One Frame At A Time: Rutgers
You might think downing a slow-rolling punt on the opponent's 11-yard line isn't much to celebrate, but that is why you are you and Dennis Norfleet is the best.
In case there was any doubt as to who won this week's otherwise-barren GIFs post, the BTN knew enough to put a camera on Norfleet before a Rutgers kickoff:
The adidas "what if we made one finger different?" gloves make this look a bit more obscene than I think was intended. Regardless, infinite eligibility for Norfleet, please—this, sadly didn't make it to the broadcast:
@aceanbender @hooverstreet at Rutgers' game, pre-punt return, he turned twds RU band playing in stands and conducted it for a full minute
— Boom2daBoomBoom (@Boom2daBoomBoom) October 7, 2014
Infinite, I say, and I'll stand for nothing less.
[Hit THE JUMP for a couple sacks, a couple Devin Gardner TD runs, a catch and two steps and C'MON REFS, and more.]
As usual, clicks the stills to open each GIF in a lightbox.
10. Yes, That Is A Catch
I know, I know, we're at the point in this cursed season when a call that potentially costs Michigan the game barely registers on the outrage meter. That said, I count two steps and one football move, and have no clue how this could possibly have been confirmed upon review.
9. Take A Bow, Taco
Excellent technique on the waist-bend, too.
8. That Looked Rather Easy
It's kinda nice to have the outrageously good athlete use his outrageously good athleticism, as it turns out.
7. Brady Hoke Rides The Emotional Rollercoaster
Hoke reacted to Frank Clark's near-sack, only to be followed by a Gary Nova touchdown pass, the way I believe all of us did. The smirk of disbelief at the end seals it.
6. Watch For Terrifying Flying Objects
That Gary Nova had a reaction to seeing a leaping Henry bear down on him aside from "drop everything, poop myself" is a testament to the bravery and bowel control of quarterbacks everywhere.
5. Butt Needs A Hand
Just one, though.
4. Maybe Play This Guy More?
With this block and his catch just two plays later, Khalid Hill made a rather emphatic case for more playing time.
3. Devin Gardner Saves The Waggle, Part 264
Defenders juked out of their shoes: 1
Defenders blown past because DG makes tackling angles irrelevant: 3
Touchdown created solely by the remarkable athleticism of DG: 1
2. Dancin' Dennis Norfleet Debuts New Dance
If you're looking for ways to have fun watching Michigan football, here's the guy to watch.
FRAMES OF THE GAME: MOST ENTHUSIASTIC PUNT DOWNING OF ALL TIME
Seriously, if this doesn't give you at least some small feeling of joy, I'm not sure I can do anything to help you anymore. I tried. I really tried.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
I wish more players showed the same fire and enthusiam that Norfleet does.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
I wish Norfleet showed the same ability to score touchdowns that other players do.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
The whole team sucks at scoring touchdowns...it's not just Norfleet. That's why we suck as a team.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^
Norfleet is as bad at scoring as everyone else on the team (except the Devins, who are clearly superior to him), but no one else on the team gets as much run on this site for merely dancing a lot before plays and getting hawked down from behind by someone three times his size during them.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
I wish Norfleet was an 8ft tall cyborg, you can't have everything.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
Which players? players on Michigan?! Missed that I guess
October 7th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^
I love that lil' dude. I'm with Ace: this guy needs infinite eligibility. He and A Dakich should both get it and would be an amazing team IMHE.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
but that's irrelevant because we should've never needed that drive to win.
Foot is down, second foot comes down, first foot again drags before he dives out of bounds.
I could see some odd "stands" call on that but "confirmed" is just beyond belief still.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
I've never understood the "that's irrelevant because we should've never needed that drive to win" line of thinking. Of course it's relevant - that awful call significantly reduced our chances of winning the game.
But yeah, it's confounding that it wasn't ruled a catch upon review. It was a catch in college, it was a catch in the CFL, and it was a catch in the NFL.
It was a catch on a train, It was a catch on a plane.
It was a catch on a box, it was a catch with a fox.
I do not like the call review. I do not like it, FieldingBLUE.
October 7th, 2014 at 5:46 PM ^
"Irrelevant" is probably not the best term. I would guess that what he's trying to convey is that Rutgers is piss-poor at football and Michigan should be competent enough at football to blow Rutgers out by 2+ scores, at minimum, so the play should be irrelevant.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:38 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
The question is whether he was still in the act of making the catch. Once he is able to turn and attempt to put the ball past the sticks, the "catch" is over. He lost control a fraction of a second after that, but the key word there is "after." Per item 3, he maintained control of the ball long enough to perform an act common to the game (and actually did perform such an act).
Here's an excellent question for the refs: How is this not a catch, but Roundtree's catch to end UTL I was confirmed as a catch? Darboh had the ball longer and turned upfield, and didn't lose the ball until he hit the ground. Roundtree started to lose the ball as he fell, but regained control out of bounds before hitting the ground. So he completed the catch, but out of bounds. Based on this, if Darboh had lost control without the ball hitting the ground, then recaught it out of bounds, that makes it a catch? Apparently this is all true according to the rules and how it has been interpreted by referees. So either the referees or wrong, or this is a really stupidly worded rule. Or both.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
It was the Megatron yesthatwasafuckingcatch play all over again. We all know what a damn catch looks like.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
Was the incomplete pass called because the "Calvin Johnson" rule? I didn't think that applied to college football. But that is the ONLY possible way it would be confirmed incomplete.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:40 PM ^
Ah, yes. I was wondering the exact same thing at the time. It is a weird enough rule in the NFL but I had never heard of it being applied at the college level. I agree with you though, that it is the only possible explanation.
