Other Team's Miracle Plays
Don't know about you but I have been bombarded all week on social media with reminders of the 2015 UM-MSU game and Staee's miracle win.
In addition to just being fucking irritated by how stupid the outcome of that game was, it got me thinking...Our history is littered with other team's miracle wins on crazy improbable plays (e.g., Colorado Hail Mary, Staee in 2015) but when was the last time UofM won a game due to just shear dumb luck? (As an aside, seems Alabama also has a history of weird improbable losses - thinking of the FG return for a TD vs. Auburn).
To me, last second scoring plays or epic comebacks don't count. So, Grbac to Howard vs. ND, Denard to Roundtree vs. ND, Henne to Edwards vs. MSU, the comeback vs. Minnesota in 2003 don't count (to me) because those are players making plays, not some random bullshit. Same thing goes for the Horror, I don't include that in other team's miracle wins because though blocking a last second FG is not likely, that's a player making a play, and a missed FG is not that unlikely in that instance.
In any case, I have been wracking my brain and I am having trouble coming up with a single instance where we were the recipients of a gift from the Gods.
Maybe Gardner to Roundtree vs. NW? But even that wasn't the final play of the game.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
Yes. If you watch it, Lloyd is definitely caling for time well before the refs stopped the clock. He then argued for time to be put back on and they reset it to 30 seconds (from 28) when it could have been 32.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:08 AM ^
The Tyrone Butterfield "drop" against UVA happened right in front of me. I'm pretty certain he dropped it on purpose.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:03 AM ^
If we say Wangler to Carter, that's "making a play".
One might say when Alabama missed an extra point in the Orange Bowl in 2000, it was a "miracle" on the last play of the game for a Michigan win.
Go Blue.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
That was a "miracle" that we didn't go to triple OT. IDK that it was a miracle win though.....IDK these rules are hard to follow lol.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:01 PM ^
I’ve never felt bad about beating Bama that way. Their key win that season was a road win in Florida against peak Steve Spurrier that they only won because Florida missed an XP in overtime. They won by it, they lost by it.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:14 PM ^
The Alabama-Florida game in 1999 had an even weirder finish than that.
- Florida gets the ball 1st in OT, scores a touchdown, misses the XP.
- Alabama gets the ball, scores a touchdown, but also misses the XP.
- BUT --- Florida jumped offsides on the XP. So Alabama gets a 2nd chance.
- Then Alabama kicks the winning extra point.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
That is an interesting factoid.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:07 AM ^
2012 Sugar Bowl. We absolutely should have lost that game but still managed to pull it out.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
Wisconsin 2008?
October 26th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
2001, too.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:35 PM ^
The 2001 punt vs Wisconsin was the first that came to mind for me
There may be others in this thread
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/counting-blessings-remember-close-wins
October 26th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Are you trying to convince us the deflected pass to OL Jared Gianda was luck and not a brilliant, well-executed play?
October 26th, 2022 at 11:46 AM ^
That was just an all-around ugly game. Neither team played particularly well, and frankly the only aspect of Michigan's game that did well that night was its red zone defense. That and getting bailed out a bit by Virginia Tech being down to its third string kicker and David Wilson running 20-30 yards backfield on their first drive. Watching Jake Ryan chase him down and make it something like 2nd and 35 was pretty funny.
Wins are wins and no one can ever take that trophy away, but ohh lordy was that whole season a mirage or what?
October 26th, 2022 at 1:07 PM ^
We also got "Spartan tears taste like Sugar" out of that game. Which is nice.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:07 AM ^
Drew Dileo completing a moon ball pass to Jareth Glanda in the 2012 Sugar Bowl comes to mind.
October 26th, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^
Drew Dileo's slide to hold the field goal attempt vs. Northwestern came to my mind.
