Big Ten Countdown: 97 - What Else Besides A Split National Title With Michigan?
by Jon Johnston on Mar 26, 2011 8:00 AM CDT
in Husker Fans Guide to the Big Ten
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The number 97, Nebraska, and Big Ten football ought to bring forth one strong memory for Husker fans - the '97 National title, split with the Michigan Wolverines.
You know, the one we won on the field while they were given a gift of a split national title by the media because they hadn't won one since 1948. Think of all the new stuff that Sports Illustrated got to sell to Wolverines fans who had saved a lifetime with the hopes that they'd get to spend it on a national title football, a t-shirt, or a new Blue N Maize chair. No influence there. No sirrrrreeeee.
‘Course the media doesn't see it that way. No, for them, it's always that the coaches gave Tom Osborne a gift in his final season, as if the Huskers didn't earn it on the field. They see it that way because it's convenient for them. It requires a certain amount of ignorance, though, forgetting a 42-17 win over the #3 Tennessee Volunteers, while #1 Michigan struggled to beat Ryan Leaf's #8 Washington State Cougars 21-16 in the Rose Bowl.
The hell with the media. We'd have kicked Michigan's ass. You know why we'd have kicked their ass? Because Scott Frost was on our side, and if there ever was an ass-kicking quarterback, it was Scott Frost.
Michigan's quarterback at the time? Brian Griese. I never had anything against Brian Griese, but listening to his daddy Bob do announcing made me hate the son more than the boy deserved.
Oh, but life goes on and here we are, set to play Michigan every year from now on until the day I die. It still boggles my mind.
Just in case you're wondering what kind of rivalry trophy Michigan and Nebraska might play for - don't. It won't be no rivalry. It'll just be a game.
Seriously?
A game between the winningest program in college history versus the fourth-most winningest program in history, and it's not a rivalry game?
Yes.
Michigan already has the biggest rivalry in college football with Ohio State. Then they have this big brother/little brother thing going on with Michigan State, and they have Notre Dame. Three damned good rivalries with plenty of stories between them.
Asking Michigan to consider us a rival would be like Missouri asking Nebraska to be a rival. Regardless of the games, it's just not going to happen. Don't even think about it.
97, though. A great number. A great year. A national title year.
You ready to re-live it on November 19th?
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I thought the split title was the best solution at the time.
Remember, NU squeaked by Mizzou thanks to Kenny Cheathem’s feet and Matt Davison’s incredible hands. The concerted lobbying for a last title for Dr. Tom was a bit tasteless, IMO.
I agree with you, though – we’d have stomped Michigan on the field. But the system as it was then wouldn’t allow it. Talking about it during March Madness just makes me realize all the more how awesome a CFB playoff would be.
"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther
Kenny Cheatham?
Wasn’t it Shevin Wiggins?
by Drinkin' Wit' Terrell Farley on Mar 26, 2011 8:42 AM CDT up reply actions
My bad.
I seem to be mis-remembering a lot of things this week. Was it Cheatham who caught the pass going up the sideline earlier in that drive?
"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther
Yes
Kenny C. catch a nice pass up the sidelines to get that drive started.
by Andy P skers94 on Mar 27, 2011 8:56 AM CDT up reply actions
Also
Just because we had a close game doesn’t mean we were any less deserving. 95 was the exception, not the rule.
But what a glorious exception it was.
by Restnessizzle on Mar 26, 2011 8:52 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I am much more confident that UNL would have taken out Michigan in '97
than PSU in ’94, but I do think Penn State was jobbed and the way they split with Michigan was fair, whether we like it or not.
Truthfully though, that Michigan O would have been lucky to get to 10 points against the ’Husker D
The O would have beaten them into submission and the floodgates would have opened in the 4th quarter because the Maize and Blue D was on the field too much
by Drinkin' Wit' Terrell Farley on Mar 26, 2011 8:44 AM CDT reply actions
We can take their song.
After we beat them in the big house this year and wrap up the West Division, we can sing:
Hail to the Cham-pions,
Hail to the Vic-i-tors,
Hail, Hail Nebraaa-aska,
The Champpp-pionssss offff theeee WEST!
In the deed, the glory.
Corn Nation!
On a side note.
I was a band geek at UNL in 1997 and was fortunate enough to get to see some great games (all the home games and a road game vs. Missouri, Big XII title game and Orange Bowl).
