Hard Edge Win/Loss Story -Mostly OT

Submitted by ToledoBlue on

So in celebration in my pasing the 500 point mark (long time lurker) I thought I'd post something fun. As opposed to another "When will DB announce OMG recruits are gonna run" Topic.

 Someone with a better memory and or google skills can probably point to the exact game I believe it was 2004 possibly 2005. I know it was against Minnesota, Michigan was up late with very little time on the clock. A stout defense just broke Minnesota's qb and they brought in a young back up. Everyone in the stadium except possibly our defense coordinator knew Minnesota wasn't going to throw and when we went into prevent I had that sick feeling we were about to witness something awful. With damn near no seconds left the Minnesota RB scooted up the right sideline for what looked like 200 yards and sealed the game for a heart breaker.

  I turned off the tv in disgust and left my small one bedroom apartment putting on my Michigan hat and decided to go to Best Buy to grab some sad music to possibly hang myself to. Walking in was no treat as they lined the right aisle with new tv's all showing the "incredible run" I turned my head and made eye contact with an employee who upon seeing my hat left his register and said hey man you could use a hug. So there I was in the middle of the enterance hugging a 6'5 black man barely holding back the tears. I was not hard edge that day my friends. So whats your best/worst after game story?

DreadPower

November 18th, 2010 at 7:46 AM ^

When I read 6'5" black man at Best Buy, I immediately thought of Ron Artest and how he applied for a part-time job there so that he could get the employee discount. Talk about someone who is HARD EDGE.

UM2k1

November 18th, 2010 at 7:54 AM ^

The score was tied, and Minny was on their side of the 50 (their 26 according to linked article), with the score tied.  The conventional thinking was they were going to run out the clock and go to OT.  They busted off a long run and had a chip shot field goal to win.  I was at the gam with a migraine.  One of my worst in stadium experiences (also in this category 2008 NW-fan endurance level III badge and the post-apocolytic Oregon game with 8 1/2 month pregnat wife in row 10-took a LONG time to climb back up all those stairs for her).

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=252810130

MGoShtoink

November 18th, 2010 at 8:21 AM ^

In person. 

Yep... that was the worst.  After the game all the App State fans, and there were lots of them, were relentless.  The dejection on all the M fans faces, is enough to break your heart.

CapedBlueSader

November 18th, 2010 at 8:35 AM ^

I was sitting in row A and actually have my picture with my buddies on the Michigan/OSU HBO special website still. Great picture before the game, but I will always know what game it was at. A very say day, and then came back the next week to see Oregon. I started to question if it was me that was jinxing the team.

mgokev

November 18th, 2010 at 8:50 AM ^

Worst: App. State.  When the field goal was blocked, I partially blacked out, I think.  I stopped hearing sounds.  I'm pretty sure I was in a state of shock.  Once it fully sank in, I wasn't depressed or anything, but just had a feeling of intense sadness, amost dejection.  Every Michigan fan I looked at in the eyes seemed to feel the same way.  It was like someone let all the air out of the "happy balloon".  I ordered a pizza and when I went to pick it up, the guy said "Here's your pizza, I forgot to add one of the toppings, I just don't feel like doing anything right now after watching that game."  I understood completely.

Best: Penn State '05.  It was my freshman year and the first game I had been to at Michigan Stadium "under the lights".  It was once of those rare 3:30 games that went late enough to need them.  The electricity in the stadium was amazing when Manningham caught that pass from Henne to win it with 1 second left.  Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs well after the game had ended.  Singing "The Victors" with the team as they came over to be with their classmates never sounded as good as it did at that moment.  The cheering lasted well into the night with people screaming with joy in the streets, probably drunk, until 2am.

Despite the down times, it will always be the "up" times that will be lasting memories.  This is what is so special about Michigan football.  It matters.  People are emotionally invested in it, and that is why Michigan football is what it is.  People really, really care about it.

Flying Dutchman

November 18th, 2010 at 8:52 AM ^

After The Horror, a game in which my soon-to-be-in-laws were siting 3 rows away (we still were allowed to get married), I had to wave my jersey like a towel in the streets and get unfortunate bystanders riled up with a "there's always next year!" mantra.  It was everything I could muster to amuse myself at a time when I really just wanted to cry and vomit.

We did go to a nice little brewpub just north of the stadium area, on Main (kind of where Main curves at the bottom of a hill).  Is that place still there?

turbo cool

November 18th, 2010 at 9:16 AM ^

God, that game had such an awful ending. I remember having the same feeling that something bad was about to happen. And then boom, it happened. Maroney/Barber killed us. Of the games we lost in the Carr era, that game in particular, is easily in my top 3 worst losses.

