College football day that you will never forget
Ok, this doesn't have to be a championship to be your memorable moment or anything like that. Maybe there were underlying factors that led to it being an incredible day of college football. Mine occurred on Sept 12, 2009.
I was rooming with my cousin at Central Michigan. CMU playing MSU in Spartan Stadium. When CMU recovered the onside kick it made our hearts race. Then MSU pulled a Sparty NOOOOOOOOOO and jumped offsides on a missed FG. CMU made the 2nd attempt and sent our campus into a frenzy.
Then we had to calm down, switch quickly to our Michigan gear, and watch another heart stopping thriller as Michigan pulled off the win over Notre Dame.
Later that night, Ohio State lost.
To recap, my school beat MSU, my favorite team beat Notre Dame, and OSU lost, meaning that the 3 schools I hate the most all lost, with 2 of the losses being in the dying seconds at the hands of my 2 favorite teams.
This is my favorite memory of college football thus far.
Let's hear yours.
You are correct, good sir. I blame the typo on my lack of sleep.
It was the '08 game, but it wasn't the 100th game, it was Michigan's 500th home game at the Big House.
I was in 7th grade. My dad suprised me with tickets. I had been begging him all year for the blue #2 Charles Woodson jersey, and he suprised me with that jersey as well. (Still my go to jersey on game day, it actually has a Cato June signature on it that I got from the spring game in 2002). Was an amazing game and that season really solidified my Michigan fandon. As always Go Blue!
Well my first game was Michigan-Minnesota 2004. I don't remember the game at all but I was a little kid and didn't understand football. I think I got to go to Michigan-Wisconsin 2005, but I don't actually know.
The first game I CAN remember is Michigan-Eastern Michigan 2009. I think it was a closer game too, not very good.
The next game was Michigan-MSU... last year... at home...
I was all hyped up (I'm only 16, by the way) and it was the biggest let down of my life. I wore my 16 jersey all week and got made fun of/ slammed into shit/ had the lock on my locker flipped and we ended up losing. I don't know why my expectations were so high because I knew the defense was just awful...
Never going to forget the "Go Green, Go White" chant echoing throughout the Big House... painful memories.
Kordell Stewart, you bastard.
I'd rather tell you a different story, but Colorado's Hail Mary to beat Michigan 16 years ago is a game I'm certain to never forget - particularly the stunned reaction of the 100K+ fans. I doubt I'll ever experience such a dramatic sense of disbeliving dispair ever again in sports.
Measuring the Degrees of Pain - ESPN
This link is an interesting look into painful college football history - the article starts with a great segment of Coach Moeller's reaction to new CU QB coach Neuheisel's celebrating reaction to the Hail Mary.
Damn, it's crazy. Even writing about that game puts a pit in my stomach still after 16 years. F'n Kordell. He just overthrew everybody. Before the play we were all celebrating knowing that there was no way they could go 75 yards in one play.... then when we saw that ball in the air... it just kept going... and going... and I knew he had overthrown the entire defense.... and then....
We beat that team up and down the field all first half then decided to shut down the offense in the second. I just had a sense of doom throughout the 4th q as momentum shifted towards even. Then one play and it's a HORRIBLE and unnecessary loss.
My first ever Michigan gam will be the Michigan-OSU game this year with my best friend as part of our senior trip.
It's gonna be a hell of a game, and you're gonna have a great time. Stop by tailgates before the game, but don't get too drunk. It's better being sober during a big win.
2003 Michigan vs. Ohio State
I was in still high school, but watched the game from the student section with my cousin who was at UofM at the time.
Stormed the field.
Partied all weekend.
Two years later I began my freshman year in Ann Arbor.
Enough said.
Oh ya, and Chris Perry
The Braylonfest vs MSU is up there. We sat next to douchey State fans the whole game, but we definitely had the last laugh on that one.
Next up is Wisconsin in '09. Such a good comeback despite such a shitty first half of play.
