Has Michigan won against MSU in a controversy?
Michigan faithful, I know there have been a few games in which Michigan has lost to msu and there is some controversy in some of those games. Granted, sometimes UM just got beat... but we can all think of a number of games that were lost with the help of some questionable actions of the referees/time keepers/etc.
My question is this: Has Michigan ever won a game in the same manner? I cannot think of a single instance and it's not because I'm a homer. I can't think of a single instance where this is the case. Was there a call/no call in any game that DIRECTLY led to the game ending in our favor (not a woulda-coulda-shoulda situation).
That said, I would actually relish such a victory for the good guys. Walk a mile in those shoes sort of thing. Granted, I'd much rather celebrate an old fashioned kick-yo-ass victory.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^
in that game that Perry carried the ball 51 (51!) times. He half-jokingly said it was cheating to run Perry that many times knowing that Michigan had a bye week the following week.
Edit: I'm struggling to remember the details, but he might have claimed Michigan had two consecutive bye weeks following the game (Northwestern and a bye).
October 14th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
I was in the upper bowl at that game and was maybe 1 of 100 M fans up there, it was fantastic watching sparties face palm all day...
October 14th, 2011 at 6:48 PM ^
I was also in the upper bowl. Great memories from that game. It was funny b/c I was a student at the time and one of my best friend's whole family including him all went to State. His parents gave my dad and I their tickets for that game (really nice people). I called my friend's mom after the game to thank her again for the tickets and she was just telling me how glad she was that she didn't go with her husband b/c he would have been flipping out the whole game about Perry running wild.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^
My little brother was rooting for MSUHow appropriate.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^
We only win fair and square!
October 14th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
the pylon TD in the 2008 game as if MSU lost the game......
I can't recall any legit consequences that cost them a game but my maize and blue goggles might be a factor.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
That's the only call that came to my mind too. Minor was clearly out of bounds, but obviously that didn't cost them the game so it's irrelevant.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
that go in our direction. And we have gotten some, to be sure. (I'm hearing that we facemasked Persa last week. Where I was sitting, I couldn't see it. It happened right in front of Fitzgerald; I'll defer to him and you know what his reaction was.)
And there is Thom Darden's interception/interference versus OSU in 1971. Monumental. Woody tore up the down marker. It was a close play; I tend to think Woody was right. (I had the exact same angle as Woody, sitting 49 rows up.)
But there is absolutely nothing in the history of the UM-MSU rivalry that I can recall, going back to the sixties, that comes close to Eddie Brown and Spartan Bob. They really were abominations, by any standard you can think of.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:39 PM ^
Edit: refer to video below.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
No MSU games
-The only 2 that come to mind are the 98 Rose Bowl when WSU got screwed out of their last play when they tried to clock the ball.(Fuck em anyway because it never should have happened, the offensive PI non call on Woodson 20 seconds previous was ridiculous)
-Penn St people will point to the 05 game, but they are wrong.
I would like to hear ffrom anyone who can think of a game we won because of fortune(refs, luck etc) at the end I can't really remember one.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
Two bad calls in final minutes allowed Michigan to escape with a victory.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
Not sure about the 1st fumble. In theory only his head was down if he popped back on his feet he could have kept running, on theother hand it looks like the ground caused the fumble. The A-train fumble was an obvious official derp. Interesting that the Atrain could have botched 2 games in the final minute with a fumble aka NW game.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:28 PM ^
No, if your head touches the ground, you are down at that point. The only body parts that can touch the ground (and the runner not be down) are the hands and feet.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^
Great comeback was underway and then the bad calls allowed us to complete it. My brother-in-law had moved up to a standing area because he was having back pain. Me and the other guy in our party kept looking up at him smirking/laughing/shaking our heads at the game and the bad calls. I didn't know it but middle-aged Napoleon syndrome drunk Illini guy who was standing next to him thought we looking at him. Well after yet another horrible call in our favor I looked up and he unleashed a barrage of profanity at me - over the 10 to 15 rows of people between us - started wildly gesturing for me to come up and fight him! We just laughed at him - as did most of the Illinois fans. My bro-in-law is about 6'4" and 250 plus - he calmly and kindly convinced him it was time for him to leave.
