TWIMFbH: Chips, the 51 Club & Beating Sweatervest McCheatypants (2003)

Yes sir!  This Week in Michigan Football History returns for its 5th season as part of the WTKA 1050AM (and new this year, Sports Extra 1330AM in Flint) KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff.

Saturday we relive THE HORROR we jump back 11 years to the rosy season of 2003, when John Navarre and Chris Perry led the Wolverines on another championship run.

Things started off on August 30, 2003 when our pals from Mount Pleasant came to town and kept it interesting before Perry and Navarre dialed up 4 straight touchdowns in the second half.   After stumbling on the road at Oregon and Iowa, Coach Carr’s crew responded in epic fashion, including the ridiculous comeback in Minnesota and the 51 Special [inset photo via the Michigan Daily] in East Lansing.

The regular season concluded in grand fashion with the glorious 100th game in Ohio State rivalry, as against Ohio State and Sweatervest McCheatypants came to town in late November and got served by the Victors Valiant.

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You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here…And don’t forget to catch it live Saturday on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM and Sports Extra 1330AM in Flint or..inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge Saturday.

Script:

This Week in Michigan Football History we stroll back 11 years to August 30, 2003, to the opener of that very Rosy season as over 110 thousand fans welcomed the Chippewas of Central Michigan to the Big House.

Expectations of Lloyd Carr’s men heading into the season were as usual very high – and the Wolverines started the year as the #4 ranked team in the land.

The Chips didn’t expect to be much of a test for the potent Maize and Blue offense that featured seasoned quarterback John Navarre along with Braylon Edwards and would-be All American back Chris Perry.

But CMU kept things interesting…and to start the 2^nd half they pulled together a 92-yard scoring drive to cut the U-M lead to 17 to 7.

That score no doubt sent a wakeup call to the men on the West sideline and he Wolverines answered the bell—with 4 straight touchdowns–and they rolled to a 45-7 rout.   Perry put up 232 yards on day 11 years ago, including a pair of TDs on the ground while Navarre contributed 245 through the air.

But the story of a season is rarely told in the opener, and that was no different in 2003.  Weeks later Michigan stumbled on the road at Oregon, and then Iowa to go to 4 and 2 midway through the year.

A trip to Minnesota was next to the battle for the JUG on a rare Friday night game.

Inside the Metrodome an inspired Gopher team rolled out to a 28-7 lead into the fourth quarter putting Big Ten title hopes in serious jeopardy.  But in one of the all-time memorable comebacks, Michigan rallied for 31 points in the final stanza and strolled out of Minnesota, jug in tow.  The epic comeback victory seemed to propel the Wolverines, and a string of victories ensued.

Two weeks later Perry took the ball 51 times – yes 51 times – racked up 219 yards and smothered the 9^th ranked Spartans in East Lansing.   And a couple weeks after that, the season concluded in grand fashion, as Michigan captured a 35-21 victory over the Jim “SweaterVest McCheaty Pants” Tressel & the Buckeyes in the 100^th meeting of the fabled rivalry, earning Lloyd Carr and company another trip to the Rose Bowl.

For more, Checkout MVictors.com and WTKA.com – for the KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff, this is Greg Dooley.

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