[Ed. 11/24/2025- Bumped! For obvious reasons!]
Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis
On November 24, 1973, the Ohio State Buckeyes performed one of the most heinous acts in any rivalry, in any sport. The Ohio players ran straight out of the tunnel to take down the coveted GO BLUE – M CLUB SUPPORTS YOU banner. Check it out, Via the Dr. Sap archives:
When the Buckeyes returned in 1975 word was that Woody wanted to do it again, but this time the Michigan Students were ready. The Buckeyes decided that discretion was the better part of valor, so no dastardly shenanigans ensued.
Recently, I was doing some work for the Ufer Family and I stumbled across a video that was labeled “1973 OSU Banner.” Curious to see what it was, I popped in the videotape only to see that it was NOT the 1973 OSU Banner Incident. The short clip is what I call, ‘1977 OSU Banner Incident Part 2.’ As I watched the tape I noticed that a few Michigan Students wearing their M varsity jackets were indeed fending off Woody and his Buckeyes. There were some serious haymakers being thrown as things got downright ugly. Ohio State players and coaches got involved, even the old man himself, old Dr. Strange Hayes, was part of the melee. Via the Dr. Sap archives:
The more I looked at the video, the more fixated I became on one student who seemed to be exhibiting some very sound-blocking fundamentals and techniques. At the end of the video, I got the somewhat blurry money shot of the courageous M-Man. Much like the old Bigfoot Bluff Creek video footage from the 1970s, the image was grainy but I could make out some defining features and characteristics of the subject.
Light brown, mullet-length hair. Possibly a goatee with a mustache. Tough-looking dude for sure…could it be this guy?
That’s former M-man All-American Dave Gallagher who graduated in 1973 and who I believed was playing in the NFL in 1977. Or was he? When I double-checked his NFL stats, I noticed that there was a one-year hiatus in his career…in 1977!
I recently tracked down Dr. Gallagher and asked him if he indeed was the Buckeye Banner basher dude. His response? “Yes I was,” he told me with a smile.
Not only was it Gallagher, but former Michigan teammates Doug Troszak and Tom Drake also donned their M Jackets to thwart Woody and company one more time.
“I bought tickets and I told them (Troszak & Drake) that we were going to defend the banner. We stood in front of the banner as a warning to Woody and them,” he recalled.
But the Ohio State players and coaches paid no heed to #71’s warning as they headed right for the M Club banner that fateful day in 1977. Push came to shove and next thing you know, even Woody started throwing some punches himself!
Here’s the caption from the Daily:
Yup – that’s Woody Hayes already grabbing Gallagher with his right hand and clenching his left fist about to show the former Michigan Captain how much the old man still had in his left hook.
Now, remember, all this happened before the Wolverines took the field! After cooler heads finally prevailed, Gallagher emerged with a bloody nose and was ready to grab his #71 jersey one last time!
The first Michigan coach to see what was going on was Freshman Coach Dennis Brown. He relayed what had just transpired to the maize and blue waiting in the locker room and you can only imagine how fired up they were to take the field in 1977!
Michigan took down Woody and his Scarlet and Gray Test tubes that day, 14-6, to win the Big Ten Title in 1977, but Dave Gallagher got one more souvenir from his last skirmish with the Scarlet & Gray.
“At the end of the year, the Michigan Football team held a players-only banquet and I was the only non-player invited to the event. The 1977 team gave me a plaque commemorating my involvement in defending the banner that year.”
Related:
Where Ufer Laid Woody Hayes Away
Woody says, “Don’t give this to Bo!”
Woody’s message for you Poindexters
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12 Comments
John
Great story and investigative reporting! I love this week . . . Go Blue! Beat the Bucks!
Dennis
Great stuff….Gallagher should have grabbed Doctor StrangeHayes’s glasses and ran….
Lennie Pike
So these guys with the banner try to pick a fight and end up getting one.
Makes sense to somebody.
Greg - MVictors
Agreed and props to Sap – awesome stuff. That second clip of the ’77 game is off the charts
Greg - MVictors
LP, that suggests your beloved Buckeyes were just minding their business. Not so. Michigan enters the field through the tunnel on the east side, crosses the banner at midfield to heads to the west sideline to start the game. The opposing team has no reason to run out to midfield (and/or under Michigan’s banner for that matter) other than to start funny business. Looking at the video they got more than they wanted from Big Dave and his buds
Anonymous
Great footage! Great memories of the Ten Year War!
Dr. Timothy Furnish (@Occidentaljihad)
Keep posting those ancient stories about when you could compete with Ohio State–meanwhile, we’re beating you on a regular basis and competing for national championships! ;
Greg - MVictors
re: “Keep posting those ancient stories” – this site covers Michigan football history so…
Ryan
@ Dr. Furnish, how’s that working out for ya now?
Alan Bilinsky
Just saw this. I took the lead photo. I remember I sold a copy of the picture to Gallagher. I tried to sell it to Sporting News but they told me they had to many photos of Woody hitting people.
brant hinrichs
GREAT article and story. I didn’t remember this happening at all.
Do you think you could get a photo of that plaque that the team presented to Gallagher at the banquet and post it at the end of the article? Thanks!
Jeff Bracken
Thanks for posting this article. I was a first year law student at the time. For those of you who know of Dr. Hazel Losh, there was a tradition that the President of the M Club would pick he up at her house on East University and drive her to the Stadium, where a parking spot was assigned in the first row of parking near the tunnel. Then, the President would walk her into the Stadium and she would sit in a folding chair along the visitors’ sideline and watch warm-ups. When the Letter winners banner was brought onto the field, Doc was escorted out onto the field near the banner to await the team. After the players ran under that banner, the President would escort Doc through the team on the western sideline and up an aisle to her seat in Section 23 Row 60. The President would pick her up after the game at her seat, walk her up the aisle and then around the southern ended of the Stadium and down the stairs on the east side to his car. The President would then take Doc home.
In the fall of 1973, I was a first-year law student. I had been a walk on track team member from 1969-72 and was a letterwinner. The week before the first home game, I received a telephone call from an old track team teammate and friend. He had been elected President of the M Club and found out for the first time that he was expected to assume the duties of taking Doc to the game. When he called me he noted that I had always been interested in Michigan traditions, and asked me whether I might take an older woman to the games every Saturday that fall. Incredulously, I asked if he was talking about Dr. Losh, the professor emeritus in the Department of Astronomy and legendary Michigan football and hockey fan. When the President said that that was the person he was asking about, I accepted.
Doc and I were on the field that day. She was in her early seventies, was tiny and a bit frail, using a cane (and my arm) for balance. We were standing in our regular place (about 15-20 yards north of the banner), when the Buckeye team attacked the banner. As they jumped up and down, Doc got very nervous that in their fervor jumping up-and-down they would spillover over towards us and knock us down. She told me that, and as the drama continued we moved more northerly. If you watch video of the event (viewed from the press box), near the end you will see 2 snall specks on the field in the left front corner of the view that seem to have no connection to the game. That was us. Doc was happy that we were not run over, but had some choice words about the character of the Buckeye team members.
I accompainied her to all the home games that year and, before the start of the next season Doc herself called me to ask if I would be her driver the next year. I gladly agreed.