Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis I was there at Michigan Stadium when this last happened. When Michigan last rolled out three straight shutouts, I had the same reaction in 1980 as I did on Saturday – “Wow! Didn’t see that coming!!”Granted, 35 years ago the Wolverines stymied some pretty good QB’s, with one of them being the all-time leading passer in NCAA history, but as the old hockey saying goes, “They don’t ask how – they just ask how many.” So true and so impressive. Even more impressive are this week’s Champions: SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – Typically the Special Teams Champion gets also-ran, ho-hum coverage – not anymore! I’ve played on enough teams and watched enough football to realize that the truly great teams end up getting contributions from different players each week. Saturday against Northwestern was a classic example. In recent weeks I have mentioned how the defense may have set the tone early in the game with an INT, or how the offense may have set the tone by dominating and driving for an early score. Well, Jehu Chesson sent a message that hasn’t been sent since Tyrone Wheatley returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Houston in 1992. We’ve all seen how masterful Coach Baxter has been with these Special Teams in the first…
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Testudo Champions | Dr. Sap’s Decals
Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Well, I was one of those guys who predicted a shutout against Maryland – just not like that – yikes! The defense is starting to look very 1980/1985-ish. But the offense? The offense is still a work in progress, or is it? I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out where this team is in the next two weeks. In the meantime, here are the Champions for the Maryland Game: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – Gotta go with Drake Johnson. With no De’Veon Smith and Ty Isaac not being able to hang on to the ball, The Drake made plays and looked comfortable running the ball – brace and all on his left knee. When the team was sputtering and looking for a spark on “O,” #20 made the most of his opportunity. DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – It’s obvious the D-Line is playing lights out these past few games, but when the game/match was resembling an FA Cup Final and tied nil-nil after 15 minutes, Desmond Morgan was the difference on defense. His INT and strip thwarted Maryland drives when the game was still in doubt. The more I see of #3, the more I think that he is starting to look like a classic Michigan middle linebacker. SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – Speaking of soccer, you…
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Mike Hammerstein’s 47 Helmet Stickers
So Amara Darboh had 9 helmet stickers after Utah, Jake Butt 8 and a handful of others (Peppers, Rudock) had seven. Assuming the stickers are dealt out after games, we’ve presumably got a few guys with at least 15 helmet stickers on their lids following Oregon State. Now, I’ve heard some argue that these assumptions are wrong – that many of the decals to date were earned in practice (including camp) and therefore it’s not a straight line ratio from now to the end of the season. But if the stickers are tied to game performance, and the criteria for getting stickers in a game stays consistent throughout the season – things will get sticky soon. The skinny: We already know the stickers are the same size as the 1985-1994 version. As discussed here, the standard for decals likely goes to Mike Hammerstein, the mid-80s standout defensive tackle. He was the team MVP in 1985 and his helmet showed it. The big man was honored with 47 decals entering the bowl game, assuming he didn’t leave a couple on Keith Byars’ arse: Assuming we’re not touching the area on or inside the wings (I will fight you, Jake Rudock!), at a glance it looks like we’ve got max capacity at 60. Maybe we could get 62 on Wormley. Fast forward…
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Decalanalysis Phase II: Evolution of the 2015 Helmet Sticker
Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before we examine the 2015 decal (which we started in Phase I here) we need to look back at the evolution of the Michigan Football helmet decals. 1969-1974 Version #1 – When Bo introduced the helmet stickers at Michigan in 1969 (Version 1), they were solid, maize-colored, crudely shaped footballs. These were used through the 1974 season. Here’s Don Moorhead’s helmet as featured on HelmetHut.com: 1975-1982 Version #2 – The decal shape became more oval and the snarling wolverine head was added. There was now a left-facing version, and a right-facing version. Here is a good look at them from one of Jim Dack’s helmets (find more info on Jim’s collection at wolverinehelmet.com): The other distinction with this version was that the wolverine image was actually clear, thus allowing the blue helmet paint to make the wolverine appear blue: Because the design was made 40 years ago, there was no high-end computer program like Photoshop that was used to create the snarling Wolverine head graphic. It was probably created using Line Art. Notice the level of detail on the hair, teeth and nose of the wolverine. The more you zoom in, the more detail you will see. 1983-1984 No Helmet Stickers. The mystery of this two-year stretch discussed here. 1985-1994 Version 3 –…
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Jim Harbaugh’s Top 5 Games at Michigan
A guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis #5: 1984 Miami (FL) – Jim Harbaugh’s first start as a Michigan Wolverine would come against the #1-ranked, defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes and he didn’t disappoint. Wolverine fans, myself included, had long felt that the maize and blue lacked one thing on offense for a few years – a tall, pocket-passing QB, ideally from California. That finally happened with the Palo Alto, CA 6-3, 202 pound Harbaugh. Having heard that he had attended a high school passing camp with John Elway as his instructor, sealed the deal for me – Harbs was going to be the next starting QB in my opinion and his first start was highly anticipated by many. His first two passes against Miami – an out pattern to Vince Bean for 11 yards and another to Steve Johnson for 16 yards – showed off his strong arm, much to the delight of the Michigan Stadium crowd, as Michigan went on to win, 22-14. It was an impressive victory for the Wolverines and a great start for the new QB from California. #4: 1985 Notre Dame – Remembering how Michigan finished the 1984 season at 6-6, not many gave U-M a chance in the season opener against Notre Dame in 1985. It was a statement game for both…
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The Case of the Missing Helmet Decals | Storytime with Dr. Sap
In my never-ending quest to accurately recap the history of the Michigan Football helmet stickers, I have since determined, and confirmed with Jon Falk, that there were indeed three versions of the Wolverine decals. The image below recaps the nuances of the three versions:
