Many, if not all, of those who remembered Howard's 1991 season will point to his 25-yard touchdown reception in the Wolverines' second game of the season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that would go down in Michigan football lore as "The Catch".
The Wolverines entered the game as the #3 team in the country with expectations to win the Big 10 and play in the Rose Bowl as they were led by second-year head coach Gary Moeller, junior quarterback Elvis Grbac, and Howard, who was coming off a sophomore season where he caught 63 passes for 1, 085 yards and 11 touchdown receptions.
Howard was perhaps considered an outsider to win the Heisman as the 1991 season began but he gained national attention after he caught three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 35-13 win over Boston College in their season opener.
Now, Howard and the Wolverines returned to the "Big House" for their home opener against their biggest rival behind Ohio State, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor ranked #7 and were coming off an easy win over Indiana in their season opener.
The Fighting Irish were led by head coach Lou Holtz, who was in his sixth season at South Bend, who had directed the Irish to a 25-4 record over the past three seasons, including a national championship in 1988.
The '91 Irish squad featured junior quarterback Rick Mirer, who some thought was going to be the next Joe Montana, and sophomore running back Jerome Bettis, who was poised for a breakout season.
Even though they entered their top 10 showdown with Michigan as underdogs, the Irish did have somewhat of a psychological advantage over the Wolverines as they had won their last four meetings with Big Blue, with the last three wins being by a combined score of 11 points.
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| Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac would complete 91% of his passes as he went 20 of 22 for 195 yards and a touchdown. |
Notre Dame got the ball to start the game but on the second play of the game Mirer was picked off by Michigan cornerback Lance Dottin, who gave the Wolverines' offense the ball at the Fighting Irish 42-yard-line.
The Wolverines would drive 37 yards in seven plays to set up a 23-yard field goal by Justin Carlson to give Michigan a 3-0 lead just 4:06 into the game.
The Irish would respond by driving to the Michigan 34-yard-line but a sack by Wolverines defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson of Mirer on 3rd-and-9, forcing Notre Dame to punt the ball back to Michigan as neither team would mount another scoring threat for the rest of the opening quarter as the Wolverines held on to their 3-0 lead.
However when the second quarter began, the Wolverines would put together a 11-play, 82-yard drive that culminated with a 29-yard touchdown run by Howard on a end-around reverse to increase the Michigan lead to 10-0 with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
The Irish seemed to poised to cut the lead on their ensuing possession when Mirer connected with Dawson for a 46-yard completion to give Notre Dame a 1st down at the Michigan 24-yard-line.
But two plays later, the Irish's scoring threat was squashed when running back Tony Brooks fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Michigan linebacker Erick Anderson at the Notre Dame 20-yard-line.
From there, it would take the Wolverines 14 plays to get back into the end zone with running back Ricky Powers scoring on a 16-yard touchdown run to push the Michigan lead to 17-0 with just 1:49 left in the first half.
Following a 15-yard return by Rodney Culver on the ensuing kickoff, the Irish took over at their own 35-yard-line with 1:45 left when they went to a no-huddle offense in hopes of driving down the field and getting some points before the end of the first half.
The tactic worked as the Irish drove 65 yards in eight plays, culminating with a three-yard touchdown pass from Mirer to Bettis with 17 seconds left before halftime to cut the Wolverines' lead to 17-7 as the first half came to an end.
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| Jerome Bettis dives for the end zone for Notre Dame's first touchdown of the game. |
The Wolverines got the ball to start the second half and drove into Notre Dame territory, thanks to a 20-yard reception by Howard to give Michigan a 1st down at the Irish 43-yard-line.
However, the Wolverines would pick up only six more yards and be forced to punt the ball back to the Irish who took over at their 20-yard-line.
The Irish would drive 80 yards in nine plays, with the bulk of the drive being two passes from Mirer to Tony Smith, the first going for 34 yards on a 3rd-and-15 to give Notre Dame a 1st down at their own 49-yard-line, then a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mirer to Smith to bring the Irish to within a field goal, 17-14 with 6:47 left in the third quarter.
