Top 25 | The Master List | Conference Rankings | Lower Divisions
8
Michigan
The '97 Wolverines were not the most star-studded team in
college football when they won a national title. Now, with
even fewer stars, they have to defend
it
| |
Ray, who replaces Woodson as the leader in the secondary,
will have to prove that his bite is as bad as his
bark.
(Scott S. Eccker)
| This just
in:
Michigan was
not
the most talented team in the nation last fall. The
national champion Wolverines were a collection of good
players—and one great one,
Heisman Trophy winner Charles
Woodson—who grew tired of hearing that their program had
fallen into mediocrity after four straight four-loss
seasons. Embracing the tired old concepts of teamwork and
camaraderie, they blossomed into a monster unit that won
the school's first national title
in 50 years. Michigan therefore became a buzzword in football
offices around the country, as in "we're looking to
establish great chemistry this year, like Michigan had last
year," which is what LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said this
summer.
A year ago Schembechler Hall was a wellspring of
motivational gadgets, from the row of ice axes, each
inscribed with the name of a beaten opponent, that lined
the floor of coach Lloyd Carr's office (emblematic of his
"climbing Everest" metaphor) to the
fresh rose—as in
Bowl—that lay in a box in the defensive meeting room,
where players could gaze upon it. Even now the
serendipitousness of the season amazes the man who plotted
its turns. "If my daughter hadn't given me
Into Thin Air
for Father's Day," Carr says, "that whole theme
would never have happened." Yet as quickly as other
teams sought to replicate Michigan's synergy, the
Wolverines just as vigorously began distancing themselves
from
1997.
In a team meeting two weeks after their Rose Bowl victory
over Washington State, which led to the shared national
title with Nebraska, Carr stood in front of his players and
said, "Congratulations
... for the last time." Defensive coordinator Jim
Herrmann, who in his first year crafted a
voracious defense that allowed the
fewest
points and yards of any team in the
country, put together a 20-play tape for his
returning players, a
Texas
Chainsaw
Massacre
of blown coverages, missed
assignments and other mental errors. "We were good last
year," Herrmann says. "But
we wanted the players to see just how much better we could
have been." In short, this year's theme is, Forget
last
year.
Opponents won't. At the outset of last season, the
Wolverines were, of all things, upstarts, devoid of
whatever scary mystique
the Maize and Blue once held. "Everybody we played
underestimated us," says fourth-year junior nosetackle
Rob Renes. No more. Michigan will again get every
opponent's attention and its best punch. "Everybody
will be gunning for us," says senior
linebacker Sam Sword. The Wolverines' total of 15 returning starters
(including nine on defense) looks nice in print, but those
lost include not only cornerback Woodson but also defensive
end Glen Steele, the team's best pass rusher a year ago,
and quarterback
Brian Griese, who in one season went from workaday grinder to
Rose Bowl MVP and third-round NFL draft choice. The holes
they leave are huge, in skill and in
spirit.
Woodson's departure leaves Andre Weathers at the wide
corner, and
Herrmann
predicts that the senior will immediately be regarded as
"one of the best defensive backs in the country."
That means
Weathers won't see many balls, and the burden of making Michigan's
blitzing scheme work will fall to sophomores James Whitley
and
William Peterson, both of whom will play often at the short
corner. Senior safety Marcus Ray will be expected to back
up his prodigious woofing with Woodson-sized
leadership.
Junior Tom Brady won the starting
quarterback job in the spring. At
6' 5",
223 pounds, he's bigger than Griese and throws a prettier ball,
all of which is fool's gold. Griese drove Michigan to the
national title with his
cojones. "I believe Tommy has that same warrior
mentality," says senior running back Clarence
Williams. Brady's first sports memory is of sitting in
Candlestick Park as a four-year-old during the 1981 NFC
Championship Game and watching Dwight Clark make the
Catch on a Joe Montana pass en route to the 49ers' first
NFL title. If Brady doesn't perform, he'll be spectator to many
other plays, because behind him is freshman Drew Henson of
Brighton, Mich., a high school All-America in two sports
who in
mid-July signed a five-year contract with
the New York Yankees, which included a
$2 million signing bonus. The third base prospect, whom Carr admits
has "tremendous ability" on the football field,
played 10 games for the Yankees' rookie league team in
Tampa (hitting .316 in 38 at bats) before reporting to
Michigan on Aug.
11.
In his search for the best means to defend the national
crown, Carr spoke with both Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells
during the off-season. Walsh told Carr that it was crucial
for him to identify those members of his program who had
lost their passion as a
result of winning once, versus those who still had the fire.
Parcells told Carr that winning a title would only make him
thirst more for another. No surprise there. "We want
to defend the championship," says Carr. "We won't
shrink from that." Quick,
somebody buy that man a
book. —Tim Layden
Fast Facts
1997 record: 12-0 (8-0, 1st in Big Ten)
Final ranking: No. 1 AP, No. 2 coaches' poll
| 1997 Averages | Offense | Defense |
| Scoring | 27.4 | 8.9 |
| Rushing Yards | 187.3 | 91.0 |
| Passing Yards | 201.2 | 115.9 |
| Total Yards | 388.5 | 206.9 |
|
Lineup
Coach: Lloyd Carr
Fourth year at Michigan (29-8); career Division I-A record: 29-8
| OFFENSE |
| WR | Tai Streets | Sr. | '97 Biletnikoff Award nominee |
| LT | Jeff Backus | So. | Second-team All-Big Ten |
| LG | David Brandt | So. | Academic All-Big Ten |
| C | Steve Hutchinson | So. | Started every '97 game at LG |
| RG | Chris Ziemann | Jr. | Rose Bowl was 9th start of year |
| RT | Jon Jansen | Sr. | Has started 34 straight games |
| TE | Jerame Tuman | Sr. | All-America has 10 career TDs |
| WR | Marcus Knight | Jr. | 4 rec. for 70 yds. in two years |
| QB | Tom Brady | Jr. | 75% career passer (15 of 20) |
| RB | Anthony Thomas | So. | '97 Big Ten freshman of the year |
| FB | Ray Jackson | So. | 11 rushes for 41 yds. |
| K | Kraig Baker | Sr. | Groza Award semifinalist |
| DEFENSE |
| LE | Juaquin Feazell | Sr. | 24 tackles as a reserve |
| NT | Rob Renes | Jr. | Team's '97 top student |
| DT | Josh Williams | Jr. | 10 tackles for losses |
| RE | James Hall | Jr. | Pass-rush specialist |
| OLB | Clint Copenhaver | Sr. | Started 8 games |
| ILB | Sam Sword | Sr. | Led D with 91 tackles |
| ILB | Dhani Jones | So. | 80 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 int. |
| CB | Andre Weathers | Sr. | 42 tackles, 2 int. |
| SS | Marcus Ray | Sr. | 66 tackles, 5 int. |
| FS | Tommy Hendricks | Jr. | 53 tackles, 2 int. |
| CB | James Whitley | So. | Strong summer earns job |
| P | Jason Vinson | Sr. | 38.9 avg. on 52 punts |
|
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are from 1997 season.
Pivotal Players
Fourth-year junior quarterback
Tom
Brady has thrown just 20 passes in his college career and has
never taken a snap with a game in doubt. Waiting in the
wings is freshman football-baseball phenom
Drew
Henson.... The Wolverines are always deep at running back, but the
outside-inside combination of bruising 229-pound sophomore
Anthony Thomas (529 yards last year) and senior
Clarence
Williams, who rushed for 778 yards as a sophomore but slipped to 264
last season while missing parts of four games with a
hamstring injury, must help ease Brady's load and not force
the Wolverines to play undersized (185-pound) freshman
Justin Fargas
too much too
soon.... The leader in the secondary will be fifth-year senior
Marcus
Ray, an all-conference selection by the coaches and media last
season.... Sophomore corners
William Peterson and
James Whitley will have to develop quickly into solid cover men; both
played in every game last year, but neither intercepted a
pass.
Key Games
Schedule strength: 13th of
112
Sept. 5 at Notre
Dame
It's always risky to take an untested quarterback on the
road to begin his career—especially to South
Bend—and the Irish are overdue to win a big
game.
Sept. 26
vs. Michigan
State
An earlier-than-usual matchup with the hated Spartans,
who were stung by last year's 23-7 embarrassment in East
Lansing.
Nov. 21 at Ohio
State
Payback has built to epic proportions for the Buckeyes,
who are 1-8-1 against
the Wolverines since 1988 and have lost two recent national
title shots to Michigan ('95 and
'96).
X Factor
The Wolverines' undefeated season reaped benefits in
recruiting: Among the 19 freshmen are seven
USA Today All-Americas, including Fargas and blue-chip wideouts
Marquise Walker and David
Terrell.
Bottom Line
Michigan's first national championship in 50 years was the
product of great motivation and spectacular team chemistry,
both of which will be very difficult to
re-create.
Top 25 | The Master List | Conference Rankings | Lower Divisions
|
