Michigan Maize & Grand Book Preview

Maize Grand! &

THE LINEUP

EDITOR

z z z Gene Myers

DESIGNER

z z z Ryan Ford

COPY CHIEF

z z z Owen Davis

COPY EDITOR

z z z Jennifer Troyer

HEADLINES

z z z Ryan Ford

GAME RECAPS

z z z Gene Myers, Free Press staff

PROJECT COORDINATOR

z z z Kirkland Crawford

COVER DESIGNER

z z z Ryan Ford

PHOTO IMAGING

z z z Ryan Ford

FREE PRESS WRITERS

z z z Tony Garcia, Rainer Sabin, Ryan Ford, Mitch Albom, Jeff Seidel, Shawn Windsor, Jared Ramsey, Chris Solari, Mark Emmons, Kirkland Crawford, Gene Myers

FREE PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS

z z z Kirthmon F. Dozier, Junfu Han, Melanie Maxwell

SPECIAL THANKS

z z z Nicole Avery Nichols, Chris Fenison, Jan Davis, Megan Holt, Michael Kern, Tony Briggmin Lariccia, Greg Stark, Ian Young, Eros, Schrodinger & Bobo.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Maize & Grand! condenses more than a year’s worth of the world’s best coverage of the Michigan Wolverines from the Detroit Free Press. Follow the Wolverines online at www.freep.com and with a print subscription at 800-395-3300. The book includes coverage from the USA TODAY Network, which includes the Free Press.

Maize & Grand! 2

ON THE COVER

Quarterback

J.J. McCarthy — 27-1 as a starter — kissed the national championship trophy after a 34-13 victory over the Washington Huskies.

JUNFU HAN/ DETROIT FREE PRESS

ON PAGE 1

Mike Sainristil watched injured offensive guard Zak Zinter show off the Stagg Trophy presented to him by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.

JUNFU HAN/DFP

PUBLISHED BY PEDIMENT PUBLISHING

©Copyright 2024 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.

MICHIGAN’S EPIC MARCH TO THE 2023 NATIONAL TITLE

Maize & Grand!

12 20

THE VICTORS!

Hail! Hail! to Michigan, the champions of the West ... East, North and South!

THE SEASON!

Two suspensions, five head coaches, 12 wins and, of course, a millennial milestone.

130

THE CROWNS!

The championship road show began in Indy and then off to Pasadena and Houston.

168 202 THE GLORY!

The 1,000 victories, the national crowns, the Big Ten titles and the rest of the story …

THE DIGITS!

All the names, games and numbers to know from the Wolverines’ 15-0 season.

An old quarterback knew to always rely on his line: Coach Jim Harbaugh celebrated the national championship with offensive guard and captain Trevor Keegan. And, yes, that’s Scrooge McDuck (Donald’s uncle) and the Monopoly Man (Milburn Pennybags) on Keegan’s right arm.

JUNFU HAN/DFP

A Michigan football team unlike any other dreamed so big, it needed a new way to sum up its attitude, its goals and, eventually, its success. It was just three letters:

By Jeff Seidel

TBet.

he smell of cigar smoke hung thick in the Michigan locker room.

Some Wolverines danced and smiled and laughed, and others appeared stunned. Like Roman Wilson, a wide receiver from Maui who sank into a folding chair in front of his locker, looking as if he were stuck in a dream.

“This doesn’t even feel real,” Wilson said not long after the Wolverines’ 34-13 victory over Washington, winning their first national championship since 1997 and 12th in their storied history.

“Like, we didn’t lose a game?” Wilson marveled, shaking his head. He was in that strange land between disbelief and pure joy.

“We played a lot of good teams,” Wilson said softly. “This year, we played a lot of guys who are gonna go to the league (NFL) and do really good, and we just had this amazing season, a lot of clutch plays and made it to the natty. It’s

unreal.”

Believe it. Savor it. Relive it in the pages of this book.

“It’s been a team effort all the way,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “You’re chasing perfection, and it’s hard to be perfect. And it rarely comes around. You hope to achieve excellence along the way. But, gosh, it’s perfect. It was a perfect 15-0.”

Perfectly wonderful. Yet, perfectly strange.

