During the off-season, the WLA will be recapping Michigan seasons past. These pieces will be from both the regualar writers and also from readers who submit pieces. If you have interest (particularly in the early ’90’s or earlier), feel free to send any submission to wolverineliberation@gmail.com. Today, reader/commenter/friendofblog “ChrisGoComment” brings you the 2005 season. The 2002 season can be found here.

NOOOOO! Pitch it to Breaston!!!! (photo from mikedesimone.com)

As the University of Michigan Football Team neared the start of the 2005 season, there were many reasons for optimism, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Coming off an offensive explosion of 37 points and 352 total yards in a Rose Bowl appearance in January of that year against Texas (argh, damn you Dusty Mangum and Vince Young), Michigan featured a young but exciting offense. With record setting performances as Freshman in 2004, Chad Henne and Mike Hart entered their sophomore year as stars and the sky was the limit. Add in returner and receiver Steve Breaston (who himself set records in the Rose Bowl loss to Texas) and receiver Jason Avant to replace the #3 overall draft pick, Braylon Edwards, the offense would be a force. The offensive line, while not other-worldly, was competent and experienced, only losing All-American David Bass to graduation and the NFL. They did enter the year with one question mark, and that was whether or not uber-talented redshirt sophomore Jake Long would return quickly from a pre-season ankle injury.

The defense, on the other hand, was a questiony question mark of sorts after an up and down 2004. Even our own Michigan Blogging Jesus (in looks and ability), Brian Cook of MGoBlog, described them thusly:

Wither the defense, of course. Wither indeed. Amazing how in a span of four games the defense went from one of the best in the country to the worst in the Bo-Mo-Llo era of Michigan football. Amazing how Ernest Shazor went from The Man to an out of position malcontent who left for the NFL draft early and signed as an undrafted free agent… with the Cardinals. Amazing how any quarterback with designs on crossing the line of scrimmage with malicious intent was instantly turned into Michael Vick. Amazing how Jim Herrmann kept his job.

But! We love buts! Actually the 2004 Michigan Defense fared better than the offense we saw in the 2005 Rose Bowl, even factoring in the meltdowns against Ohio State and Texas. Weird. So, good, right? Yes, absolutely. Despite losing some big names on D such as Marlin Jackson and Ernest Shazor, Michigan’s Defense came into 2005 looking quite good. The weak areas seemed to be the safeties (like, what’s new, right?) and the linebackers (ditto). The defensive line, however, with big time names like Lamarr Woodley, Gabe Watson, Alan Branch and Terrance Taylor was a terrifying unit in the making. They also had, uh, Pat Massey, I guess. We still don’t know what the make of Pat Massey being on the field, ever, but there he was. I suppose he was a tremendous young man, and we know how Lloyd Carr feels about those kinds of kids. They are tremendous.

How much would the loss of arguably the greatest wide receiver in Big Ten history hurt a still young Chad Henne? Could the defense improve from a disappointing end to 2004 despite the loss of Jackson and Shazor? Sadly, we know the answer here is “no”. Henne would struggle much of the year without his go-to guy and the defenses propensity for giving up big plays proved disastrous in a season that is now famously called “The Year of Infinite Pain” (thank you Mr. Cook).

Michigan started the season with their usual MACrafice type opponent, Northern Illinois. This game proved to be prophetic to Michigan’s season defensively. It featured an unstoppable offensive performance as Henne threw for 227 yards and 2 TD’s, Hart ran for 117 and 1 TD (with a long of 12, YES, 12 YARDS. God we love Mike Hart, don’t we?) and Avant caught 9 balls for 127 yards and a score while Michigan rolled up 447 total yards in a 33-17 win.

Great. That’s it, right? Well, no. The defense looked really, really gross. Gross like the typical link posted by Brodie on UniScorn. Shield your eyes and hide the children kind of grossness. Garrett Wolfe, NIU’s running back, while being an excellent player in his own right, managed to hammer Michigan again and again as he ran for 148 yards and a TD with a long of 76 fucking yards. Argh. That 76 yard scamper came right at the start of the 2nd Quarter to make it 14-10 Michigan. Needless to say we were all pissing our pants. Michigan couldn’t possibly lose to a MAC team, right? Wait, never mind.

Not only did Wolfe run wild, but he helped set up NIU’s passing game and QB Phil Horvath with a decent day himself as he went 17 for 25 for 200 yards.

While Michigan managed to build a comfortable 27-10 lead at the half on their way to the win, there just was something not right about this game. I suppose at the time we chalked it up to the old “not taking a lesser opponent seriously” excuse, but man, giving up 411 yards to a MAC team screams TROUBLE. What was up with this defense?