I also remember watching Michigan quite a bit that year. You did that back then because you knew that you could never play and undefeated Pac-10 or Big 10 champion in a bowl game. They were a threat to steal the title away. To put it in perspective, Michigan’s team that year was like the Nebraska team you saw in the ‘09 Big XII title game. Fantastic defense but an offense that just made you think that they were due for a few loses. They found a way to win though, and a split title that year was justified. I think that if Nebraska beats Missouri without the miracle catch that they win the title out-right in 1997. After that game, Nebraska dropped from No.1 to No.3. That’s the only time in history that a No.1 has dropped more than one spot after winning a game. That game made some voters hesitant, so the kick-catch was good for Michigan.
In the deed, the glory.
Corn Nation!
We missed each other by just a few years, it seems.
I was in the Banned from ‘92-’95, trombone and baritone. Your name seems familiar though – any chance we actually did overlap? I was baritone section leader in ’95.
"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther
I was a horn player in 96,97, and 98.
In the deed, the glory.
Corn Nation!
by Aaron Musfeldt on Mar 26, 2011 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions
Ah, so you'd maybe know what I mean if I say
ALAMEN! ALAMEN!!
"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther
It's a CMB "cheer" we used to do.
I’m not sure the current CMB does it anymore – I’d love to think it got passed down, but who knows? Anyway, one of those marching band things.
"Wer viel Bier trinkt, schläft gut. Wer gut schläft, sündigt nicht. Und wer nicht sündigt, kommt in den Himmel!" Martin Luther
I guarantee
if you want to claim it, everyone in the Big Ten will back you now. No one likes Michigan, and ignoring their title let’s us all realize just how much they really are like Notre Dame; and old has-been power.
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
Odds on the imaginary matchup
Back in the day (1997), we had Papa Joe Chevalier on our evening drive time radio. Papa loved his gambling and actually comssioned one of the oddsmakers from a Vegas sportsbook to give him a line for a neutral site Michigan-Nebraska matchup; The verdict:
Grass field: Nebraska -7 1/2
Artifical turf: Nebraska -10
Just sayin’…
by Andy Ketterson on Mar 26, 2011 11:58 AM CDT reply actions
Well, Michigan probably did play a better schedule that year
They blew out a undefeated PSU team (though I think PSU ended with 3 losses at season’s end) And Charles Woodsen was pretty fantastic. I think we would have been a bad matchup for them for Neb. lack of a need to pass.
Really, no Michigan fan should bitch about it spliting the title because it was the Big Ten’s (and pac ten) fault for both teams not meeting in the first place. For 96 and 97, there was 2 years of pre BCS where all conferences, except the pac ten and the big ten, decided that the top 2 teams will meet for the NC.
Deadspin: by douche bags, for douche bags.
Would Nebraska have beaten Michigan if they had played? Probably, but we’ll never know and its not like Michigan was undeserving. They played a tougher schedule than Nebraska and was just as dominating. Nebraska played 4 teams that were ranked when we played them’ Washington (2), Kansas St. (17), Texas A&M (14), and Tennessee (3).
Michigan played 7 teams that were ranked when they played; Colorado (8), Iowa (15), Michigan St. (15), Penn St. (2), Wisconsin (23), Ohio St. (4), and Washington St. (8).
It would have been nice to see them play but it would have been a tough game, Michigan didn’t give up more than 24 points in game that season.
The Big 10
was an over rated joke in 1997. Aboyut as over-rated as it has ever been or was. And the facts of the matter show that. It is a well known fact that within the media voters are a lot of Big 10 alumni as writers and voters. These writers and voters artificially inflate the status of the Big 10 as a football conference by always putting Big 10 schools in the top 25. They over-vote everyone of the Big 10 member schools and when you have a large pool of voters doing so, you get artificially influenced results.
I laugh hard when I see that 1997 Mich played 5 ranked teams from the Big 10. You know what happened in the bowl games to each and everyone of those 5 ranked Big 10 ( Iowa, Mich. St., PSU, Wisc, and OSU) teams on 1997 Michigan’s schedule? They all got their asses handed to them. Hard. These 5 schools lost 5 bowl games by average scores of something like 30-10! Not one game closer than 10 points.