October 7th, 2014 at 7:12 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
Probably shouldn't celebrate the Taco bow, since that's the exact move that cost Oregon against 'Zona. Still, nice stunt and tackle by Taco.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
but you can't just run up to the 40 yard line and bow down to the opposing team bench (or was it his team's bench?). That's why Oregon player got flagged for taunting. It basically cancel out the other shitty call on a taunting penalty on Arizona DB for standing up from a tackle.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
It's actually quite outrageous that the call was "confirmed" upon review. That's a catch if I've ever seen one. Just incredible.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^
For all the foibles during that game it sure seemed like on that drive they were going downfield for the win. On the road. Against an actual opponent type substance. Darboh even MADE PLAYS and yet...nope.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^
And, what's more, the ref closest to the action called it a catch. He was overruled by someone further away. I have no idea how the ref heirarchy works /RAGE.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
is the oft-mentioned fact that the replay officials called it incomplete. What was he supposed to do, carry the ball up into the stands, out to concessions and order popcorn?
October 7th, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
And yet more rage: why did Michigan even have to burn a timeout to review that play? Were the replay officials napping or out buying popcorn? That should have been an automatic review.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
Taco Charlton looks like what you'd expect Lebron James to look like on the football field with an extra 25 pounds. That is one large human.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
These were some great plays. I'm proud of the players. Khalid Hill really blasted that corner on his block.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
All I could think was MINOR RAGE!!!
It's nice to have that feeling again.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
No GIF of the Darboh catch-not-catch? For posterity?
EDIT: I'm blind. And stupid.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
Is a human Red Bull. And his helmet has wings!
October 7th, 2014 at 6:03 PM ^
Very, very, cool
October 7th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
and to think that Norfleet was a late late commit to that class. Was bound for Cinci as I recall.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
I'm just going to watch Norfleet at all times this Saturday.
That's not creepy, right?
October 7th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^
Perhaps before he graduates Norfleet will run a kick back for a TD. In the meantime all his dancing and jive talking are mostly delusions of grandeur.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
It was funny two years ago. Now all the dancing without any play making is emburrussing.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
completely disagree. he's just living in the moment and having fun. it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's one of those people who just always has a song in his head, and dances around without even realizing it before he reels in the focus for the play at hand.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
Well, I guess I'm not the one who is emburrussed and if he isn't either then more power to him. So I've changed my way of thinking. Whatever coping mechanism he has is fine with me.
October 7th, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
As for showcasing a few of his dance moves, that just shows he's a confident, high energy player. And the fearlessness he has returning the ball I'd say requires quite a bit of confidence.
Regardless, you've got to admire the kind of attitude Norfleet has shown. He's dedicated to his teammates and coaches and plays with a lot of fire. With the team appearing so deflated all the time, it'd be nice if more guys felt the same level of intensity.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
"Jive talking"?
"Delusions of grandeur"?
October 7th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
My friends and I were sitting in section 113 - the endzone opposite the RU students, basically looking down our team's sideline (very similar actually to my section 11 seats in MI Stadium). I was with 3 other women, none of whom are Michigan fans and only 1 of whom is much of a football fan at all. I think it was during warm ups before the 3rd quarter that one of them pointed out Norfleet on the sideline dancing to the stadium music in between his high-stepping stretching/jogging etc. to loosen up and I told them to just watch him the rest of the night if they were looking for a little non-football fun. He is very, very entertaining. We loved it every time we caught one of those moments like the little dances before the kickoffs etc. Definitely a highlight of the night.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
I just don't get it. I see so many guys like Charlton, Henry, Gardner, Butt, Funchess, etc. that in isolation look leaps and bounds like better football players than like, the other teams players. Yet we still suck. What gives? I guess football really is the ultimate team game. We have talent, yet we suck as a team.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
Take a look at your signature line and you will answer your own question.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^
I wish Norfleet was not setting up to field a punt on the 2 yard line.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
I wouldn't double post.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
I just want to pick up Norfleet and give him a noogie.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^
The stupid thing about the Calvin Johnson rule is that in a situation like this (if we are assuming that rule is being applied here), it contradicts the NFL's definition of a catch. It used to be ball secure--two steps was a catch. Now it's ball secure--football move. Either way, Darboh's catch clearly satisfies the requirements. The refs just get so caught up in the "finish the catch" language that they forget about everything else. If that play had happened in bounds, he should've been down b/c the ground can't cause a fumble. It should never have been called incomplete.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
I'll always enjoy Dennis Norfleet's antics.
October 7th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 9:55 PM ^
...When Devin Funchess smiles after dropping a ball. He's what's wrong with the team.
...When Devin Gardner shows no emotion after an INT. He's what's wrong with the team.
...When Brady Hoke claps over yelling. He's what's wrong with the team.
...When Dennis Norfleet goes crazy trying to psyc himself up. He's what's wrong with the team.
Why don't you and everyone else who bitches about 115 players and 10 coaches all not reacting the way you want them to...go get a room. Write a detailed description of how a player and a coach should act.
Then when go petition coaching staff to allow you to screen every recruit, no matter the talent level. Because tempermant, reaction and emotions are FAR more important than everything else.
Or you could just do EVERYONE a huge favor and STFU. You're never going to get everyone to act the same way, no matter what way you feel is the best. I don't care if you've got Tom Brady, Mike Hart, Braylon Edwards, Jake Long, Mike Martin, Glen Steele, Jake Ryan, Charles Woodson and Jordan Kovacs all on the same team. With John Harbaugh or Bo Schembechler coaching the group.
Every single one of those guys is going to conduct himself in a different manner than the rest of the group.
Of all the things to bitch about with this team...we're worried about a guy showing too much emotion. LOL.
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