Michigan 29 Minnesota 26 Comment Count

Seth

barron

A wall.

Michigan had their hands on it all game, and it kept slipping through their fingers. Peppers dropped a pick-six after jumping a WR screen. Dymonte Thomas and Jarrod Wilson both dropped interceptions they had two hands on (Dymonte’s was then caught by a Gopher). Jourdan Lewis and Jeremy Clark probably could have grabbed a pair of Leidner ducks they played with Connor Cook-level respect. Thomas also let a perfect Blake O’Neill punt bounce through his hands for a touchback. Each time the Gophers capitalized.

For its part, Minnesota held on like men who don’t know what they’d do with their lives if they couldn’t run around in goofy armor for a chance to win some painted old pottery. On 4th and 5 on Minnesota’s last drive, K.J. Maye had one inch to catch a slant against perhaps the best cornerback in the country, and  didn’t drop it. Neither did his receiver mate Drew Wolitarsky, who on the ensuing 2nd down beat Channing Stribling with a double move and hauled in a pass at the 1 inch line.

With the clock running Mitch Leidner moved his pieces around to set up a winning TD, but the Michigan defense chased him out of his pocket. That left 2 seconds for either a field goal attempt to force overtime, or a play to win. An average team against an average defense should get that QB sneak 9 times out of 10. But Minnesota was no average offense; they had a true freshman at center and other replacements all around him. And Michigan was no average defense. For one, Ryan Glasgow was the guy right over the ball. For two, D.J. Durkin was making the calls.

Glasgow won the battle he’d won all game, the rest of Michigan’s goal line defense closed around him, and together they grasped the life out the old rival. For that they get to hold the Jug again.peppers

While the Minnesotasphere will spend the next week replaying final scenarios (and the choice to play for a field goal at the end of the first half), Michigan fans will try to unpack all of the misfortunes and misplays that almost made the Little Brown Jug miss the flight home from its year abroad.

So much about Michigan has changed since then that it’s hard to remember this is still a team put together by Brady Hoke and held together by Harbaugh’s ingenuity. You can’t blame the old coach for everything, but Michigan’s recent history was all over this game.

Those weren’t all bad things. The interior defensive line was its magnificent self. Jourdan Lewis was. Chesson dropped one earlier but held onto his horizontal touchdown, and Darboh’s hands made sure it was 3 points, not 1, that Minnesota needed from our 1.

Hoke also left Jabrill Peppers, who, finally, was the answer one too many of Michigan’s questions. Need an athletic nickel to neutralize the spread? Peppers. Need a strong safety? Peppers. Cornerback. Kick returner. Punt returner. Running back. Slot receiver. Quarterback?

So yeah, this week we’re going to talk about the Morris-or-bust plan, because early in the third quarter Jake Rudock went to slide, and a defender tried to separate his head from his shoulders. It was the third time (the second was earlier in this game) this season he was clearly targeted with no call.

With Michigan down 23-21 at this point Harbaugh inserted Wilton Speight, whose play was about what you expect out of Wilton Speight. He did finally get his feet under him on the final drive, with his last two passes of the game the touchdown to Chesson and the two-point conversion to Darboh. Let that be the final word on wither Shane Morris.

(Rudock was on the sideline trying to throw after being examined and just about everyone noted Michigan informed the press it was a shoulder injury rather than, you know, making it a thing.)

Desmond Morgan did not have a good game, giving up a long run when he got out of his lane, getting caught too far inside on a long wheel route, letting Brandon Lingen sneak behind him for a long pass at the beginning of the 4th quarter, and letting Rodney Smith shuck him to give up a crucial 3rd and 17.

That and the dodgy score and the Halloween candy had Michigan perilously close to vomiting up a Hoke game in 2015. But they ultimately held it down, and the feeling will pass with time.

Comments

KungFury

November 1st, 2015 at 12:58 AM ^

I don't want to agree, but also hard to disagree. On offense it was easy. We were down the whole second half and needed to find a way to score with a backup QB. But we also had no situations where we had to make gutsy calls to go for it or be conservative on 4th. But that last offensive drive and 2 pt conversion was a thing of beauty. And that call in the end by durkin was a thing of beauty.




