A wildly hyped match-up in 1978, and it had everything: Montana, Leach, Devine, Bo, Golden Domes, Winged Helmets, Touchdown Jesus and of course….nearly 100 years of history between the Natural Enemies….Michigan and Notre Dame.
This Week in Michigan Football History appears live on the WTKA 1050AM (and WWWW 102.9FM) Countdown to Kickoff approximately two hours before kickoff.
Full script:
Good morning and Happy Homecoming to the thousands of alums back in Ann Arbor this weekend, and of course, to the Millions listening around the world. Did you know it’s actually our Big Ten buddies from Champaign that claimed to have started this tradition – indeed Illinois first started having an annual homecoming weekend in 1910.
And speaking of traditions, today’s opponent Rutgers of course owns the distinction of the first victory in college football history way back in 1869, but of course Michigan owns the tradition of winning the most – and Schembechler Hall has 991 victory pigkins on display to prove it. You can’t talk college football tradition without talking Michigan and Notre Dame. The 130 year relationship with our friends from South Bend has been rocky at best. It started on good terms – when we taught them, yes literally taught them, how to play football in 1887 but it quickly turned sour. By 1910 it got straight up NASTY when the scheduled battle that year was cancelled HOURS before the scheduled kickoff due to a dispute over player eligibility.
As time went on – the stakes got higher. In the 20s tauntings and accusations of cheating were lobbed back and forth between icons Knute Rockne and Fielding Yost. After over 3 decades of not meeting on the gridiron, the teams played and split games in 1942 and 1943, but for there the relationship cooled once again. Not helping matters is the fact that both schools STILL claim to be the rightful owner of the 1947 national championship.
It wasn’t until the 1970s, when Michigan AD Don Canham was looking for ways to fill the Big House, that the natural enemies resumed their rivalry. The game was exactly 45 years ago on this day in MEECHIGAN football history – September 23, 1978 – in a game dubbed “The Reunion Game”.
It was a showdown of 2 of college football’s legendary schools and 2 of its biggest stars, Joe Montana and Ricky “the Peach” Leach. Irish coach Dan Devine added to the hype by allowing his players to don those “lucky” <ahem> green jerseys. But it was almost over before it started for Michigan. Leach had a bad ankle injury that kept him out of practice all week. Bo was already making plans to go without #7…But the Flint native was boosted by a pep talk from legendary radio voice Bob Ufer – and Ricky promised old Ufe he would give it a go…
The game was held in South Bend, and Michigan trotted into the half down 14-7 …but Leach and the Meechigan defense would not be denied and dominated the second half. Curtis Greer closed the day by crushing Montana and his lucky green jersey in the Irish End zone for a safety – making the final 28-14.
The rivalry was back on – and back to square one – with the Meechigan men teaching the Irishmen how to play the game right in their backyard.
Go Blue – Beat Rutgers! And For more, checkout WTKA.com and MVictors.com – for the Keybank Countdown to kickoff this is the Professor, Greg Dooley
