Does Michigan have a disproportionate number of "miracle plays" against them?

Submitted by Lakeyale13 on

Last night totally got me thinking, our beloved Maize and Blue seems to be the team on the losing end of the "miracle play" far more than any other (Edit) HIGH PROFILE UNIVERSITY I can think of.  For Example, Colorado's Hail Mary, Appalachian State, Michigan State Punt Debacle, Northwestern last night, etc. 

 

So any other Schools you can think of that rival us?  LOL.  I can think of schools with a singular massive play against them, such as Auburn running the missed FG back on Bama, but not a school with multiple such plays in the last 20 years or so.  I just choose to see it that we are GREAT at lots of things.  Ha!

1464

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:01 AM ^

OP - plural nouns always get "number" and not amount. Amount is for a singular collective, like sand, water, or energy. Sorry, I'm not usually the grammar nazi type, but it's my biggest grammar pet peeve.

IncrediblySTIFF

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:16 AM ^

If you really want to get into linguistic roots here, amount is something that is immeasurable.  Since technically we can measure sand, water, and energy, the proper word for these examples would be "quantity."  However, the amnosity generated by this comment will likely be unending, and the amount can surely not be measured

1464

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^

Measurable as a collective. Gallons, ounces, etc. But if you want to measure you're splitting it into units, which would then be plural. Number of grains of sand. Number of liters of water. I don't like the 'countable' designation because that's pretty subjective.

Everyone Murders

March 2nd, 2017 at 7:43 AM ^

I don't think that it's a matter of there being so many, but that the ones we have being memorable.  If Loyola Marymount loses on a spectacular buzzer-beater, who remembers a month later?  A year later?  And for how many people does it sting?

A Michigan loss, however, matters to a great many people.  The fanbase, the media, and all the haters.  That makes it seem like we get more than our fair share.

(Wholly anecdotal, BTW, but that's my impression.)

ijohnb

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^

For whatever reason, both Michigan football and basketball have trouble "putting teams away." I don't know why, but it transcends coaches and even generations. We leave ourselves vulnerable to these things and if you play with fire you are going to get burned. We had three possessions last night, back to back, with a two point lead around the 3 minute mark and did not even get a real look at the rim. We get any kind of bucket on any possession there and you could have started up the bus. You could see the eventual heartbreak coming from a mile away during those failed opportunities. Also, our difficulty inbounding the ball and defending inbounce plays of all varieties is a weird Beilein glitch. We need to send him back to the manufacturer and get that worked out. I think we are out of warranty but I will gladly pay out of pocket to get it fixed.

In reply to by ijohnb

Chalky White

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:18 AM ^

I don't understand why this program struggles to inbound the ball so much when the coach is regarded as an offensive genius specifically regarding ball screens. 

ijohnb

March 2nd, 2017 at 8:25 AM ^

more so, I don't understand why when the other team is inbounding the ball anywhere from tied to down 3 from underneath their basket with under 3 seconds left you can book it that they are either going to win it or send it into OT. True story - when they added the .4 to the clock last night I said to my wife that NW was going to score to win it and I was at least 90% sure it was going to happen.

UMxWolverines

March 2nd, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^

Obviously we get more recognition than most when we lose. But it's how we lose. OSU doesn't have a bunch of these famous losses like we do. Not even close. Chris Webber timeout, Colorado Hail Mary, App State blocked field goal, MSU punt return. That's way more than any other team I can think of. 

UMfan21

March 2nd, 2017 at 2:30 PM ^

this. I mean off the top of my head we have: Desmond' dive vs. ND Hamilton' FG vs. ND Brabbs vs. UCLA Mercury Hayes over UVA UTL Dileo's sliding FG hold Goal Line stand vs. Minnesota 2 years ago Hennessy to Manningham Braylon fest 2000 Orange Bowl we have had our share of narrow wins. they just aren't memorable because they weren't "upsets". we are the big dog.

Dylan

March 2nd, 2017 at 7:45 AM ^

But I look at it positively. Not many teams are as good at such a variety of sports where they wouldn't just be easily losing those games instead of getting beat in the last second. Haha - maybe not. It's probably just the fact that they are discussed forever bc everyone hates Michigan.

Boner Stabone

March 2nd, 2017 at 7:45 AM ^

For every miracle play we have against us, I can probably name one that went for us.  Ask Indiana fans last year how they felt about Kam Chatman in the BTT.  Ask Kansas fans how they feel about Trey Burke a few years back.

snarling wolverine

March 2nd, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^

The Manningham play was a 10-yard slant.  Clutch throw and catch but not an out-of-this-world play.

That pass yesterday was nuts.  The vast majority (maybe 99%) of the time a throw that long gets picked off, knocked away or sails out of bounds.  They threw it right on the money, with Donnal guarding the inbounder.

The bomb to Roundtree would be comparable.  

Nickel

March 2nd, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^

Yeah, I think this is one of those selective memory things sports fans in general have.  With emotional attachment comes the idea that if our team loses, it was a freak/miracle play, but when it goes our way it was because our player came up big and we had the better team anyway. In reality, these things all average out, for all of the ones we feel like Michigan should have won if not for a miracle play there are the ones like you mention with Burke that were basically miracle plays in our favor.

Lakeyale13

March 2nd, 2017 at 9:40 AM ^

Here is where I beleive my argument is flawed....Michigan is almost never the "underdog".  Thus, any "miracle play" against us is usually by a team "not supposed to beat us".  Similarly, the "miracle plays" in our favor don't stand out, because we were supposed to beat the team it happened to, or we at least weren't some massive underdog.

707oxford

March 2nd, 2017 at 7:49 AM ^

I wouldn't describe last night as a miracle play. Their center made a (nearly) layup being guarded by a point guard. Buzzer beaters are so common in hoops that the tournament is called "March Madness".

Many here feel last second losses happen more often to M because we don't play as close attention to other teams. Also due to M's high profile, these are well publicized. Should the same outcomes happen to Random State University, it wouldn't be covered as much in the media due to the David vs. Goliath factor being diminished.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad