• Harmon Wins the Heisman (1940) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    Did you know it was 75 years ago Saturday that it was announced Tom Harmon had won the Heisman Trophy?  Indeed, back then they voted, announced the winner, and held a ceremony to honor the recipient at a later date.   So Saturday’s edition of #TWIMFbH talks a little about Old 98 and his finer moments on the gridiron (and off). Yes, in the radio clip I said Harmon “gave birth”.  Ira busted my chops after that and wouldn’t let me edit it (to say “sired” or “fathered” which is probably a little more accurate, although I wouldn’t be against Harmon in life). Readers know the 1940 Cal game is one of my favorites; especially the drunk fan incident.  More here and my tribute: You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here.  And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting at 8am tomorrow, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge across from the Stadium on Main Street.   See you out there. Follow MVictors on Twitter /script Well here were are, another regular season comes to an end as we face the Buckeyes in “The Game”. Today we honor so many great names in Meeechigan lore as we re- re-tire many jersey numbers, including the…

  • Natural Rivalry Resumed (1942) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    This week we mark Saturday’s anniversary of the resumption of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry in 1942, when your beloved #6 ranked Wolverines traveled to South Bend and crushed on the #4 Irish.  But to understand the significance of that day, we first take a trip back to November 1910 to understand why the rivalry was originally cancelled.  Go Blue, Beat Irish! [display_podcast] You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here.  And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge Saturday starting at 11:30am. Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • Little Brown Jug History in < 4 Minutes | This Week In Michigan Football History

    Wooo!  If you want your Jug History dished out slowly over 1,000s of words, read every post in Little Brown Jug Lore here. If that’s not your speed, here’s the history of the jug CRAMMED into a 3:45 audio clip: [display_podcast] You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here.  And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge tomorrow starting at 11:30am.   Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • Yost Returns to Bust the Galloping Ghost (1925) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    Lesson:  Don’t mess with Michigan, its football team, or in particular, Fielding Yost or Benny Friedman.  You’ll pay. Just the great Red Grange about what happened in 1925…or better yet listen to Saturday’s BEAT STATE edition of This Week in Michigan Football History: More on that 1925 game against Red Grange here.  You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here.  And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course, live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge tomorrow starting at 11:30am. Follow MVictors on Twitter /script: 1925 was a special year in Wolverine football lore as it featured the return, after taking a season off, of Fielding Yost as head coach. His timing couldn’t be better and he led his beloved Meeechigan with one of the finest, arguably THE best, squads in his brilliant tenure in Ann Arbor. The 1925 season opened with 39-0 and 63-0 drubbings of Michigan State and Indiana leading to this day in Michigan Football History – a trip to Madison Wisconsin to face the Badgers 90 years ago today. The Badgers were headed by George Little, a former Yost assistant, who coincidently served as the Wolverine head coach in 1924. Wolverine quarterback Benny Friedman wasn’t…

  • TWIMFbH: “Turtle Slow” Tom Brady takes on Nick Saban’s Spartans (1998)

    Saturday’s edition of TWIMFbH jets back to the conference opener of 1998 – a battle against Nick Saban and the Spartans.  Tom Brady took all the snaps for the Wolverines in this gem, played on September 26, 1998: You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here.  And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor.   See you out there. Follow MVictors on Twitter script: It’s hard to defend any title, especially a national title, but that’s what Michigan and Lloyd Carr set out to do in 1998. Gone was Heisman winner Charles Woodson, but the team returned enough talent to earn a top 5 preseason ranking. But things didn’t go as planned, and the year started 0-2 with losses at Notre Dame and at home against Syracuse. The Wolverines took the first step toward righting the ship by crushing our friends from Ypsilanti 59-20 to conclude the preseason. On September 26 1998 the Wolverines opened the big ten slate with a huge one against rival Michigan State and head coach Nick Saban. One of the big questions of the year was at quarterback, where…

  • TWIMFbH – Winning the September Heisman (2009)

    Admit it.  Perhaps not to the extent of @mgojen, but you have a few fond memories of the RichRod era.  You squealed like a little girl when this happened back in 2009:   It was indeed a fantastic moment in an otherwise rough stretch.  All this happened six years ago this Saturday so why not?  It’s the subject of This Week in Michigan Football History: [display_podcast] Don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor.   See you out there.   Script: While Rich Rodriguez’s tenure in Ann Arbor was widely a struggle, it certainly wasn’t without its moments. One of those came on this day 6 years ago, and Charlie Weis and his #18 ranked Fighting Irish visited the Big House for what would prove to be another epic chapter of the great rivalry between our storied programs. The Wolverines got the upper hand early, as over 110,000 fans saw the Blue jump to a 14-3 lead thanks to a Brandon Minor run and at the end of the first quarter and a blazing 94-yard kickoff return by Daryl Stonem. But the second quartered was owned by the Irish as quarterback Jimmy…

  • TWIMFbH: Let’s Finally Play (Most of) A Football Game. Fergodsakes. (2011)

    Brady trots out of the tunnel for the first time (& leaves headset in locker room by mistake) To kickoff the sixth season of This Week in Michigan Football History we dip back to 2011, to the official start of the last glorious period of redemption for Michigan football.   Yes, our friends from Kalamazoo visited the Big House for a bizarre and historic day, when an otherwise obscure figure in Wolverine history made history as did Mother Nature.  Dig it: [display_podcast] Don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor. For those so inclined, here’s a little more from my 2011 post on the history of games ending early: It’s certainly not the first Michigan football game to end before the planned allotted time.   Most notably two of the most famous games in college football history ended early: The 1902 Rose Bowl (the first bowl game ever played) ended with plenty of time on the clock because Yost, Heston and crew were putting a colossal smack down on Stanford.  From the Bentley: With eight minutes remaining in the game, Stanford captain Ralph Fisher approached the Wolverine bench and offered to concede; Michigan consented.…