1990 Michigan-MSU Two Point Conversion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiAaEdKUzM0
Some great sideline footage and commentary from Michigan Head Football Coach Gary Moeller when his #1-ranked Wolverines went for two points to win the 1990 version of the Backyard Brawl with in state rival, Michigan State.
PS-Fuck Sparty!
That's what the UM-MSU rivarly was called as well, at least back in the 90s.
http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Brawl-Storied-Michigan-Michigan-Football/dp/1928846130
Moeller was a great coach and is a great guy. You can tell by the way that he handled the official, and what he said to his team in the locker room that the guy has class. He got a raw deal that lead to his firing.
I used to work with a guy who played under Moeller and he said that the team absolutely loved him and that he was a fantastic guy to play for.
That game was when Sparty was in their usual place below Michigan and grabbing, grasping, tackling illegally to do whatever they could to win. Those days will be returning soon.
The DB from State admitted a few years ago in the Det. News that he intentionally tackled Desmond because he knew he was beat and had no shot. He was surprised also that there was no call.
he's probably the best coach the Lions have had in decades.
I'll never get over those screw jobs.
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Wouldn't we have won the national championship that year if that play was called like it should have? We were # 1 at the time.
That was only by one, though, and in the Big House. No telling what would have happened if we went into that game come off a thrilling win instead of a heartbreaking loss.
The loss to Sparty was a double loss. We came out terribly flat the next week against Iowa. There was no life in the team.
The typical coach-speak of putting a loss in the past so it doesn't become two probably has never had a better example than that two week stretch.
Had we won that game, we absolutely could have won the NC.
We would have played the rest of our B1G games with a much different mind set as the #1 team, ala 1997. I believe we would have won them.
As far as our competetion for the NC that year, it was Colorado who was "undefeated" only becuase the refs missed a phantom fifth down, and an unimpressive Georgia Tech.
We mauled Ole Miss in our bowl game that year so bad that the entire O Line was given the MVP. We were a steamroller by the end of the season.
That could have easily been an NC team.
Desmond was not only tackled but it looks on the tape as if he had possession of the ball when he broke the plane of the endzone. No Calvin Johnson rule then. An absolute rip off of Spartan Bob proportions.
As for Moeller getting a raw deal, I don't think so. His drunken episode went viral in a time when there was no internet to spread the virus. If a college institution is trying to control college drinking, it is pretty difficult for that to be a role model. They had no choice but to fire him. A great guy and a hell of a Michigan man though. I liked his time as head coach of the Lions and wish they gave him a chance.
I know plenty of people that have had a drunken incident like that and were retained and were in normal positions and not a football coach. It was a one time thing and not a pattern.
I'll always remember that game because I was at my grandparents' house and my OSU-loving uncle was there, obnoxiously rubbing it in to an 11 year old. He was more enjoying the fact that we lost on an unjust call than if we had just lost straight up.
I was 8 and I was crushed. I grew up in the Greater Lansing area, pretty much the only part of the world where a Michigan fan will be outnumbered by MSU fans. The Sparties at school, quite brazenly given both teams' performances to that point, had really run their mouths that week about how they were going to kick Michigan's ass. All my life I've always kept my mouth shut until after the matter is settled, as there are few things I hate more than eating my words. I was just like, "Heh, OK". I don't know if I've ever dreaded a Monday morning more than that one. At least not until later in life when hangovers became a thing.
Officials have screwed up obvious calls and non calls for many years. But how they couldn't notice the obvious mugging just several feel away on this play is mind boggling.
UMgoblue.com has a feature about the play. While the ball is in the air, Eddie Brown has grabbed Desmond's waist and then grabbed both his ankles as he falls to the turf. The flag should have been thrown before the ball even reached Desmond.
"I saw six-foot, five (inch) Elvis Grbac back there about to dump it in there for an easy two points and I'm thinking there's no way I can go back to East Lansing if I give up this play," Brown said. "So I tripped him and I tried to act like I tripped and fell."
