Illinois Game: Your favorite moment
November 8th, 2010 at 9:39 AM ^
Vinopal's stop of the RB at the line on 3rd and 1. Huge play.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:43 AM ^
Zook making his trademark bad decision and punting 4th and very short. He potentially lost the game on that call.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
4th down, on your side of the 50, tie game with around 1 minute left? You HAVE to punt there.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
You're saying that in a tie game, you'd rather have Michigan's offense than Michigan's defense on the field?
Conventional wisdom takes a backseat to knowing your opponent, IMO.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^
Forcier hadn't done much in the game and is turnover prone, we were also going to have a long field. You CANNOT risk giving us 20 yards to go for a FG with under a minute left.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:59 AM ^
With our FG kicking? I don't think they needed a full yard. Their read option was killing us, thats what Zook should have ran on 4th down. Let Illinois take the chance of us getting 25 more yards and then makeing a 40 yd FG in less than a minute.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
We stuffed them on 3rd and 1 a couple of times. It wasn't a sure thing. Given that Forcier was playing QB (and that we hadn't scored since early in the 3rd quarter), I think it was a sensible decision.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
I agree, especially with our receivers and Tate at QB. Tate could easily drive 50 yards for the TD in a minute. Besides, he may not have known the extent of Robinsons injury and could have been afraid Denard could come in for one final series.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
...was mine as well. Young gun came up big in the clutch.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:24 AM ^
i don't remember the exact situation, but i remember Avery also had a clutch solo tackle in the flats to prevent a first down. i will find it later, but i remember at the time thinking "picture page revenge!"
November 8th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^
That was just after we'd handed Illinois another really short field (forget how, don't think it was a turnover) and Avery's terrific tackle on Scheelhaase just shy of the sticks turned an easy first down into three-and-out, and on fourth down Illinois missed the FG.
Massive, massive play. Right up there with the Vinopal stop.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:14 AM ^
A true summoning of grit by Vinopal to shat moxie all over that poor RB who was clearly out of his league in the grit/moxie combo move department. As you know, Ray can often be heard saying, "If all else fails, rub a little moxie on it and grit it out."
November 8th, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^
Agreed, I clicked on this thread to post this. (Well, that and to enjoy remembering awesome plays from an amazing win.)
November 8th, 2010 at 9:39 AM ^
My heart and bloodpressure say the final stop of the game.
My head says either of the Junior TD's.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:45 AM ^
There's nothing quite like being surrounded by 110,000 of your closest friends.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:39 AM ^
My favorite was watching DB hug RR after the game. You could not have given a bigger vote of confidence in a coach and his team (IMO).
November 8th, 2010 at 9:40 AM ^
Vinopal filling the hole and stuffing the running back by himself with less than a minute to play in regulation and forcing a punt. Read, react and form tackle. Hope for the future.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:41 AM ^
Laughing at people booing RR when he sent the field goal unit out and then laughing back at them with Broekhuizen nailed it.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^
I agree that you probably have to put the FG unit out there, but if you aren't going to go for it on 4th down, I dont think you call the timeouts there. Left Illinois with way too much time, as seen by them getting a FG also.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:58 AM ^
Did he? I don't recall. I thought he immediately put the field goal unit out without much hesitation. Regardless, people didn't boo the timeout, they booed the fact he was kicking a field goal.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
I meant the TOs on the plays before, I think Zook might have called one when they got the 3rd down stop (or it might have been an incomplete pass dont remember).
November 8th, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
stuffing a guy 40lbs heavier than him on 3rd and 1 forcing a punt late in the game.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Way too hard to pick a favorite, but one that stood out was Vinopal or Kovacs making a big pass break up near the goal line to force a field goal. Felt good to see the secondary come up with a big play on a decently well thrown ball. Maybe I'm misremembering though, the whole thing is just one big blur.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
It was at that moment I realized despite everything that happened before, the Mojo was coming over to our side for the win.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
Jetting from a meeting in a tv-less office mid-sentence, jogging through a country club (of which i'm not a member) to their bar, to witness the Hemingway juggle-catch in 2OT and ensuing 3OT glory live on a day I was originally dedicating 100% to wedding planning.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
All out blitz on last play of the game. I died and was reborn like 20 times during that game.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:51 AM ^
to stop bitching about every play because I couldn't listen to it. After a brief moment of heated words they said they would tone it down and were very quiet the remainder of the game.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:52 AM ^
I loved seeing the players running onto the field so happy. I was doing the same thing in my living room.
November 8th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^
That block was definitely the highlight of the day when it happened. And it was definitely the moment that stayed with me on the drive back home to detroit. After watching the game after I go home I have to say that Hemingway's touchdown where he danced down the sideline after making the Illinois entire defense miss him was quite impressive, as well as his touchdown in the 2nd OT off of the tip from the defender.
However my favorite moment of the day has to be knowing that that game was my 11 year old nephew's first live football game, and hearing say as we were leaving "I know what college I want to go to."
November 8th, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^
a football and a backyard PVC goalpost set for christmas.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
Favorite part was when Zook elected to punt on 4th and 1 on their 42 yard line with 5:54 left in the game, Illinois leading by 7.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:08 AM ^
Using the same RB wheel route that torched us twice as the first play in the 3rd OT. Magee dailing up a "taste of their own medicine".
November 8th, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
Favorite in game moment, there are so many, but it would have to be the 2-pt conversion in 3OT... at that point I was screaming that we had it!
