1Maize & Glory! The epic story of Michigan’s 2021 return to the top of the Big Glory!MaizeTen&
PUBLISHED BY PEDIMENT PUBLISHING
The back No. 97 in the program, No. 2 in the Heisman voting and No. 1 in the leadership department, Aidan Hutchinson terrorized quarterbacks but made it possi ble for an old U-M quarterback to hoist a silver football.
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©Copyright 2022 Detroit Free Press/USA TODAY Network. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage system, without the permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. Printed in Canada.
2 Maize & Glory! Copy editors z z z Adam Engel, Jennifer Troyer Project coordinator z z z Kirkland Crawford Free Press writers z z z Michael Cohen, Rainer Sabin, Shawn Wind sor, Mitch Albom, Jeff Seidel, Ryan Ford, Tyler J. Davis, Andrew Hammond, Orion Sang, Emma Stein, Gene Myers Free Press photographers z z z Junfu Han, Kirthmon F. Dozier, Alan R. Kamuda Special thanks z z z Peter Bhatia, Chris Fenison, Megan Holt, Michael Kern, Brooke Towns, Morgan & the Pussycats, Eros & Schrodinger Editor z z z Gene Myers Copy chief z z z Owen Davis Designer z z z Ryan Ford Headlines z z z Ryan Ford Cover designer z z z Ryan Ford Photo imaging z z z Ryan Ford
“Maize & Glory!” condenses more than a year’s worth of the world’s best coverage of Michigan football from the Detroit Free Press. Follow the Wolverines daily online at www.freep.com and with a print subscription at 800-395-3300. The book also includes coverage from the USA TODAY Network, which includes the Free Press.
The cover As the snowflakes flew at the Big House, Hassan Haskins celebrated his fifth rushing touchdown of The Game with 2:17 left as Michigan ended an eight-game losing streak to Ohio State, 42-27.
In his seventh season at Mich igan, coach Jim Harbaugh held the Big Ten championship trophy for the first time. The Wolverines hadn’t won the title since 2004, the longest drought for the school with 43 of ’em.
JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS Page 1
About the book
The roster
KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/ DETROIT FREE PRESS
3Maize & Glory! Glory!Maize& 8 DreamThe
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downernonconferencedominatingstart,arivalryandthen … joy vs. Ohio State. SquadThe Those who stayed indeed would be champions, from Aidan Hutchinson to Jim Harbaugh.
132 PostseasonThe
The names and numbers that made the 2021 season so special for Michigan and its fans.
RICK OSENTOSKI/ USA TODAY SPORTS
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Even when no one else believed, the Wolverines themselvessawaschampions. SeasonThe A
A historic Big Ten title in hand, the Wolverines entered unchart ed territory: the CFP. StatsThe
4 Maize & Glory! destroyedexuberanttailbackSophomoreBlakeCorumandfansbaskedinthegloryofMichigan’s43rdBigTenchampion-shipaftertheWolverinesIowa,42-3,atIndianapolis’LucasOilStadium.Corumscored the game’s first points on a 67-yard run, and only keptanklelate-seasonainjuryhimfromrecordinga1,000-yardrushingseason. KIRTHMONFREEDETROITDOZIER/F.PRESS
KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/DETROIT FREE PRESS
Or maybe it came from a boiling frustration that
Jim Harbaugh smiled a lot more on the sidelines, thanks in no small part to his offensive linemen, who won the Joe Moore Award as the country’s top unit.
5Maize & Glory!
It’s hard to say when it started. But where it ended? That was an amazing ride, from Ann Arbor to East Lansing to Indianapolis.
J
Maybe it came from strong senior leadership.
Maybe it came from just being back on the foot ball field after a miserable, completely forgettable two-victory season in 2020 that was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maybe it was the removal of some players who didn’t fit at Michigan and bolted for the transfer portal, creating addition by subtraction and everybody left was a true Michigan Man.
B1G CHAMPS! MICHIGAN(12-2,8-1)
Foreword
“You guys noticed that, right?” Harbaugh said to his team. “I mean, that was different. That felt differ ent. That was ... it was awesome, right? But that energy? You know, you did, right?’”
