2001: A Football Odyssey-Champaign For My Real Friends

Welcome back to the Odyssey. As always, you can click here to read all parts of the journey covered so far. Last time, we took a look at the Big East conference, including how the Miami season wasn’t as smooth as history seems to remember it. Today, we are going to take a look at the Big Ten. Much like the post on the ACC, it doesn’t directly affect the top of the BCS, but still worth looking into nonetheless. Let’s dive into it.

Act I: Easy Brees-y Rose Bowl

Many people today think of the Big Ten and think of the battles between Ohio State and Michigan. However, in the 2000 season, those two teams ended up not being in contention for the Rose Bowl. Both the Buckeyes and Wolverines lost games as top five teams, allowing the doors to be open for another school to come in. Not one, but two team emerged. Purdue, led by recently retired Drew Brees, and Northwestern emerged as the contenders for the Big Ten title. They asserted themselves in wins over Ohio State and Michigan respectively. An October matchup where Brees and the Boilermakers won on the road proved to be the difference to give Purdue their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1966.

In the offseason, Ohio State decided to fire John Cooper after 13 seasons in Columbus. Cooper was the first coach since Wes Fresler to leave Columbus without an outright Big Ten title, infuriating the fanbase. The Buckeyes turned to Youngstown St head coach, and former Buckeye assistant in the 1980s, Jim Tressel. Tressel, in one of his first appearances as head coach, ensured the fanbase would have pride for their team again, including against Michigan. The Buckeyes had lost 10 of the last 13, which included a tie in 1992, including four times as a top 5 ranked team.

Expectations for the conference were seemingly all over the place, as pundits picked Michigan, Purdue, Northwestern among others to win the conference. It seemed that the metaphorical snow globe was still shaking, with the conference anyone’s for the taking.

Act II: Rise of Michigan Men

The 2000 Illinois team seemed like a promising turn for the program. They had came off a bowl win and a pre-season ranking and were 3-0  with #10 Michigan coming to Champaign.  Three quarter of a hard fought game and Illinois has a chance to take the lead late. However, a bad call on a fumble (that was down by contact upon review), and Illinois never came back. From there, they lost five of their last seven and missed a bowl. Fast forward to 2001, Illinois was once again 3-0, ranked for the first time all season, and heading to Ann Arbor for a chance of revenge.

Michigan entered the season with high hopes as preseason #12. They also seemed to be the favorite to win the Big Ten. However, before they could take on their conference schedule, they had a trip to Seattle. A chance to prove themselves in the non-conference, the Wolverines fell a bit short. The Wolverines had a blocked FG and interception returned for TDs in the fourth quarter, giving Michigan no margin of error in conference play.

The first quarter seemed to go well for the Illini, holding a 10-7 lead quickly into the second quarter. However, from there on out it was all Michigan. Led by a 21 point second quarter, the Wolverines cruised the second half to win 45-20. The game was fairly mistake-free by the Illini, outside of some key turnover on downs. They could not overcome the Michigan defense as the Wolverines forced ten punts total on the afternoon contest. Michigan looked to continue to cruise in their Big Ten schedule, having already dropped their game at Washington, and win another Big Ten title.

The Jim Tressel era for Ohio State didn’t have the best start. The Buckeyes easily dispatched of Akron, and their matchup against San Diego State moved due to the 9/11 Attacks, they had a trip to UCLA against #14 UCLA. The wounds of the Cooper Era of Buckeye football showed as UCLA won 13-6. Ohio State’s only TD came on a blocked punt return. QB Steve Bellisari went 5-23 for 45 yards. An embarrassing result for the Buckeyes.

They rebounded by keeping Indiana at arms length after a slow start, winning by two scores. After their two-game road trip, Ohio State had their home opener in Big Ten play. Tressel had his chance to prove the legitimacy of the program moving forward, albeit against an unlikely opponent in Northwestern. The Wildcats were coming off their shared Big Ten Title and returning Heisman finalist Damien Anderson. Anderson, through his first 3 games, had 377 yards at 4.8 yards a carry.

The start of the game showcased Anderson’s counterpart. Jonathan Wells took the second play from scrimmage seventy-one yards for a TD to inspire the Horseshoe. Northwestern did respond with a TD drive of their own, mostly through the rushing attack of Anderson, but that proved to be the final time the Wildcats were in the game. After the teams traded punts, the Wildcats got to Bellisari, the first turnover of the game, and a groan-inducing moment for Buckeye fans.

