In life, there are circumstances thrust upon you, and as the recipient of the circumstances you either embrace the challenge or falter under the weight of the circumstance.
Going into the 1995 season, Michigan defensive coordinator Lloyd Carr was preparing to figure out the biggest issues to stem from the 1994 season.
The first was losing to Ohio State. Ohio State head coach John Cooper had arguably his memorable motivational moment as Buckeyes head coach while motivating the Buckeyes he delivered a haymaker punch to a blackboard and didn’t flinch.
The “inspirational” moment carried the Buckeyes to a 22-6 win over Michigan, their first win against Michigan at Ohio Stadium since 1984. It was Cooper’s first win against Michigan at Ohio State and the players returned the favor to carry Cooper off the field.
Michigan’s second problem came from the “new kid on the block” in Penn State, who joined the Big Ten in 1993 and during the 1994 season ran rampant throughout the country, escaping from a trip to Michigan Stadium with a 31-24 win.
The Michigan base began to question whether head coach Gary Moeller was the right successor to legendary Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler.
That question was answered on May 5, six days prior Moeller had gotten intoxicated at a suburban Detroit restaurant. When police intervention was required, Moeller punched a police officer in the chest. Moeller would be formally charged, his disgrace was not reconcilable, leading to his resignation.
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Carr was named interim head coach as Michigan conducted a national search. Carr embraced the role and worked on getting Michigan prepared for the 1995 season.
After winning the Pigskin Classic against No. 17 Virginia and starting off 8-2, Michigan administrators appreciated the work Carr had done and officially hired him as head coach. Carr’s immediate thank you would come against Ohio State that season.
Ohio State entered the final of the regular season No. 2 in the country, undefeated, with six ranked wins notably against Washington, Notre Dame, and Penn State.
The Buckeyes were loaded talent-wise with eventual Heisman Trophy winner at running back Eddie George, future NFL Hall of Famer at tackle Orlando Pace, and future pro’s in wide receiver Terry Glenn, tight end Rickey Dudley, and defensive backs Antoine Winfield and Shawn Springs.
The game became known in the rivalry as “The Tim Biakabutuka Game” (something about those who wear #21 for Michigan brings the best out of them against Ohio State) as Biakabutuka rushed for 313 of Michigan’s 381 yards. Biakabutuka put the game away in the middle of the fourth quarter when he extended the Michigan lead to 15 when he rushed into the end zone from two yards out.
This game would set the tone that John Cooper couldn’t beat Michigan and for the Wolverines, they not only made the right hire but one who could win the big game.
In 1996, Michigan looked to avenge the “Kordell Stewart Hail Mary Game” by traveling to No. 5 Colorado. The game came down once again to the final play of the game, with five seconds to go from the Michigan 37-yard line and Michigan leading 20-13, Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer tossed a hail mary, but this time the Buffaloes’ prayers weren’t answered as Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson swatted away the attempt.
Coming into the Ohio State game at The Shoe, Michigan had dropped back-to-back games against Purdue and Penn State. The tables had turned where Michigan who started the season looking to avenge their loss against Colorado now were in an opposite role against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the country, had the Rose Bowl locked up, and a win against Michigan would secure a potential national championship showdown against Jake Plummer and Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.
Michigan again started sluggishly like they did the previous two weeks trailing 9-0 at halftime.
Carr decided to bench the ineffective Scott Dreisbach, who went four for 10 passing for 29 yards and replace him with Brian Griese, son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese, for a spark.
The spark was instantaneous as Griese connected with Michigan wide receiver Tai Streets for a 68-yard touchdown to open the second half.
After Griese led the Wolverines to two more fields, Michigan in back-to-back seasons ruined arguably the most talented team in the country, Ohio State by the score of 13-9. Carr proved that Cooper could not outwit or outcoach him even with such a talent disparity between the two schools.
Carr’s coaching opus was the 1997 season, where he would lead the Wolverines to a share of the national championship.
Entering the 1997 campaign, while the Wolverines had the proclivity of winning significant games, primarily against Ohio State, they had a penchant for dropping some head-scratching games notably in 1996 against a Purdue team that only won three games.
It was the first Michigan team since Bo Schembechler’s first team in 1969 to be void of any Rose Bowl veterans on the roster.
Not helping matters, Michigan entered the season with the toughest schedule that featured out-of-conference matchups against Colorado (who was a Top 10 team entering the season) and Notre Dame. In conference play Michigan would have to travel to Nick Saban-led Michigan State, and in back-to-back weeks prior to hosting Ohio State to conclude the season road trips to Penn State and Wisconsin.
Carr entered the season as well with a quarterback duel between Dreisbach and fifth-year senior Griese, who was a key factor in the rally against Ohio State. Entering into the fold was a sophomore from San Mateo, California named Tom Brady, who would push Dreisbach and Griese during the competition.
Ultimately, Carr settled in on Griese and he was supported by an amazing cast on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Griese was supported by an offensive line that would go on long careers in the NFL. Future NFL Hall of Fame guard Steve Hutchison moved to offense ahead of 1997, would become a starter, and a four-time All-Big Ten lineman. Other NFL linemen on the squad were tackles Jon Jansen and Jeff Backus, both started nearly a decade at the next level.