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DELRIO1978

November 1st, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

Brady Hoke won the war for Jabril Peppers, they never would have won last night without him, he will be the best player in the country next year and a top 5 NFL draft pick;

 

Brady Hoke brought in Greg Mattison who was responsible for having a FRESH, TOUGH defensive line on the field with: 01 left on the clock against a fading Golden Gopher O line; 

 

Jim Harbaugh rates every player 1 through 105, hence Michigan fans {as opposed to the Herd} did not have to wonder why Wilton Speight was the field, he was the 2nd best QB in practice last week; Straight to hell with his QBR, there is NOT a metric for standing tall putting up 8 points off the bench in the fourth quarter and forcing the Herd to re-do his entire Monday Michigan snarky act;  

 

It is too bad the Golden Gopher Coach was “hoping” to win instead of KNOWING his team would win; It is too bad he decided to go finesse with motion, and blew his time management; it is too bad he did not have sense enough to know after all that confusion he should attempted a field goal since that IS what he played for all the way down the field for;  It is too his quarterback just slammed into a brick wall instead of trying to actually make a play;  but Michigan built that F*** wall and the tired, confused & “hoping” to win Golden Gophers never stood a chance;

 

It is a pleasure to see a Coach who just decided that the BS unsportsmanlike conduct flag was GOING to be picked up or there was GOING to be a PROBLEM right here & now; That was the only time in my living room I shouted and came out of my seat and it was GREAT to see a TOUGH team receive justice;

 

It is no accident J.T. Barrett got “popped” on a bye week after he finally had restored order at the QB position, OSU QB’s do not have to really compete every week for playing time, they “share” in a manner that causes players to lose focus;

 

Remember the interview Connor Cook gave after the MSU victory at Michigan Stadium? Compare to Wilton Speight’s post-game interview where he was so locked in & focused; he rewarded his Coach who trusted him taking his place with Holly Rowe by showing professionalism, insight, humbleness and you could tell he was starting his preparation for Rutgers’ practice week already;

 

Meanwhile, Tyrone Issac really better start coming hard today, he is leaving carries on the field that should be his;

 

Meanwhile, the defensive coaches better start further emphasizing back side contain, enough with QB runs & wheel routes already; 

M-Dog

November 1st, 2015 at 12:19 AM ^

For 59 minutes and 58 seconds, this game felt like the Penn State night game that Hack bombed us a freshman.

I'm not looking forward to another one of those.

And just like Ohio State, Penn State is starting to find their groove at the end of the season.  And lucky us, we get to play them back to back.

ThoseWhoStayUofM

November 1st, 2015 at 1:56 AM ^

It's because Minnesota's interim head coach isn't supposed to inexplicably run 17 seconds off of the clock, throw the ball away, and then go for the TD with 2 seconds left.  That's horrendous coaching.  That's beyond unbelievably inept decision making.  That's worse than when Brady Hoke decided to go for a 2 point conversion agianst Ohio State.



W....t....f... why would you run 17 seconds off of the clock on a terrible pass play, and then go for the touchdown when you could tie the game with an easy field goal?  Because you're not fit to be a head coach.  That's why.  End of discussion. 

Danwillhor

November 1st, 2015 at 3:48 AM ^

that I was hoping they'd kick it. I just couldn't take another very last second loss and they were moving our DL/LBs all night. I'm glad they didn't as I feel like Speight only had that one very short drive in him. I'll end by saying that I don't think we reapected Minnesota enough but, more than that, Minnesota played a damn near perfect game. I don't think that squad can play better, I really don't. Respect but moving on.

ThoseWhoStayUofM

November 1st, 2015 at 4:05 AM ^

I think I understand what you're getting at. Basically, we should have lost this game. We're fortunate that their interim head coach ran 17 seconds off the clock. We made a great goal line stand, on the road, and I don't want to discredit our d-line for playjng hard either but Minn should have had 2 more tries, and the game, at the very least, should have gone into overtime.

that's just the facts.

ThoseWhoStayUofM

November 1st, 2015 at 3:15 AM ^

I'm not asking for upvotes.  In fact, I forbid anybody from upvoting this comment....



Oregon will lose their next two games, and it will expose MSU for literally not playing a single decent team, except Michigan who they beat by having refs hand them the game (Michigan should have been winning by 20+ points), and a miraculous last play.... wow...



MSU hasn't beaten a single decent team.  There isn't a team that sparty LEGITIMATELY beat on that schedule.  Oregon will lose to Cal.  Oregon will lose to Stanford.  Oregon will lose to USC.  Oregon may even lose to Oregon St.... ... ... and MSU will have an absolute bullshit win over Michigan and... ... .. nothing.  If you think MSU is going to beat Ohio State, you're crazy.



But Michgian will.  Michigan has Ohio State at HOME!  Wait and see.  We're going to win the Big 10 championship.  The drama is going to be real.  MSU is going to FREAK OUT!  Their only legitimate win is going to be against Michigan, but Michigan is going to win the Big Ten Championship, outright.  We're all going to RELISH losing to Michigan State.  That's the ultimate insult.  Everything... happens... for... a... reason.