The next play, Will Smith forced a fumble on Anderson on a read-option, and Mike Doss scooped it up and easily glided to the end zone to give Ohio State the lead. Northwestern responded by moving the ball briefly before Wildcats QB Zak Kustok sailed a ball directly into Derek Ross’ hands and he, not unlike Doss earlier, had a Buckeye convoy to get the ball into Wildcat territory. Northwestern would punt on five of it’s next six possessions, the other possession being an end of half kneel down. Ohio State would score 24 points in that same span, putting the game out of reach. Tressel now had a feather in his cap early in his tenure, with the Buckeyes winning 38-20.

The defending Big Ten champions in Purdue did lose a lot of talent, but still looked primed to continue a run towards the top of the Big Ten in the 2001 season. They went to Cincinnati and won a scrappy game 19-14. Then, the Boilermakers won games against Akron, Minnesota, and Indiana, getting to 4-0. Next on the schedule was a trip to Ann Arbor to put their conference hopes to the test.

Michigan, through their wins against Illinois and Penn State, climbed back to their preseason ranking of #12 when Purdue came into town. Purdue burned the clock and scored on their opening drive after going 80 yards in 12 plays. From there, the teams would trade punts, with a rogue Michigan fumble, until into the second quarter. Marquise Walker, who was the reason of the fumble, returned a punt deep into Purdue territory. Michigan used it’s rushing offense to score and tie the game early in the second quarter.

On the next Michigan drive, Walker made his mark again. Michigan QB John Navarre hit Walker on a streak down the near sideline for a 42 yard TD pass and catch. Purdue would cut the lead to 14-10 after another Michigan fumble before the half.

After forcing a punt at the beginning of the second half, Purdue had a chance to put themselves firmly in control of the game. However, Seth Morales of Purdue fumbled the ball after his only catch of the game (on a 3^rd and 18 conversion no less). Michigan turned that turnover into a clock bleeding drive to essentially put the game away for Michigan. A seven minute drive ended with BJ Askew punching it in for six to give Michigan a 21-10 lead.

Purdue would never get any closer in the game and ultimately fell 24-10. Purdue seemed to be a step below the upper class of the Big Ten this season and Michigan seemingly put their season back on track. Michigan had no ranked opponents left for the rest of the way, with two rivals seemingly the best chances of knocking off the Wolverines. They had Ohio State at home to end the season and Michigan State on the road.

Act III: Clockgate

The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry wasn’t much of a rivalry, with the Wolverines dominating the results since the 1970s. However, if Michigan State was going to win, it was in East Lansing. Four of the last five Michigan State wins had come on their home field. Those games almost always included a top ten Michigan team as well. Nick Saban’s first major win as a head coach was against Michigan in his inaugural season. He then beat them four years later, with the College Gameday crew in tow, to put another stamp on his young career.

After that 1999 season, Saban left for LSU (we’ll get to them) and Bobby Williams took over the coaching duties; first as an interim for the 99 Citrus Bowl, then full time. Williams failed to replicate the success of Saban in the 2000 season, going 5-6. Their 2001 season had some more momentum behind it. They had a close road win over Notre Dame as their best win up until this Michigan game.

Michigan State pulled out the tricks early, getting a first down via PI on a fake punt when they faced a fourth down on their first drive of the game. That led to QB Jeff Smoker hitting future All-American Charles Rogers for a TD to put the Spartans up 7-0. Michigan’s response was to go down the field just as promptly, only coming away with a 57 yard FG after the Spartans defense held.

Michigan’s offense hit its stride as Marquise Walker made himself known, scoring on a catch run to give Michigan the lead. However, penalties on Rogers proved to be a factor once again. It appeared that Rogers could not be covered by Michigan DBs without being interfered with. This led to a TJ Duckett TD to give Michigan State the lead back. Walker immediately responded with a 33 yard TD catch to give Michigan the lead going into halftime.

The third quarter was listless, with the only score a Michigan State Field Goal to tie the game. The Michigan offense continued to struggle in the second half. After another Michigan State field goal to take the lead, Michigan failed to respond. They punted after gaining zero yards of offense. However, the Wolverines got life on the next play from scrimmage. Smoker was stripped sack and Michigan recovered deep in Spartan territory. Four plays later, Navarre hit backup QB Jermaine Gonzales to give the Wolverines the lead back with five minutes to go.

Dueling punts brought us to the final gasp for Michigan State. A Wolverine sack on Smoker, followed by two incompletions set up 4^th and 17 at midfield. Smoker tried to fire a pass 20 yards downfield for Rogers and it fell incomplete. It would have stayed incomplete if not for a pass interference penalty on Michigan, which kept the drive alive. After a completion to Herb Haygood to get the Spartans close, the Spartans offense stalled. On 4^th and 4 on the Michigan 12, Smoker hit Duckett in one of his 3 catches on the afternoon.