Maybe it came from an influx of new coaches — six younger, more energetic assistants brimming with new ideas and passion.
im Harbaugh sensed something different during the first day of spring ball.
After the practice ended, Har baugh, entering his seventh season as Michigan’s football coach, stood in front of Team 142 and talked about what he saw. What he felt.
ByJeff Seidel
Maybe it came from a surge of talented new comers, who had enrolled early.
MORE THAN A FEELING
122 Maize & Glory!
ack in the summer, before practices began and Michigan started its surprising ascent into the top 10, Jim Harbaugh shared a personal anecdote about a recent climb with his family near his old California home. The journey toward the elusive apex was about 15,000 steps, Harbaugh recalled.
So many times before Harbaugh proved naysayers wrong when he was discounted. Cast aside by the Chicago Bears in 1994, he resur faced with the Indianapolis Colts and a season later was selected the NFL’s comeback player of the year with the league’s highest passer rating.
As a young coach at Stanford, he inherited one of the worst pro grams in college football and transformed it into a contender after pulling off the sport’s greatest upset at the time (against Southern Cal). In San Francisco, following a period of eight consecutive years when the 49ers missed the playoffs, Harbaugh led them to the
By Rainer Sabin At the Orange Bowl, logoedJumpman-Harbaugh’sJimshirt included a patch honoring the four masskilledstudentsinashooting at Oxford High, including Tate Myre, a football star who wore No. 42. JUNFU FREEDETROITHAN/PRESS
So, his daughter Addie encouraged him to keep going. Harbaugh liked her pluck. But he also didn’t need the extra motivation.
B
“He has an urgency about him, a competitiveness about him that is uncommon,” former tight end Jake Butt told the Free Press. That internal fire had allowed Harbaugh to repeatedly overcome hardships and defy expectations throughout a football life that unfolded in the public eye for the last 39 years. In many ways, Har baugh was at his best when faced with the type of enormous challenge he encountered in the winter of 2021. The slog toward a 2-4 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season set the Wolverines back and threatened his job security, leaving Harbaugh little choice but to sign an unusual contract extension that halved his salary and slashed the university’s buyout obligation.
“You get to the top and it never stops,” he said. “You think you’re at the top, but you’re never quite at the top.”
123The Squad Jim HarbaughHC
He’d seen the view from the top before. But to start back at the bottom? With everything to prove, and only a rediscovered hunger to guide him?
Mountainstoclimb
After Harbaugh revamped his coaching staff with six new assis tants and overhauled the recruiting department, few outsiders pre dicted an immediate revival on the field. The bulk of the same roster that contributed to the downturn in 2020 was back, and some of the best players on that doomed team had left for the NFL.
147The Postseason DEC. 4, 2021 U-M 42 IOWA 3 Poll position CONFERENCE CHAOS PETERS OUT: In the other key title games, Alabama stunned Georgia; Cincinnati dispatched Houston; and Oklahoma State lost by inches to Baylor. The Fighting Irish were idle, but only on the field. LSU swiped their coach, Brian Kelly, who suddenly sported a bayou accent, and the Irish promoted DC Marcus Freeman. THE TOP FIVE: How the Dec. 5 CFP rankings stood after Michigan’s 42-3 victory over Iowa: THE REST OF THE CFP TOP 10: OSU (10-2), Baylor (11-2), Missis sippi (10-2), Oklahoma State (11-2), MSU (10-2). RK TEAM W-L PVS 1. Alabama 12-1 3 2. Michigan 12-1 2 3. Georgia 12-1 1 4. Cincinnati 13-0 4 5. Notre Dame 11-1 6 “One thing just leads to another sometimes. There are games like that unfortunately. They’re not much fun. I’m not sure the score is totally representative of the two teams.” — KIRK FERENTZ, IOWA COACH JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS After hanging 42 points on the Hawkeyes, the Wolverines turned to high-fiving their fans in Indianapolis. Michigan’s last Big Ten title had been secured on Nov. 13, 2004, in Ann Arbor with a 42-20 victory over Northwestern. But the Wolverines had to share their crown with Iowa when they lost a week later at Ohio State, 37-21. Titletown again With its 43rd Big Ten title — 17 outright, 26 shared — Michigan ended a 17-year title drought. The conference’s all-time standings: NO TEAM 43 Michigan 40 Ohio State 18 Minnesota 15 Illinois 14 Wisconsin 11 Iowa NO TEAM 9 Michigan State 8 Northwestern 8 Purdue 7 Chicago 4 Penn State 2 Indiana