On the Monday following the game, the Big Ten head of officials called Moeller to apologize. It was the first time I had ever heard of a league apologizing for a blown call.
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-16/sports/sp-2425_1_michigan-state
This was a very ugly game for us in the first half. We had one more turnover than they did. We could not stop Duckett.
http://www.umich.edu/~bhlumrec/athdept/fbstats/1990/1990msu.pdf
2nd-and-goal from the Spartan 1 --- zero points. A missed 28 yard field goal (really a bit of a gift, as MSU threw an interception instead of just running out the clock).
That's at least 6, potentially 10, points U-M left on the field. 13-7 or 17-7 at the half instead of 7-7, and it's a completely different game.
I was in that end zone as welll. It took so long for the ball to pop out that we all thought it was a TD. The place went crazy . . . then stunned silence.
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How many of you still thought he should have caught the ball?
I think Desmond said later that he should have caught the ball.
I believe the failure to complete this play led to his massive effort against ND the next year. He stretched out to catch that fourth and one fade in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. That TD gave his Heisman candidacy a massive boost.
He should have caught the ball because he did catch the ball . . . then he dropped it on contact with the ground.
Yes it was PI, but he was still able to bring the ball in. He didn't hold onto it though.
Gotta make that catch.
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I remember it was the first time in my life that my parents actually let me go on a vulgar language f-bomb spree without getting in trouble. I had the same feeling again in 2001 with Spartan Bob. Those were two brutal losses from a fan's standpoint, I cannot imagine what the players felt like.
My freshman year. I was in the student section in the corner of the end zone where the play happened. It looked like Desmond tripped on his own foot until I saw the replay and realized the MSU defender tripped him up.
Being a sports fan and all I found 1993 a very agreeable year to graduate from the University of Michigan. Living in town for the 1989 Final Four was a good way to kick it off.
So many dramatic moments and almost all positive, this and the damn Rocket being notable exceptions. All-time of games I have attended I can only recall the catch being more instanteously horrific than this travesty.
Also: DAMN those uniforms are sharp. So clean!
That was my freshman year. At that time it was effectively general admission by section. We got to the game early and took up the first row in the back of the endzone. The play happened right in front of me. And this was also the last season before the Stadium field was lowered when natural grass was brought in. So we were really close to field level
I had the absolutely perfect view of the trip. Clear as day one could see the DB hand grab Desmond's ankle. And it was mildly debatable that Desmond actually caught the ball.
I personally think that if Desmond hadn't nearly caught the ball, the PI gets called. The DB made a headsy play. He knew he was beat and did what he could and it worked out for him.
And the best part of the marshmellows was when the visiting band would walk by. It took a few weeks for the tubas to realize that they better hold the bell down or we could get a lot of marshmellows in the target. After that, bass drums were fun targets.
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I was one of the football beat writers for the Daily in 1990. From above in the press box, watching the stadium go berzerk during Desmond's TD return to tie the game at 21 was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. For the 2-pt conversion, I can tell you that we (the Daily writers), and just about everyone else in the press box, were equally stunned that there was no flag and that it wasn't called a catch regardless. We were so incensed by the result that we actually debated running a headline as though Michigan had won the game, 29-28, but then we remembered that we're journalists and it probably wouldn't be a very good idea.
The Iowa loss the following week was because of a stupid decision to go for 2. Moeller used to have the o-line far off to the left while the center, holder and kicker were properly positioned. The holder liked that the D wasn't set properly, so he called for the snap and the conversion failed. Could have used that point, obviously.
That team lost 3 games by a total of 6 points and was probably the best team Michigan has had other than the 1997 championship team. Wound up in a 4-way tie for the conference title (the 3rd of 5 straight), and obliterated an overmatched Ole Miss team in the Gator Bowl with over 700 yards of offense -- an unheard of amount in the pre-Denard era. That team should have won a national championship -- they were good enough to do it. Shameful that the Sparty result took that possibility away.
Fuck em
Argh, you did. I'm going back to watching Charles White "score" in the Rose Bowl now.