Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Fourth Quarter

What was ostensibly the last quarter of the game got off to an excellent start for Michigan before quickly turning. A nearly 30-yard circus catch by Marquise Walker put Michigan at the 2-yard line, and first-and-goal from six feet out with Anthony Thomas on the roster meant handing the ball off. Michigan did just that, but Thomas was stripped as he dove for the goal line. Alabama recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Marcus Knight, wide receiver: We had some instances where we had to do a little better job of ball protection, so it happens. Everybody could have done a little bit more. If you go back, everyone didn’t make the plays that they wanted or should have. If you go back in that year and you look at the Illinois game where we were up, we had no business losing that game but Illinois, to their credit, did an awesome job. Took advantage of things, mistakes that we made, and ended up coming back from a very, very big deficit to beat us by six and in that game we had a number of times where ball protection and not taking care of the football--you can’t win when you turn over the football.

Shawn Thompson, tight end: Anytime something like that happens where you’re knocking on the door there obviously it’s huge but I feel like we had the momentum on our side at that point. We’d come down with a drive again and you want to take it across the goal line in a situation like that but I think at that point our confidence was where we needed it to be where we knew we could get the ball back.

They did get the ball back, and quite a few times, too. As the offenses settled into a first quarter-like rhythm, early-game issues arose once again. Alabama was keeping Michigan’s defense on its toes with a drive featuring run-pass balance when the offense started to rack up penalties near midfield. The most critical, Alabama’s 17th of the night, came on 3rd and 9 with 3:25 remaining. Michigan defensive end James Hall timed the snap perfectly and was past the left tackle before he could even be chipped, which left blocking Hall the sole responsibility of Shaun Alexander. Hall’s presence flushed the quarterback from the pocket—at this point Alabama had switched once again to Tyler Watts—but Alexander held Hall’s jersey with his right hand as Hall went by to give his quarterback an extra second to escape. Instead of picking up a first down by about two yards, Alabama faced 3rd and 28 from their own 32.

Michigan defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann saw a perfect opportunity to bring pressure. He called for James Whitley to blitz from the nickel, looping inside James Hall into a cavernous opening between the left tackle, who was occupied with Hall, and the left guard, who chose incorrectly to pick up linebacker Ian Gold, who was headed for the same gap. Whitley led high but Watts wasn’t able to step out of the hit as Whitley came in with such speed that he knocked Watts’ helmet off.

Todd Howard, cornerback: I do remember we were getting after them. I know we went to a little bit more man-to-man in that game toward the end because of that. We had guys that were blitzing. James Whitley, they put him in at nickel and they liked bringing him from that nickel position. We were just loaded up front. James Hall played in the NFL, Frysinger might have signed a free-agent deal and then with Ian Gold, Dhani Jones and those guys, that was the strength of our team was the front seven for sure. We had a lot of young guys back in the secondary and we competed all year.

[After THE JUMP: two kicks, a few lobs, a switch, and waggles decide the game]

Whitley’s sack forced Alabama to punt from their 20-yard line with two minutes remaining; Michigan would get one more drive. Brady worked short routes to the outside again, this time finding Marquise Walker open on a curl on first down, then again on a quick out on 3rd and 2 for a fresh set of downs. On second down Alabama jumped offside, their 18th penalty of the night. That set up 2nd and 5 from midfield and an opportunity for Brady to take a deeper shot. He hit Knight on a post at the 35. Knight high-pointed the ball and got horse-collared to the ground by defensive back Marcus Spencer as he secured the ball against his stomach.

Knight: Yeah, I didn’t know if they were going to call it a catch but they called it a catch, because when I hit the ground it came out. I did have it. I mean, yeah, yeah, I do remember that catch.

It was the same play that we had been running all day. It was what Dave had scored on: the Smash route. This time the corner bit on Dave because he was having such a great game and when he came down it left a one-on-one opportunity for me and the safety. Safety did a good job of staying over top and Brady did a really nice job of getting a high ball in the air that gave me an opportunity to go up and get it. I didn’t wait for the ball to come down; I decided to go up and jump to go get it. And it was the same play, just a different option.

Alabama’s linebackers bit hard on run action to their right on 1st and 10 with 59 seconds remaining. As Brady waggled to his right he saw Shawn Thompson so wide open behind the front seven he jump-passed to him.

