1990 Michigan Wolverines football team

The 1990 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1990 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 won the third of five consecutive Big Ten championships. They were co-champions with Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois.[1]

1990 Michigan Wolverines football
Big Ten co-champion Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 35–3 vs. Ole Miss
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 7
1990 record	9–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gary Moeller (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Lloyd Carr (4th season)
MVP	Tripp Welborne
Captains	Jarrod Bunch John Milligan
Home stadium	Michigan Stadium (Capacity: 101,701)

1990 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Michigan +	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 16 Michigan State +	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
No. 25 Illinois +	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 18 Iowa +	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ohio State	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	5	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Indiana	3	–	4	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Purdue	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	8	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 15	9:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	CBS	L 24–28	59,075
September 22	12:00 p.m.	UCLA*	No. 7	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ABC	W 38–15	104,992
September 29	1:00 p.m.	Maryland*	No. 6	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		W 45–17	102,894
October 6	1:00 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 3	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 41–3	64,359
October 13	3:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 1	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy)	ABC	L 27–28	106,188
October 20	12:30 p.m.	No. 23 Iowa	No. 10	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN	L 23–24	105,517
October 27	12:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	ESPN	W 45–19	51,948
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 20	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 38–13	41,279
November 10	12:00 p.m.	No. 17 Illinois	No. 19	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		W 22–17	105,343
November 17	12:30 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 16	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	ESPN	W 35–18	102,112
November 24	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Ohio State	No. 15	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (rivalry)	ABC	W 16–13	90,054
January 1, 1991	11:30 a.m.	vs. No. 15 Ole Miss*	No. 12	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN	W 35–3	68,297
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Season summary

Notre Dame

Michigan Wolverines (0–0) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	3	7	14	0	24
Notre Dame	14	0	0	14	28

at Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana

• Date: September 15
• Game time: 8:05 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Box Score

Game information
Michigan Elvis Grbac 17/30, 190 Yds, 2 TD, 2 INT' Jon Vaughn 22 Rush, 201 Yds Desmond Howard 6 Rec, 133 Yds, 2 TD Notre Dame Rick Mirer 14/23, 165 Yds, TD Rodney Culver 19 Rush, 95 Yds, TD Raghib Ismail 4 Rec, 42 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MICH ND 1 11:28 Notre Dame Mirer 2-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 0 7 1 7:01 Michigan 38-yard field goal by Carlson 3 7 2 1:59 Notre Dame Brooks 2-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 3 14 2 3:56 Michigan Howard 25-yard touchdown reception from Grbac, Carlson kick good 10 14 3 7:49 Michigan Jefferson 1-yard touchdown run, Carlson kick good 17 14 3 7:33 Michigan Howard 25-yard touchdown reception from Grbac, Carlson kick good 24 14 4 12:59 Notre Dame Culver 1-yard touchdown run, Hentrich kick good 24 21 4 1:40 Notre Dame Jarrell 18-yard touchdown reception from Mirer, Hentrich kick good 24 28 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 28

UCLA

UCLA at #7 Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Bruins 0 15 0 0 15 • Wolverines 14 14 0 10 38 Date: September 22 Location: Michigan Stadium Game attendance: 104,992

[2]

• Jon Vaughn 32 Rush, 288 Yds [3]

Iowa

#23 Iowa at #10 Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Hawkeyes 0 7 3 14 24 Wolverines 7 7 6 3 23 Date: October 20 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 105,517 Game weather: 60°F, Sunny, mild and breezy, Wind ESE 13-20 MPH TV announcers (ESPN): Wayne Larrivee Sources: Box Score

Scoring summary 1 2:10 MICH Vaughn 2-yard run (Carlson kick) Michigan 7–0 2 11:25 IOWA Hughes 4-yard pass from Rodgers (Skillett kick) Tied 7–7 2 7:34 MICH Jefferson 7-yard run (Carlson kick) Michigan 14–7 3 8:18 IOWA Skillett 32-yard field goal Michigan 14–10 3 4:35 MICH Ware 7-yard blocked punt return (run failed) Michigan 20–10 4 12:16 IOWA Rodgers 1-yard run (Skillett kick) Michigan 20–17 4 4:27 MICH Carlson 47-yard field goal Michigan 23–17 4 1:09 IOWA Kujawa 1-yard run (Skillett kick) IOWA 24–23