Great game. Great trip.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:50 PM ^
I remember that game distinctly because of those two "fumbles." Clearly the Illinois player was down when the ball popped out (what a crazy hit, BTW), while Thomas nearly fumbled away the game. I wouldn't blame Illini faithful for being pissed about that game.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
The Illinois player was down, but he had also been stopped on 3rd down, so they were going to give up the ball anyway. It gave us better field position than we would have otherwise gotten, but with that year's offense, I'm not sure it would have even mattered.
The Thomas fumble non-call was more critical to the outcome.
October 14th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
i was at the game. most illini fans forget illini would have to punt anyway after fumble #1 into a gail force wind. the net punting into the wind was pretty bad that day. ATrain then fumbled on the next play, iirc (or 2 plays later).
so illinois would have had the ball deep in their own territory in any event with about 3 min left. they hadn't done anything into the wind, except one score in the first half. they weren't even getting first downs. one of their few first downs was a result of a bad unsportsman like penalty on foote on 3rd down, keeping a TD drive alive. they also benefited by 2 or 3 very questionable interference calls. but the illini fans forgot about those too.
on the other hand, henson was unstoppable when he was in there. he took over for an ineffective navarre in the first half. UM may have scored on each Hensen possession, except a missed field goal, i think.
also, i believe UM took a knee to end the game around the illini 10 yd line. they could have scored again if they wanted, but the illini fans forget that too.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^
You could argue that the Illini who caused the fumble face-masked Thomas before he jarred the ball loose. That's what I tell my Illinois friends, at least.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
Look at the clock...when the ref signals for the clock to stop, it's hitting 0.
Just like the MSU game, it's not when the ball is spiked, but when the ref signals it.
And as you said, it shouldn't have mattered, because not only should they not have been there due to the most obvious offensive interference ever, if the guy hadn't knocked Woodson down he was ready to pick it off and add to his incomparable legend.
October 14th, 2011 at 5:57 PM ^
The Ref even pulled out his flag!! That was the worst non-call.
October 14th, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^
3rd row behind the WSU bench. what people also don't know is that WSU had a receiver pretend he was hurt a play or two before the woodson non-call. he faked an injury to stop the clock. he limped off the field to the bench right in front of me, where i saw him laughing with a teammate.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^
about SOMETHING, but, since whatever it was obviously went our way, I can't for the life of me remember what it is.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
woulda-coulda-shoulda is the year Stanton got hurt. They talk like it was a sure victory if he finishes that game. They also wrongly accuse M fans of cheering his injury.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
I cheered. Sorry! (not really). He had such a hard-on to beat Michigan that it almost got a little pathetic... like his career with the Lions.
October 14th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
In his defense, he was drafted under a terrible coaching staff and had 3 different OCs in his first four seasons and a couple different QB coaches as well. He shouldn't have ever been drafted in the second round, but that's not his fault. He was always a project and the turnover on the coaching staff wasn't what he needed (especially since Mike Martz was one of them). I think he can be a decent backup in the NFL.
October 14th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
. . . are a dick
October 14th, 2011 at 3:42 PM ^
As I started off today, I was okay, not consumed by the game, just kinda nervous and excited for tmrw. As today has gone on, with the radio, tv talk, facebook posts, tweets and everything else I am no angry and feel like there is someone inside my head saying "Fuck state, Fuck state, Fuck state, Fuck state, FUCK STATE, FUCK STATE, FUCK STATE, FUCK STATE! FUCK STATE !!!! FUCK STATE !!!!!! FUCK STATE!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sorry for the language. I want tmrw bad, go blue.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
I hate MSU fans. No nothing fans, bunch of ignorant drunks that are a half step above schools like Western and Central. Denard please do big things tmrw, and I want that D-line and Kovacs to eat Cousins. Literally, eat him.
October 14th, 2011 at 9:51 PM ^
If you're going to say that other people know nothing, you might want to learn the difference between no and know.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
Michigan cheated MSU when MSU hired John L Smith. That was obviously not fair and we should have been called out for it. Also, when we started playing them every year... that too was a bit unfair for them.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:46 PM ^
Let's not forget Michigan did everything they could to keep State safe and out of the Big Ten. It was Michigan that held on our legs and refused to let until the big Ten agreed to let them be tag along. Not to mention begging to be in the same division.