M
FIELDING H. YOST’s first team outscored its foes, 550-0, and its West ern foes —
WESTERN:
callsConference
WESTERN: 3-0-0
ichigan’s victory over Iowa in the Big Ten championship game marked its first confer ence title since 2004 and its first outright title since 2003. How long ago was that? In 2004, Jim Harbaugh was in his first year as a head coach, at the University of San Diego, and just three years removed playing in the NFL. But Michigan is not without some heavy-duty championship history, starting in 1898 during the early days of the Western Conference. The Wolverines have won 43 conference titles — three more than runner-up Ohio State — as the Western morphed into the Big Ten (after U-M returned from a 1907-16 hiatus), Big Nine (after Chicago left), back to the Big Ten (after Michigan State was added) and eventually a 14-team league. U-M has won 17 outright titles and shared first place 26 times. And so, with Michigan — as the song goes — the “victors valiant” and “conquering heroes” again, let’s examine each of the Wolverines’ titles.
10 00
U-M’s three Western Conference victories looked more like a homestand for the Tigers (who were three years from existence): 6-5 over Northwestern, 12-5 over Illinois and 12-11 over Chicago (which U-M’s student paper called “the greatest game of football ever played on a western gridiron”).
W:L:T: 1898
beating134-0—ChicagoNorthwestern,Indiana,andIowabyacombinedbeforeStanford, 49-0, in the first Rose Bowl and claiming U-M’s first national title.
By Ryan Ford
*TIED FOR CONFERENCE TITLE
148 Maize & Glory! 1901* W:L: 0 T: 0
Hail to the Victors Valiant — breaking down all 43 of the Wolverines’ league titles.
WESTERN: 3-0-1 1904*
1906* W: 4 L: 1 T: After a season without a title, Michigan adapted well in the first year of the legal forward pass, beating Illinois, 28-9, and tying 3-0 Wisconsin and 2-0 Minnesota atop the conference. In 1905, Yost finally lost for the first time — 2-0 at Chicago in the season finale. In his first five sea sons, U-M went 55-1-1 and outscored its opponents, 2,821-42.
The Wolverines captured their sixth national cham pionship, but did it the hard way, with conference victories over Iowa, Wis consin and Minnesota by a combined 19 points. (U-M still beat Ohio State by 23 and outscored its foes, 150-12.) U-M’s biggest star was halfback Harry Kipke, an All-America, a future Hall of Famer and a future U-M coach.
BIG TEN: 5-1-0
7 Michigan split the conference title with Northwest ern in Yost’s final season; the Wolverines out scored their confer ence foes, 94-22, while the Wildcats lapped the field, 114-13. U-M’s lone loss came to Navy, 10-0. In 25 seasons at U-M, Yost went 16529-10.
1925
149The Postseason 1918* W: 5 L: 0 T: 0 If only 2021 could have matched 1918, a pandemic-stricken season that ended with a twoscore victory over Ohio State (14-0) … and then a national title. Michigan State (known as Michigan Agricultural College and playing as an independent) was the only team to score on U-M, in its second sea son back in the conference after a 10-year absence.
8 00
BIG TEN: 4-0-0 W:L:T: 1923*
BIG TEN: 4-0-0
1922*
WESTERN: 2-0-0 0
W: 7 L: 1 T: 0 Even a 3-2 loss to Northwestern in a mud bowl couldn’t derail the Wolver ines, who outscored their five other Big Ten foes (In diana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota), 132-0. That included a 35-0 rout of Minnesota in which future coach — and college Hall of Famer — OOSTERBAANBENNIEcaught two touchdown passes.