Because nothing about the 2023 season was normal, and it was summed up in one word — a word that would unite Wolverines. A word that would answer all questions.

Could Michigan handle a swirl of controversy?

Bet.

Could Michigan survive not one but two three-game suspensions for Harbaugh?

Bet.

Could Michigan run past Penn State, take down Ohio State and then beat Alabama, in what turned out to be

Michigan tailback Donovan Edwards roared with excitement while holding the national championship trophy as confetti footballs fell from the roof of Houston’s NRG Stadium. Edwards, a junior from West Bloomfield, scored touchdowns on his first two touches in the title game against Washington — a 41-yard run with 10:14 left in the first quarter and a 46-yard run with 2:23 left in the same quarter.

JUNFU HAN/ DETROIT FREE PRESS

THE VICTORS!

1

{

Hail! Hail! to Michigan, the champions of the West ... East, North and South!

}

He who wanted a rose must respect the thorn, right?

With captains like Blake Corum, the Wolverines earned their roses in Pasadena in part thanks to ignoring all of the thorny issues.

JUNFU

HAN/ DETROIT FREE PRESS

Rose guardin’

After surges on both sides, the battle of college football blue bloods at the Granddaddy of Them All (a CFP semi, of course) came down to one final play for the chance to compete for a national title.

He hired whom?

Known for decades for his shrewd moves, Nick Saban made a December hire that raised eyebrows in Ann Arbor. He plucked former Michigan linebackers coach George Helow from the ranks of the unemployed to be his special assistant. In February 2023, late in the coaching carousel, Jim Harbaugh had pushed aside Helow after two seasons to bring back Chris Partridge. Saban said whenever Alabama made the playoffs he made a hire because his staff had to spend two weeks on the road recruiting. He said he looked for someone to “give us a good scouting report about what we need to know.”

Another obstacle?

Helow previously served as a defensive intern for Saban in 2012, in the weight room during the spring and working with defensive coordinator Kirby Smart in the fall. Helow’s defensive coordinator at U-M, Jesse Minter, didn’t “put a lot of stock” into the potential impact of his former colleague on the Rose Bowl. “Props to him,” Minter said. “He got hired by somebody.” But linebacker Michael Barrett, whose career Helow helped resurrect, called Helow “just another obstacle in the way for us.”

After winning the Big Ten in 2021, Harbaugh called Helow “a hell of a coach.”

No fan of U-M’s

Saban wouldn’t provide bulletin board material by saying so out loud, but he had a decades-long disdain for Michigan from coaching in its shadow for a decade. He spent 1983-87 at Michigan State as defensive coordinator/secondary coach for George Perles and 1995-99 as the Spartans’ head coach. Against U-M, Saban was 2-3 as an MSU assistant, including a 19-7 upset of the 13th-ranked Wolverines in 1984, a game in which Jim Harbaugh, in his first season as U-M’s starting quarterback, suffered a broken arm. Saban also went 2-3 as MSU’s head coach.

A title finally in his grasp, it was an easy answer for Jim Harbaugh: Nooo-body!

THE BIG PICTURE

Who’s got it better?

By Rainer Sabin

As the old saying goes in the Michigan football program, those who stay will be champions.

But Jim Harbaugh almost left the Wolverines behind two years ago when he flew to interview with the Minnesota Vikings on a cold February day.

To think what he would have missed had he been offered the job and accepted it.

He would have never been in Houston’s NRG Stadium, leading his beloved alma mater to the national championship by beating the Washington Huskies, 34-13.

He wouldn’t have been soaked in blue Gatorade in the euphoric aftermath of the Wolverines’ impressive conquest.

He wouldn’t have been dusted with maize-andblue confetti as he hoisted a gold trophy above his head. He wouldn’t have draped a gaudy chain around his neck and slid on some buffs.

He wouldn’t have begun thinking about the design of his first tattoo, which permanently would

commemorate the season with a patch on his 60-year-old body.

He wouldn’t have been feted during an interview on ESPN, where moments before he went on air, receiver Semaj Morgan sidled up to him and told him, “You’re the man.”

Most of all, he wouldn’t have celebrated the most monumental victory in his life with the ones he loved the most — father Jack, mother Jackie, brother John and sister Joani.