The strength of the 1997 Wolverines squad would be a stifling defense that would yield only 9.5 points per game.
The star of the defense was defensive back Charles Woodson, who Carr would use as a returner on special teams and give him looks at wide receiver on offense.
The first highlight for Woodson that would begin to move the Heisman needle came against in-state rival Michigan State on a one-handed interception.
After advancing to 8-0 against rival Minnesota, Michigan traveled to Penn State in a clash of Top 4 teams.
The Nittany Lions entered the contest undefeated, going back and forth each week with Nebraska as the top-ranked team in the nation. They had a Top 10 offense and defense, had the nation’s longest unbeaten streak, and had defeated Michigan three consecutive times.
Michigan early and often met and exceeded the physicality of the Nittany Lions and stifled the Lions to a season-low 169 yards of total offense, their lowest for a game since 1987.
The 34-8 defeat of the Nittany Lions was Joe Paterno’s worst home loss ever as head coach.
After defeating Wisconsin, Michigan entered The Game against Ohio State in another Top 4 matchup.
The game was tight early as each side punted on nine of their first 10 possessions. Michigan was able to get two field goals early in the second quarter, and as the Wolverines’ defense clinging to a 6-0 lead forced another Ohio State punt, arguably one of the most iconic plays in the series and in Michigan history occurred when Woodson sealed the Heisman Trophy on a 77-yard punt return.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QWJC774CrQ
Michigan would end up defeating Ryan Leaf and Washington State in the Rose Bowl 21-16, earning a share of the national championship, the program’s first since 1948.
The three things Carr will be forever remembered or associated with in the 1990s for Michigan were his ability to dominate Ohio State (4-1 in the 1990s), his 1997 opus, and the Drew Henson vs. Tom Brady quarterback duel.
While Brady was Michigan’s starting quarterback in 1998, the allure of two-sport sensation Drew Henson was too irresistible for Carr.
The Henson hype machine began during his prep career displaying he was arguably the greatest polished quarterback prospect Michigan ever had. Henson’s ability motivated Michigan icon Bo Schembechler to personally recruit him.
Brady, who once before wanted to leave Michigan after started horribly, recanted recently Carr’s first challenge to him, “It’ll be something you’ll regret for the rest of your life,” Carr said. “You came here to be the best. You came here because of the great competition. If you walk away now, you’ll always wish you had stayed … you’ll always wonder what would have happened if you stayed.”
Brady was involved in the Griese/Dreisbach competition, and now he had a fight off a prodigy in Henson.
If Carr had a coaching flaw, he arguably let the Brady/Henson duel go on too long and it created distractions on the team.
During the 1999 Penn State game, Brady had three interceptions and sacked six times trailing 27-17 going into the fourth quarter. Michigan wide receiver David Terrell was blown away by the blood on Brady’s face and Brady just told him to stay focused and do his job. Brady led the rally to upend Penn State 31-27.
After his retirement, Carr went on The Rich Eisen Show and was asked why Brady didn’t play more. Carr answered that due to Brady being blocked early in his career by Brian Griese, he did not accrue experience. When Henson arrived in 1999, Brady even after a year as a starter was still learning his craft, and he felt Henson competing would determine if Brady had the meddle or if Henson was the starter.
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It is one that Michigan fans debate if Carr did not let the competition Michigan may have gone undefeated. Carr praised Brady, feeling his final stretch of starts in 1999 led to his epic performance and full maturation in the Orange Bowl against Alabama where Brady led the Wolverines to a 35-34 win behind his 369 yards and four touchdown passes.
During the 1990s, Carr led the resurgence of the Wolverines as a national power. This was powered by an 11-1 record in the 1990s (20-8 record overall in his career) against top ten-ranked teams. In perspective, his predecessors Gary Moeller went 7-5-1 and Bo Schembechler went 14-19-1 against top ten competition.
Current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is 5-13 in games where the opponent is ranked in the Top 10 and carries a “Bo Schembechler-esque” 1-6 record in bowls. While back-to-back wins against Ohio State and Big Ten Championships have been excellent, Michigan fans yearn for the big game excellence Carr demonstrated.
In Michigan lure, names like Yost, Crisler, Oosterbaan, and Schembechler might be the faces of the Mount Rushmore of Michigan coaches, but Carr’s accomplishments put him into consideration.
The 2000s weren’t as kind to Carr as Ohio State found its answer to Michigan in Jim Tressel. Michigan would lose some head-scratching games as well, notably Appalachian State in Carr’s final season.
In the postseason, Carr got bit by bad luck when Michigan collided with the decade’s top dynasty in Pete Carroll’s Southern California Trojans twice in the Rose Bowl and a third Rose Bowl loss to Vince Young and Texas.
In the 1990s Carr defined his excellence, took Michigan to heights it hadn’t seen in a generation, and when the biggest games mattered Michigan won them, and for that is his inclusion on our list of top coaches of the decade.
