrmann’s crew was able to get pressure against IU with just the front four. Glen Steele, Josh Williams, Juaquin Feazell and Rob Renes all registered sacks against the Hoosiers. In the defensive backfield, Woodson and Daydrion Taylor picked off two errant passes that stifled any Hoosier attacks through the air.
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| Chris Howard was both a load to bring down and a threat to take a sleepy safety around the edge, as he did for Michigan’s final TD (AP via Mike Desimone) |
The line’s play was key because on Indiana’s first drive the linebacker position was dealt a critical blow when 5th year senior and co-captain Eric Mayes suffered a season-ending knee injury. Rarely does an injury to a walk-on merit any type of notable discussion, but when the walk-on gets elected by his teammates to be their captain, it’s quite obvious how much Mayes meant to this group. He was their surest tackle, amassing 14 against Notre Dame the week prior. If it’s possible, the injury may have only added to his voice and platform with the team. (More on that as the season progresses.)
With their emotional leader now on the bench, the Wolverines had to respond with Jones. While the defense just got that much younger, this unit also got that much faster. Jones would serve to be the perfect complement to Sam Sword and his rotational backup Ian Gold in the middle of Herrmann’s Harassers (I just made that up!).
Speaking of speed, the Astroturf in Bloomington back then only served to accentuate Michigan’s overall team speed. The Wolverines were fast all over, on both sides of the ball. Lloyd’s 1997 team was not your traditional and stereotypical slow, Big Ten team. The speed of the maize and blue allowed them to hang with anybody, and in the case with IU, force their opponents to keep up or be left behind.
While the Michigan offense started out slow with another early possession field goal (didn’t that always seem to be the case under Lloyd?), the Wolverine defense once again stepped up. Celebrating his birthday in perfect style, Glen Steele recovered a fumble that stopped IU’s best drive of the game.
In the second quarter, Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord settled into a steady diet of screens and swing passes that really emphasized his big backs’ catch-and-run abilities.
The short passing game returned with a vengeance as Brian Griese and his backups combined to throw 19 passes to Wolverine running backs. And with Floyd and Thomas hammering the IU middle, Howard and Williams ran wild around the ends. The defense was utterly dominant: at the midpoint Michigan had 260 yards of offense, while IU has -6 yards rushing.
Michigan had found their rhythm, and more importantly, their recipe for offensive success in 1997. After scores by Howard, Streets, Thomas and Patrick McCall, the game was all but decided.
In the third quarter, Griese hit Woodson on a crossing pattern and after seeing his quarterback get hit a little too much, the first team offense came out after Craig Baker connected on a field goal to make the score, 34-0.
After punting on their first possession with Brady under center, once again the D set the O up for success when Tommie Hendricks recovered a fumble on a 4th down attempt by Indiana.
With Anthony Thomas rumbling past IU defenders and Brady completing passes to the likes of Marcus Knight and Kevin Bryant, the final points of the game came on a 40-yard Craig Baker field goal.
It was interesting to hear the TV commentators share with the viewers how the Michigan coaches were “very, very high on Tom Brady.” I’m sure they were! TB10 looked solid and comfortable in the pocket. It was a noticeable improvement in his game from the year before when his first collegiate pass went for a pick-six against UCLA.
With victory in hand, Lloyd emptied the benches.
A 37-0 shutout victory was a great way to start the conference grind, but up next was Northwestern and after losing to the Wildcats two years in a row, only one thing was on the Wolverines’ collective minds: REVENGE!