Howard: We had good tight ends, typical of Michigan back then. Shawn Thompson and Bennie Joppru and those guys, and our guys just went to work, man.

Thompson: If you remember that season that play in particular was kind of like a staple of our offense. I think it was for a lot of reasons. It starts with our run game. It really starts with the great offensive line we had that year with Hutch and Backus and so many other good players on the line, and then with Train as our running back, those play-action passes, those don’t work if your running game isn’t working. When our running game in that game started to turn to where we were starting to move the ball a little bit, I think that was huge moving point in that game where it softens up the defense a little bit and allows us to run that play action. We didn’t run it a ton that game from what I remember until late in the game when we ran it so many times in the season, but that was because we finally got the run game going a little bit and that allowed us to start doing that. Again, it starts with those guys up front and Train to allow those play actions to work but it’s just a play that was kind of staple of our offense. Whether or not I was the guy doing the drag or it was Shea doing the drag, we always kind of flip-flopped.

That particular time Shea kind of blocks down and then he runs in the flat on the other side and that leaves the left side tight end doing the 10-15 yard over drag. Again, it was such a great time in the game for that play to start working for us. Tom threw a great pass and if I had any type of mobility at all I could have got a few more yards but from what I remember I think I got tackled right away [Ed. A- Thompson picked up about eight yards after the catch before being flipped head over heels by a safety]. Obviously it was a great, great pass from Tom, great protection, and obviously you don’t get that type of softening—from what I remember I think I was wide open—without a good run game.

Aaron Shea, fullback: Nebraska Chili. That was the play: Nebraska Chili. Nebraska was our play action. Chili to the left, Burger to the right. It’s kind of funny how Michigan did our plays. We would do plays like Barber and Glenn. Barber was to the right, Glenn was the left for Barberton, Ohio and Glenn Schembechler.

An Anthony Thomas dive took about 20 seconds off the clock, then a Brady sneak put Michigan in middle of the field. Michigan called timeout with 2 seconds left, then Alabama let Hayden Epstein take his steps back and to the left before using their last timeout to ice him. Epstein reset, wound up, and smacked a low line drive from 36 yards out that was blocked. Brady, the holder, recovered the ball and stumbled to his right. He looked deep and lobbed the ball to Rob Renes at the 10-yard line. Renes saw the ball and worked to get under if but it fell a few feet ahead of him; whether this is the result of getting partially picked by the ref or nose tackles not usually needing to pull an in-game Willie Mays is unclear.

Knight: Just a lot of nerves. You want the game so bad, especially selfishly for myself playing my home state. You want to have an opportunity to go out and win it. You put yourself in position to win it in regulation and they do a great job of stopping the attempt and now we’re going into overtime. Not what you expect; you were hoping to just run off the field there in regulation.

Thompson: Hayden was such a huge [player] that year. We had so much confidence in him, so as a player it’s almost one of those you take a deep breath and you get to the sidelines and you almost just know it’s gonna be going in. It’s such an exciting feeling like Oh gosh, what an obviously great game and the back and forth and such a hard-fought game and you’re right there and you feel like this is it. We had so much confidence in Hayden so it was like ‘Here we go.’ When it obviously got blocked it was kind of that same feeling, like here we go again. It was just such a back-and-forth game that it was almost like... you almost had to smile. Nothing that we weren’t, with how that game went and the back and forth and going down 14 and to go back down 14, it was really something I think we already prepared for and had confidence going into overtime.

Overtime

Alabama won the coin toss and chose to play defense first, and Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord went right back to what worked at the end of the fourth quarter: the waggle.  

Thompson: That actually was the exact same play. You look back at that and what a great call by coach DeBord. If you think about it, that was essentially back-to-back plays because the last [passing] play of regulation we ran that play and it was the exact same play. It’s Tom play-action and boots out; Shea was on the same side. Shea blocks down and rolls out and that’s where I do the over-drag. So he rolls out, same exact play call first play of overtime and what a great call. You think Alabama’s probably expecting probably a run play on first down, especially since our run game started getting going late in the game. So, again, what a great play call from [DeBord].

