Way Back When-sday: September 30th, 2001

Ah yes, summertime is dwindling down, and autumn is upon us.

The Tigers are recovering from a 5-game losing streak by beating up on Sox of a different color. Last night, Bonderman, Ledezma, Rodney, and Jones combined to allow just two runs, then went out and beat up some smaaart kids at a Haaavard Bar. Might have lost Placido in the process though...

Things are in full fall swing at Camp Shembechler, and if you don't know Terrance Taylor, you will soon enough. Meanwhile, Michigan is going from crap to underrated to dark horse to everybody's secret pick so fast that the AP might have us in the top-10. How can we surprise anyone if everybody knows we are coming? Sports Illustrated online featured us, and Sportcenter's Championship Series just showed us moving up to #8 after knocking off Notre Dame. They do a week from the season each day at 6pm on Sportscenter, and I've got this funny feeling they're going to ride us out as long as possible, pissing off the football powers that be at every step.

But alas, today is not about today, it's about yesterday. It's Way Back When-sday, and today we travel back to one of the early tailgates in UMTailgate.com history...

It was September 29th, 2001, and just to put into perspective how long ago that is, Michigan was about to face Illinois...and Illinois was ranked #22. Crazier still, we had not knocked off the Illini in the Big house since 1996. Wow.

Michigan put a hurting on Illinois on this day, winning 45-20. It came at the hands of unbelievably creative playcalling, which included a 51-yard pass from Marquise Walker TO Jermaine Gonzalez, and a 21-yard touchdown pass by Walter Cross. Yes, you just read that correctly. Maybe it would be more believable if I told you that our regular QB was John Navarre? The day also included a completion from Navarre to TE Bill Seymour, and a reverse for a touchdown by Calvin Bell. Christ, how did we win any games that year? Well, we did get crushed in the Citrus Bowl by Tennessee 45-17.

But the game was not the big story. Captain Michigan retired his leg wrestling championship belt on this day, and became the first person inducted into the UMTailgate.com Hall of Fame. His name was etched into history on the UMTailgate.com flag, which was unveiled by Bubba for the first time in front of a capacity tailgate crowd.

See the original post here, the pictures here, and share your memories of this special day below.

Scheduling note: Michigan Fan Day has been officially scheduled for August 26th.

17 days? You're not ready.

Way Back When-sday: September 4, 2004

With all of the prognostication, pre-season polls, simulations, and general banter going on in the college football world, I thought it might be fun to take you back to a time where nobody had any idea what was going on in the world of Michigan Football. In August of 2004, the Big Ten Championship defense was on deck for the Wolverines. They finished the previous season with a historic victory over Ohio State in the 100th meeting between the two schools, followed by a devastating defeat at the hands of what would become the USC dynasty in the Rose Bowl. The Wolverines also lost the runner-up for the Heismann Trophy, Chris Perry, and 4-year QB John Navarre, both of whom were selected in the NFL draft. New QB, new RB...a scary proposition for any team. But there was some optimism in camp, with the heir apparent Matt Gutierrez ready to take the signal calling reigns, and Lamar Woodley's high school teammate, Jerome Jackson, prepared to fill Chris Perry's shoes as the offensive workhorse.

I remember with great detail, though the Godfather and I had nearly polished off a jug of Captain Morgan's, when the word began to trickle in from the corner of Stadium and Main. Stunned and skeptical at the news of the demise of Matt Gutierrez, I became even more skeptical upon hearing the news of the replacement, true freshman Chad Henne. All I new at the time of Chad was that we stole him away from Joe Pa's backyard, and now he was going to be leading the Maize and Blue? Rumors had been coming out of practice that Henne had been doing well, but better than everybody else? I don't think so, not Coach Carr, who seemed at the time to have a great prejudice against the younger players. What about Clayton Richard, Matt Wilde, or 6th year senior Spencer Brinton? At least they've been here more than 3 weeks!

But game time came and out trotted the 19-year old, fresh faced Henne, wearing the same jersey number as the last true freshman to start a Michigan game, Rick Leach's #7. Shaky at first, he managed to lead the Wolverines to a 43-10 rout of Miami of Ohio, assisted (actually lead) by a stellar defensive performance that netted 7 turnovers.

Of course, that was just one of the surprises we endured during the 2004 campaign...

During the embarrassing upset of the Wolverines in South Bend, a light chuckle came over the crowd as tiny little man entered the game at running back. A second true freshmen, Mike Hart, entered the game and had 5 carries for 17 yards. Mike was an afterthought in a weekend where we truly began to feel like it was a rebuilding year. Little did we know that #20 would be...