And about that Mich defense in 1997. Lets move ahead to 2007. Remember 2007 Ohio State and that “once in a lifetime” defense that was running rough shot over the Big 10 and set numerous Big 10 records in defensive categories? All anyone heard from OSU/Big 10 fans was how great that defense was, about how that Ohio State defense was the immovable object. Big 10’ers yapping about having another “once in a lifetime” defense. Funny thing is that Mich/Big 10 supporters were saying the same thing about the 97 Mich defense. But 10 years later 2007 OSU couldn’t hide out in the protection of the Rose Bowl and the alliance with the Pac – 10. What happened to that 2007 OSU team when they had to step out from behind the protection of the Rose Bowl? They got exposed. What it comes down to, is that 2007 OSU defense was a paper tiger. They set a bunch of NCAA records on defense playing against a middling to poor offensive league of the Big 10. I guarantee the same was true of 97 Mich’s defense.
More evidence; Those 5 Big 10 teams that all lost in bowl games scored more, had more total offense on average against the mighty maize and blue defense of 1997 than they did against the bowl opponents that whipped their ass.
I have an strong inkling that had Nebraska and Mich played in 97 that the outcome looks very similar to what happened to P. Manning and Tenn.
by Andy P skers94 on Mar 27, 2011 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions
First of all 1997 Michigan and 2007 Ohio St. have nothing to do with each other.
You want to talk about how teams did in bowl games, the Big 12 didn’t exactly win all their games either. Oklahoma St., Missouri, and Texas A&M lost their games, Kansas St. and Nebraska won.
Michigan played 5 teams that ended the season with a losing record, Colorado, Baylor,
Indiana, Northwestern, and Minnesota.
Nebraska played 7 teams with a losing record, Akron, Central Florida, Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa St., and Colorado.
Remember its easy to look at the easy parts of Michigan’s schedule but Nebraska played a pretty easy schedule.
The Big 12 of the late 90’s was a joke. It had about 3 teams that were good and the rest was garbage.
97 Mich and 07 OSU
No they have “nothing to do with one another” but there is a very strong correlation among those two teams. Sorry that you’re blind to that fact. You sound like a long time Big 10 fan.
In 1997, the same things were being said about the 97 Mich defense “best of all time” that were said about the 2007 OSU defense. Want another correlation? They both played in a poor offensive conference with limited play-makers, limited speed at the skill positions. It is what it is. The only difference among 97 Mich and 07 OSU is that OSU had to try to prove its metal against something other than the slow stick in the mud, three yards and cloud of dust Big 10.
Paper tiger applies to 07 OSU as it would have 97 Mich had they stepped outside that weak conference.
I never said anything about the Big 12 not having some less than impressive teams. All conferences have their poor teams bringing up the rear. But the fact is that for largely 25 years, say from early 70’s to mid 90’s the Big 10 was the mediocre two (OSU and Mich) and the very average to poor other 8 teams. With neither of those two mediocre teams ever being able to get out of that poor conference undefeated for something like 25-30 years.
I also said not a thing about the Big 12 “winning all their” bowl games. You turned it around as if I implied that the Big 12 did just that. Lets keep the focus of what the subject is please.. I.E. All of 97 Mich’s opponents that went to bowl games losing every said bowl game. You know what? It’s hard for any conference, nearly impossible for any conference to win all their respective bowl games, that is if they have more than 1 or 2 in bowl games. By the same token it’s just as unlikely, just as improbable for any conference with more than one or two teams in bowl games to have every team lose bowl games. With 97 Mich having 6 opponents going to bowl games, in most years 6 teams form one conference going to bowl game would be great. No one would expect them all to win, just like no one would expect them all to lose. But.. Whha whatt happened? I’ll tell you what happened. They were all incredibly over-rated by some friendly voters for the Big 10. 97 Mich schedule was not nearly as difficult as some people want to make it out to be.
by Andy P skers94 on Mar 27, 2011 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Wait a minute
Get used to this as a Big Ten member. Granted I’m using final AP rankings. After the 1997 season #12 Ohio State lost to #3 Florida State 31-14 in the Sugar Bowl, #16 Penn State lost to #4 Florida 21-6 in the Citrus Bowl, unranked Wisconsin (a 5 loss team) lost to #10 Georgia 33-6 in the Outback Bowl, unranked Iowa lost to #14 Arizona State 17-7 in the Sun Bowl, and unranked Michigan State lost to #18 Washington 51-23 in the Aloha Bowl. #15 Purdue did beat Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl 33-20.