Michigan will be the outright Big Ten Champs and Michigan State will be crying in the corner about how they beat us yet they were "SNUBBED" by the playoff polls.



You heard it here first.



"Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you’re playing basketball, and you let him get the lead, and then you come back and take it back"



You can only live off of the "little brother" chip for so long.  Eventually, the universe is going to come arond and punish you for the borrowed time you had on top.  You've become cocky, arrogant, exactly the thing you reviled and hated.  You should have humbled yourself, little one.  You should have been thankful for your uprising at the expense of Michigan's downfall.  Now it's about to be thrown back in your face.  My only hope is that Michigan fans demonstrate class.  Be rational.  Michigan State beat us because the refs kept them in the game, Harbaugh made a poor decision ont he punt formation, and O'Neil dropped the snap.  It was a unique combination of errors, on the part of the refs, Harbaugh, and our punter, that resulted in MSu's victory.  They should have felt fortunate for the win, as we feel fortunate for the win against Minnesota (which we had no business winning if not for inept decision from their interim head coach).



It was anybody's game and we were hugely fortunate.  Michigan State, on the other hand, didn't even deserve to be in position to win the game.  There's a difference.

ThoseWhoStayUofM

November 1st, 2015 at 1:38 AM ^

There was nothing wrong with Ace's write-up.  This guy is being a dumbass.  I'm not the type to "stand up for the OP because I'm a fanboy".... it's just... there was literally nothing particularly wrong with Ace's write-up last week... especially since you posted an entire article devote EXCLUSIVELY to the refs being the major culprit for why we lost....



That was literally the most homerish post I've ever read on this site, and yet also I have no arguments against it.  I'm just saying.



I mean, you just said, "Minnesota held on like men who don’t know what they’d do with their lives if they couldn’t run around in goofy armor with very old painted earthenware."



What does that even mean?  It doesn't mean anything.  It means Minnesota tried to not lose, I guess.  Sure... lol.



But the idea that you replaced Ace because Ace was, I guess... not homerish enough?  That's kind of laughable.

MaximusBlue

October 31st, 2015 at 11:43 PM ^

Definitely one of the if not the strangest game I've ever seen. With the one for the gipper,the holloween effect,football gods,etc.etc. working against us, we made it out.

I don't even care how awful we looked. Just rejoicing for the win. Go Blue!

ih8losing

October 31st, 2015 at 11:44 PM ^

No need to worry about how the coaches will continue to motivate players after shutout streaks. It's a win, thank goodness, but a whole lot more to fix than expected




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teldar

November 1st, 2015 at 7:48 AM ^

I think a lot of the issues Michigan still has is Hoke decided to take nowhere near a reasonable number of quarterbacks, wanted mostly slow, leapy wideouts, and recruited and coached (by proxy) a bunch of running backs who cannot figure out where the hole is to run through. The OL was reasonable. Until it wasn't at the end. But the fact that Rudock is the best QB Harbaugh has to work with is a terrible indictment of Hoke. 

J.

November 1st, 2015 at 12:56 AM ^

The gifts were the two playcalls at the end of the game -- they ran so much time on the first play they were lucky to get a second one.  But a competent coach plays for overtime when the opposition has a redshirt freshman backup quarterback playing who hadn't completed a pass in his career comng into the game.

Goggles Paisano

November 1st, 2015 at 5:58 AM ^

They showed Clayes on the sideline during the review and he was winding his arm as if to say once they blow the whistle the clock will start.  At least that was my interpretation.  Maybe he felt so good about that first goal line play that he didn't want to burn a T.O. there.  Terrible clock management  that could cost him the full-time gig.  

 

Tex_Ind_Blue

November 1st, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^

Till then Michigan had allowed close to 500 yds of offense with a good amount of rushing yds. He was definitely correct to go for the win. Overtimes are crapshoot. Michigan got lucky (RPS +infinity) that Minny called a play they were expecting. Correct mindset from the Gophers but bad play-call. I am just happy that Michigan won.

stephenrjking

November 1st, 2015 at 1:58 AM ^

It was. The game was basically over--what semblance of a passing game we had wilted, the running game continued to be unreliable, and nothing was happening. Minnesota fans smelled blood in the water.

No Hoke team, and no Rodriguez team, ever did a buggier job of competing in near-hopeless conditions better than the team that played tonight. Everything was weird, dozens of things were going wrong, Minnesota was playing the perfect game. And still they competed.