October 14th, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^
The closest I can think of was the 1989 game in East Lansing. Seems like there were two calls on the sideline where the officials ruled the Spartan didn't get out of bounds - as they were mounting a final drive (or maybe just before the half) - they ended up using timeouts and or hurrying before ultimately getting stopped on the goal line.
Sorry I can't remember the details better - but the Sparties sitting near me were livid that they didn't get the clock stopped on those sideline plays.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^
in 1995.
Gave Tony Banks a non-deserved 1st down on a 4th and 10 scramble on their winning drive.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
And they weren't scoring again in that game.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^
We might have gotten a critical call or two in the '04 and '05 overtime games, but I don't remember for sure.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
Michigan won that game, so no harm, I guess.
Really, though, it's too bad the Minor TD didn't matter in the game much. Because it was such a preposterously bad (and yet reviewed and upheld!) call it could have cashed in on some 1990 and 2001 debt.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
Is it out of line to say the Minor touchdown was the worst botched or missed call in the history of college or professional football? Can anyone think of a worse one?
I know there have been plenty of bad mistakes by refs- Fifth Down, Spartan Bob, that stupid coinflip involving the Lions, etc., but this one was the only case I can think of where they had the benefit of instant replay and the call was obvious, yet the official badly misinterpreted a rule and made a blatantly wrong call. Even the Oregon/Oklahoma onside kick in 2006 wasn't this obvious.
October 14th, 2011 at 5:03 PM ^
The Minor touchdown was more a bad interpetation of the rule, which I guess can be considered worse, but I'm sure it's neither the first nor last time an official hasn't interpreted a rule correctly.
The Oklahoma-Oregon blown call is the worst one I can remember. An Oklahoma player literally walks out of the pile with the ball. The Refs then try to separate the pile before deciding an Oregon has it, even though the ball is no longer even in the pile. Oregon goes on to win. I still don't understand how the official could have made that call. If the official thought he saw a specific Oregon player fall on it, he should have at least checked to make sure that guy had the ball.
A close second, and maybe the worst with replay is the Syracuse-Toledo missed XP. I don't know how a guy on the field and then a replay assistant couldn't see that the ball crossed in front of the goal post.
October 14th, 2011 at 5:06 PM ^
There's the 5th Down game -- I think that's the most notorious bad call in history, since it gave Colorado an opportunity to come from behind and beat Missouri. The Buffaloes went on to win a shared nat championship in 1990 with Georgia Tech. Ask GT about that sometime -- they have nightmares about that play like we have nightmares about the "football" TD Nebraska got in '97 versus Mizzou.
October 14th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^
Yeah, it has to be the 5th down game. Guess basic math skills aren't a requirement for NCAA referee candidates
October 14th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^
The Syracuse pat vs Toledo.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
Because it was such a preposterously bad (and yet reviewed and upheld!) callIIRC, wasn't the original call on the field an incompletion, and then after review it was ruled a TD?
October 14th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
but i recall some opponents fans complaining about a larry foote fumble recovery.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
MSU fumbled on an option play on 3rd and goal. Foote probably was out of bounds when he recovered it. However, if the play could had been overturned (instant replay not yet existing then), MSU would have had 4th and goal at something like the 8-yard line. So it probably cost them 3 points in a game they lost 14-0.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
In the 2009 Indiana game when Warren intercepted the pass. The call went in our favor, but I don't remember the last time possession was given to the defensive player when both the reciever and db were fighting over the ball. IU coach went nuts - for good reason
October 14th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
Warren actually intercepted that pass. If you watch the replay in slow motion, you can see the ball go through the receiver's arms and into Warren's. The receiver then tried to snatch it away. Thus, it was not simultaneous possession (which would have been given to the receiver).
October 14th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^
warren wrestles the ball away as they are falling and has sole possession just before they hit the ground.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
Wasn't there some controversy in the 1998 or 2000 game with a fumble we recovered near the sideline?
October 14th, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^
Foote recovered a fumble on the sideline, but seems like it was pretty legit.
October 14th, 2011 at 4:45 PM ^
If memory serves, in the 2000 MSU game, Michigan recovered a fumble in the 4th quarter where it looked like the MSU player was down before the ball came out. Michigan won the game 14-0, so that call didn't cost MSU the game, but it did kind of kill their last chance to get back into the game.
Not a great example, but it was all I could come up with in my experience. Given that we usually beat MSU by a solid margin, it kind of takes controversy out of the equation.