The Harbaugh Effect: 1986

How do you follow up a year where you led your team to a #2 final ranking and led the nation in passing efficiency? By giving your coach the two things he loves most: a victory over Ohio State and a vacation to Pasadena. This is the last of a three-part series that looks back at each of Harbaugh’s three seasons as starting quarterback for the Wolverines.

It’s easy to exceed expectations when there are none. Raising them is one thing, living up to them is quite another.

Such was the case for the Michigan Wolverines entering the 1986 college football season. There would be no sneaking up on anyone this time around. The cages had opened, and suddenly they were the hunted.

After riding the high of an impressive finish last season, the team arrived at fall practice to the news that they would start 1986 with the same #2 ranking they ended 1985. Weapons were everywhere on either side of the ball. Jim Harbaugh was listed by many as a Heisman Trophy candidate and one the nation’s top quarterbacks. On top of that, he was Sport magazine’s cover boy as his Wolverines were the publication’s pick to win the national championship.

No one playing for Bo Schembechler would ever be allowed to believe this nonsense, of course. The schedule was just as challenging as last year’s, as any that started in South Bend and ended in Columbus would be. In fact, this year the regular season didn’t even end with Ohio State. For the first time in a half century Michigan would play a non-bowl game after their bitter rivals, a good 2,000 miles away in Hawaii.

Notre Dame was first to take their shot at the Wolverines, led by first-year coach Lou Holtz. Holtz was hardly new to Michigan. He was on Woody Hayes’ staff during the Wolverines’ historic 24-12 upset of the #1 Buckeyes in 1969. He was also head coach at Minnesota when Michigan beat them convincingly in Minneapolis last season. But Minnesota is not Notre Dame. After five years of Gerry Faust, a guy like Lou was just what the Irish ordered.

In 1985 Michigan was the unranked nobody. This year, the “no expectations” label had switched sides. No Wolverine team had ever faced an unranked Irish team before. And being that Bo was 1-for-3 playing under Touchdown Jesus, this had all the trappings for a trap game.

The teams took turns engineering long drives, and Michigan ended the half trailing 14-10. Revisiting some of the previous year’s second-half magic, Harbaugh opened the third quarter by marching the Wolverines 78 yards to the lead, aided by a 27-yard dart to split end Paul Jokisch. Tailback Jamie Morris capped off the drive with a one-yard run. The ensuing kickoff sailed high and not very far, landing between waves of Notre Dame’s kick return unit, and Doug Mallory pounced on the pigskin at the Irish 27. With Notre Dame still reeling, Harbaugh chose to strike quick. On the first play he floated a pass under Morris in the left corner of the end zone and Morris grabbed it, carrying two Irish defenders into the end zone with him. 24-10 Blue.

Michigan held on with dear life the rest of the way and, when John Carney’s 45-yarder sailed left in the final seconds, left town with a slim 24-23 victory. Notre Dame’s new power wishbone offense tattooed the Wolverine defense for 27 first downs and 455 yards, setting the tone for a season where Schembechler could no longer rely on a shut-down defense when his offense sputtered. While last year’s team allowed an average of just over eight points per game, only twice in 13 games would Michigan hold anyone under 10.

The defense would have its moments though. When Neon Deion Sanders and the rest of Bobby Bowden’s 20th-ranked Florida State team visited Ann Arbor, the fired up Wolverines forced three interceptions and a fumble while holding the Seminoles to 285 yards of offense. In the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Trophy, they kept Michigan State’s Lorenzo White, Andre Rison and Mark Ingram out of the end zone, limiting the Spartans to two field goals in a 27-6 rout.

But make no mistake, the driving force of the 1986 Wolverines was their field general. In what had become the decade’s biggest conference matchup, Harbaugh fought and clawed his way through the Iowa defense in the final frantic minute to set up Mike Gilette’s game-winning field goal. Two weeks later the senior blew up the scoreboard—and the Fighting Illini—for nine touchdowns in a 69-13 onslaught.

Michigan’s perfect season and #2 ranking were lost in the biggest upset of 1986, as the Wolverines lost the Little Brown Jug and a whole lot more to unranked Minnesota, 20-17. After which Harbaugh delivered his now-famous guarantee that Michigan would go to Columbus and beat the Buckeyes for the Big Ten championship, which they did.

Since I wrote all about his promise in this article you can read from GBMWolverine.com, I’ll avoid repeating the details here, except for one: my first-ever trip to the Rose Bowl was riding on the game. When Ohio State’s last-minute field goal sailed wide, preserving Michigan’s 26-24 victory, I firmed up my plans and headed west. No one forgets their first glimpse inside the Rose Bowl. Mine was spectacular and I’ve included it here, along with a photo of Harbaugh during pre-game warmups.

After taking care of Hawaii in the final regular season game, the Wolverines focused on taking on Pac-10 champ Arizona State in Pasadena. Jim Harbaugh was heading to Pasadena for the first time, in his last game wearing a Wolverine uniform.

He and his Michigan teammates came out on fire. Harbaugh hit freshman Greg McMurtry for 24 yards on the second play from scrimmage, and Morris capped the opening drive on an electrifying 18-yard run. With the Sun Devils still scratching their heads, Schembechler called a swinging-gate fake PAT, with Gillette taking a direct snap and firing to Gerald White in the end zone for an 8-0 lead. In the second quarter Harbaugh called his own number from two yards out and Michigan led 15-3.

The fun ended there. Arizona State outgained the Wolverines 381 yards to 225 (188 to 59 on the ground) on their way to 19 unanswered points and a 22-15 win. Harbaugh finished with 13-of-23 passing for 172 yards, respectable numbers despite the loss. But he did deliver Bo his 11th Big Ten championship and the 32nd in University of Michigan football history, finishing third in the Heisman Trophy balloting and earning Big Ten MVP honors.

In just 29 complete games at Michigan, Harbaugh set a new all-time record for passing yards with 5,449. His record was a sterling 24-4-1, including 2-0 against Ohio State. He also gained a degree in communications and a love of school that led him to spurn lucrative offers to stay in the NFL and head back to his alma mater, determined to lead the Wolverines back to college football glory.