It's a slow day at work, so why not relive a bit of M football history?  One tradition we've had that extends to the present is overtime success : in 16 overtime games, Michigan has won 13 for a superb .8125 win rate.

2000 Orange Bowl - Michigan 35, Alabama 34

The one that started it all.  One of the few Michigan victories that gets broadcast on the BTN and ESPN Classic.  Michigan opened OT play with a 25-yard strike to Shawn Thompson.  Alabama answered in two plays, but their kicker missed the PAT!

2002 PSU - Michigan 27, PSU 24

First OT session at the Big House.  Great back-and-forth game that featured some very iffy interpretations of what constituted a catch by the officials.  PSU managed only a field goal in their OT possession and Chris Perry brought it home for Michigan on an inside handoff. 

2004 MSU - Michigan 45, MSU 37 (3 OT)

Braylonfest needs no introduction.  Those fans who didn't leave early when MSU went up 27-10 in the fourth quarter were in for an epic finish.  A heartbreaker for John L. Smith's Spartans, who lost their QB (Drew Stanton) and the game after leading most of the way. 

2005 MSU - Michigan 34, MSU 31 

John L. Smith's program reached its pinnacle entering this game, 4-0 and ranked in the top 25.  But a 2-2 Michigan team dominated the game, only for MSU to force OT on a very questionable incomplete/fumble call that led to a defensive score.  But Sparty missed a FG and Garrett Rivas came through for win.  (Rivas gets a bit lost in the shuffle but he was pretty clutch.)

2005 Iowa - Michigan 23, Iowa 20

Kinnick is never an easy trip.  The "Year of Infinite Pain" (!) was ongoing and Michigan started just 3-3, before defeating an undefeated PSU on Henne-to-Manningham on the last play of the game.  I don't remember a ton about this game except that we held Iowa to a FG in OT and then reserve RB Jerome Jackson scored the winner.

2009 MSU - MSU 26, Michigan 20

Finally the streak ended.  Rich Rodriguez's Wolverines were 4-0 and Tate Forcier was a campus hero.  MSU was 1-3 and Dantonio's job security seemed shaky.  About that... 

MSU controlled play most of the game and led 20-6 midway through the fourth quarter, but Michigan busted a long TD by Darryl Stonum, followed by an epic drive by Forcier to tie the game in driving rain in the final seconds.  Sadly that drive has been forgotten by most as OT didn't go our way.  Forcier threw a tipped INT, and then MSU, content to play for a FG, busted a tackle and scored for the game.

2010 Illinois - Michigan 67, Illinois 65 (3 OT)

Another regular in the BTN lineup.  The game where we never bothered to cover a wheel route.  In a game featuring absolutely no defense by either side, Greg Robinson's guys mercifully ended this on an all-out blitz on the 2-point attempt in the third OT.

2012 Sugar Bowl - Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 

A soccer commentator would praise Michigan for being "clinical" in this one, managing to score 23 points despite being held under 200 yards of offense, in a Hokean game that featured a completion to a long snapper.

2012 Northwestern - Michigan 38, Northwestern 31

Poor Pat Fitzgerald.  His team was on the verge of a big win on the road when Devin Gardner completed a Hail Mary to Roy Roundtree to set up the game-tying FG.  After Gardner scored himself in OT, Northwestern's 4th down attempt was stuffed for no gain!

2013 PSU - PSU 43, Michigan 40 (4 OT)

Longest game in Michigan football history, in more ways than one.  27 carries for Fitz Toussaint for 27 yards.  Missed game-winning field goal attempts on both sides.  After escaping against Akron and UConn, probably one of the worst 5-0 Michigan teams in history saw its close-game luck run out.

2013 Northwestern - Michigan 27, Northwestern 19

Poor, poor Pat Fitzgerald.  Michigan forced OT on this insanity and you just knew how it would end.  After scoring zero touchdowns in two full games of action, Michigan managed two of them in the overtime sessions because college football OT is very weird.

2015 Indiana - Michigan 48, Indiana 41 (OT)

The Jake Rudock breakout special.  The QB who could never hit the deep ball suddenly became a gunslinger, to Jehu Chesson's great benefit.  We convert 4th down to force OT and then sealed the deal with a game-winning goal line stop, our second of that season (after Minnesota).

2016 OSU 

Yeah, moving right along...

2017 Indiana - Michigan 27, Indiana 20

Michigan overcame John O'Korn passing for 58 yards (!) thanks to a monster performance by Karan Higdon, including in OT where he bounced it outside and went the distance.  As two years before, the game ended on a goal-line stand.

2019 Army - Michigan 24, Army 21

I'm surprised how little of this game I remember, despite that it happened just over a year ago and I was there in person.  I remembered that Army missed a long field goal in regulation but that was it.  I had to look up on Wikipedia how this ended.  In the second OT, Paye/Hutchinson sacked the Army QB and Uche recovered the fumble to win it.  Winning a game on a sack . . . I miss that.

2020 Rutgers - Michigan 48, Rutgers 42

The grand beginning of Cade McNamara's career, or just a blip in a downward spiral for the program?  We'll see.

 

The conventional wisdom is that OT is a coinflip.  You look through this history and it doesn't seem that way.  The favored team won nearly every one of these games (usually us, fortunately).  Looking it up, OSU is 11-2 in overtime themselves.  It's accepted that going second offers an advantage (which is probably true) but the biggest factor seems to be just having the more talented team.