Smoker spiked the ball once brought up to the line. On second down, Smoker tried to be a hero and scramble into the end zone. He got tackled in bounds at the 2 yard line, with 12 seconds left. Time continued to move as Smoker tried to spike the ball for one more play. 4…3…2…1…Smoker spiked the ball. In a game played today the game would be over. A spike takes one second off the clock on matter what and since Smoker spiked the ball with one second left it would be over. Except, as mentioned before, this game was in East Lansing and the Big Ten has the home team handle the clock. A little bit of home cooking?

Still, there remained one second on the clock. Smoker rolled around trying to find someone open in the end zone, getting a good view of a pretty blatant holding by the right tackle, and he lofts the ball high in the air and falls gently into TJ Duckett’s arms for the game winning Touchdown. Coach Lloyd Carr was not pleased by the end result of his postgame press conference. The fact remained that Michigan gave up two 4^th down conversions on the final drive and finished with 76 penalty yards in the game. Michigan lost its first Big Ten game, and lost its National Championship hopes.

That same day, two of the teams defeated by Michigan battled it out for the right to be next in line in the Big Ten hierarchy. Illinois went into Ross-Ade Stadium winning their last three to get back into the Top 25. Purdue had beaten Northwestern to bounce back from its lone loss to Michigan. Neither team seemed to give much early, playing mostly for field position via punts. Purdue finally broke after a fake punt run got them into the red zone and QB Brandon Hance hit paydirt one play later. He hit Seth Morales on an out route to give Purdue a 7-0 lead.

From there, Illinois struggled to get any positive offensive movement going. Their next four possessions ended in a turnover, leading to six more Purdue points to make it 13-0. The score could have been bigger, if it weren’t for the Illini defense, led by Muhammad Abdullah, denying the Purdue rushing attack a touchdown. Illinois offense began to pick back up, moving down the field for a FG to cut the lead to 13-3. Illinois had life after a Purdue punt and Kittner found his groove, hitting Brandon Lloyd for a 47 yard TD; cutting the Purdue lead down to a three point game. Illinois had a chance to tie at halftime, but missed a 32 yard field goal. Illinois, despite not playing well on offense, was only down three.

After an Illinois three and out on their first drive, Purdue looked to gain momentum back. However, a missed 52 yard field goal not only didn’t extend their lead, but it also gave Illinois a short field to work with. Kittner hit a long pass down the near sideline to Walter Young and RB Anotnieo Harris finished the drive off, giving Illinois its first lead of the game.

Illinois put the game away in a span of seven minutes. First Bobby Jackson picked off Hance and returned it 83 yards for a Touchdown. The next series for the Illinois offense ended with a Kittner to Young connection to extend the lead to 31-13. The next possession for Purdue saw the final score of the game; Christian Morton picking off Hance and returning that to the house. Illinois won 38-13, and now saw themselves as the potential spoiler for the Big Ten.

After the Northwestern win, Ohio State felt some growing pains under the new regime. The Buckeyes turned around and lost to Wisconsin the following week. They had close games against Penn State (loss) and Minnesota (win), before coming into the Illinois game with a 35-9 thumping of Purdue. This would be the home finale for the Buckeyes, and they would have to do it without their starting QB.

Steve Bellisari was arrested the day before the Illinois game, blowing a .22, and arrested for driving under the influence. He was suspended indefinitely, putting his team in jeopardy before their two biggest games. Despite the earlier results, they still had a chance to sweep the Illinois and Michigan games and win the Big Ten due to winning the Head to Head tiebreakers. Now they would have to do it without their senior QB leader.

Things did not start well for the Buckeyes. After a three and out, Illinois came through and blocked the ensuing punt. The return by Jamaal Clark resulted in an Illini TD to put them up 7-0. From there, the Buckeyes leaned on Jonathan Wells to lead their offense. He set up Ohio State’s next two drives, which led to 10 points, giving Ohio State a 10-7 lead after the first quarter.

The second half saw the teams settle in; Illinois seemed to bring back some turnover from previous weeks while Ohio State’s one dimensional offense could not cash in. Illinois strung together a drive late in the second, leading in a Kittner pass to Young to give Illinois back the lead. Ohio State, based primarily from a first down sack on Craig Krenzel, failed to respond and gave Illinois the ball back with a minute left in the half. It took Kittner two plays to get Illinois back into the end zone. He hit Aaron Moorhead for 37 yards to extend the Illini lead. Ohio State attempted to bring the ball back down and cut the now two score lead, but a missed Mike Nugent FG put a damper to the first half for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s offense clicked in the third quarter. Tressel committed to Krenzel as his QB and he provided the spark to get Ohio State back in the game. They scored consecutive touchdowns; one from Krenzel to Michael Jenkins and one from Wells on the ground. However, the Buckeyes went for 2 both times and failed both times, so their lead was only one.

