Michigan linebacker David Harris can still remember the scene: Dozens of Minnesota football players sprinting across the Michigan Stadium field set on reclaiming the Little Brown Jug.
“Their whole team ran to our side,” Harris said. “It was a bad sight to see. I didn’t stick around. I just tried to get out of there as fast as I could. It was just a bad feeling.”
What Harris and the rest of the Wolverines didn’t know at the time last October was that the 23-20 loss to the Gophers would epitomize their entire 2005 season. Michigan went 7-5 to finish with its fewest victories since 1984.
This season, however, things are significantly different. With new coordinators on both sides of the ball, the Wolverines enter Saturday night’s game at the Metrodome undefeated and ranked No. 6.
Much of the story about this Michigan team has been about the improvement on defense.
In four games, the Wolverines have yet to allow a rushing touchdown. They are first nationally in rushing defense and fifth in total defense.
“Everybody is in better shape,” Harris said. “Last year we’d fall apart in the fourth quarter. A lot of guys were overweight.”
Gophers coach Glen Mason, whose team rushed for 276 yards at Michigan a year ago, said:
“This is a dominant defense, it really is. They’re extremely big up front and have defensive linemen who know what they’re doing. It’s the best defense I’ve seen [this season]. I haven’t seen everybody, but by my experience in this league and in college football, they are good by anybody’s standards.”
Offensively, the Wolverines are dangerous because of their balance.
Running back Mike Hart, who missed four-plus games last season because of injury, is averaging 119 yards per game. Quarterback Chad Henne already has seven touchdown passes. Receiver Mario Manningham has been named the Big Ten’s offensive player of the week each of the last two weeks.
The biggest difference, the players say, is in attitude.
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“This team is real hungry to win,” wide receiver Adrian Arrington said. “We’re just not used to going 7-5.”
Harris summed it up simply: “When you have a season like last season, you can’t let it happen again.”