I will concede that the SEC is the best conference and the Big Ten’s bowl match-ups often have the teams playing up. However it is not often the 2nd and 3rd teams play higher ranked opponents in their bowl games than the champion in the Rose Bowl, and the fourth team plays a team comparably ranked to the Rose Bowl opponent (Georgia #10, Washington State #9). Anyway 3 of the 5 bowl losses were to top ten teams.
With that said I have to add that 9 of 11 Michigan starters played in the NFL plus more back-ups. Three were still starting as of last season, Woodson, Dhani Jones (when not tackling the globe), and James Hall. FWIW, they did hold Ryan Leaf and WSU to their lowest point total of the season. I don’t know who would have won, but fans are going to choose their own team and 1997 Michigan vs. Nebraska would have been fun.
NFL players and 97 Mich/Wash St.
I often get tired of the same tireless debate among which team put more players in the NFL. I think it has nothing to do or at least very little to do with college football.
“Hold Ryan Leaf and WSU to their lowest point total of the season.”
Instead of sugar coating that Rose Bowl victory for MIchigan, it really needs to be stated for what it was. What is that? 1997 Mich struggling terribly to beat that Wash St team. Wash St and Ryan Leaf had a chance to win that game at the end and were likely robbed by the time clock operator of at least one more pass attempt to win that game. If the number of NFL players on a college team mattered as much as some think it does there is no way that Rose Bowl between 97 Mich and 97 Wash St should have been that close.
Case in point.
97 MIch by all accounts put 20+ players in the NFL had some had some long standing careers.
97 Wash ST, and I have researched this, put 3, count ’em on one hand,3 players in the NFL from that Rose Bowl team that mighty Michigan struggled terribly to beat. 3!
Of those 3, who had the best career? Mr. leaf if you can even call it that.
by Andy P skers94 on Mar 30, 2011 2:56 PM CDT up reply actions
THANK YOU FOR THE REMINDER!!!
I was going to post something about the Big 10 that year but you beat me to it. So let’s go a bit deeper into some hard data. Here are the scores by which each and every one of Michigan’s 1997 regular season opponents that went to bowl games got destroyed/stomped/annihilated in their post-regular season contests:
Arizona State 17, Iowa 7
Washington 51, Michigan State 23
Florida 21, Penn State 6
Georgia 33, Wisconsin 6
Florida State 31, Ohio State 14
LSU 27, Notre Dame 9
(Admittedly, this last one should have an asterisk: ND defeated LSU earlier in the year, in Baton Rouge, by a 24-6 score. It was a strange year.)
As you can see, only one of those scores was within 15 points (because Iowa scored a garbage-time TD against Arizona State with about a minute left, thus avoiding a shut-out). And you’ll note that, for all the talk about Michigan’s awesome defense that year, their Big 10 colleagues didn’t really put on any offensive showcases.
I suppose you have to credit Michigan’s defense for bailing out their mediocre offense, though: Two of Michigan’s wins in Ann Arbor (ND and OSU) saw the margin of victory provided by defensive TDs. And, of course, Sam Sword for UM intercepted a last-minute pass against Iowa in Ann Arbor, thus holding the Hawkeyes to 24 points against the “awesome,” “outstanding” Wolverines D. As noted, the same Hawkeyes team struggled to score a single point in their bowl game, but still…
The ‘97 Nebraska team would have beaten ’97 Michigan like a drum. It would not have been close. It would not have been pretty. It would, however, have been enjoyable. It’s a shame we all had to miss it.
Iowa's 24 points
Tim Dwight returned a punt for a TD and Griese threw a pick that was returned to the one. Technically scored against the defense, but a one yard drive. So that sort of knocks it down to 10 points.
As far as the bowls go, you left out the part where Florida State was ranked #3, Florida #4, and Georgia #10. Also the Big Ten was 5-0 against the Big 12 that year. Ohio State won at Missouri 31-10, a much larger margin than Nebraska. Iowa beat Iowa State 63-20 and Minnesota beat them 53-29 putting a dent in the impressiveness of Nebraska’s 77 points scored against them. Northwestern beat Oklahoma 24-0. Purdue beat Oklahoma State in their bowl game 33-20, although Michigan didn’t play Purdue and Nebraska didn’t plat Okie State.
I don’t really believe in the transitive property when it comes to sports, but you are using it with the bowl results. So how do you account for Ohio State’s ease in beating Missouri when Nebraska needed a kicked ball and OT, and Michigan beating Colorado (27-3) and Baylor (38-3) by larger margins than Nebraska did 27-24 and 49-21?