“Who’s got it better than us?” he said. “Nobody.”

It’s a phrase often repeated in his famous football family. But it never seemed more appropriate than now because it felt so true. Harbaugh had finally made it to the top after all these years by coaching his team to a 15-0 record.

“Last one standing,” he boasted. “It’s a great feeling.”

It was even more gratifying because his ascension into the pantheon of Michigan Men followed the most perilous time in his career. That was back in 2020, when the Wolverines crashed to a 2-4 record and Harbaugh stood on shaky ground. A certain segment of fans had given up on him, believing he had turned into a chronic underachiever after five straight losses to Ohio State

and repeated failures in bowls.

As athletic director Warde Manuel looked out at the stadium where an LED board flashed the Block M alongside a graphic that read, “National Champions,” he reminisced about those dark days.

“People wanted me to get rid of him,” Manuel said. “I didn’t, because I believed in him.”

It proved to be a shrewd move. Harbaugh quickly resurrected the program. He reorganized his staff, changed the defensive scheme, re-emphasized the running game and revamped the culture at Schembechler Hall. His moves produced instantaneous results and Michigan was reborn.

In the year that followed, the Wolverines finally toppled the Buckeyes, claimed their first Big Ten title in 17 seasons and made their maiden voyage to the College Football Playoff. Harbaugh’s reputation had been restored. But the ultimate prize and true glory in this sport eluded him.

Once upon a time, Harbaugh had come close to seizing it. His San Francisco 49ers were five yards from winning Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013. But, in a cruel twist of fate, that year’s Vince Lombardi Trophy was handed to the Baltimore Ravens and his brother, John, instead.

It left Harbaugh with a feeling of emptiness and maybe even some inadequacy. Jack had won a Division 1-AA national title at Western Kentucky. John had a Super Bowl victory. Jim wanted his own major championship.

“This was the goal,” Harbaugh’s mother, Jackie, said in Houston. “It was always the goal.”

But Harbaugh had to suffer some more before he achieved it. A year ago, the Wolverines were dealt a shocking blow when they fell to Texas Christian in the CFP semifinals. Soon thereafter, his program became the subject of an NCAA investigation into impermissible recruiting and coaching activities. Harbaugh faced a Level I charge for allegedly misleading investigators. Manuel imposed a three-game suspension. Still the Wolverines

Jim Harbaugh dodged a Gatorade bath at Indianapolis and Pasadena. He escaped again at Houston — until he was waiting for an on-the-field interview with ESPN.

JUNFU HAN/ DETROIT FREE PRESS

the Wolverines were good enough to beat an SEC team after they had been bum-rushed by Georgia two years ago.

But Harbaugh and Michigan proved the doubters wrong again. They outmuscled the Crimson Tide in a thrilling 27-20 overtime victory during a majestic afternoon at the Rose Bowl, capping it with a gutsy goal-line stand at dusk. That set the stage for Harbaugh to meet his destiny in Houston and fulfill the promise that accompanied his ballyhooed return to Ann Arbor nine years ago.

So, there he stood on the sideline, watching his beloved Wolverines whip the Huskies. The offensive line opened yawning holes and their talented set of running backs sprinted through them. Michigan ran for 303 yards — two more than Washington’s high-octane offense produced as Michael Penix Jr. struggled to pierce the Wolverines’ stingy defense. He completed 53 percent of his throws, averaged only five yards an attempt and limped to the finish line. This was Harbaugh football at its finest — tough, disciplined and successful.

“Just love it,” he said.

kept winning. Then his program became mired in an in-person scouting and sign-stealing scandal. The Big Ten imposed a three-game suspension. Still the Wolverines kept winning.

As Harbaugh faced intense criticism, he became defiant. He also was more emboldened than ever, fueled by the hate he felt.

“He’s resilient,” said his father, Jack. “You give him a challenge and he’ll find a way to overcome it. … That’s what he thrives on. That’s what he lives for. That’s what he responds to.”