Last year's Illinois game was fun to be in the stadium for as well.
And on a sad note, last year's Wisconsin game. We got beaten soundly and I learned what it was like to get a hangover during the fourth quarter since I guess Natty and a pop-tart are not a sufficient breakfast.
In 1988, John Kolesar puts the team on his shoulders and beats Ohio State at Ohio State. One of the great performaces in The Game.
...Kolesar moment during my freshman year:
It was a glorious Saturday, November 23, 1985 in fair Ann Arbor. Late in the fourth quarter, Jim Harbaugh hits John Kolesar in stride as he streaks toward the north end zone outpacing his hapless Buckeye defender to score the game clinching points. From my seat in the student section the play unfolds perfectly for me -- everything framed just so -- Kolesar breaking away from the coverage, Harbaugh lofting the pass just before he was hit by the rush, the realization that Kolesar's pace and the ball's trajectory are perfectly matched, the sure catch, the turn along the sideline, Kolesar jetting to paydirt running right at me as the OSU defender helplessly chases, and 106,102 (minus several hundred deflated and dejected Buckeye fans) roaring in unison as the forces of good and light prevail over the evil from that school in Ohio.
and a very agreeable introduction to The Rivalry
I have always wondered why one doesn't ever hear much talk about this game as one of the most dramatic wins ever for Michigan over OSU. I was a senior when this game was played.
If memory serves, OSU scored the apparent game-winner with a minute left. Kolesar then returned the kickoff to midfield and afterward caught something like a 48-yarder from Demetrius Brown to stun the Hideous Minions of Evil - in their lair.
John Kolesar, the Buckeye Killer!
Hmm has to be the final Michigan VS. Wisconsin game for Ron Dayne. The announcers said it 100 times during the broadcast that Michigan was the only team in the big ten Dayne had never gained 100 yards rushing against. Still proud of that!
Prolly the 1991 Florida state game also. We had beaten Notre Dame that year after losing to them like 3-4 years in a row. I Remember thinking nobody can beat us this is our year national championship here we come! Florida state had an awesome team in 91 but we played them in AA. The crowd got taken out the game early and never really got a chance to get back in it.
on a side note Bobby Bowden was Florida State football, for them to treat him the way they did was wrong. If karma is real Florida state will flop back to the program it was before he got there.
but not Woodson's punt return. No, it was Andre Weather's INT return to put us up 20-0 that had the crowd really celebrating and thinking it was a done deal for a rose bowl trip. Then we stormed the field and fought through the tear gas to celebrate with the players and take home lumps of turf.
My fav. moment is the same as the OP's except that I was stuck at a wedding the entire day (this is why I took note and had my wedding just before football season, NOT during).
The ceremony was during the game and pretty much any chance we got we stuck our hands in our pockets and did the ol' sneak a peek @ the cellphone w/ ESPN gamecast running the whole time. Once the ceremony got over all the groomsmen ran outside to a vehicle where we proceeded to listen to the rest of the game.
I was also late to the wedding party dance as I was in my car with my cell phone tethered to my laptop listening to the UM game. Ahh great day.
Mine has to be Wangler to AC against Indiana in 1979. It was crazy that we were on the verge of losing (or was it tying?) that game, but the last play was glorious, even from my perch in the freshman section at the other end of the Stadium. Enjoying tapes of Ufer's call of the game on the radio came later for those of us lucky enough to be at the game. We weren't used to dramatic wins back then -- we either creamed the other team or we (very infrequently) lost a heartbreak. (The other posts about more recent games with dramatic wins reminds me how much the experience of Michigan football has changed over the decades.)
If I had to pick two, I'd have to go with 2008 Wisconsin. I have never yelled so loudly or felt like my cheering -- all of our cheering -- was necessary to pull that game out. I felt that our team really needed the fans' help, which was disturbing even though the result that day was great. Oh, and that pissed off Wisconsin asshole who bought a single seat next to ours made it even better.
