#5: 1973
Bo Schembechler had a few great teams during his two decades in Ann Arbor. The 1969 team will always be remembered for the upset of No. 1 Ohio State that started the “Ten Year War.” In 1985, current head coach Jim Harbaugh quarterbacked Schembechler’s club to a 10-1-1 record that included a Fiesta Bowl win against Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, but a No. 1 vs. No. 2 loss to Iowa and a 3-3 tie to Illinois hurts that club.
It was Bo’s near perfection in 1973 that makes my list.
Michigan was led by quarterback Dennis Franklin, a running back group of Ed Shuttlesworth, Chuck Heater, Gil Chapman, and Gordon Bell who ran from nearly 2,500 yards. Tight end Paul Seals was the team MVP, defensively cornerback Dave Brown and defensive tackle Dave Gallagher led a unit that allowed 6.2 points per game
The Wolverines, ranked No. 4 in the polls, won each of their first 10 games by at least two touchdowns and defeated their first seven Big Ten opponents 235 to 48 leading up to their annual end-of-the-year matchup against No. 1 Ohio State.
No. 1 Ohio State took a 10-0 halftime lead, but Michigan rallied in the second half to tie it at 10 and regained possession with six minutes left.
As Michigan had all the momentum and was looking to cap an undefeated season, Ohio State defensive end Van DeCree broke quarterback Dennis Franklin’s collarbone with under three minutes to go.
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Without Franklin, Michigan could not get settled offensively and missed two field goals settling for a 10-10 tie.
Much like how the College Football Playoff Committee this year punished Florida State for not having Jordan Travis, the Big Ten punished Michigan by sending Ohio State to the Rose Bowl – one that Schembechler called his most bitter defeat.
#4: 1947-1948
It what may be a theme in this list, it is hard to pick between the opuses of Fritz Crisler and Bennie Oosterbaan
The 1948 Michigan team was punished by the Big Ten rule of consecutive Rose Bowl appearances, the 1947 Michigan team defeated Southern California 49-0 in the Rose Bowl.
The 1947 Michigan team was known as the “Mad Magicians” due to the complex deceptions Crisler’s single wing formations of shifts and motions that confused opposing defenses outsourcing them 394 to 53.
Leading the 1947 group was Heisman runner up left halfback Bob Chappuis, Big Ten MVP right halfback Bump Elliott, future Pro Football Hall of Famer in defensive end Len Ford, and Consensus All-American tackle Alvin Wistert.
The 1948 group saw departures in Crisler, Chappuis, Elliott amongst others but it did not miss a beat in Oosterbaan’s first season as head coach.
The Wolverines pitched five shutouts, beat all but two of their opponents by at least 10 points, and outscored Big Ten opponents 190-37 en route to their second consecutive national title
#3: 2023
The resolve this team has demonstrated on this run to the National Championship is one of the main reasons it is in the Top 5.
When you look back at what Fielding Yost said in his retirement speech in 1940, this describes Team 144, “My heart is so full at this moment, I fear I could say little else. But do let me reiterate the Spirit of Michigan. It is based on a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways. An enthusiasm that makes it second nature for Michigan Men to spread the gospel of their university to the world’s distant outposts. And a conviction that nowhere, is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours.”
Aside from the external factors of Harbaugh suspensions and the potential espionage conducted by the staff, the players blocked out the noise and have been the sole reason Michigan has achieved as much.
Running back Blake Corum set the career Michigan rushing touchdown record in the Rose Bowl passing Anthony Thomas mark of 55 between 1997 and 2000, as well as extending his record for single season touchdowns of 25.
Corum is blocked by another fantastic offensive line unit that had won the previous two Joe Moore Awards and a defense that has given up 10.2 points per game and 243.1 yards per game.
#2: 1901-1905
This very well could be a very anti-climatic list and easily could have made the “Point-A-Minute” Wolverines the entire Top 5 was completely doable.
That wouldn’t be any fun.
To distinguish one of these five Fielding “Hurry Up” Yost teams as the best is a near impossible task when you consider they outscored their opposition 2,821 to 42 in 57 games going 55-1-1 during that period.
The 1901 Wolverines went 11-0, went unscored upon, out-scoring the opposition 550-0, and won the first Rose Bowl against Stanford 49-0.
#1: 1997
If you are going to have a single season team topple Fielding Yost’s “Point-A-Minute” Wolverines, you got to have an exceptional group that did something that distinguishes themselves from all other Michigan teams, and I feel Team 118 did that.
Lloyd Carr’s greatest gift to Michigan was the 1997 group and arguably the greatest Wolverine to ever dawn the “winged helmet” Charles Woodson led Michigan to a season few will ever forget.
Team 118 defeated seven Top 15 opponents by a combined score of 153 to 72.
The 1997 defense, one of the best in Big Ten and Michigan history, allowed only 8.2 points per game and did not allow any fourth quarter points or second half touchdowns in their first eight games.
Could the 2023 Michigan team, with a win Monday night, become the greatest Michigan team ever?
This is a much more difficult question to answer.
The logjam at the top of the Michigan isn’t just three teams, I had cheesed it a bit and lumped together Yost’s “Point-A-Minute” Wolverines.
The argument against Yost’s teams is that they came at the infancy of college football and were light years ahead of the competition. I always approach lists and treat everyone fairly no matter where they come in because 100 years from now, someone will be looking back at what the 2023 Wolverines did and have to judge what they did up against what college football may look like in 2123.
After Walter Camp’s Yale teams, Yost’s Wolverines were the sport’s next great team and was a catalyst to grow and build the game throughout the country, and the impact of playing Stanford in the Rose Bowl gave the game the concept of bowls.
I feel though in Michigan annals, Yost’s teams may drop a notch if Team 144 wins, I feel the “Point-A-Minute” teams more resonate historically nationally with their impact. Not trying to say Michigan doesn’t appreciate them, they certainly do, but I feel folks will have a better opinion on Team 144.
When you pit 1997 vs. 2023, Team 118 vs. Team 144, to me they are mirror images of each other. I would say this year’s group is better offensively but 1997 is better defensively.
I always felt that I rewatched Michigan in 1997 demolishing Penn State, Charles Woodson’s iconic return in “The Game,” and the Rose Bowl win against Washington State. I felt Michigan had an offense that was efficient enough to get it done. You look at the 2023 group, the offense may have slowed when the competition leveled up, but JJ McCarthy played at a higher level than Brian Griese in my mind.
I feel Corum is the best back to ever play at Michigan and I don’t say that lightly.
I feel the offensive line units of both teams, while 1997 had future Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson, along with Jeff Backus who nearly played 200 games in the NFL, and Jon Jansen nearly 140, my claim that the 2023 unit is as good is a real statement as well.
Defensively 1997 has it by a hair over the 2023 unit, but the gap isn’t much.
I said after Ohio State, “Most feel this is the most talented team since the 1997 Wolverines that last won a share of the national championship.”
“This might be sacrilegious but I feel this team is better than the 1997 Wolverines,” I feel head to head 2023 beats 1997, now in terms of greatness at Michigan, to be the greatest there is the accomplishment of things and winning a national championship is the biggest component of that. Win Monday, Team 144 looks up to nobody in Michigan history.
