startlingly effective passing game, the Wolverines incited an overflow crowd of 105,834 in the broad, intimidating sweep of Michigan Stadium by outright dominating the Hurricanes, the defending national champions, for most of four quarters. A mulish, persistent quarterback named Michael Taylor threw scoring passes of five, 18 and 16 yards, the latter to take a 30–14 lead with 10:32 left." The Associated Press also praised Taylor's performance: "Miami's comeback overcame a brilliant performance by Michigan quarterback Michael Taylor, who was shaken up twice but returned to throw three touchdown passes." After losing the first two games of the season, the Wolverines were 9–0–1 in the final ten games. One sports writer praised Taylor's performance in the first 8 games as follows: "Taylor has been everything Brown wasn't. He has a better understanding of the offense, is more poised, reads defenses better, and runs better. He was intercepted just twice in 122 passes this season." After playing well in the first 8 games of the season, Taylor broke his collarbone on the first offensive play in the Minnesota game and had to undergo surgery two days later. He was unable to play in the final regular season games against Illinois and Ohio State and in the 1989 Rose Bowl game against USC. Taylor was the Big Ten's passing efficiency leader for the 1988 season. 1989 season As a senior, Taylor started 8 of 12 games for the 1989 Michigan football team that finished the season with a 10–2 record (8–0 in the Big Ten), won the Big Ten Conference championship and lost to USC in the 1990 Rose Bowl. Taylor completed 74 of 121 pass attempts for 1,081 yards and 11 touchdowns in 1989. In the weeks before the season opener, the press focused on Taylor's physical condition. He had been nursing a sore shoulder in his throwing arm two weeks before the opener and missed the first week of practice. Coach Schembechler called it "the great Michael Taylor scare," and with news that Taylor would play, the Associated Press reported, "The Michael Taylor scare is over." Taylor noted, "I can throw freely and it doesn't hurt. I'm close to 100 percent and never even thought of not playing." Assistant coach Gary Moeller explained that Taylor's injury problem had been caused by the fact that "he didn't know how to throw properly until he came to Michigan." Taylor had been "flinging