First of all...
Note that those rankings were the AP rankings AFTER Florida State, Florida, and Georgia pummeled their Big 10 opponents. Bit of a technicality but worth noting. Anyway, that’s the nature of bowl games: You’re usually playing a tough opponent. Iowa State and Oklahoma were not tough opponents that year, and I think we can agree to throw out Purdue and Oklahoma State from consideration.
I don’t really believe in the transitive property (in sports) either, I’m just noting a trend. A bowl record of 0-6 is undoubtedly a trend, particularly when five of the six games are losses by 15 or more points and four of the six losing teams fail to score even ten points. Putting the scores another way: A little less than half (five teams) of Michigan’s 1997 regular-season schedule proved incapable of scoring more than two touchdowns in their bowl games. There is nothing dispositive in these results by themselves…just suggestive, particularly considering the season-long accolades for Michigan’s defense.
The Baylor and Colorado results can be partially explained by changed circumstances. Nebraska was playing Colorado in a so-called rivalry match-up at the end of the year, when the Buffs were playing for a bowl game, in Boulder where it takes about three days to acclimate to the thin air (not surprisingly, NU’s offense sputtered in the same fourth quarter when CU scored two TDs). It was far from being CU’s first or second game of the season, and it was an away game so NU did not have the advantage Michigan had against CU (even a non-Nebraska fan can probably admit the game would’ve been closer to 27-3 in Lincoln). Something similar for the insignificant score differential as regards Baylor: Away game for Nebraska, home (and early-season) game for Michigan.
Same thing for Ohio State and Missouri. The Ohio State-Missouri game was separated from the Nebraska-Missouri game by about a month-and-a-half. Missouri was a greatly improved team by the time they met Nebraska. Had the Nebraska-Missouri game occurred the week after the Tigers lost to Ohio State, no Nebraska fan would have been concerned. As it was, plenty of Nebraska fans were concerned about playing a Missouri team in the second half of the season, especially the week after they knocked off a previously unbeaten Oklahoma State team in Stillwater.
97
Meechiganer’s love to say Osborne got a going away present from the coaches. The only gift was to a team that hadn’t earned a Natty in 49 years and a conference that hadn’t in at least 25.
They were all to eager to give one to any Big 10 team.
97 Split Title
Split National Championship ? Nebraska got the Sears Trophy and the $25, 000 Crystal Football while Michigan got the AP’s UGLY Piece of Wood trophy. Hey Michigan, 3 Sears Trophies in 4 years to go along with 60 wins in 5 years, Enough said.
by Cheyenne-Husker on Mar 27, 2011 9:28 AM CDT reply actions
Oh, it will be a rivalry.
I have no fears about that. The #1 and #4 teams being crammed into the same division? Awesome. Epic, even.
At Michigan, we’ve always got room for another big rival. Seriously. I can’t wait.
I honestly have no idea who would have won in ‘97. With all the talent we’d had over the years, Bo had never been able to break through to that #1 spot. So in ‘97, I was just so happy that Lloyd had broken that ceiling, that it didn’t bother me that we were sharing it with someone else. In fact, I respected Nebraska. You know how there’s that moment when your love for college football is still growing and you start wondering which other teams (beyond the usual conference/bowl opponents, I mean) you should be paying attention to? Well Nebraska, with its back-to-back ‘94-’95 wins, was the first team to do that for me: to make me sit up and take notice and wonder who else was out there. Those were some incredible teams, and a fantastic coach who I felt shared the “win the right way” attitude that we held at Michigan as well.
As for rumors I’ve seen lately about arrogance, I would hope they’re not true. And if you look deep enough for the source, you’ll usually find a Sparty hiding in the bushes. We like to play up the arrogance around him, because he just gets riled up SO easily! Here’s the deal. Michigan fans really love our state and really love our team, and feel justified in doing so (most wins, good academics, and up until recently, not a single NCAA violation). And we respect your right to do the same. Unless you live in Ohio, and then we just can’t fathom it.
But as you know, we haven’t been doing so well lately. I hope our new coach can turn it around quickly, and that we can be serious competition in the fall. Warmth and fuzziness aside, I’d of course love to start the series by kicking your big red butts! Either way, I promise you’ll find a warm welcome and a great town in Ann Arbor.
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