While the defense struggled against NIU, the very next week we would be introduced to what happens when the offense has too many miscues as Michigan went down 17-10 to Notre Dame in possibly the most boring game since Michigan hosted Utah in 2002. Looking back at the statistics for this game, I can’t even believe how awful our hero Chadly Jonathan Hennington was. 17 for 44(!!) for 223 yards. Eck. This was our first introduction to Chad Henne minus Braylon Edwards. Ugly. It’s not as if Michigan’s defense was terrible, either, as they only gave up 244 yards to Mr. Genius himself, Charles Weis.

The next week would soothe our fractured egos as Michigan downed their second MACrafice, Eastern Michigan, 55 to zip. This game is not even worth mentioning as Eastern is just awful, always, and shall be forever and ever amen. Good luck Ron!

Next Michigan travelled to Madison against an undefeated Wisconsin team. This game was terrifying as it was played at night and those damn Cheese-heads can really be loud after guzzling Milwaukee’s Best all day. It was a scary environment for our Braylon-less and at this point due to injury, Hart-less Chad Henne, and that’s how it went down. Henne struggled all night as he went 16 of 34 for 258 yards. Max Martin (who?) led the way on the ground with 91 yards, but Michigan could not pull out the win in what proved to be a game that had me in the fetal position much of the night. Jonathan Jonathan Stocco, the usual Monster from Frankenstein like QB for Wisconsin ran in the winning score (Jebus H…a statue like QB takes it in for the winner) as Wisconsin pulled out the barn-burner 23-20. Wisconsin RB Brian Calhoun, who would later become one more potentially quality pro ruined by the Detroit Lions, kicked Michigan’s ass for 155 yards and a TD.

So at this point Michigan is 2-2 and unranked. MGoIdiots everywhere, I imagine, we’re calling for Lloyd’s tremendously brainy head. Mainstream media types spewed up all sorts of ridiculous scenarios as they went negative, negative, negative, and more negative. I can recall distinctly listening to the now defunct “Stoney and Wojo” show on WDFN as they debated whether or not Michigan would make the Motor City Bowl. This made me so angry as the season was still so young. How can they be so stupid? Michigan’s 2 losses were by the thinnest of margins. I was still positive the season could be salvaged.

This was now the week of the Michigan State game, and John L. Smith had his white-clad buffoons ranked #11 and undefeated. Sparty’s everywhere jumped on the bandwagon and declared the State of Michigan Green, once again. They’re cute, aren’t they?

This was a game where once again I prepped myself to be in the fetal position as Michigan really, really needed the W. Michigan jumped out to a 14-0 lead only to let MSU back in the game. It see-sawed back and forth as both offenses proved potent. Henne returned to 2004-type excellence as he went for 256 yards on 26 of 35 passing and 3 TD’s. The return of Mike Hart to the lineup also enlivened the offense as he burned MSU for 218 yards and a score.

On the other side, Drew Stanton (another current Lions player who sucks ass) was once again a headache as he went 20 of 30 for 282 yards and passing touchdown.

As we all remember, the long haired and dim-witted Domata Peko picked up a FAKE! fumble by Henne and nearly had a coronary on his way to a 74 yard TD return to tie the game and force overtime. Luckily, MSU kicker John Goss would go on to flub the game away in typical and lovable Sparty fashion with piss-poor kicking as Garrett “30 Pack” Rivas nailed the game winner. Thank you Sparty.

Back on the positive side of the W column, Michigan would now face a Minnesota team with a 4-1 record built off of wins over the cuppiest of cupcakes. Being at home, coming off an emotional win over a rival, and going up against a clearly overrated bunch of Gophers, Michigan looked like a clear favorite in this game. It was not to be as a defensive breakdown late in the game proved deadly. Late in the 4th Quarter the game was tied 20-20 and overtime seemed like a foregone conclusion. Bryan Cupito, Minnesota’s starting QB, had been injured which paved the way for Tony Mortensen, the backup. Minnesota had the ball and was facing a 3rd and 9 from their own 26, clearly looking to run out the clock for overtime. Mortensen handed the ball off to Gary Russell who swept around the right side of the line, found a seam, and busted down the field for a 61-yard gain. Kicker Jason Giannini would kick the 30-yard game winner as the Gophers stormed the Michigan bench, grabbed the Jug, and attempted to plant their flag into Field Turf. Those Gophers aren’t very smart, but they did manage to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor for the first time since 1986.

Michigan sat with a 3-3 record at this point and the season was on the brink of destruction. It seemed that disaster was imminent as they now faced an undefeated Penn State team in Ann Arbor, then travelled to Iowa to face the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. If you weren’t cringing at the thought of a 3-5 record by this point you weren’t paying attention. But this team would turn it around. One of the great things about all Lloyd Carr coached teams was that they never gave up. They always fought to the last second. This down trodden team would rally for 4 straight wins, with 2 coming in dramatic fashion.

