J. Redux

January 10th, 2024 at 7:31 PM ^

I hope, with time, that he will realize he has nothing to forgive himself for.  Mistake? Sure, but nobody's perfect, and ultimately it didn't have a cost.

I also hope that his life is so richly blessed that failing to field a punt clearly is one of the biggest mistakes of his life.  We should all be so lucky.  Good luck, and Godspeed, young man.

Joined: 10/15/2020

MGoPoints: 21468

aa_squared

January 10th, 2024 at 4:24 PM ^

Not fumbling that punt may be one of the most important plays in Michigan Football History.

National Champs may not exist.

15 - 0 may not exist.

MASSIVE amounts of HEARTACHES, STROKES, and HEART ATTACKS may have occurred.

TY MR.THAW!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! MAY LIFE TREAT YOU WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy the memories and friendships!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joined: 07/19/2019

MGoPoints: 8126

mGrowOld

January 10th, 2024 at 12:47 PM ^

While I nearly lost my mind when he didnt let the ball bounce into the end zone at the end of the Rose Bowl I do have to tip my cap to the effort that dude made to right his wrong.  That he was able to get back on the ball and fight his way out of the end zone was nothing short of amazing and absolutely saved this dream season from imploding.

Best of luck young man.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 212943

XM - Mt 1822

January 10th, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^

i wish the kid the very best and thank him mightily for his service.

that said, it was not a mistake that could, or at least should happen to anyone.  you never actually field that punt inside the 10, and definitely not the 5 unless a run back on that punt is the only possible way to win the game, and never, never, never on the 1 yd line. 

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103073

FrankMurphy

January 10th, 2024 at 2:06 PM ^

He actually called for a fair catch at the ten. Reichard was booming his punts that day, so Thaw had to backpedal to the five to catch it, and that bit of multitasking must have thrown him off.

It's a fair criticism to say that he shouldn't have misjudged the punt given how Reichard had been punting up to that point, but the mistake of dropping a punt while you're backpedaling to catch it can happen to anyone.

Joined: 08/19/2008

MGoPoints: 31969

XM - Mt 1822

January 10th, 2024 at 2:22 PM ^

the actual drop thing, certainly and i agree.  but the training we/he would do to have his heels firmly planted on the 10 yd line and to know to not backpedal for a kick, or maybe a 'step' and that's it, that is the mistake.  he went 8-9 yds back.  no bueno.  but like you and others have said, he made the best out of what could've been a catastrophe.  kudos to the kid and hope he does great at his next stop  

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103073

Mr. Robot

January 10th, 2024 at 2:08 PM ^

You forced me to research this to confirm that you are, in fact, smarter than the rest of us. Not only would it have been a touchback but based on a more complicated variant of this that happened once in the NFL, he could have have the ball knocked out of his hands on a non-fair-catch and still gotten a touchback for it as long as he did not cleanly possess the ball (essentially same burden of possession as a WR catching a pass).

I logged into commend you and I look forward to being the only person in the room who knows this when it happens at a game I'm watching with other people thanks to you.

But sadly I now have no reason to be happy with Thaw because it means the only redeeming thing he did on the play was not fumble when he got hit. He made the trifecta mistake of trying to fair catch inside the 5, muffing that poor fair catch decision, and then deliberately trying to keep it at the 1 while exposing himself to a bigger hit for a bigger possibility of fumbling instead of simply falling on it in the endzone for a touchback.

Joined: 10/27/2009

MGoPoints: 3031

OuldSod

January 10th, 2024 at 12:49 PM ^

Thank you Jake for a great season. You have a degree, 3 B1G championships, and a National Championship. I hope you can transfer someplace where you can have ample playing time and get a good graduate degree. Forever Go Blue! 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 4117

Germany_Schulz

January 10th, 2024 at 1:00 PM ^

In some ways, we might consider him the MVP of the season for taking that hit and not losing the ball in the end-zone.   

We got you Thaw, you national champion you. 

Go Blue. 

Joined: 11/28/2015

MGoPoints: 6415

LandryHD

January 10th, 2024 at 1:03 PM ^

I imagine we'll see a handful of these the next few days. I think the deadline is the 13th. Good luck Thaw and thank you for your contribution to team 144!

Joined: 07/04/2008

MGoPoints: 5372

Number 7

January 10th, 2024 at 1:12 PM ^

Thaw's fair catch at the 29 before the start of the first 4th quarter TD drive in the NCG was an underrated key play in the game: Washington had sneakily gained field position on most of its punts to that point, which were short but hard-to-field line drives that would bounce in the right direction (for UW, that is). Coming up and catching that punt with 9:44 left in the game set the "ok, now it's time to do what we do best and take care of business" tone for the subsequent drive.

Also, CT represent!

 

Joined: 06/09/2009

MGoPoints: 5256

Goggles Paisano

January 10th, 2024 at 1:54 PM ^

Agree.  And I made the comment to my son that he just saved about 15 yards by coming up and catching that ball.  I don't know how many yards we lost in that game just on the roll after failing to catch punts.  Starting on the 29 was literally some of our best starting field position.  Punt returns were a mess during the playoffs.  

Joined: 07/30/2011

MGoPoints: 41232

1VaBlue1

January 10th, 2024 at 1:18 PM ^

Nothing like ad-libbing a little drama to cement hero status in Ann Arbor and never again have to buy a beer in that town.

Nice job, Jake - you got us all!

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127087

M Ascending

January 10th, 2024 at 2:17 PM ^

Having been in the stands for The Horror, I can safely say that NOTHING could be 50x worse than that. 

Bad coaching (wrong formation)

Bad officiating (no roughing the center call)

Bad execution ("trouble with the snap!")

Bad mental error (Aussie punter not knowing he could fall on the ball)

Bad luck (the ball swatted straight into MSU player's hands)

Other than that,  how did you enjoy "the play" Mrs. Lincoln?

Joined: 09/14/2016

MGoPoints: 21352