Thanks to the Detroit News for some awesome pics.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^
Yeah I kind of felt bad for the assistant (maybe? not really sure who the guy is) that got ran over by RR or one of the players. But that celebration tells the whole story right there. I felt a ton of weight lift off my shoulders then, I can't imagine the weight lifted off the players and coaches.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:14 AM ^
The 1st play of the game and the last play of the game.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:16 AM ^
accurately throwing the ball for the two point conversion. As my wife said, " Tate Forcier had his those who stay will be champions moment".
November 8th, 2010 at 10:19 AM ^
November 8th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
Seeing three Michigan defenders charging across the line and knowing that was the end of the game--- man, incredible feeling.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:24 AM ^
The Vinopal stop on 3rd down was pretty awesome. Also the pin ball Junior Hemingway TD.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
That was the best part of the game. I was bizarrely conflicted. Happy the won. Shocked at how. Couldn't remember seeing 65 points on the vistors side of the scoreboard, ever (been going to games since 1978). Overall just stunned. Finish business next week and get an upset in one of the following two....then I might know how to feel.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:29 AM ^
Watching the last five minutes of the 4th quarter and all of the overtime from the field.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:34 AM ^
A crucial 1st on 3rd or 4th down and our QBs had it with any easy run or dump off and them me screaming for them to just run it for the first. Then my heart stopping as they threw it downfield with the ball in the air followed by immense joy once it was caught for a huge play.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^
so for me it was the 1st play from scrimmage.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^
The blitz at the end was my favorite part by far. Second place would have to be the result of that blitz
November 8th, 2010 at 10:39 AM ^
The end. When there was no time left and UM was up by 2.
Just win baby.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:44 AM ^
two rows in front of me smile and high-five each other after grousing about how we were going to get drilled. To be able to turn them into believers that fast was pretty cool
A close second for me was the all-out blitz on the last play. I wish we'd see that more often.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:54 AM ^
This play has been used several times and it almost always goes for a TD... i love it, because it is simple and works very well. It worked here particularly because Michigan almost always runs the ball to start the game off.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:46 AM ^
Hemingway catching the 2 point conversion.
Junior had himself a day, boyyyy.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
was my entire weekend. It was my first time to the big house in the 25 years since I was born. My dad always raised me to be a Michigan fan and I am probably a bigger fan now than he ever was.
My wife planned this surprise for me for months, I literally thought I would be waking up Thursday morning for another woeful 5 days straight of work work work, only to find out that what I would be woken up to was my wife slapping me in my face with tickets to the game on Saturday and a pair of roundtrip tickets to Detroit from Orlando.
We fit as much as we could possibly fit into 4 days in Ann Arbor. Zingerman's (Best $60 I have ever spent on deli sandwiches, lol), Blimpy's, Big Ten Burrito, The Brown Jug, Good Time Charlies...just to name a few. We did the campus tour, gazed into Schembechler Hall for a solid hour just staring at the bowl trophies. Went to the MDen store off State Street, and I thought I had reached heaven. I spent more money in those stores than I can even remember and to me, it was worth every penny.
Thank God my wife doesn't read these boards so I can say without any hesitation that Game Day on Saturday was the BEST day of my life. Tailgating, with the most inviting people you'd ever met on the golf colf course/Pioneer HS. Watching the Illinois team walk into the stadium with a crowd of people shouting "Not Today Boys, NOT TODAY" only to be followed by the march of the Michigan Men into the their battlefield.
Stadium opened 2 hours before kickoff, so as soon as those gates opened sure as ever I walked in and started walking through every inch of that stadium that I had seen on the TV so many times before but never in person. In 1997 when Michigan won the Rose Bowl and became National Champions, that was the day before my Uncle Dan passed away from Brain Cancer. My dad drove me from Flint to Ann Arbor and we just sad outside the stadium knowing that Michigan had won that game for him. To stand inside that Stadium finally, that was hollowed ground for me.
I stood under the banner that acknowledges that victory in 97' for some time and just thought for a while about how great it was to finally experience the same traditions that my Uncle had loved for so long.
The game that was played that day couldn't have been scripted any better for me. To see a Michigan program that has been on the rocks for sometime and still see over 110,000 screaming fans cheering them on. To see a defense that is struggling right now have an offense that just straps them on their backs and says "It is OK we are gonna get through this together". To find out that Denard was pulled because of dizziness and our coach didn't send him back in the game disregarding his health and safety. To see that same defense pull it out in the end for the victory and then storm the center of the field, and then walk it right on back to the student section to celebrate together. That is everything I love about Michigan football and it couldn't have been displayed any better on Saturday.
I am not so concerned with a football program that is going thru some growing pains and in a very steep (I am not oblivious) learning curve. I am, however, happy with the brand of character, teamwork, and football that I saw on Saturday. It sure meant a lot to me and I think it bodes well for the future of our program.
So, in essence, favorite moment = everything
Opportunities for improvement = To the "Michigan" fans (very few out of many) who sat in the crowd and badmouthed the players that they disapprove of, stay at home next time I come up, because on Saturday, anyone who puts on that Jersey deserves our recognition
November 8th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
We need more fans like you to attend games in person. I'm glad you got to take in the whole Ann Arbor experience!
I'm willing to bet you screamed your lungs out! You're wife sounds like a great lady too!
Thanks for being an awesome fan!
