• 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…

  • Missing on Pay-dirt

    Via the January 14, 1993 Michigan Daily: Indeed, “Payton” considered Michigan along with Florida and his dad’s alma mater Ole Miss before committing to Phil Fulmer at Tennessee right around signing day.    Bagging Manning put the Vols on top of most recruiting ratings for 1994, while Gary Moeller’s Michigan crew finished in the top three.   Dreisbach was joined by commits Marcus Ray, Sam Sword, Clint Copenhaver, Jay Feely, Chris Floyd, and Jerame Tuman. So how would have history changed had Manning selected Michigan?  No idea, but I don’t think there are any regrets with either side.  U-M of course took the ‘97 national title, Tennessee netted a Heisman runner-up :) and the BCS crown in ‘98. Related:  Hoover Street Rag explored the What If? Manning scenario back in March 2012.     Follow MVictors on Twitter HT: Buddy from Stunt3 – thanks for sending this over.