It’s what motivated him when Michigan entered this CFP as the No. 1 seed but was viewed as an underdog in its matchup with Alabama. Many outsiders were skeptical of Harbaugh’s 1-6 bowl record at Michigan. They also wondered whether

He reveled in the afterglow of victory, celebrating with his team and family. In many ways, they were one and the same to Harbaugh. So, he hugged quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He embraced his brother. He wrapped his arms around his dad. He kissed his mother. This was what he always wanted; the chance to be the best, to savor this sweet moment.

“That was everything,” he said. “It’s glorious.” Yet it never would have happened had the Minnesota opportunity came to pass two years ago. An experience of a lifetime would have been missed.

But as it turned out, Harbaugh didn’t go. He stayed. And he became a champion — once and for all.

“I can now sit at the big person’s table in the family,” Harbaugh said.

Crown jewels

Champions of the West ... East, North & South, 12 times in all for the Wolverines. Their stories:

1901

11-0 (4-0 Western)

z z z COACH: Fielding Yost. z z z CAPTAIN:

z z z ROSE BOWL: Michigan 49, Stanford 0.

NOTEWORTHY: Fielding (Hurry Up) Yost’s first team at Michigan set the tone for a national powerhouse in the early 1900s. The Wolverines finished 11-0 and outscored opponents, 550-0. In Yost’s first five seasons, Michigan went 55-1-1 and outscored opponents, 2,821-42 (an average score of 49.5 to 0.7). In Yost’s first game, the Wolverines toyed with Albion, 50-0. A month later, they destroyed Buffalo, 128-0 — at a time when TDs were worth only five points, as were field goals, and the forward pass was illegal.

In its four Western Conference games — Indiana, Northwestern, Chicago and Iowa — U-M outscored the enemy, 134-0. The season’s closest contest was 28-0 at Ohio State, which wouldn’t join the conference until 1912 as its ninth member. (At that time, U-M was in the middle of its 1907-17 hiatus from the Western, to become commonly known as the Big Ten upon its return. The conference lists its birthdate as Feb. 8, 1896, with seven members — U-M, Chicago, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin — and its birthplace as the Palmer House hotel in Chicago.) Although 4-0 in the Western, U-M shared the conference title with Wisconsin (2-0) because the standings were based on winning percentage. Yost went to Ann Arbor from Stanford, where he coached in 1900 before a rule that only alumni could lead its teams. His first season at Michigan ended with a 49-0 victory over Stanford at the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California, now considered the first bowl ever played. “The 49-0 score speaks for itself,” the Free Press reported. “It caps a season that will be long remembered in college football history.” The NCAA recognizes U-M as the national champion, although Harvard (12-0) also lays claim to it. The first wire service poll did not arrive until 1936; before then, numerous organizations — including Helms, named for a Los Angeles bakery — and publications selected their top teams, some considered more legit than others, depending on whom one rooted for. The NCAA also considered mathematical formulas that were applied retroactively over the decades.

Fielding Yost DETROIT FREE PRESS ARCHIVES

Under sunny Cali skies, the 1901 Wolverines were so dominant, they halted the game till 1916.

‘THE GREATEST SCORING TEAM THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN’

Michigan played in the first Rose Bowl in 1902, but the Tournament of Roses dated to Jan. 1, 1890. Horse-drawn carriages adorned in flowers formed a parade in Pasadena, California, and public games were played in the afternoon.

When a football game was added 12 years later, Michigan routed Stanford, 49-0. College football history considers it the first bowl, although its official name was the Tournament East-West Football Game.

Halfback Willie Heston, who would be an All-America in 1903 and 1904, rushed for 170 yards with a long of 49 on 18 carries. All-America fullback Neil Snow, retroactively chosen the player of the game a half-century later, scored five touchdowns on runs of six, two, eight, 17 and four yards.

The Wolverines left Dec. 17, 1901, for California with six inches of snow on the ground in Ann Arbor. Eight days later, they were greeted by temperatures in the 80s and a sporting press convinced Stanford would triumph.

On the morning of the game, the players wore new uniforms and waved U-M banners while riding a large carriage in the Rose parade. In the afternoon, an overflow crowd of 8,000 flocked to Tournament Park.

The first Rose Bowl was a rout. With eight minutes left, Stanford conceded. However, Michigan did not score for 23 minutes. Heston broke loose on a naked bootleg for 21 yards, considered the first big play in Rose Bowl history. Three plays later, Snow bulled his way through Stanford’s line for a six-yard touchdown. Bruce Shorts added the extra point for a 6-0 lead.