I will change it up a bit here and go with that LSU vs. Kentucky game. They had just dumped Gatorade on the Kentucky coach and the fans had made their way down to the field waiting to rush on when the clock hit zero. I looked to my buddy and said how I thought it would be hilarious if LSU somehow pulled this off and thought that they would. LSU dropped back to pass and were so far away a hailmarry was out of the question. The QB gave it a toss and it looked like it was a pick and game over but it tips off 2 KY players into a receivers hand who catches it in stride for a TD. The best was the camera shot of the fans faces who had already rushed the field. Priceless.
Down by a million with 7 minutes left and then Braylon happened.
On a patrol while serving in the US Army. It was Nov 22 1997 and my Sergeant let me listen to the game while we drove to our drop off point. I had my old school headphones on and Woodson returns the punt for a TD! After the screaming (I was an 18 year old private first class) the Sergeant looks back and says to me "I guess something good just happened". A day that I will never forget, ever! GO BLUE!!
So many... How about the 2003 comback against those Gophers in Minnesota? Down 21 in the 4th...
Sorry.... couldn't embed it...
One of the best sports photos I have ever seen.
...I'm right there with you on this game. Season opener. Lloyd's first game as HC (or maybe his first as non-interim HC)? From what I can recall, it was a listless game for 3 quarters+. Our offense was stagnant. The defense kept us within reach. The weather was hot (at least where I was watching in North Carolina!). And then Dreishbach to Hayes happened. I jumped up instinctively with raised arms and got my hand mangled in a ceiling fan. I can vividly remember thinking "Dreisbach will be a serious Heisman candidate by his senior year".
cuz it was played maybe a week before classes started and I was about to start my sophmore year but was still in LA, CA (for the first time) visiting my uncle. I remember Friday night thinking ok I'm going to wake up Saturday to watch it BUT I forgot about the freaking time difference. I woke up and turned it on literally on the last drive just moments before Hayes caught that pass. I'd never felt so pissed but then seconds later so happy.
I was at the 2009 Notre Dame game in the south endzone about 6 rows up. It was a wild game and the Big House was Rockin.
I was at that game too. Row 1 North Endzone. I brought my father in law and his his dad who was about 82 at the time. It was both their first time at the big house. After we won I looked over at my dad, he looked back, and we both realized it was perhaps the best game we have ever been to. My F.I.L. and his dad have been fans ever since. It was also the loudest I can ever remember. That day will live on in my memory until I die.
good call. Biakabatuka was unstoppable
favorite game I never have seen: App State.
I was out of the country and the remote resort didn't have the game. I checked the score at half and then the final. Then fought with my GF and drank poolside. She later called me on it and we ended the day with a nice dinner.
I didn't get back for about 5 more days - so I avoided the whole ESPN thing. I have seen the blocked FG andbthe fans faces.... but never Armanti - just a myth to me....
It was all an elaborate anti-Michigan media hoax.
Wisconsin 2008.
That day I moved into my new condo in Chicago with my lovely girlfriend. At the end of the day, I was really happy, and Michigan football was 2-1.
We finished 3-9 and my girlfriend moved out 6 months later. I left Chicago in 2010. I am now stuck with a condo under water.
That is such a bittersweet day for me. Still good memories, though.
OK, I'm old, but nothing, not a national championship, not a long awaited win against the Buckeyes, nothing college football-related at all, could ever approach the feeling of watching Michigan dominate the arrogant, undefeated, "greatest college team ever" Buckeyes a year after Woody ran up the score against the Wolverines. When I see that game replayed on the BTN, I still get misty-eyed.
This game is the reason I wanted Jim Tressel and Pryor to stay. They'd be one of the top teams in the country (albeit not the greatest ever, but still) and it would be a huge upset for Hoke's first win.
I'll still take a win this year, though.
It was my freshman year and great memory after great memory. I called the 38-0 score against ND, beat MSU, and then beat OSU and everyone rushed the field. I crowd surfed from row 96 down to the 30s and just fell back into the crowd pushing my way to the field. An amazing year!
