1991 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Gary Moeller. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium. The team was undefeated in the Big Ten Conference and was led by Heisman Trophy-winner Desmond Howard, Butkus Award-winner Erick Anderson and national statistical champion Elvis Grbac. The team won the fourth of five consecutive Big Ten championships.[1] The team lost to national champion Washington Huskies in the 1992 Rose Bowl.[2]

1991 Michigan Wolverines football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 14–34 vs. Washington
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 6
1991 record10–2 (8–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorLloyd Carr (5th season)
MVPDesmond Howard
Captains
Home stadiumMichigan Stadium
(Capacity: 101,701)
1991 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 Michigan $ 8 0 0  10 2 0
No. 10 Iowa 7 1 0  10 1 1
Ohio State 5 3 0  8 4 0
Indiana 5 3 0  7 4 1
Illinois 4 4 0  6 6 0
Purdue 3 5 0  4 7 0
Michigan State 3 5 0  3 8 0
Wisconsin 2 6 0  5 6 0
Northwestern 2 6 0  3 8 0
Minnesota 1 7 0  2 9 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 73:30 p.m.at Boston College*No. 2ABCW 35–1332,071
September 143:30 p.m.No. 7 Notre Dame*No. 3ABCW 24–14106,138
September 2812:00 p.m.No. 1 Florida State*No. 3
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
ABCL 31–51106,145
October 53:30 p.m.at No. 9 IowaNo. 7ABCW 43–2470,220
October 123:30 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 5ABCW 45–2880,157
October 1912:30 p.m.IndianaNo. 4
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
ESPNW 24–16106,097
October 258:00 p.m.at MinnesotaNo. 4W 52–632,577
November 212:30 p.m.PurdueNo. 4
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
ESPNW 42–0105,401
November 91:00 p.m.NorthwesternNo. 4
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI
W 59–14102,087
November 163:30 p.m.at No. 25 IllinoisNo. 4ABCW 20–066,757
November 2312:00 p.m.No. 18 Ohio StateNo. 4
  • Michigan Stadium
  • Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)
ABCW 31–3106,156
January 1, 19924:30 p.m.vs. No. 2 Washington*No. 4ABCL 14–34103,566
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1991 Michigan Wolverines football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 1 Derrick Alexander  Jr
WR 18 Matt Brady Jr
G 68 Joe Cocozzo Jr
QB 10 Todd Collins Fr
G 69 Matt Elliott Sr
C 51 Steve Everitt Sr
QB 15 Elvis Grbac Sr
WR 21 Desmond Howard Sr
TE 88 Tony McGee Jr
RB 12 Ricky Powers So
T 75 Greg Skrepenak Sr
RB 6 Tyrone Wheatley Fr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 31 Erick Anderson Sr
DT 97 Chris Hutchinson Sr
S 20 Corwin Brown Sr
LB 36 Steve Morrison So
OLB 99 Randy Stark Sr
OLB 51 William Steuk Jr
OLB 85 Charlie Stumb So
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 38 J. D. Carlson Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 2 (5) 2 (1) 3 (1) 3 (1) 3 (1) 7 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 
Coaches 3 (6) 3 (6) 4 (3) 3 (4) 3 (4) 9 6 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 6

Statistical achievements

Desmond Howard surpassed Anthony Carter's 11-year-old conference single-season record of 14 touchdown receptions by totaling 19, which continues to be the conference record.[3] During the season, he extended his consecutive games with a touchdown reception streak to 13 games, surpassing Carter's 9, set in 1980, a record that still stands.[4] J. D. Carlson established the current Big Ten record for consecutive successful point after touchdown conversions at 126.[5]

Grbac won the first of his back-to-back passing efficiency NCAA Division I FBS championships.[6] He also won his second of three consecutive Big Ten passing statistical championships (177.8 passing efficiency in conference games and 161.7 in all games).[7] Desmond Howard was the repeat Big Ten receiving yardage champion for all games with 82.1 yards per game and he won his only conference games yardage championship with a 90.1 average.[8] Howard was also the scoring champion with an 11.3 points per game average in conference games and an 11.5 average overall.[9]

The team led the Big Ten in rushing offense both in conference games (264.6 yards per game) and all games (231.9 yards per game).[10] They also led in passing efficiency for both conference games (166.5) and all games (154.7).[10] They were the conference leader in total offense both for conference games (453.6 yards per game) and all games (419.8 yards per game).[11] They were also the Big Ten scoring statistical champions for conference games (39.5 points per game) and all games (35.0 points per game).[11]