Then Everett Sweeley kicked a 20-yard field goal and Curtis Redden returned a punt 25 yards for a 17-0 halftime lead.

Stanford was defenseless in the second half. Michigan finished with 527 rushing yards on 90 attempts; Stanford ran 24 plays for 67 yards.

WILLIE HESTON

The field was 110 yards long. Touchdowns counted five points, field goals five and conversions one. Teams played 35-minute halves. Teams had three plays to make five yards for a first down. Forward passes were illegal.

A typical game at the turn of the 20th Century featured a battle of punting for field position and smashmouth football along the line of scrimmage. Michigan would punt 21 times, Stanford 16.

“When the game was finally over,” the Detroit Free Press reported, “Michigan’s squad walked off the field singing, and no one was injured.”

Snow’s five touchdowns and 25 points remain Rose Bowl records. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960.

In December 1935, famed sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote a column to prove to his national readership that Michigan-Stanford in 1902 was the first Rose Bowl. Rice’s final paragraph: “Well, there it is, and those who saw the Michigan team that year still argue that the Yost machine which scored 550 points to none in 11 games was among the greatest football teams of all time and, in the words of the Rose Bowl headline in the Michigan Daily, a team ‘which proved itself the greatest scoring team the world has ever seen.’”

The one-sided nature of the first football game tied to the Tournament of Roses, though, caused sponsors to ditch the game until 1916. In the interim, Roman-style chariot races were held, as were ostrich races, a race between a camel and an elephant, and other offbeat events.

Team 144

0 Darrius Clemons WR 6-3 212 So. Portland, Ore.

0 Mike Sainristil DB 5-10 182 Gr. Everett, Mass.

1 Amorion Walker DB 6-3 180 So. Ponchatoula, La.

1 Roman Wilson WR 6-0 192 Sr. Maui, Hawaii

2 Blake Corum RB 5-8 213 Sr. Marshall, Va.

2 Will Johnson DB 6-2 202 So. Detroit

3 Fredrick Moore WR 6-1 180 Fr. St. Louis

3 Keon Sabb DB 6-1 208 So. Glassboro, N.J.

4 Jayden Denegal QB 6-5 235 So. Apple Valley, Calif.

4 Micah Pollard LB 6-2 221 So. Jacksonville, Fla.

5 Karmello English WR 5-11 190 Fr. Phenix City, Ala.

5 Josaiah Stewart EDGE 6-1 245 Jr. Bronx, N.Y.

6 Brandyn Hillman DB 6-0 200 Fr. Portsmouth, Va.

6 Cornelius Johnson WR 6-3 208 Gr. Greenwich, Conn.

7 Donovan Edwards RB 6-1 210 Jr. West Bloomfield

7 Makari Paige DB 6-4 208 Sr. West Bloomfield

8 Derrick Moore EDGE 6-3 258 So. Baltimore

8 Tyler Morris WR 5-11 185 So. Bolingbrook, Ill.

9 J.J. McCarthy QB 6-3 202 Jr. La Grange Park, Ill.

9 Rod Moore DB 6-0 198 Jr. Clayton, Ohio

10

12

14

27 Tyler McLaurin

28 Benjamin Hall RB 5-11 234 Fr. Acworth, Ga.

Ill.

