Michigan Football - The 70's

Various UM clips from the 70's. Observations from someone who wasn't alive yet...

1. The field at the Big House was astroturf. That lasted until 1991.

2. No lettering in the end zones until 1976.

3. 10 seconds into the video - look at all those empty seats in the stands! Other than the MSU and OSU games, the big house was rarely sold out for the rest of the season. Despite having a combined record of 50-4-1 between 1970 and 1974 and going undefeated at home, the big house didn't start their 100,000+ attendance streak at games until 1975.

4. In the mid-70's, the team wore white pants at away games. We look like Penn State with winged helmets.

5. In 1972, the block M on the 50 yard line looks too small and wimpy. (2:37) I'm glad that didn't stay around too long.

6. The players didn't have their names on their jerseys. Those weren't added until 1981.

7. I'm a little confused. All history records on the internet list the 1974 Colorado game as a home game. But looking at 3:57-4:06, they're obviously playing in Boulder.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Michigan
• Wolverines
• Football
• history
• 70's
• Marching
• Band
• MMB

[harveybullocks1281]

on point number 7 i think you're wrong, it's not Michigan vs. Colorado in 1974 because Rick Leach is obviously playing in that game and he didn't start playing until 1975. i can't tell you who it is for certain though, cause the football history website only has 1 non conference road game listed while Leach was there, Notre Dame 1978, but it looks like that could be Mizzou.

[WolverineHistorian]

Hmmm...you're right, that is Rick Leach and I'm almost certain that clip is from 1975. My bad. If you freeze it at 4:01, I thought the letters in the end zone spelled out Colorado but I must be wrong. It's some road game, I just can't tell who the opponent is.

[TimeAndChange]

Great video from a diehard Buckeye fan. Rick Leach was a stud, and a Buckeye killer. Glad when he graduated! I noticed the buzzer beater with AC vs. Indiana. Bob Ufer, voice of UM, cried like a baby when that play occured...I heard it live in Northen Michigan. Long live the UM/OSU rivalry...

[generalbullmoose]

03:27-06:24 - Any all-time UofM team has to have him at QB. Forget what anybody did in the pros, nobody - NOBODY - ran Bo's option offense better than Ricky Leach.

Too bad he was too small to play in the pros.

[swe449agge]

why was football players so slow in the 70s and 80s?

[UsonianAC]

Is the background music the full-length version of The Victors?

[GoongalaGoongala]

Michigan was easily a top 5 team in the country during the 70's (along with OSU). I'm fairly certain at least one of those teams could of been a National Champion. It's just that OSU had equally great teams at that time and they'd always ruin each others' season. Bo's only weakness seemed to be the damned Rose Bowl. 5 appearances in the 70's, zero wins.

UM and OSU in the 70's was like USC/Texas from the 2005 NC game for 10 years in a row. Thats how good both teams were.

[shmorpie]

@harveybullocks1281 and @WolverineHistorian

I looked at the '75 schedule; the games against Stanford, Baylor and Missouri were ALL Home games, eliminate those I think. Away games were; Wisconsin, MSU, Minnesota & Illinois. That leaves us to conclude the game @ 4:01 is Minnesota. Furthermore, neither Colorado nor Missouri played against Michigan at all in the games in 1976, 77 and 78. Agreed? Thanks again for posting.

[shmorpie]

@WolverineHistorian The name in the end zone @ 4:01 is not Colorado. It appears to be "GOLD", then the next TD the endzone says "COUNTRY". Perhaps that is the Minnesota Golden Gophers? Perhaps not...The frame does not go on long enough for one to see if the "Gold" spells out "Golden", "Golden Gopher", etc.

[MichiganBo]

MICHIGAN IT TO WIN IT!

[KMW52]

Whoever did the video, thanks! It brought back a lot of good memories of General Bo and Blood & Guts Ricky Leach.

[generationll]

Michigan 96-10-2 in the decade of the 1970s

[MrMichigan95]

I agree

[Wayneequalsgod00]

hahaha, those white pants, i hope its always maize pants, i hope they never change there jerseys, i want them to keep it plain and simple, like penn state's