Big Ten Freshman of the Year (coaches and media) ... All-Big Ten first team (coaches and media) ... SI.com All-America honorable mention ... Collegefootballnews.com All-America third team ... Scripps/Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America ... Rivals.com Freshman All-America first team ... The Sporting News Freshman All-America second team ... The Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten ... The Sporting News Big Ten Offensive Freshman of the Year ... led the team in rushing with 282 carries for 1,455 yards and nine touchdowns ... caught 26 passes for 237 yards and scored lone touchdown reception on a 25-yard screen pass from Chad Henne at Purdue (Oct. 23) ... led the Big Ten in rushing in all games (121.2 avg.) and conference only games (151.8 avg.) ... finished 10th nationally in rushing yards per contest (121.2 avg.) ... led the Big Ten in attempts (228) and yards (1,214) during conference play ... became the third true freshman in Big Ten history to lead the league in rushing, joining Wisconsin's Ron Dayne (1996) and Minnesota's Darrel Thompson (1986) ... set a U-M freshman rushing record with 1,455 rushing yards and placed seventh on the school's season rushing yardage list ... his rushing total was the second highest all-time in Big Ten history for a freshman ... third in the conference and 26th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (141.0 avg.) ... fumbled the ball just once in 308 touches (282 carries, 26 receptions) ... carried the pigskin 230 times without a miscue following his only career fumble against Iowa (Sept. 25) ... his one lost fumble was the fewest by a Michigan starting tailback during Lloyd Carr's tenure ... had 13 plays of 20 yards or more during the season (nine rushing, four receiving) ... played in all 12 games and started final eight games at tailback ... carried three times for 20 yards and grabbed one reception in career debut vs. Miami (Sept. 4) ... rushed five times for 17 yards and had an eight-yard reception at Notre Dame (Sept. 11) ... became first back to surpass 100-yard barrier on the year, rushing 25 times for 121 yards vs. San Diego State (Sept. 18) ... carried 26 times for 99 yards and scored first career touchdown on a seven-yard run vs. Iowa (Sept. 25) ... had two receptions for 14 yards against the Hawkeyes ... made first career start at Indiana (Oct. 2), gaining 79 yards on 20 carries and scored on a one-yard fourth-down run ... caught two passes for 36 yards against the Hoosiers ... gained 213 offensive yards vs. Minnesota (Oct. 9), rushing 35 times for 160 yards and one rushing touchdown and catching six passes for 53 yards ... carried the ball 40 times for 234 yards and one touchdown and caught three passes for 23 yards at Illinois (Oct. 16) ... won Big Ten co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for performance at Purdue (Oct. 23) ... rushed for 206 yards on 33 carries and caught three passes for 22 yards and a touchdown against the Boilermakers ... scored team's only TD against Purdue on a screen pass that covered 25 yards ... became only the second Wolverine to rush for 200 yards in back to back games (Jon Vaughn 1990) with his performance against the Boilermakers ... named Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week and Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week for his play against Purdue ... became first Wolverine in history to record three straight 200-yard rushing games, scampering for 223 yards on 33 carries and scored one rushing TD vs. Michigan State (Oct. 30) ... passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season against the Spartans, becoming the first true freshman in U-M history to accomplish the feat ... ABC Player of the Game vs. Northwestern (Nov. 13), scoring a career-high three rushing touchdowns on 23 carries for 151 yards ... became the first Wolverine running back with at least 150 yards rushing in five straight games following performance against the Wildcats ... carried the ball 18 times for 61 yards and scored one rushing touchdown at Ohio State (Nov. 20) ... added a 39-yard reception against the Buckeyes ... rushed for 82 yards on 21 carries and caught a four-yard pass vs. Texas in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) ... had his streak of eight consecutive games with at least one touchdown snapped against the Longhorns.

Michigan would go on to win a second straight Big Ten title with the help of Henne, Hart, and Braylon Edwards, and earned a second consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl, where they would fall to the Texas Longhorns on a last second field goal.

The rollercoaster ride of 2004 is a great example that you just never know. What surprises are in store for the 2006 Wolverines? I can't wait to find out...

24 DAYS 

Way Back When-sday... November 2, 2002

Welcome to the latest weekly column added to the whirlwind of UMTailgate.com postings, "Way Back When-sday", where we take a moment to reflect back on a great tailgate, game, moment in Michigan history, or moment in tailgater folly. This week, we take you back to November 2, 2002. The tailgate...epic. The game...full of revenge.

It was a red-letter day for tailgating, as a trio of big names found their way to "the greatest tailgate on the golf course". Tim Busfield of Revenge of the Nerds fame (Poindexter himself) made a cameo appearance in between gigs on The West Wing and Ed. Future state attorney general Mike Cox got some campaign support from the UMTailgaters, and even got his picture taken with Tim. And perhaps the best of all, Joe Cahn, the Commissioner of Tailgating, graced us with his presence. He spent some time sampling the culinary delights of the day which included the now UMTailgate famousSausage and Cheese Chowder, created from a recipe on his website.

We celebrated the 70th birthday of John Dogan, our oldest living tailgater, and presented him with a plaque indicating such. We also celebrated the birthday of tailgater Emily, who is most famous for her UMTailgate.com t-shirt that I enjoy posting to the front page of this website as much as possible.

As for the game at hand, revenge was on the mind of the Wolverines, who fell to the Spartans in the previous year in the infamous "extra-second" game in Spartan Stadium. Michigan State struck first, getting a 3-0 lead before Michigan went on a 49-0 run to end the game with a 49-3 win, the biggest over the Spartans in 55-years. The game featured a battery of John Navarre and BJ Askew, and included Jason Avant's first career catch, and Tim Bracken's first career touchdown.

Somehow graced by the gods I stood on the sidelines for this contest, and had the honor of meeting Steve Everitt at halftime. Despite his Ted Nugent-esque appearance, it's not often you run into a college football player that won 4-consecutive Big Ten titles. He did so as a starting center during the Maize and Blue's "drive for five" in the early-nineties. Three of his four titles were outright titles, as were four of the five overall, a record unheard of in Big Ten history. For example, despite the "amazing" success ofTressel's Cheaters, they have yet to win an outright Big Ten title. Their last was in 1984. Ok, I'm calming down now, sorry.

As we walked out of the tunnel a Spartan fan held up a sign emblazoned with two simple words, "Fire Bobby". I felt bad for about half a second thinking about the Spartan players filing out under that sign...then I came to my senses and had a good laugh. In the wake of a Jeff Smoker suspension for substance abuse just 10 days earlier, Dwan Moss was kicked off the team for public intoxication and assault on a police officer the Sunday after the 49-3 drubbing. Two days later, Michigan State fired Bobby Williams.  Bobby has gone back to riding the coattails of Nick Saban, both at LSU and the Miami Dolphins.

A simply amazing day both on the field and at the tailgate. Share your memories of this day in the comments section below. And as always, GO BLUE!