Gone_Fishin

November 18th, 2010 at 9:21 AM ^

For me, it is the first Michigan loss I can remember - vs. Colorado in 1994.  It was the first time I ever cried after a loss. 

After the game, my dad took me to the park to blow off some steam.  As we were leaving the parking lot,  some kid had left his bike behind our car, and we ran it over as we were backing out.  I was able to keep it together as the kid was crying, but I felt bad for both my dad and the kid.

inshallah

November 18th, 2010 at 9:26 AM ^

The App State game was the first game o football I had ever watched. Was an international freshman student so no idea about how to play football. As we were kicking the field goal I had to ask ' if we score this we win?'. You know what happened next. We cried ourselves to the brown jug and every tv was showing espn and the HORROR. One of the guys I was with actually said 'i want to play Russian roulette now with a fully loaded gun'. That was my first and last season of living in Ann Arbor (even in the US). Would do absolutely anything to get back to watch a game in the Big House!
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CompleteLunacy

November 18th, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^

I was at the game with the band...but as I recall I remained fairly HARD EDGE after the game, even not being afraid to stand up whilst OSU fans RAMPAGED THE FIELD GAAAAARRRRHHH and of course, yelling obscenities at us for a good 30 minutes until they finally filtered out. OH yeah, and they still had a real grass field, so they were of course being OSU fans and ripping up the field and throwing clumps of dirt at us. Which made me even more HARD EDGE.

I think The Rose Bowl against USC was where it was lost. I felt...nothing all throughout the game. But App State was what did it completely. I went to talk to members of the App State band afterword, but I didn't feel very friendly, because all I could think was, "Do you have any idea what your team just did today?!?"

Can we change subject please? 

OK, something good...I definitely cried after the Florida win in 2007, it felt so much like redemption for the year and especially for Carr. I was just glad he could leave on a high note. The most enjoyable victory had to be at Notre Dame in 2006, the way we won in blowout fashion, and completely dismantled Brady Quinn. I will never forget watching him sitting on the ground with a clump of turf on his helmet....ah memories.

Eat Your Wheatlies

November 18th, 2010 at 9:49 AM ^

I still have a profound hatred of Kordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook. I was 12 and literally started screaming at the TV. I was in such a rage that my mother pushed me out the front door and I spent what seemed like 4 hours throwing things around the yard and beating anything I could find with a giant stick. That was heartbreak, but I knew how much I love UM at that moment.

Best: There are so many, with the PSU/Manningham game, the 100th Game, but my personal favorite was the '05 MSU game when Braylon decided he would become the greatest UM receiver I have ever seen. Watching him put the team on his back after heading into the 4th quarter looking  dead, I was in heaven that night...and drank heavily to celebrate. Screw you, little brother!

WalterMitty

November 18th, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^

The TOSU game of 1975 was a crushing defeat for the good guys, 21-14. I could not deal with it and decided to tell all the kids in my class that Michigan had won 21-14...Worked like a charm! Not one kid in my Kindergarten class called bullshit on me. In retrospect, I believe it sent me down the path to a life of lies and halftruths.

Best was the Biakabutuka game. The night before saw a huge contingent of buckeye fans takeover our bars in Ann Arbor. Chants of Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, rang out through the night. Not one of them could even fathom a chance of coming up short. A freshman named Charles Woodson announced his arrival in a big way that day, too... Memories to get me through the tough times.

oldcityblue

November 18th, 2010 at 9:56 AM ^

..are you a happy couple now, watching extremely discounted 55" HD flat screens in the comfort of your Michigan love cave?

Wait, you said you were not hard edge that day, my bad.

(Not sure if you're from Toledo, but your name brought back some great memories..... I will always owe my love for classic rock to 104.7 WIOT.)

Blaze09

November 18th, 2010 at 10:13 AM ^

For me, it has to be the clockgate game. I was 10 at the time, and I could remember yelling at the tv the game should be over. Then once Duckett caught that pass, I just sat there in my grandma kitchen quiet, before going upstairs and just being sick to my stomach.

 

I realized that day I would never like Michigan State.

jhackney

November 18th, 2010 at 10:22 AM ^

First off, you can cry and still be hard edge. Hard edge means taking everything to its full potential. If you are going to cry, it better sound like a tornado touched down in your county.

With that said, worst- App. St.