28 Quinten Johnson DB 5-11 200 Gr. Silver Spring, Md.

29 Joshua Nichols DB 5-10 196 So. Detroit

29 Joey Velazquez LB 6-0 222 Gr. Columbus, Ohio

30 Will Rolapp WR 6-0 198 Sr. Darien, Conn.

30 Jimmy Rolder LB 6-2 233 So. Orland Park, Ill.

31 Nico Andrighetto DB 5-9 190 So. Mountain View, Calif.

31 Leon Franklin RB 5-9 208 Gr. Southfield

32 Jaylen Harrell EDGE 6-4 242 Sr. Tampa, Fla.

32

33 German Green

35 Caden Kolesar DB 5-10 195 Gr. Westlake, Ohio

36 Keshaun Harris DB 5-11 192 Gr. Lansing

37 Micah Davis DB 6-1 199 Fr. Dexter

37 Danny Hughes RB 6-0 208 Gr. Naperville, Ill.

38

38 Bryce Wilcox

39

39

40

40

41

41

42 TJ Guy EDGE 6-4 250 Jr. Mansfield,

46

24

52 Kechaun

55 Nathan Efobi OL

285 Fr. Cumming, Ga.

55 Mason Graham DL 6-3 318 So. Anaheim, Calif.

56 Dominick Giudice OL 6-4 305 Jr. Freehold, N.J.

57 Trevor Andrews LB 6-1 224 Jr. Brentwood, Tenn.

58 Giovanni El-Hadi OL 6-5 318 Jr. Sterling Heights

58 Breeon Ishmail EDGE 6-3 262 Fr. Hamilton, Ohio

59 John Weidenbach LB 6-0 215 Fr. Naperville, Ill.

60 Drake Nugent OL 6-2 301 Gr. Lone Tree, Colo.

61 Noah Stewart OL 6-7 292 Sr. Muskegon

62 Raheem Anderson OL 6-3 316 Jr. Detroit

64 James Kavouklis OL/LS 6-1 279 So. Tampa, Fla.

65 Zak Zinter OL 6-6 322 Sr. North Andover, Mass.

70 Peter Simmons DL 6-1 283 Jr. Bonita Springs, Fla.

71 Evan Link OL 6-6 307 Fr. Burke, Va.

72 Tristan Bounds OL 6-8 305 Jr. Wallingford, Conn.

73 LaDarius Henderson OL 6-4 315 Gr. Waxahachie, Texas

74 Reece Atteberry DL 6-5 309 Sr. Aurora, Colo.

75 Andrew Gentry OL 6-7 327 So. Littleton, Colo.

76 Connor Jones OL 6-6 320 So. Monument, Colo.

77 Trevor Keegan OL 6-6 320 Gr. Crystal Lake, Ill.

78 Kenneth Grant DL 6-3 339 So. Merrillville, Ind.

78 Myles Hinton OL 6-6 340 Sr. John’s Creek, Ga.

79 Jeffrey Persi OL 6-8 320 Sr. Mission Viejo, Calif.

80 Eamonn Dennis WR 5-10 188 Sr. Worcester, Mass.

81 Peyton O’Leary WR 6-3 200 Jr. Byfield, Mass.

82 Semaj Morgan WR 5-10 176 Fr. West Bloomfield

83 Zack Marshall TE 6-4 232 Fr. Carlsbad, Calif.

84 Dale Chesson WR 6-0 190 Gr. St. Louis

85 Cristian Dixon WR 6-2 197 Jr. Santa Ana, Calif.

86 Zach Peterson WR 6-1 190 Gr. Roswell, Ga.

88 Matthew Hibner TE 6-5 254 Sr. Burke, Va.

89 AJ Barner TE 6-6 251 Sr. Aurora, Ohio

89 Alessandro Lorenzetti DL 6-5 301 So. Montreal, Québec

90 Hudson Hollenbeck K 6-2 208 So. Collierville, Tenn.

90 Aymeric Koumba EDGE 6-5 254 Fr. Bordeaux, France

91 Evan Boutorwick LS 6-3 230 So. Macomb

91 Cameron Brandt DL 6-4 277 Fr. Chatsworth, Calif.

92 Stone Anderson K/P 6-2 190 Fr. Deerfield, Mass.

92 Ike Iwunnah DL 6-3 313 Jr. Garland, Texas

93 Joey Klunder EDGE 6-3 276 So. Grosse Pointe

94 Kris Jenkins DL 6-3 305 Sr. Olney, Md.

95 Trey Pierce DL 6-2 300 Fr. Chicago

96 Enow Etta EDGE 6-5 295 Fr. Keller, Texas

97 Chibi Anwunah EDGE 6-5 268 So. Canton

97 Cordell Jones-McNally K/P 5-8 175 Fr. Marcellus

99 Cam Goode DL 6-1 314 Gr. Washington, D.C.

99 Adam Samaha K 5-11 185 Fr. Ypsilanti

CL denotes years in college not eligibility status