The Penn State game in 2005 will always be remembered fondly by Michigan fans. It was redemption for a struggling team, it was proof that Chad Henne was a clutch, game changing QB, and it was the coming out party of the next great Michigan wide receiver, as freshman Mario Manningham secured a last-second TD for the win. For the balance of that game it seemed that it wasn’t meant to be for Michigan. Michigan went up 10-0 only to have PSU tie it up and then go up by 8 when Alan Zemaitis stripped Henne and ran the other way for a TD. Michigan then rallied back to take a 21-18 lead only to have Michael Robinson orchestrate a 13-play 81 yard (seemingly) game winning TD drive. But with a clutch 40-yard kick return by Breaston, a crucial few seconds added to the clock by Carr and a last second icy veined TD pass by Henne, this team put life back into their season and sent Joe Pa and Penn State back to State College with their first loss and thoughts that they would never, ever, beat Michigan again.

Michigan’s trip to Iowa the next week was a chance to build off of a great emotional high from the Penn State game. Again, Michigan played in another too close for comfort game that forced me into the fetal position often. With an injured Mike Hart (again), Michigan would rely on senior Jerome Jackson’s 44 yard effort and game winning TD in overtime to get the win at Iowa, 23-20. One of the big story lines from this game was the return of Jake Long to a beleaguered offensive line to pave the way for Jackson.

Michigan than took care of Northwestern on the road and Indiana at home to set up another matchup with the dreaded Buckeyes of The University of Ohio State University. Amazingly, something that seemed impossible after the Minnesota loss was now a possibility. With 2 conference loses, Michigan had an outside shot at a share of the Big Ten title. Ohio State came into the game with 1 conference loss, to Penn State, and Penn State sat on top with their one loss to Michigan. With some help from Sparty (they played Penn State to end the season) and a win over OSU, Michigan would have a share of the title.

But, there was a little problem by the name of Troy Smith. That damn Troy Smith. We will curse him to death by a million Gator defensive ends forever for his God-like performances against Michigan. 2005 would be no different as Smith scorched them for 300 yards passing and a the game winning TD drive. This was a game Michigan led 21-12 IN THE FOURTH QUARTER and just could not put the game away. The game would end on a pass to TE Tyler Ecker, who, instead of going out of bounds to stop the clock, would try to do it all himself in what became a sort of mini tradition for him.

Many would judge Carr harshly for this loss, as he once again allowed a team back into the game with his conservative “Lloyd ball” type 4th quarter strategy. But I commend Carr for rallying the troops in 2005. A season that was swirling down the toilet bowl was salvaged by Carr’s utmost faith in his team and his proven motivation tactics.

With their regular season record sitting at a very un-Michigan like 7-4, Michigan would be on their way to an underwhelming bid to the Alamo Bowl to play sad-sap Nebraska and their boring “West Coast Offense”, coached by The Dude look-alike, Bill Callahan.

This game would basically be par for the course for Michigan’s season as they would lose in dramatic fashion once again, 32-28. It was an up and down battle that, like many of the games in the dreaded 2005 season, Michigan had a some-what comfortable lead in the 4th quarter (28-17) only to blunder their way to another loss, in a lost season.

The most memorable part of the game came during it’s last sequence as Michigan attempted a miracle last second play much like California did in the 1970′s against Stanford. The ball was pitched back and forth all over the field until it finally ended up in Tyler Ecker’s hands. The same Tyler Ecker who annoyed us by NOT GOING OUT OF BOUNDS in the Ohio State game, raced toward the end zone while most of the Nebraska bench celebrated, not knowing what was happening. Following Ecker, like his own little angel, was Steve Breaston. PITCH IT TO BREASTON, PITCH IT TO BREASTON!!!!!! Was yelled throughout the country by Michigan fans. Ecker decided, God knows why, to simply run out of bounds to end the game. Sigh.

To add insult to injury, for me anyway, I found myself in a tiny bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico for this game, seated next to a middle aged man who wouldn’t shut up and claimed to be a “fan of the Big 12″. Which is lame. I hate people who are “Fan’s of X conference” because it’s not risky to go through a season like that. You just jump on whomever’s bandwagon seems coziest and go along for the ride. Well, this guy seemed nice enough during the game, until Michigan finally broke down and gave it away, at which point his true colors came out as he loudly let out his best “YEAH FUCK MICHIGAN!” as I starred down at my beer. A fitting end to the Season of Infinite Pain.