W: 10 L: 0 T: 0 Was the country catching up with the Wolverines? U-M allowed six points against (then-independent) Ohio State, was held to 28 points by Wisconsin and allowed 12 points against Chicago in the finale. Still, U-M won another national title. (Minnesota went 3-0 in the Western; the teams tied for the title because their winning per centage was the same.)
W: 11 L: 0 T: 0 En route to another national championship, the Wolverines finally allowed a point in league play under Yost — beating Minnesota, 23-6, in the season finale. Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Chicago fell by a combined score of 194-0. In Yost’s two seasons, his “Point-a-Minute” squads outscored their 22 oppo nents, 1,194-12.
1926*
BIG TEN: 2-01902
W: 6 L: 0 T: 1 This also sounded familiar: Iowa (5-0 in league play) and Michigan topped the standings as the Wolver ines beat Ohio State (190), Illinois (24-0), Wiscon sin (13-6) and Minnesota (16-7). The season high light came in Columbus, where U-M ended a threegame losing streak to the Buckeyes on dedication day for Ohio Stadium.
BIG TEN: 5-0-0
WESTERN: 1-0-0
W: 11 L: 0 T: The Golden Gophers strike again: A 6-6 tie at Minnesota on Halloween accounted for the only points allowed all season by the Wolverines. They scored 559 against the rest of their schedule for their third straight national championship. The tie was the only time that Yost didn’t win in his first 56 games at U-M (a 50-month stretch from 1901-05).
WESTERN: 5-0-0 1 1903*
Only a 0-0 tie with Minnesota on Nov. 18 marred the Wolverines’ record; they shared the title with the Gophers, who won twice in conference play and racked up three other ties. But U-M won its eighth national title, surrendering only 2.3 points a game, and tied Yost’s 1901-04 conference record of four straight league titles.
BIG NINE: 6-0-0 1948
W: 6 L: 3 T: 1
BIG TEN: 6-0-0
1933* W: 7 L: 0 T: 1
1947 W: 10 L: 0 T: 0 Michigan opened by blitzing MSU, 55-0, and outscored its six confer ence opponents, 172-40. U-M returned to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 46 years, taking down USC, 49-0; the mammoth victo ry boosted U-M to No. 1 in a rare-for-the-times Asso ciated Press poll held after the bowls. An irked Notre Dame (9-0) was dropped to No. 2.
W: 9 L: 0 T: 0 No Rose Bowl for the Wolverines because Big Nine teams at the time weren’t allowed to go in back-toback seasons. Still, U-M outscored its conference foes, 190-37, on the way to its 10th national title in Oosterbaan’s first season as coach. At 9-0-1, the Fighting Irish, who hadn’t lost a game since 1945, finished second again in the AP poll.
BIG TEN: 6-0-0 1
1930* W: 8 L: 0 T: Kipke coached a squad that was offensively challenged but outscored its opponents, 111-23. After beating Michigan State Normal (later Eastern Michigan), 7-0, and playing a scoreless tie with Michigan State, U-M scored 14 points against Purdue, 13 against Ohio State, 15 against Illinois, seven against Minnesota and 16 against Chicago.
U-M’s only loss came as the nation’s No. 2 team in October, against No. 1 Notre Dame, 35-12.
W:L:T: 1943* 8 1 0 In his sixth season, Fritz Crisler ended U-M’s 10year title drought. His squad held all six of its conference foes to seven points or fewer. Co-champ Purdue gave up 21 to Illinois in its conference opener, then 21 combined over its final five games.
BIG NINE: 6-0-0 1949* W: 6 L: 2 T: 1
Michigan and Ohio State entered their Nov. 19 season finale tied for the conference lead. Sixty min utes later, they were still tied, as each scored seven points in front of 97,239 fans at a newly expanded Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines’ 25-game win ning streak, started Nov. 2, 1946, ended in a 21-7 loss to Army on Oct. 8, 1949.
