All he had to do was lateral it to Breaston and that play would go down in history as being greater than the Cal Stanford play..
But not nearly as much as the 07 undefeated vs. undefeated loss to Ohio State.
already.
They were both fabulous - but it was 2006 when the Buckeyes were undefeated. The rain game when we beat you in the Big Hole was 2007.
You're awesome. Thanks for coming.
I especially liked your "Big Hole" joke. We don't give you buckeyes enough credit sometimes.
i always wondered....what the hell he was thinking
He wanted to be the hero, BREASTON WAS RIGHT THERE. argh...
Today I thought, "Maybe he didn't see the defender". His body prob had goosebumps all over him and he didn't know what to do.
I hate how the commentary said the band is on the field, you just ruined it for further reviews if we scored.
I had one friend who, for the rest of Ecker's career, would start wildly screaming "Pitch it! Pitch the damn ball!" whenever Ecker got a reception. Sort of a PTSD thing, I guess.
Why did you bring this up, exactly? Do you really like seeing grown men cry?
Your friend is a wise, tormented man. The band seniors' faces on the bus after that game were ghoulish. A very harsh way to go out.
I hate the OP for making me remember this. Can someone just put on Super Troopers and get it over with.
blah.
Yeah, that was the sort of game that made seniors come back for their 5th year and hope to suck less.
Also, the gamechanging performance: offensive holding.
I loved Ecker until this play. What an idiot. I don't think I've ever seen anything that riculous.
Jerome Bettis' fumble on the one yeard line and the defender gets it only to be tackled by the lone man there, Ben Roethlisburger. I still have no idea how that defender was tackled by Big Ben... it was either a playoff game or in the SuperBowl, but it would have won the game for the oposition. I will never forget that play (or lack thereof).
Don't know the defender but it was a DB. All he had to do was run around Ben and the Colts were in the Super Bowl.
it was nick harper, and in his defense his wife stabbed him in the leg that week...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/news/story?id=2293484
Yeah, but running out of bounds with no time left. That's stupid. Being tackled by Big Ben isn't boneheaded like that.
I know he has bank, but if he stays one more year. He is David Carr. Sorry bad example.
It's been 3.5 years since it happened...and I'm right back to square one. Damn it!
I thought of this play because ESPN had northern cal on 50 states. They showed THE PLAY. Everytime I see THE PLAY, I think of this play.
I hate THE PLAY. If there had been reviews, it would have been overturned.
At least if the refs use the standards they're supposed to use. There are a couple of times where it looks close, but there's nothing "indisputable" about any of the laterals being forward or after a knee is down - which means the play stands. (And even if there is a knee down, Stanford would have been penalized for too many people on the field, leading to a potential game-winning FG try.)
Fun fact: Stanford has it as a win in their record book.
One might speculate that a positive to playing on New Year's Eve is that, in case such a ridiculous and terrible eventuality occurs, it will be easy to forget because you are likely to be well on your way to forgetting the entire night, anyway.
Unfortunately, though my memory of that particular night is incomplete at best, the seething animosity at witnessing this travesty is as vivid as ever.
i missed the second half of the game due to my ex-g/f. only nice thing she ever did.
i wasn't as pissed when he went out of bounds while i was watching it cuz at first i thought he got tackled. but when i saw replays i was like WOW WHAT A FUCKING MORON! THAT IDIOT ECKER TRYING TO BE THE HERO! WHAT AN ASS!
edit: wait, he did get tackled! before, i thought he just ran out of bounds! WOW! He's a bigger ass than i thought!
4.9 40 while steve b. runs like a 4.2 or something
FAKE
Why wouldn't you cut to the left?! you had 2 blockers right behind you! just stop and cut to the damn left! arrggh i think i'm having a stroke...
let's just all be thankful that he didn't score only to have it overturned by replay. i can't think of a worse situation. just thinking about that is making me tear up a little.
Well, Ecker did have that great catch against Minnesota in 2004 to win the game for us, so I still have some love for that guy. That '05 Michigan team was pretty bad, so the Nebraska loss doesn't really bother me too much.
about our recent bowl game history, I just watch tape of the Florida game. Great memory.
Fun Fact: We're the only nonconference team to beat the gators , I mean Tim Tebow the last 3 years.
Thanks for bringing back the memory
I estimate that a solid 85% of you would not have the presence of mind to look for someone quicker if the field ahead of you appeared as open as it did to him. I had the pleasure of working with Tyler for a few years. He's probably one of the best people I've met, and definitely not an "idiot" as some of you state.
Was I upset? Sure, but no athlete is perfect. I know I certainly have my own regrets of plays I've blown.
I was in the endzone that he was running toward. I kept watching ESPN after I got back to the hotel, hoping somehow that Nebraska's third team defense and staff would have gotten flagged for playing red rover from the goal line.
I need to grab some Chipotle to calm my nerves.
All I was thinking when I was watching that was "what an idiot". Seriously, after 8 laterals, all he needed to do was one more. Fucking A!
The refs had already blown the whistle on the play and players were walking onto the field which would have been a penalty anyway.
Was he so stupid that he did not realize after 8 laterals that time was up? How can he think it is a good idea to get tackled with the football?
Did he also not mess up the OSU Michigan game at the end of the year by not getting out of bounds?
I believe it was the 2005 OSU game. And for those reasons I die a little inside every time Ecker's name is mentioned.
Do you people see the 50+ people with blue shirts on the field? That play wasn't going to stand.
The OP is a nozzle for posting this (and other things beside), regurgitating shit that people have talked about on here before. Should be bannable, but not really.
Ya so!?!? Ya so!?!?!
Harry and Lloyd!
You suck for bringing this up
Why must you do this to me
...does the guy that's obviously not a Michigan fan keep posting these?
Oh, wait, did I say he wasn't a Michigan fan?
Hmm.
Thats my answer, not pissed at all.
I had Nebraska +10, so I had the easy win either way. But, mostly, I did not watch the game. I spent most of it sharing a outdoor hot tub in northern Michigan with a hot babe. When we went inside to warm up by the fire, the thought of turning the game on was the last thing on our mind.
So, Michigan lost, is that right?
I'll bet that hot babe is long gone and had Ecker not been a retard you would have missed the greatest finish to a college football game ever (IMO). Alas we did lose tho :(
I lost $20 on that lack of a pitch. I NEED Michigan to win an outright NC so my CornHoler friend will get over it. was our NC nothing shared... Fuck Osborne.
And bringing it up, yeah, that hurts. We were all screaming crazily - I still think there should be a flag for too many men on the field and we should have gotten another play. That's the only UM game I've ever seen in person :(