Purdue

#20 Michigan at Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total • Wolverines 10 21 0 7 38 Boilermakers 6 0 7 0 13 Date: November 3 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN Game attendance: 38,750

Scoring summary Q1 PUR Hunter 1 yard run (kick failed) PUR 6–0 Q1 MICH Carlson 44 yard field goal PUR 6–3 Q1 MICH Jefferson 2 yard run (Carlson kick) MICH 10–6 Q2 MICH Ware 17 yard blocked punt return (Carlson kick) MICH 17–6 Q2 MICH Howard 15 yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) MICH 24–6 Q2 MICH Jefferson 3 yard run (Carlson kick) MICH 31–6 Q3 PUR McManus 39 yard pass from Hunter (Wambold kick) MICH 31–13 Q4 MICH Jefferson 1 yard run (Carlson kick) MICH 38–13

• Jon Vaughn 25 Rush, 131 Yds

[4]

Minnesota

Minnesota at #16 Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Golden Gophers 3 7 0 8 18 • Wolverines 7 0 14 14 35 Date: November 17 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 102,112

Scoring summary Q1 MINN Berglund 37 yard field goal MINN 3–0 Q1 MICH Howard 3 yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) MICH 7–3 Q2 MINN Fleetwood 5 yard run (Berglund kick) MINN 10–7 Q3 MICH Bunch 11 yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) MICH 14–10 Q3 MICH Alexander 3 yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) MICH 21–10 Q4 MICH Powers 5 yard run (Carlson kick) MICH 28–10 Q4 MINN Tingelhoff 4 yard pass from Schaffner (Evans pass from Schaffner) MICH 28–18 Q4 MICH Vaughn 1 yard run (Carlson kick) MICH 35–18

• MICH: Powers 24 Rush, 127 Yds

[5]

Ohio State

#15 Michigan at #19 Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total • Wolverines 0 6 7 3 16 Buckeyes 3 7 3 0 13 Date: November 24 Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Game attendance: 90,054

Scoring summary 1 Ohio St Williams 33-yard field goal Ohio St 3-0 2 Michigan Carlson 27-yard field goal Tie 3-3 2 Michigan Carlson 30-yard field goal Michigan 6-3 2 Ohio St Graham 12-yard pass from Frey (Williams kick) Ohio St 10-6 3 Ohio St Williams 43-yard field goal Ohio St 13-6 3 Michigan Howard 12-yard pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) Tie 13-13 4 Michigan Carlson 37-yard field goal Michigan 16-13

[6]

Statistical achievements

Desmond Howard was the Big Ten receiving statistical champion for conference games with 5.5 receptions per contest, Northwestern's Richard Buchanan won the title for all games. Additionally, he won the first of two Big Ten receiving yardage champion for all games with 85.4 yards per game, but he lost the conference games yardage championship to Ohio State's Jeff Graham. J.D. Carlson won the Big Ten scoring championship with a 7.9 points per game average for all games, although he lost the conference per game championship to Michigan State's Hyland Hickson.[7] Elvis Grbac won his first of three consecutive Big Ten passing statistical championships (137.1 passing efficiency in all games), Matt Rodgers of Iowa won the title for conference games.[8]

The team led the Big Ten in rushing offense for all games (264.6 yards per game), although Michigan State won the title for conference games.[9] They also led in passing efficiency for all games (137.7) although Iowa led for conference games.[9] They were the conference leader in total offense for all games (432.5 yards per game), although Iowa won the title for conference games.[10] The 715 yards of total offense in the January 1, 1991 Gator Bowl against Ole Miss stood as the school record until October 17, 2009.[11]