How the refs didn't call an illegal procedure penalty on that was lucky. The whole play was a miracle in that we got lined up so quickly. That field goal wasn't a gimme either.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:07 AM ^
We have benefited from some questionable calls that were probably incorrect. Illinois in 2000 (I think) rings a bell. Illinois was driving to seal the game. On the tackle the Illinois WR got flipped and hit the ground with the hand holding the ball and the ball popped out. Refs called it a fumble. Michigan recovers and marches down to score the winning TD. That was over 20 years ago. Seems like I recall a more recent Wisconsin game where we fumbled at a critical moment but refs didn't catch it.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
Refs also failed to called an Anthony Thomas fumble in that game. We clearly got two bad calls in our favor.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:07 AM ^
I can't remember the details, so this will be shaky, but I remember a game at Wisconsin where Michigan benefited from an odd bounce on a punt. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? It was around the turn of the century.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
I was at that game. Yes, I don't think Michigan got a first down in the entire second half, but Wisconsin muffed a punt and we kicked the winning field goal.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
It was the last time Michigan won at Wisconsin prior to 2021. I remember seeing highlights of it during the 2021 game.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:18 AM ^
It was the 1999 game at Madison - I recall that there was no reason that Wisconsin even tried to catch the punt and it cost them the game. I always assumed that was Carr's plan the whole time.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:17 PM ^
2001, not 1999. Also, they weren't trying to field the punt. Their player was needlessly blocking the gunner and had his back to the ball and it bounced and it him.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:46 AM ^
2001. Very fortunate win. The first Navarre year, when our offense was pretty bad.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
2001. Our punt hit Brett Bell in the back and we recovered, setting us up for the game-winning FG when we were just hoping to get a stop and go to OT.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:09 AM ^
That last second field goal against Northwestern 10 years or so ago was pretty crazy that they got it off in time. Also, last year versus Nebraska is in that area as the play probably should have been whistled dead but it wasn't and obviously someone had to make the play to strip the ball.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
Martinez was still trying to make yards. Nebraska fans would have been incensed if they'd blown the whistle and then he'd broken a tackle for a big gain.
The Northwestern field goal is a good example, though, because.. uh.. they didn't get it off in time. The players were not set for the requisite one second before the snap; it should have been a false start / illegal snap, with a ten-second runoff that would have ended the game. Michigan benefited from referee incompetence in that one.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
I'm honestly not somebody who reflexively insists that every play made by a Wolverine is fully legitimate and every play made against us is bullshit, but I have to disagree with you on this one. He simply wasn't down -- and if he had gone ahead to break that scrum and run for a touchdown not one Nebraska fan would concede that the play should have been blown dead.
In point of fact they never call it dead that quickly -- we're only even questioning it because of what ended up happening. If he had, two seconds later, been tackled, nobody would even wonder why they hadn't blown it dead earlier.
We got bizarrely lucky earlier in the game with that weird pass interference call (which everybody here would be screaming about as proof that the referees hate us had it gone against us instead of for us), so it's not as if we didn't get any breaks in that game ... but I don't accept that the fumble-and-return was one of them.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
The distinction between luck vs make plays is hazy. Hawkins(?) def made a play. I dont think the whistle was close to coming and am with you on the interpretation, but I get the frustration from UN-L fans. I also don't think it was the deciding play of the game - the Huskers weren't in FG range by a long shot, and they had a whole other drive after that and went 4 and out.
But it was definitely a 50fifty game where we won by a hair, so I think it meets the spirit of "lucky" games.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
I was thinking of the Northwestern FG too.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:22 PM ^
I agree about NW but Martinez was trying to get yards on that play; he could have gone down once he had the first and the play would have been dead. It also presupposes that Nebraska would have scored on that drive which wasn't a given since they were only on their own 34 yard line and the score was tied.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:19 AM ^
My whole life........"Michigan fans live in the past"
This week from Sparty friends
"here's a video of a punt screw up from 8 years ago"
"here's a video of Taylor Lewan from 2009"
"did you see what Mike Hart said in 2006?"
October 26th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
Just share with them the countless dirty plays by their thugs over the years. Among the worst:
Gholston risking Denard's life:
October 26th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
Bizarre that it led to zero repercussions.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
Those moves had to be the result of roids mixed with the medication he was taking for his mental illness combined with training and instruction.
October 26th, 2022 at 12:23 PM ^
I still don't understand why Gholston didn't receive any punishment for that. Not because guys don't play dirty in the pile but that was blatantly obvious at the time and on replay.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:19 AM ^
We had a couple against Northwestern and Indiana. We had one where Gardner or Denard flung it up into triple coverage and Roundtree came down with it and kicked the winning field goal vs Northwestern. We had the simultaneous possession vs Indiana when Rich Rod was coach.
The last second wins vs Virginia and PSU (Mannigham) weren't really miracles as they were the final play, but we were inside the Red Zone (or close enough) to make scoring a reasonable possibility.
One I'm not sure about is the 4th and 1 to Desmond over Notre Dame. I'm not sure that qualifies either, but it should be brought up as often as possible.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:23 AM ^
No, not the Desmond play. It came early in the 4th quarter ... and Michigan actually had the lead at the time. (Sort of like Harbaugh to Kolesar a few years earlier, in fact).It was an amazing play, maybe even a back-breaker, but a miracle ending? Nah.
