the cast off, he just about never left the weight room or the training room." Schembechler did not include Wangler in his plans for the 1980 season, but Wangler spent the summer in Ann Arbor working with offensive guard Kurt Becker to rehabilitate the knee. Becker recalled that Wangler's recuperation was difficult: "There was so much pain involved that there were tears in his eyes." Wangler described his rehabilitation as follows:"Maybe I was naive, but I never had a doubt I'd play again. I wasn't ready to end my career. I'd do anything to play. The cast came off March 1st and by August 1st I knew I'd be able to play. I worked out four to five hours every day with weights, running, bicycling and swimming." In his book, The Blind Side, Michael Lewis cited Taylor's sack of Wangler as an example of the vulnerability of quarterbacks. Taylor later ended Joe Theisman's career as well. Lewis wrote, "Before Taylor hit him, Wangler had been a legitimate NFL prospect." Wangler told Lewis, "I was invited to try out for the Lions and Cowboys, but everyone was kind of afraid of the severity of my injury." 1980 season As a fifth-year senior, Wangler came back from knee surgery to start 10 of 12 games for the 1980 Michigan Wolverines football team that finished the season 10–2 (9–1 with Wangler as a starter) and ranked No. 4 in both the AP and UPI polls. During the 1980 season, Wangler completed 117 of 212 passes for 1,522 yards and 16 touchdown passes. He was intercepted nine times. His 16 touchdown passes in 1980 was the second highest total in school history at the time, trailing Rick Leach's total of 17 in 1978. His total of 1,522 passing yards was the third highest in school history, trailing Dick Vidmer's 1,609 yards in 1966 and Dennis Brown's 1,562 yards in 1968. In part because of uncertainties over Wangler's knee, Michigan entered the 1980 season picked to finish third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State (led by Art Schlichter) and Purdue (led by Mark Herrmann). Michigan played Northwestern in the season opener. Sophomore Rich Hewlett got the start at quarterback in a game played in a heavy rain during the first half. Early in the fourth quarter, Northwestern scored a touchdown to tie the game, 10–10. The Michigan fans began chants of "We Want Wangler."