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| Anthony Carter etched his name in Michigan lore with his walk-off touchdown reception against Indiana in 1979. |
If Anthony Carter had never played another down following the Michigan Wolverines' 1979 game against the Indiana Hoosiers, he would have gone down as a legend in Ann Arbor.
However, what Carter did in that game was the only start of a legendary career as "AC" would become one of the greatest wide receivers to ever don the maize and blue.
Carter was a true freshman playing in his seventh collegiate game as the Wolverines hosted Indiana for "Homecoming" in 1979 having made only six catches for 86 yards up to this point in the season.
Michigan was primarily a running team under head coach Bo Schembechler who was in his 11th season in Ann Arbor having led the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl the past three seasons but unable to win any of those games.
After having Rick Leach start 47 out of 48 games from 1975-1978, Schembechler used a two-quarterback system in 1979 as juniors B.J. Dickey and John Wangler rotated at quarterback as Butch Woolfolk got the bulk of the work at running back.
Michigan entered the Indiana game as the #10 team in the country with a 5-1 record and another chance to go to Pasadena and play in a fourth straight Rose Bowl.
While the Wolverines had Rose Bowl aspirations, the Hoosiers had dreams of just playing in any bowl game as they entered the 1979 season hoping to end a streak of 10 straight losing seasons.
The Hoosiers were led by future ESPN commentator Lee Corso, who was in his seventh season in Bloomington as he led Indiana to a 5-2 record and needing just one more win to become eligible for a bowl game, which would be the first for the Hoosiers since their appearance in the Rose Bowl following the 1967 season.
Michigan got the ball to start the game as the Wolverines would go three-and-out to punt the ball to the Hoosiers only to get it right back as Tim Wilbur lost the ball after he was hit by Michigan running back Roosevelt Smith leading to a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Mike Lemirande at the Indiana 40-yard-line.
Woolfork would carry the ball four straight times picking up 18 yards to set up a 4th & 6 when Schemebchler decided against the field goal and go for the 1st down which he got when Dickey ran for 19 yards on a quarterback draw to set up 1st & goal at the Indiana three-yard-line.
Fullback Lawrence Reid would get the ball on the next play as he punched it in for the touchdown to give Michigan a 7-0 lead with 10:34 to go in the first quarter.
The Wolverines would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 34-yard-line as they drove to the Indiana 45-yard-line until Dickey was intercepted by strong safety Chuck Alexander to give the Hoosiers the ball back at their 15-yard-line.
After both teams traded three-and-outs, the Hoosiers would start their next possession at their two-yard-line when they put together a 15-play, 98-yard drive that took over six minutes to complete and did not end until quarterback Tim Clifford hit Dave Haranagody for a three-yard touchdown pass which tied the game at 7 with 11:44 left in the second quarter.
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| Indiana quarterback Tim Clifford threw for 232 yards and two touchdown passes. |
The Wolverines would begin their next possession at their 24-yard-line as two runs by Woolfolk gained six yards to go along with a 14-yard pass to Carter put Michigan at their 44-yard-line when Dickey ran for 13 yards until he was tackled by Wilbur which left the quarterback with a bruised shoulder.
Dickey would be replaced by Wangler who after handing the ball off to Woolfolk, who picked up nine yards on the two runs, ran for five yards only to fumble the football after a hit by safety Dart Ramsey, leading to a recovery by defensive tackle Mark Rodriguez at the Indiana 29-yard-line.
The Hoosiers would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Wolverines only to have Carter muff the punt which was recovered by Indiana running back Lonnie Johnson at the Michigan 32-yard-line.
However, the Hoosiers could not convert the turnover into points as Kevin Kellogg missed on a 39-yard field goal attempt to keep the score tied at 7 with 3:30 left in the second quarter.
Following a Michigan three-and-out, the Hoosiers got the ball back at their 31-yard-line as a 19-yard run by Johnson, followed by a 36-yard pass from Clifford to Nate Lundy would lead to a 14-yard touchdown run by Johnson to give Indiana a 14-7 lead with 69 seconds to go before halftime.
The Wolverines would drive into Indiana territory as time ran out in the first half with the Hoosiers on top 14-7 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
The Hoosiers would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Michigan 43-yard-line until Mike Friede was dropped for an eight-yard loss on a 3rd down reverse play which forced Indiana to punt the ball back to the Wolverines who took over at their 22-yard-line.
Woolfolk would get the ball on the first two plays of the drive which he totaled 14 yards before a 14-yard pass from Wangler to Alan Mitchell put Michigan at the 50-yard-line when Reid took a Wangler handoff and ran 50 yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 14 with 10:06 to go in the third quarter.