The team earned the second of four consecutive and six 1990s Big Ten rushing defense statistical championships for all games by holding opponents to 105.4 yards per game.[11] The team also earned the first of five consecutive and six 1990s Big Ten rushing defense statistical championships for conference games by holding opponents to 102.0 yards per game.[11] The team led the Big Ten Conference in scoring defense for conference games (11.4 points per game), while Iowa led for all games.[12] They led the conference in turnover margin (+1.13) in conference games and (+0.92) in all games.[12] They led the conference in punt return average in conference games (16.3 yards per return) and all games (14.7).[13]

Grbac posted his second (a school record that he would later extend) and the school's fifth 4-touchdown performance against Florida State on August 28. His season total of 25 touchdown passes surpassed his own school record of 21 set the prior year. His junior year total of 54 touchdown passes set a new school record, eclipsing Rick Leach's total of 48 set in 1978. He also tied Jim Harbaugh's 1986 single-season completion percentage record of 65.0, which was surpassed the following year by Todd Collins. On September 14, his 2022 performance against Notre Dame established the current single-game completion percentage, eclipsing his own September 16, 1989 1721 performance against Notre Dame.[14] On September 7, Howard became the third Michigan receiver to post a 3-touchdown reception performance and on October 19, he became the first two do so twice (a feat later matched by David Terrell and Braylon Edwards). The following season Derrick Alexander would become the only Wolverine to post a 4-touchdown reception performance. Howard also tied Carter's record of three consecutive 100-yard receiving games, a record tied by Marcus Knight in 1999 and eclipsed by Edwards in 2003 who posted four.[4]

Game summaries

Boston College


Derrick Alexander tears ACL on a punt return and is lost for the season.

Notre Dame

1 234Total
No. 7 Fighting Irish 0 770 14
No. 3 Wolverines 3 1407 24


Florida State

Florida State at Michigan
1 234Total
No. 1 Seminoles 19 12614 51
No. 3 Wolverines 10 1308 31


Iowa

Michigan at Iowa
1 234Total
No. 7 Wolverines 7 12717 43
No. 9 Hawkeyes 0 1806 24


Purdue


Ohio State

vs. Washington (Rose Bowl)

Washington vs. Michigan
1 234Total
No. 2 Huskies 0 13813 34
No. 4 Wolverines 0 707 14


Players in the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1992 NFL Draft.

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL Team
Desmond HowardWide Receiver14Washington Redskins
Greg SkrepenakTackle232Los Angeles Raiders
Mike EvansDT4101Kansas City Chiefs
Erick AndersonLinebacker7186Kansas City Chiefs
Brian TownsendLinebacker11181Los Angeles Rams
Matt ElliottCenter12336Washington Redskins

[16]

Awards and honors

The individuals in the sections below earned recognition for meritorious performances.[17][18]

National

Conference

Team

  • Captain: Erick Anderson, Greg Skrepenak
  • Most Valuable Player: Desmond Howard
  • Meyer Morton Award: Desmond Howard
  • John Maulbetsch Award: Steve Morrison
  • Frederick Matthei Award: Steve Morrison
  • Arthur Robinson Scholarship Award: David Ritter
  • Dick Katcher Award: Mike Evans
  • Hugh Rader Jr. Award: Greg Skrepenak
  • Robert P. Ufer Award: Matt Elliot
  • Roger Zatkoff Award: Erick Anderson

References

  1. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2009. p. 68. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  2. "2009 Division I Football Records Book: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 84. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  3. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 39. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  4. "Record Book" (PDF). CBS Interactive. January 5, 2009. pp. 124–125. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  5. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 40. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  6. "2009 Division I Football Records Book: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 43. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  7. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. pp. 51–2. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  8. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 53. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  9. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. pp. 53–4. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  10. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 55. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  11. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 56. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  12. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 58. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  13. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 59. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  14. "Record Book" (PDF). CBS Interactive. January 5, 2009. pp. 120–123. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  15. Gainesville Sunday November 15, 1991
  16. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1992.htm
  17. "1991 Football Team". The Regents of the University of Michigan. April 9, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  18. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. July 5, 2010. pp. 70–82. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.