150 Maize & Glory!
W: 9 L: 1 T: 0 In his sixth season, Bump Elliott ended U-M’s 14year title drought. The lone bump in the road was a 21-20 loss to Purdue in mid-October in which Elliott opted to go for two rather than a tie with 8:24 to play. With a 34-7 Rose Bowl victory over Oregon State, U-M beat four top 10 teams (Navy, MSU, Ohio State, Oregon State). U-M finished No. 4. BIG TEN: 6-1-0
Rose Bowl: U-M 14, Cal 6. BIG TEN: 4-1-1 1964
BIG TEN: 5-1-0
1932*
W: 8 L: 0 T: 0 U-M opened by finally blasting MSU, 26-0. Then Northwestern scored six points in U-M’s nine-point victory. The Wolverines held their other five league foes scoreless while averaging 13.6 points. They won the national title but shared the league title with 5-0-1 Purdue, which tied Northwestern. (Ties didn’t count as a half-win, half-loss until 1946.)
BIG NINE: 4-1-1 1950
BIG TEN: 5-0-0 1
BIG TEN: 5-0-1
Misery during the game against Ohio State in a brutal Columbus blizzard — U-M punted 24 times and scored just a touch down and a safety, both on blocked punts — led to joy: A 9-3 victory and a Rose Bowl return. U-M didn’t make a first down or complete a pass. The Free Press headline: “The Roses that Bloom in the SNOW.”
1931* W: 8 L: 1 T: The Wolverines shared the title with Purdue and Northwestern, two of the three teams they didn’t play during the season. (The other, Iowa, went 0-3-1 and tied for ninth in the conference.) U-M’s lone loss came against Ohio State, 20-7 in mid-October. The tie? That was another scoreless affair against Michigan State in mid-November.
175The Stats The full stat sheet for Team 142 BY NUMBERSTHE PASSING PLAYER CMP ATT PCT YDS Y/A TD INT RATE Cade McNamara 210 327 64.2 2576 7.9 15 6 141.9 J.J. McCarthy 34 59 57.6 516 8.7 5 2 152.3 Alan Bowman 2 4 50.0 9 2.3 0 1 18.9 Dan Villari 1 3 33.3 26 8.7 0 0 106.1 Donovan Edwards 1 1 100.0 75 75.0 1 0 1,060.0 RUSHING & RECEIVING PLAYER ATT YDS AVG TD REC YDS AVG TD Hassan Haskins 270 1,327 4.9 20 18 131 7.3 0 Blake Corum 144 952 6.6 11 24 141 5.9 1 Cade McNamara 37 26 0.7 1 — — — — Donovan Edwards 35 174 5.0 3 20 265 13.3 1 J.J. McCarthy 27 124 4.6 2 — — — — A.J. Henning 9 162 18.0 2 10 79 7.9 0 Dan Villari 9 35 3.9 0 — — — — Leon Franklin 8 33 4.1 0 — — — — Tavierre Dunlap 7 51 7.3 0 Isaiah Gash 6 17 2.8 0 Roman Wilson 3 59 19.7 0 25 420 16.8 3 Cornelius Johnson 3 30 10.0 0 40 627 15.7 3 Mike Sainristil 1 7 7.0 0 21 305 14.5 2 Andrel Anthony 1 6 6.0 0 12 248 20.7 3 Danny Hughes 1 5 5.0 0 1 3 3.0 0 Brad Robbins 1 5 5.0 0 Michael Barrett 1 3 3.0 0 — — — — Christian Bolvin 1 2 2.0 0 — — — — Erick All — — — — 38 437 11.5 2 Daylen Baldwin — — — — 17 256 15.1 2 Luke Schoonmaker — — — — 17 165 9.7 3 Ronnie Bell — — — — 1 76 76.0 1 Will Rolapp 1 26 26.0 0 Joel Honigford — — — — 1 10 10.0 0 Cristian Dixon 1 7 7.0 0 Carter Selzer 1 6 6.0 0 KICK & PUNT RETURNS PLAYER K RET YDS AVG TD P RET YDS AVG TD Blake Corum 12 304 25.3 0 A.J .Henning 6 179 29.8 1 29 274 9.4 0 Mike Sainristil 2 27 13.5 0 Michael Barrett 2 13 6.5 0 Andrel Anthony 1 21 21.0 0 Roman Wilson 1 20 20.0 0 Carter Selzer 1 3 3.0 0 — — — — Kalel Mullings 1 3 3.0 0 — — — — Caden Kolesar — — — — 3 33 11.0 0 Ronnie Bell — — — — 1 31 31.0 0 DJ Turner — — — — 1 25 25.0 0 Matt Torey — — — — 1 1 1.0 0 KICKING & PUNTING PLAYER XPM XPA XP% FGM FGA FG% PTS PUNTS YDS AVG Jake Moody 56 56 100.0 23 25 92.0 125 — — — Brad Robbins — — — — — — — 45 2,085 46.3 DEFENSE PLAYER SOLO AST TCK TFL SK INT YDS AVG TD PD Josh Ross 54 53 107 9.0 0.5 2 Daxton Hill 41 28 69 4.5 0.5 2 0 0.0 0 8 Aidan Hutchinson 36 26 62 16.5 14.0 3 Junior Colson 28 33 61 0.5 0.5 2 Brad Hawkins 41 19 60 3.0 0.0 4 Nikhai Hill-Green 35 15 50 2.0 0.0 — — — — 1 Vincent Gray 34 12 46 3.5 1.0 — — — — 7 Mazi Smith 15 22 37 2.5 0.0 — — — — 4 David Ojabo 24 11 35 12.0 11.0 — — — — 3 R.J. Moten 27 7 34 0.0 0.0 1 0 0.0 0 3 DJ Turner 26 7 33 1.0 0.0 2 65 32.5 1 7 Rod Moore 21 11 32 0.0 0.0 1 Christopher Hinton 17 15 32 1.0 1.0 2 Gemon Green 14 10 24 0.5 0.0 1 27 27.0 0 1 Donovan Jeter 12 12 24 2.0 0.0 2 Kris Jenkins 8 14 22 0.5 0.0 Michael Barrett 9 11 20 2.0 1.0 1 Mike Morris 5 12 17 1.0 0.5 1 5 5.0 0 1 Jaylen Harrell 5 10 15 2.5 0.0 Julius Welschof 4 9 13 0.5 0.5 — — — — 1 Kalel Mullings 5 6 11 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Caden Kolesar 7 2 9 1.0 0.0 1 1 1.0 0 1 Taylor Upshaw 7 1 8 3.5 2.5 — — — — — Jess Speight 1 5 6 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Mike Sainristil 5 0 5 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Braiden McGregor 4 1 5 1.0 0.0 — — — — — German Green 3 0 3 0.0 0.0 Rayshaun Benny 2 1 3 0.0 0.0 Quinten Johnson 2 1 3 0.0 0.0 Jalen Perry 2 1 3 0.0 0.0 Hassan Haskins 2 0 2 0.0 0.0 Makari Paige 2 0 2 0.0 0.0 — — — — — TJ Guy 1 1 2 1.0 1.0 Ja’Den McBurrows 1 1 2 0.0 0.0 — — — — 1 Joey George 0 2 2 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Erick All 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Keshaun Harris 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Jaydon Hood 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 — — — — — George Johnson 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 — — — — — Cade McNamara 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 Jordan Morant 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 Joey Velazquez 1 0 1 0.0 0.0 Danny Hughes 0 1 1 0.0 0.0 — — — — — JEFF HANISCH/USA TODAY SPORTS Cade McNamara, known to sling a sidearm pass or two, threw for 2,576 yards, the 11th-highest total in Michigan history. He fell 10 yards shy of some guy named Tom Brady, who threw for 2,586 in 1999. That guy also stood No. 8 with 2,636 in 1998.
Coach Jim Harbaugh hoisted the Big Ten’s Stagg USATREVORsonHarbaugh’sHutchinsondefensiveCarter(No.DonovandefensiveTrophyChampionshipflankedbylinemanJeter95),tightendSelzer(No.89),endAidanandJack.RUSZKOWSKI/TODAYSPORTS