I was moving into an apartment in a small town in northern PA. I did not have my DISH hooked up yet, so I pirated internet off a neighbor and listened to the game via mgoblue.com. I totally stopped unpacking stuff from the UHaul and was glued to the radio. After the blocked FG I immediately shut the UHaul door in my front yard and headed to the local watering hole where I ran into a friendly PSU fan who agreed to make me forget the game for at least one night. I proceeded to intoxicate my self to serious hard edge levels. Next thing I remember is waking up at her house wrapped like a cocoon and hearing cows outside the window. I still remembered the next day though...and even now.

Best- Every damn Michigan win! Then I drink to celebrate. The best for me are when Michigan beats PSU. I was kicked out of a bar in a college town close to PSU for celebrating too hard edge with a stool over my head when Henne threw the pass to Manningham. Kicked out not because I pissed off the owner, but because he feared for my safety. Obviously he didn't know I was a Michigan hard edger.

GO BLUE!!!

BlueDragon

November 18th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^

I got season tickets for the first time in 2008.  We all know how that turned out.  I guess the most miserable loss was Northwestern in the rain, but at least my posse and me got to move up to the third row at halftime.

On the plus side, we got to see Wisconsin '08 firsthand, which was awesome.  Definitely didn't see that one coming after the first half!  After Wisky '08 I'd say ND '09 was the next best game I've witnessed in person.

Hal_Victor

November 18th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^

and here I was thinking you were talking about Ricky Foggy, when Minnesota spoiled an undefeated regular season in 1986.

Worst lost experienced in person: 1990 against Michigan State, I can still see the Sparty defensive back grabbing Desmond's leg and tripping him on the 2 point conversion, happened right in front of me.

Best: '97 at Penn State.  Coming off a three year losing streak to Penn State, and beating them soundly 38-6.  If I recall correctly, it was after that game that Michigan took over the #1 spot in the A.P. poll.

NOLAWolverine

November 18th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^

Worst: App State by far. I just remember falling to the ground in the student section when the field goal was blocked, then sitting there with my friends not knowing what to do. The only thing we could do is drink to try to numb the pain. After two straight days of drinking and wondering what the hell happened to our season before it began, I was found curled up on my couch from severe stomach pains. My roommates took me to the hospital, where it was found my appendix was about to burst. After my appendix was removed, I spent two nights at UofM hospital. After my parents went home for the night, the nurse came into my room to put on the tv since I was still wide awake from being unconscious during the surgery. She put on BTN (it was in its first weekend of existence) and left the remote on the other side of the room. After she walked out of the room, the App State replay begins playing. I had one of those pumps for pain meds, so I pushed that and passed out for a bit. When I woke back up, not only did it feel like my shoulder was exploding from something with the surgery allowing air in, but I had to watch the final drive and blocked kick before the nurse made it to my room to give me more pain meds and put me to bed for the night.

Best: Penn State 05 and 07. The Manningham game was amazing all the way through. We weren't supposed to win, were tied at half, fell behind, Lloyd gets the second back, then Henne to Manningham as I jumped around hugging everyone around me in the student section. Two years later, beating that Penn State team was awesome because it was my first game back at the Big House since my appendix was taken out after App. State. After hearing about App State all game from the three Penn State fans behind me, it was satisfying to bid them a nice trip back to Happy Valley after losing to us for the 8th straight year.

Foote Fetish

November 18th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^

Best: Beating Ohio State at home my senior year - my last game as a student in the Big House - and then rushing the field.  A buddy was a trainer, so we met up with him somehow in the middle of the field and just watched the sea of happy people with roses.

Worst in person: The very next game at the Rose Bowl.  I was hungover to begin with, sat through traffic and then had to watch that.

Worst in general: The Horror.  After the game, I left the bar I was at and went to a Nebraska bar with a buddy, where I was immediately confronted by some OSU jag who happened to be there at the same time.  I then left and went immediately to Best Buy (what is it about Best Buy after a loss?) bought a PS2 and NCAA football, then went home and beat Appalacian State by, like, 40 points.

bleednblue

November 18th, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^

This ranks right up there as one of the worst IMO.  I was 12 and I'll never forget the feeling I had after watching Eddie Brown trip up Desmond on the 2 point conversion to seal the game for Sparty.  I had been told countless times leading up to that day by my parents, teachers, adults in general that life is not fair....that day I gained a true understanding of what they meant.

Best game...for me personally it has to be the 06 ND game.  My first trip to South Bend with  my ND supporter wife (sitting in Irish great TE Ken MacAfee's personal seats on the 50 no less).  Needless to say, watching ND get pounded was awesome.  I was also at the ND game in 09 which comes in a very close second.

swamyblue

November 18th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^

Came back from traveling 2 straight weeks for work...