After forcing an Indiana punt, the Wolverines got the ball back at their 46-yard-line as Michigan would rely on the ground game for their next drive as they ran the ball all but one play on a 10-play, 54-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Woolfolk to give Michigan a 21-14 lead with 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
Following another Indiana three-and-out, the Wolverines would drive 33 yards in nine plays, all runs, to give Bryan Virgil a shot at a 39-yard field goal which missed to keep the score at 21-14 with 10:10 left in the fourth quarter.
The Hoosiers would quickly move into Michigan territory as Clifford completed a 14-yard pass to Bob Stephenson then connected with Friede for 24 yards to put Indiana at the Michigan 41-yard-line when three straight incomplete passes forced Indiana to punt the ball back to the Wolverines who took over at their 20-yard-line with 8:20 left.
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| John Wangler came off the bench to complete 10 of 14 passes for 163 yards. |
From there, Michigan would drive to the Indiana 11-yard-line thanks in large part to the right arm of Wangler as he completed passes of 15 yards to tight end Doug Marsh and 17 yards to tight end Norm Betts as the Wolverines seemed poised to put the game away with another score.
However, a quarterback sack by Rodriguez would stall the drive forcing the Wolverines to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt by Virgil, which sailed wide left and no good to keep the score 21-14 with 3:56 left in the game.
The Hoosiers would take over at their 21-yard-line as Clifford would hit two straight passes for 20 yards which was followed by a three-yard run by Mike Harkrader to put Indiana at its 44-yard-line when Clifford threw deep and hit Lundy for 54 yards to give the Hoosiers a 1st and goal at the Michigan two-yard-line.
That is when disaster nearly struck as Johnson fumbled the football following a handoff from Clifford which the quarterback would recover to keep the ball with Indiana as it got ready for 2nd & goal.
Clifford would take the snap and roll to his left until he fired a pass for Harangody for the three-yard touchdown to bring Indiana to within one point at 21-20.
Since there was no overtime in college football in 1979, Corso had a decision to make: kick the extra point to tie the game or go for two and try to win the game.
Corso opted for the extra point which was successful to tie the game at 21 with 55 seconds left in the game.
The Wolverines would get the ball at their 22-yard-line with a chance to drive into field goal range and give Virgil a shot at a game-winning field goal or perhaps drive for a touchdown.
The drive would begin with a seven-yard pass from Wangler to Woolfolk followed by an incomplete pass and then a two-yard run by Woolfolk to set up 4th & 1 at the Michigan 31-yard-line.
Instead of punting the ball back to the Hoosiers, Schemechler decided to go for the 1st down which he got as Woolfolk ran for four yards to give Michigan a 1st down at its 35-yard-line with 25 seconds to go.
Wangler would complete a nine-yard pass to Ralph Clayton which was followed by another incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 1 when Wangler fired a pass for Reid, who made the catch inside Indiana territory then tossed the ball backwards and out of bounds to stop the clock with six seconds to go.
Reid's toss out of bounds drew the ire of Corso, who argued that a penalty should have been called but since Reid tossed the ball backwards the play was legal.
An offsides penalty on the Hoosiers gave Michigan five extra yards to the Indiana 45-yard-line when Schmechler called for Wangler to run "54 Pass Post" a post pass intended for Carter.
As Wangler called the play in the huddle, Carter told Wangler "Throw me the ball, I'm going to be open" to which the quarterback replied "I am, don't worry about it".
Wangler would take the snap, drop back a few yards, and fire a pass for Carter, who made the catch at the Indiana 20-yard-line, dodged two tacklers as he stumbled his way down the field, then dodged Wilbur's attempt at a tackle at the five-yard-line, to get into the end zone to complete the incredible 45-yard touchdown to give Michigan a 27-21 win.
The crowd at the "Big House" went wild as the rest of the Michigan team mobbed Carter in the end zone while Michigan radio announcer Bob Ufer made immortalized the play with a legendary call:
Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Hoosiers would go on to win two of their last three regular season games to earn an invitation to play BYU in the Holiday Bowl, which the Hoosiers won 38-37 to finish the season with a 8-4 record and #16 ranking in the final coaches poll and #19 ranking in the final AP poll.
Meanwhile, Michigan would defeat Wisconsin 54-0 the following week before going on a three-game losing streak to end the season with a 8-4 record and #18 final ranking in the final AP poll and #19 final ranking in the final coaches poll.
As for Carter, he would go on to be selected as all-American the next three seasons as he helped Michigan to two Big 10 championships and a win in the 1981 Rose Bowl as AC would finish his Michigan career with 161 catches for 3,076 yards and 37 touchdowns.
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