ND-Michigan game takes football fans back in time
One of the beautiful things about college football is the endless ways to enjoy a nostalgic blast into the past.
In this era of drawn-out TV timeouts and dull-minded penalties for excessive celebrations, it's refreshing to be able to summon a time when the sport was less civilized and, likely, more fun.
"Back in my day," said Illinois coach Ron Zook, who played safety for Miami (Ohio) in the early 1970s, "we never thought we hit anybody unless we had a headache."
OK, reminiscing about the number of undiagnosed concussions Zook and his peers surely endured might not be the best example of the good ol' days.
But it does lead nicely into this nugget in the NCAA record book: Did you know college players weren't REQUIRED to wear helmets until 1939? And shoulder pads weren't mandated until 1974.
Dropping back further in time, it took until 1911 before the NCAA outlawed the apparently common practice of hiding the ball underneath a player's uniform.
And way back in 1894, the NCAA felt obligated to ban every player from "wearing projecting nails or iron plates on his shoes, or any metal substance upon his person."
Holy cripes. Think how terrifying Dick Butkus would have been if he was allowed to include projecting nails and iron plates in his arsenal.
Why are we taking this long and winding trip down memory lane now?
Because that's what we have to do to put Michigan's and Notre Dame's struggles into historical perspective.
When the Wolverines and Irish meet Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., they're thanking their lucky stars for the 1996 NCAA rule change that introduced overtime and requires one of them must come away with a win.
That's a good thing for the winningest programs in Division I-A history because both are off to an 0-2 start in the same year for the first time!
Saturday's game also marks the first time since 1909 that Michigan and Notre Dame - neither of which received a single vote in the latest Associated Press poll - meet with neither program ranked in the Top 13.
Of course, there weren't any national rankings in 1909. But had there been polls, both schools would have been right near the top as Notre Dame's 11-3 victory represented the only loss for either team.
Or, to return this to a modern perspective, Saturday marks the first time in Michigan-Notre Dame history that viewers will tune in for the trainwreck value instead of the chance to witness a step on the road to a potential national championship.
If there's a saving grace to this game, it might be the nascent quarterback rivalry.
True freshman Jimmy Clausen already has one start at Notre Dame, but true freshman Ryan Mallett makes his first start for Michigan as injured senior Chad Henne was ruled out Monday.
Clausen and Mallett were ranked as the nation's No. 1 and 2 quarterbacks, respectively, in the Class of 2007 and amongst the top five recruits overall.
Sorry, I couldn't tie this all together by finding out the identities of the top-ranked recruits in the Class of 1909. Chalk that up as another superior aspect of the good ol' days.