Illinois, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, found its offensive stride as Kittner keyed on Young as a compliment to the run game. The run game ended up being the difference maker as Carey Davis punched in a 4^th down conversion to give Illinois the lead back at 27-22. The teams traded punts on their next possessions; Illinois pinning the Buckeyes on their own 2 yard line. This field position would be the downfall for the Buckeyes. Krenzel dropped back and threw the ball directly to Ty Myers, who sauntered into the end zone, clinching the game for Illinois.

Ohio State was now eliminated from Big Ten Championship consideration with the loss. Illinois continued to build its chances to win the conference outright. An exact scenario needed to happen to get themselves into a BCS bowl for the first time ever; they needed help from the team they just beat.

Act IV: A Tale of Two Rivalries

The Big Ten Championship was to be decided with two of the biggest rivalries within the conference. The first game was The Game. As I mentioned on the top, Tressel was incredibly aware that Ohio State needed to beat Michigan for the season to be considered a success, with everything else off the table. Plus, Michigan had this game in Ann Arbor, and had a simple “win and in” scenario for the BCS; making the upset ripe for the Buckeyes taking.

Ohio State jumped on that opportunity early. Michigan stopped the Ohio State offense for a quick punt. However, Navarre threw an interception on the ensuing drive to Mike Doss. The interception flipped the field as Doss returned it inside the Michigan 5 yard line. Jonathan Wells finished off the drive and put the Buckeyes up 7-0 early.

Michigan struggled to get their offense off the ground at that point. The offense only crossed midfield once in the first half; and added an interception and two fumbles to their offensive woes. Ohio State, during the same time frame, saw their offense hum. That was especially true on the ground, as Wells scored the other two TDs for the Buckeyes in the first half. The tale of the first half concluded when Gonzales came on the field for the Wolverines at the end of the half. A miscommunicated snap led to a safety that Gonzales shepherded out of the end zone. Ohio State led the rout 23-0 at the half.

The Michigan offense, with Navarre back at QB, started the second half with a much-needed TD drive. The drive finished with Navarre hitting Walker for the score. Walker, with his fifteen grabs on the day, became the all time leader in receptions for Michigan (at the time). However, the game seemed to hinge on a catch he didn’t make. After both teams dueled for field position, Michigan was driving to cut the Buckeye lead further. On a 3^rd down inside the red zone, Navarre looked for Walker on a slant, but Walker dropped it. Michigan would end up not getting any points; as the ensuing field goal attempt was missed and the lead remained 23-7 after three quarters.

Soon after, the Wolverines saw a jolt in their offense after a blocked punt put them inside the Ohio State ten yard line. BJ Askew would punch it in for the Wolverines to cut their lead to 23-13. However, the momentum swing would not last long. After forcing another punt from the Buckeyes, Navarre threw a lofting pass to Walker, but Doss came down with it and returned it back inside the Michigan 10. Ohio State would get a FG on that possession, extending their lead to 26-13.

Michigan, now with 6 minutes left, played catch up to keep its slim chances alive. Their next possession stalled out in the Ohio State red zone. Michigan would go on to score on their next possession, but time was not on their side at that point. After a Hail Mary attempt was intercepted, Ohio State had clinched a 26-20 win. This spoiled the opportunity for Michigan to clinch the Big Ten. They now needed to check the scoreboard to see if Northwestern was up to the task.

Act V: Conclusion

Illinois would be going to a New Year’s Bowl for the first time since 1989; and going to a BCS level game since their Rose Bowl trip in 1983. Michigan went to the Citrus Bowl bid despite their win early in the season against the Illini and National Championship aspirations. Ohio State may not have won the Big Ten, but the pieces for the 2002 team began to fall into place for Tressel. Northwestern and Purdue were not able to replicate the success from a year ago. With the Rose Bowl being the National Championship, Illinois had to sit and wait to see their where they were headed.

Thank you for joining me on this part of the Odyssey. Football in the Big Ten would never be the same as the hierarchy of Michigan and Ohio State would return (with the occasional Iowa and Michigan State thrown in there). Next time on the Odyssey we take a look at the SEC, and how their own two team race went on to define the regular season in ways they could have never guessed. Until then, sound off below on your thoughts on the Big Ten season!