Michigan would begin its next drive from its own 20-yard-line and hand the ball to Powers six straight times, gaining 30 yards before Grbac would find Howard for six yards and another 1st down.
Three plays later, the Wolverines were faced with a 4th-and-1 at the Notre Dame 35-yard-line when Moeller decided to go for the 1st down.
However, the gamble did not pay off as Powers was stopped for no gain giving the ball back to Notre Dame as the third quarter came to an end with Michigan clinging to a 17-14 lead.
The Wolverines defense would force the Irish to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 25-yard-line with 14:15 left in the game.
For this drive, the Wolverines mixed it up as Grbac completed three passes to Yale VanDyne for 28 yards and Powers carried the ball three times 21 yards, to go along with one carry by Burnie Leggette for one yard, to set up a 3rd-and-1 at the Notre Dame when Leggette was stopped for no gain, forcing a 4th-and-1.
Even though they were in field goal range, the Wolverines lined up to go for the 1st down when the play clock almost struck zero, forcing Grbac to call timeout.
Fans in the Big House and watching on television must have been thinking that Michigan would now attempt the field goal, but to surprise of many the Michigan offense come back onto the field to try and get the one yard needed for a 1st down.
Grbac took the snap and dropped back, looking for Howard who was going to run a five-yard hitch route, but Howard was drawing tight coverage from Irish defensive backs Jeff Burris , so Desmond turned the hitch route into a fade route toward the right corner of the end zone.
As Howard was making his adjustment, Grbac pumped faked the ball to allow freeze strong safety Greg Davis and allow for Howard to get past Burris.
As the pass floated toward the end zone, it seemed that the ball was out of Howard's reach, but the 5' 10'' receiver dove for the ball and was able to make the catch for a spectacular 25-yard touchdown that with Carlson's extra point, pushed Michigan's lead back to double digits at 24-14 with 9:02 left in the game.
The Notre Dame offense would not see the ball the rest of the game as Powers carried the ball eight times picking up 47 yards(who finished the game with 177 yards on 38 carries) on a 13-play, 57-yard drive that ran out the clock as Michigan won the game 24-14, their first win over Notre Dame since 1986.
Following the loss, the Irish would go on a seven-game winning streak, before losing two out of their last three games, to finish the season 9-3, earning a bid in the Sugar Bowl where the Irish would defeat the Florida Gators 39-28 to secure their third 10-win season in four years.
As for Howard, his leaping 25-yard touchdown catch would put be the launching pad of his Heisman Trophy winning season as he finished with 62 catches for 985 yards and 19 touchdown receptions, setting a new Big 10 record which still stands today as well as two touchdown runs and one touchdown each on a kickoff return and a punt return to give him a total of 23 touchdowns as the Wolverines made it to the Rose Bowl, where they would lose to eventual co-national champion Washington 34-14.
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| Howard finished the game with six receptions for 74 yards, one carry for 29 yards, and one return for eight yards, totaling 110 yards on eight touches and scoring two touchdowns. |
Howard would declare for the NFL following his Heisman Trophy winning season and would be selected with the #4 overall pick in the 1992 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins.
Howard would spend three years in Washington before being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 expansion draft where he played for one season before going to Green Bay for the 1996 season where he returned three punts for touchdowns during the regular season then had a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Packers' 35-14 win in their Divisional Playoff win against the San Francisco 49ers.
Three weeks later, Howard would become the first(and thus far only)Special Teams player to be named Super Bowl MVP as his 244 yards on 10 combined kick and punt returns, including a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown helped the Packers win their first Super Bowl in 29 years as they defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.
Howard bounced around the NFL for six more years until he retired after the 2002 season.
Three years later, Howard would join ESPN's college football pregame show, College Gameday, where he is served as an analyst ever since.
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