You could consider Michigan/Iowa in 1986, by the way. We won it on a last-second field goal by Bob Bergeron, absolute chaos ... only because Iowa fumbled on the drive that should have seen them put the game away. I'm sure that loss still super-stings the Hawkeye fans old enough to remember it.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:42 AM ^
I was at that 1986 Iowa game. other than the winning field goal, I remember how much the visiting fans could drink.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:47 AM ^
Actually, it was Bergeron in 1983 in a 16-13 win over Iowa (I was there and it was a nasty rainy day that ended well).
Also we had a near repeat in 1986 when Iowa again fumbled driving for the winning FG and Mike Gillette hit it thru to win 20-17.
I know an Iowa fan who was crushed both times, because they really had the game in their hands.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:21 AM ^
I always add to this list the crazy lucky Nebraska bounce in 1997 that allowed them to escape mighty Missouri and claim a share of the national title. Such bullshit. But Scott Frost's mom assuredly approved.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:34 AM ^
Wasn't that "lucky bounce" an illegally kicked ball by the receiver to keep the play alive in the end zone? Or am I thinking of a different season?
October 26th, 2022 at 11:38 AM ^
you are correct
October 26th, 2022 at 11:23 AM ^
Maybe not Roundtree but the play before - "and they left him alone!" should count as some kind of Miracle. Also, that whole game. The weird Tommy Rees fumble? Denard scoring on an accidental fumblerooski at the 1, that I believe is now a dead ball where he picks it up? The NW series in the Hoke years - not sure where we count the Dileo slide-FG, or the Roundtree prayer catch, on the definition of dumb luck vs making plays. The VT Sugar Bowl - they outplayed us but only got 6 points from 3 RZ trips and like PSU last weekend we had 2 big plays to be somehow up 17-6 in the 2nd half, VT tied it to force OT but then had an OT TD taken off the board and then missed the FG so we could win it. UTL and that Sugar Bowl are both some of the dumbest wins we've ever had and I won't trade them away, even if it means "trouble with the snap" will forever be played on BTN Classic.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:26 AM ^
I think this is just one of those behavioral psychology things. The pain of losing is psychologically about twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining so we remember the 'miracles' or flukes that go against us a lot more than we remember the flukes that go our way.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:27 AM ^
There are comments about the throw from Grbac to Howard against ND. I've seen an audio of the Michigan coaching staff about that play. And, the one thing from that play is - Moeller saying / asking - "Should I be kicking a field goal?"
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sdXdbfsTk8
October 26th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
- Any game where Lloyd was head coach that we had a lead at halftime.
- The free second we got in 2005 vs PSU
- 2008 Wisconsin
- 2002 Washington game where Braylon clearly dropped the ball but they called it a fumble instead, which we recovered and then kicked the GW FG.
That's about all I've got.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
2005 was not a “free” second. That makes it sound like Spartan Bob. The time put back on the clock was legitimate.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Edit: oops, I didn't see until after I posted that you were asking for Michigan moments. Well, if you care to read mine, then enjoy some more salt in that wound, friends!
---
Evan Turner. Freaking Evan Turner, man. After watching him sink that half court buzzer beater to effectively end Michigan's postseason chances in what I believe was the 2009-10 season, all I could think to myself was "HAVEN'T WE SUFFERED ENOUGH AT OSU'S HANDS?" There was also a clip after he sunk the shot of Thad Matta just going nuts, and that stuck with me for a long time.
That and Wisconsin either beating or tying Michigan on buzzer beaters in almost back-to-back years. I think once in the 2010-11 season at home, and then again in the 2012-13 season at the Kohl (Troll) Center. Those games, along with Bo Ryan's ability to turn basketball games into disgusting sludgefarts that were not fun to watch, made me hate Wisconsin basketball. I honestly think I hate them more than I hate MSU or OSU basketball.
Maybe that doesn't qualify as your definition of a miracle win, but for me, those definitely qualify as WTF moments where I wanted to throw my fist through the window.
October 26th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
What has always irked me about the final play of the 2015 MSU game is that Michigan, needing only to punt the ball downfield. was not in max-protect formation. There were actually two gunners lined up wide. The one to the left was standing by himself! Probably John Baxter's fault, but I wonder if Harbaugh saw it but was out of timeouts.