The team earned the first of four consecutive and six 1990s Big Ten rushing defense statistical championships for all games by holding opponents to 104.7 yards per game. Iowa won the title for conference games.[10] The team led the conference in total defense for conference games (289.4), while Iowa led for all games.[12] The team led the Big Ten Conference in scoring defense for conference games (16.9 points per game) and all games (16.5).[13] They were the conference leaders in quarterback sacks for conference games (3.6 sacks per game) and all games (3.6 sacks per game).[13] They led the conference in turnover margin (+0.92) in all games, while Illinois led for conference games.[13] They led the conference in punt return average in conference games (17.4 yards per return) and all games (15.2).[14] The season marked the third consecutive year that the team led the conference in kick return average in conference games (26.5 yards per return) and all games (27.3).[14]

Jon Vaughn set the current school record for career yards per carry (6.29, min 200 carries), eclipsing Rob Lytle's 16-year-old record.[15] Vaughn opened the 1990 season by posting 201 rushing yards on September 15, 1990, against University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and following it up with 288 rushing yards against the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins on September 22, 1990, at the Big House.[16][17] This feat made him the first Michigan back to rush for 200 yards in consecutive games, a feat not duplicated until Mike Hart did so in 2004.[18] Grbac became the fourth Wolverine to post a 4-touchdown pass performance against Mississippi State, he would become the first to post two the following season and later in his career would post a third such performance. Grbac became the first single-season 20-touchdown passer with 21, eclipsing Jim Harbaugh's 18 in 1985, a record he would extend to 25 the following year.[19]

Awards and honors

The individuals in the sections below earned recognition for meritorious performances.[20][21]

National

• All-Americans: Tripp Welborne, Dean Dingman, Greg Skrepenak

Conference

• All-Conference: J.D. Carlson, Dean Dingman, Tripp Welborne, Jon Vaughn, Greg Skrepenak, Desmond Howard, Tom Dohring, Erick Anderson
• Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Vaughn (coaches)

Team

• Most Valuable Player: Tripp Welborne
• Frederick Matthei Award: Erick Anderson
• Arthur Robinsion Scholarship Award: David Ritter
• Dick Katcher Award: T.J. Osman
• Hugh Rader Jr. Award: Dean Dingman
• Robert P. Ufer Award: John Milligan

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Gary Moeller
• Assistant coaches: Phil Bromley, Tirrel Burton, Cam Cameron, Lloyd Carr, Jerry Hanlon, Bill Harris, Jim Herrmann, Les Miles, Bobby Morrison, Tom Reed
• Trainer: Russ Miller
• Manager: Chris Smith

References

1. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 68. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
2. Michigan Statistics Archive - Football. Retrieved 2015-Nov-28.
3. University of Michigan Football Record Book Pt. 1
4. Gainesville Sun. 1990 Nov 4.
5. Gainesville Sun. 1990 Nov 18.
6. Gainesville Sun. 1990 Nov 25.
7. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. pp. 53–4. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
8. "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.
9. "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.
10. "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.
11. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. p. 45. 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. 57. 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. 58. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
14. "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.
15. "Record Book" (PDF). CBS Interactive. January 5, 2009. p. 114. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
16. "Versus Notre Dame September 15, 1990". M Go Blue - University of Michigan Athletics Official Site. Regents of the University of Michigan. Archived from the original on August 29, 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
17. "Versus UCLA September 22, 1990". M Go Blue - University of Michigan Athletics Official Site. Regents of the University of Michigan. Archived from the original on September 1, 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
18. Bremmer, Daniel (October 26, 2004). "Daniel Bremmer: Hart Playing Like a Heisman Candidate". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
19. "Record Book" (PDF). CBS Interactive. January 5, 2009. pp. 120–123. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
20. "1990 Football Team". The Regents of the University of Michigan. April 9, 2007. Archived from the original on May 24, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
21. "Big Ten Conference Football Full Media Guide". CBS Interactive/Big Ten Conference. January 5, 2010. pp. 70–82. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved July 8, 2010.

External links

• 1990 Football Team -- Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History