Braylonfest in 2004 is a memory for me because I had a soccer game during it. I listened to it for a little bit before the soccer game, then got an update at halftime. As my Dad and I left the field after the game, we knew the game had to be over and figured we would turn on the radio just "to make sure we won." As we turned it on, we heard screaming and were able to listen to the very last play of the game. Amazing.
My favorite memory of Michigan football, however is a recurring one. After a big win (2005 PSU, '09 ND, and many other ones) walking out of the Big House with thousands of other Michigan Men, chanting "It's great! to be! a Michigan Wolverine!" I still get chills. I was at the Minnesota win in the awful 3-9 year and the ND game last year, and a bunch of Michigan fans started that chant as we were filing out of the stadium.
Best chant in college football IMO, whether it's chanting it with thousands of other Michigan fans, or chanting it in the faces of hated rivals.
but still had a great memory from it. I was driving from Chicago up to my hometown a couple hours north of Grand Rapids and listening to the game on the radio.
I got to my parents' house at the beginning of OT and my dad says, "Your younger brother [an MSU grad] has called here for you several times this afternoon."
After the game was over, I called him back and said "Hey bro. Heard you were trying to touch base with me?"
The first game I ever went to, the Kickoff Classic in 1995 when Dreisbach hit Hayes in the corner of the endzone to win it against Virginia with no time left on the clock.
Also, I just want to tell everyone, thanks for posting these. Reading through them, reliving the great memories I experienced and the imagining the ones I wasn't alive for (unfortunately only 19 years old - would've killed to see Desmond, 313, AC or the 1969 OSU game).
I'm sitting at my internship, forgetting about work. I'm listening to Bob Ufer (Yes, i got a CD of Bob Ufer..) right now, reading some of the greatest moments in Michigan history, and it makes me so damn proud to be a student and fan of the greatest University with the best football tradition of all time. Now, Mr. Hoke, let's restore that program back to greatness
Two of them
- VT Beat Miami in 2003, to date the first and only time I have ever rushed any kind of college event
- VT loses to BC in the last 4 or 3 minutes in the rain, but that's less relevant because VT later played them again in the ACC Championship and won that one :)
Same here. I was a junior.
You both attended Michigan in the late 60's-early 70's. Two posts above is a kid who apparently is a current student and only 19. I and others here attended in the 80's. This site really draws fans from every generation.
And I'm only a senior in high school...I'm a youngin :)
that was the first day that I happened to think of, also!
I was a student at CMU at the time, so they were (and still are) my sencond favorite team!
My friend and I were sitting 13th row from the field in the CMU corner of the endzone. We ended up leaving when they went for that stupid 2 point conversion and, of course, failed. As we walked a little over half-way towards Grand River, I called another friend, who immediately began shouting "oh my God! Did you see that?! Dude, I can't believe it!" To which I replied with my heart jumping out of my chest, "What? What's going on?" "They just recovered the on-side kick! Aren't you at the game???"
I'm not sure if I even answered him, but I began sprinting back to Spartan Stadium with my friend, passing by many MSU fans taunting us because they also thought the game was over! haha My friend called again, to tell us that they were kicking the FG, but unfortunately we were still 400 yards from the stadium so we just stood still, listened and waited for the result from outside the stadium... the crowd shouted for joy as we missed, but since I was still on the phone, I was informed that there was a flag and we would re-kick. Again, we were in an all-out, gay sprint into the stadium. We stood about 3 rows up from where we sat all game, watched the kick sail through the uprights, then celebrated with the team in the corner of the endzone.
AFTER THE GAME, we went to B-dubs, when we watched the Wolverines and Tate Forcier win such an equally exciting game, again victorious with countless miserable enemy fans around us making it all the sweeter! :D
FIRE UP CHIPS!