Missed the game!  My girlfriend's friend from Georgia (Huge Dawg Fan) comes out to the pool and offers me a beer.

M:"Did you hear?"

J:"Hear what?"

I sunk my head into the deep...I literally did not have the will to come up for air. 

WolverineHistorian

November 18th, 2010 at 1:10 PM ^

BEST:  There are many but the 2006 Notre Dame game aftermath had to be the longest period of time I was ecstatic after a win.  I literally could not stop smiling the rest of the day.  As soon as the game was over, I ran screaming down my block just for the hell of it.  All my neighbors were outside because we had a block party that day.  So I'm sure I looked like an idiot but I didn't care. 

You have to understand, this was not the way the script goes in South Bend.  The same thing that always happens is ND will get a huge break off some flukely play, or we'll fumble the ball away at a convenient time to give them just enough life to pull out a miracle 2 point win in the final minute.  Then ND players parade around the field and pound their chests like they had just beaten us by 7 touchdowns.

We had the history of that place being like the twighlight zone even when the Irish had crappy teams.  Then you factor in that Notre Dame was ranked #2... beating a bad Georgia Tech team and then destroying a so/so Penn State team had the media kissing their asses like never before.  Charlie Weis considered to be the best coach in America, Brady Quinn a Heisman favorite, ND fans preaching how they're going to go to the national championship game, Jerome Bettis and his, "I HATE MICHIGAN" speech, this was all spinning through my head before the game.  I knew if we lost this game, then all of that nauseating hype would just magnify.  So for us to end up completely dominating them in every phase of the game like that...it was hard to hold back any excitement.

I'll end on that note and skip over a bad moment. 

mGrowOld

November 18th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^

The year was 1993 and we were playing Illinois.  The weather was not very good and the thing I remember distinctly was getting a bit ill during  the game.  Ok...a LOT ill.  I had come down, during the game mind you, with a case of the runs which made me go to the bathroom a lot.  And trust me when I tell you you do NOT want to be in Michigan Stadium....on game day...with that problem.  Then, as we were running out the clock on sure victory Ricky Powers fumbled and we handed them a gift win.  Then I had to drive 3 hours home to Cleveland with the aforementioned condition.

I was certainly NOT hard edge that day.  Worst day of my season ticket holding life......

a2bluefan

November 18th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^

I remember this very well.... because of how we lost, and how TERRIBLE the weather was. Freezing. Rain. And freezing rain. And wind. And snowlets. And the miserable long walk to where our car was parked on Hill Street near Washtenaw (because my cheap-ass buddy refused to pay a dime for parking). It was the most miserable weather for a game that I had ever been to.... until 2008 vs. Northwestern.

But man, I remember being pissed off about that loss. Am I wrong, or couldn't we have just taken a couple knees and run the clock out? 

03 Blue 07

November 18th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^

For me it was OSU in 2005 (the Year of Infinite Pain).  This was when I had a more idealistic view of Michigan football and the world, and had yet to be cockslapped by life and fandom's stiff rod of degradation.  [(In football terms, the cockslaps were: Bo's passing, OSU 2006, App State (I was there), Oregon, and all of 3-9 and 5-7; I'll leave the "life" portion out of it for purposes of this strangely long parenthetical)].

That '05 OSU game offered what we needed at the time: Redemption.  We'd faltered throughout the year, but the chance to beat OSU on that shitty, gray day in November would have made it all okay, and all would have been right in the world. And being up, late, in the 4th Quarter, it looked like it was going to happen. And then David Harris missed the wrap-up on Troy Smith, who jumped backwards and hit Anthony Gonzalez who made the key catch in the red zone. . . and then we lost. And then two of my friends who didn't know each other almost came to blows with each other.

So I went home and drank whiskey until I got so drunk I began crying and vomiting at the same time. 'Twas a dark, dark day. The tears were as much colored by anger as sadness, but yes, they were tears, which is, in hindsight, somewhat ridiculous for a then-24 year old.  I think a part of my youth died that day.

So yeah, that day fucking sucked.

Ben from SF

November 18th, 2010 at 4:47 PM ^

Best: 

1998 Rose Bowl - I don't think I breathed the whole final drive.  Thank heavens the clock ran out when Ryan Leaf tried to spike the ball.

2003 @ Minnesota - Easily the best road game I have ever attended, 25 point comeback and all.

2004 Michigan State - The 3OT game...  The best home game I have attended.  I was sick for a week after the game due to the 30 degrees temperature drop during the epic 5 hours.  However, I would not have traded that for anything.