1990 Michigan-MSU Two Point Conversion

The Backyard Brawl is between Pittsburgh and West Virginia

I still remember the call. He held him there, and he tripped him there. I have that game on a vhs tape.

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.

Eddie Brown later admitted that he knew he was beaten and figured he was better off interfering with Desmond and giving up the penalty than not interfering and losing the game. Yet all my Spartan friends still insist it was a good no-call. Whatever.

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 remember buying a Fuck Michigan State t-shirt on Hoover Street after that game. Very tough loss.

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."

 http://umgoblue.com/Old/HTML/Football/90/90UMMSU.htm

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

I was in the student section. That play is burned in my memory. I got really drunk that night.

I don't know that's there a more painful memory from my time at Michigan. I guess the Webber timeout is up there too.

How many of you still thought he should have caught the ball?

 

I remember this game too. Awful experience. Travesty. I think it is a good example of sports officials not calling fouls/penalties in the final big moments of games. It was a clear penalty, not even debatable.

My memories of that day: On my way to a party, my car's hood flips up and smashes out my windshield. We move to the side of the road, tie down the hood, and drive back for my buddy's car. We get to the party and, apparently shaken, I get absolutely hammered. The game was awful and I end up hooking up with the fattest girl in my sexual history. Ooof. Good times, though.

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! 

I was right at ground level in the student section that season. That play was right in front of me amongst all the marshmallows. I am still incredulous there was no call.

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.

I was a Sophomore and remember having to leave right after the play was over because I was late for a Sorority date party later that night. I was not a lot of fun to be around that evening. Fuck Sparty.

Argh, you did.  I'm going back to watching Charles White "score" in the Rose Bowl now.

Eddie Brown ended up teaching gym at my high school. I remember for a long time him saying it was a good play but he gave up on that the end of my junior year. Completing the circle I got to meet Desmond Howard at a work event. That's the extent of my cool story bro