Chris Dufresne ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL - It's open seasonon Carr and Weis
The story goes that, in 1877, a few Michigan students taught a few Notre Dame students the game of football and thus began glorious histories that lasted through, well, Friday?
Michigan would emerge to lead the planet in college football victories with 860 while also commanding the top winning percentage, .745.
Notre Dame is No. 2 on both lists.
The question heading out of Labor Day traffic is how two proud programs can recover from disastrous season-opening losses.
The short answer is: They can't.
So both seasons have been essentially flushed before the final money tally in the Jerry Lewis Telethon?
Sorry to say.
Michigan, a team that had national title aspirations, is tainted goods after a home loss to Appalachian State that will never be forgotten or forgiven.
One football coach since 1948 has won a national title at Michigan and it was Lloyd Carr, not Bo Schembechler.
Yet, Carr's legacy now will be as closely tied to Saturday's loss at the Big House as it will be to the 1998 Rose Bowl win over Washington State that made him Victor Valiant.
Taking the long view is nice, and sometimes perspective has its place -- but not here.
Michigan's reality is cold and hard.
Plenty of schools have rebounded from losses to win the national title. Florida did it last year. USC earned a share of the 2003 prize after a loss to California in Berkeley.
But no team has ever, or will ever, win the national title after losing to Appalachian State. Never mind that the two-time defending Division I-AA champions are probably better than a handful of major-college schools, including Duke, Buffalo, Temple and maybe Stanford.
Bad losses stick in college football more than great wins do.
Michigan could run the schedule starting next week against Oregon, win the Big Ten title and earn a Rose Bowl berth, but the stain is as indelible as Saturday is irretrievable.
There have been rumblings that Carr, who is 62, was going to retire after this season and now it seems all Ann Arbor is flowing on that track.
This is Carr's 13th season at Michigan. Saturday's was his 150th game. Sometimes the relationship between a football coach and a school simply wears down.
There won't be a firing here, no way, but make way for the exit plan.