&
HAIL TO THE VICTORS!!
in second place is probably the MICH-MSU game also at Spartan Stadium in 2007. I was at the game with the same friend, and we sat 1st row corner of the end-zone--same corner as the Mich band... only would have been better if it was the same corner where Henne threw those incredible touchdown passes during the comeback.
FAVORITE PLAY: Ryan Mallet comes in during the 4th quarter, and gets sacked... BUT NO, the ball comes out--Mike Hart picks it up and runs 11 yards for the first down! Mike Hart, saving the day.
made some road trips from milwaukee
Best games i have been to :
Michigan / Notre Dame - 2009 - The best college game i have ever been to ! section 3 i was in for that game !
Michigan / Indiana - 2010 - Saw Denard dominate for the first time ! tickets only were 5 bucks thanks to having a student ID ! Bloomington is a fun town to drink in ! They got a great pre game tailfate across the street at some park ! highly recommend the trip to Bloomington, and then the bars after !
Michigan / Central Michigan 2006 - first time ever at the big house , complete domination, we blew them out ! I had a feeling this team could be special just watching them that day !
Worst game i was at
Michigan / Wisconsin - 2005 - it was a night game at camp randall, we should of blown them out, got stuffed at the goal line with grady, we should of been up by 30 at halftime. ended up losing to brian calhoun and the badgers running the same run play and the same pass play to the tight end Owen daniels over and over, it was so predictable. first time they beat us in ages, and the fans their partied like they won the national title ! How we lost that game 23-20 i still have no idea to this day !
Michigan / Little Brother - 2010
their fans are assholes ! i have a friend who i took to the game, and this state fan tries to punk my friend during halftime , i came back and he told me about it, i waited till he tried to do it again, and i got in his face, and he shut the hell up ! We may have lost that day, but at least i shut an idiot sparty the hell up !
Best TV game -
Michigan / Penn State - 1997 - just got back home from playing football with some friends, and we were in the living room, and i made my best friend watch the game with me, ordered some pizza and watched Michigan dominate, never gonna forget that hit , it was vicious, and i was so pumped
close nominees Michigan/ TO$U - 1997 , Michigan / WSU - rose bowl 98
Worst TV Game
Michigan / TO$u - 2010 - nuff said
Michigan/ Colorodo
made some road trips from milwaukee
Best games i have been to :
Michigan / Notre Dame - 2009 - The best college game i have ever been to ! section 3 i was in for that game !
Michigan / Indiana - 2010 - Saw Denard dominate for the first time ! tickets only were 5 bucks thanks to having a student ID ! Bloomington is a fun town to drink in ! They got a great pre game tailfate across the street at some park ! highly recommend the trip to Bloomington, and then the bars after !
Michigan / Central Michigan 2006 - first time ever at the big house , complete domination, we blew them out ! I had a feeling this team could be special just watching them that day !
Worst game i was at
Michigan / Wisconsin - 2005 - it was a night game at camp randall, we should of blown them out, got stuffed at the goal line with grady, we should of been up by 30 at halftime. ended up losing to brian calhoun and the badgers running the same run play and the same pass play to the tight end Owen daniels over and over, it was so predictable. first time they beat us in ages, and the fans their partied like they won the national title ! How we lost that game 23-20 i still have no idea to this day !
Michigan / Little Brother - 2010
their fans are assholes ! i have a friend who i took to the game, and this state fan tries to punk my friend during halftime , i came back and he told me about it, i waited till he tried to do it again, and i got in his face, and he shut the hell up ! We may have lost that day, but at least i shut an idiot sparty the hell up !
Best TV game -
Michigan / Penn State - 1997 - just got back home from playing football with some friends, and we were in the living room, and i made my best friend watch the game with me, ordered some pizza and watched Michigan dominate, never gonna forget that hit , it was vicious, and i was so pumped
close nominees Michigan/ TO$U - 1997 , Michigan / WSU - rose bowl 98
Worst TV Game
Michigan / TO$u - 2010 - nuff said
Michigan/ Colorodo