This time Alabama at that point was in man-to-man coverage, so they had [linebacker Adam Cox] up on me and actually it was a terrible release, terrible release from me. That would be a release you would get yelled at during the film study the next day. I kind of stumbled there. Something like that, you’d like to get a cleaner release off of a guy that’s playing man-to-man. Tried to release, stumbled a little bit, and broke off. And again, honestly, from my standpoint it wasn’t the greatest route-running either. Something like that you want to flatten it out at the end there and I was kind of more at an angle.

Honestly, it couldn’t have been a better thrown ball. If you look at that tape, the guy was right on my tail and how Tom threw that ball or how he got it to the spot, it couldn’t have been in a better spot. I think the guy even kind of reached for it and it was just outside of his fingertips. Him reaching for it really allowed me to kind of get into the end zone pretty easily.

And Dave, Dave Terrell too, he had a great block in the end zone there that really allowed me to get all the way there. [Ed. A- Terrell started blocking his man when Thompson was at the 11-yard line and had him turned away from Thompson by the time he crossed the goal line]

Shea: Last play of the game I told Shawn ‘Switch me.’ I had the over route but the over route was dead that game, so I go, ‘Hey, switch me. I’m gonna take the slant/flat in the quarter’ and Shawn Thompson scored the winning touchdown in overtime, but that was my play! [laughs] Not many people know that. I went up and I bump Shawn and I go, ‘That was my play!’ But he was younger than me. I’m like Aw, I got this one. Switch. It’s kinda funny.

Knight: I would say it was just a great credit to our coaching staff. As you know, getting prepared for an opponent you don’t necessarily just look at plays, you look at players, you look at personnel, and our offensive coaching staff did a great job of manipulating the personnel with Dave. And when Dave got all of his opportunities and scores we were in a personnel that was wide receiver heavy.

Well, now you go to where Thompson gets his play action; that was a formation or a personnel in which we run the ball a lot, so if Alabama’s playing the numbers, which I can’t speak for them but if they’re playing the numbers they see that personnel, they see that formation, they’re looking for us to hand the ball off to our All-American running back and we end up calling a play-action play and they guess wrong and it ends up leaving Shawn Thompson open, who was a kid that in that season made some big catches but was not as big a part as a productive part if you look at it from a season standpoint. So you’ve got a guy who doesn’t get the ball that often, usually is in there to block, and ends up doing a great job of selling the block, catching the ball, and scoring.

It was a big moment for Shawn, it was a big moment for Michigan, and it was an awesome job of our offensive staff understanding that our tendency in that personnel, in that formation, was to run the ball and to call a play action to fool the defense.

Michigan 35 Alabama 28

Alabama’s offense got the ball and did what their defense expected Michigan to do on first down: handed it to the workhorse back. Alexander took the handoff out of the shotgun and ran right, but Todd Howard beat a Freddie Milons block and strung Alexander out to the sideline, where Cato June was waiting to pull him down for a four-yard gain.

Shamari Buchanan, the lone receiver to the right, was set in motion to the left on second down, but Zow saw something he didn't like and used Alabama's only timeout. Bama lined up in the I-form again out of the timeout but placed no receivers to the right, instead motioning A.C. Carter that direction. Zow snapped the ball around the time Carter reached the slot, then faked a handoff to Alexander that sucked in Michigan's linebackers. Zow rolled right, Carter went deep, and Zow lobbed it up for him at the 1-yard line. Carter entered the end zone untouched.

Michigan 35 Alabama 34

Thompson: After they scored it’s almost this feeling of here we go again. So yeah, it was just that feeling of here we go again and at that point when the [Alabama] offense scores like that, as an offense we’re starting to get ready to get on the field so I’m already putting on my helmet to get back out there for the second overtime.

The extra point still had to be kicked, though, and it wasn't the formality in 1999 that it was for senior co-captain Ryan Pflugner in 1998. Pflugner went 27-for-27 on extra points in '98 but had missed four his senior year, converting 21 of 25. Before the broadcast could cut to a replay of the touchdown the Tide's extra point unit was lined up and ready to snap the ball. Four seconds ticked off the play clock, then the holder called for the snap.

Howard: They were going to kick for the extra point and I remember lining up and I was like, Man, I’m gonna go block this thing. I’m gonna jump this snap count, I’m gonna get great get-off, and I’m gonna try to block it. Coach called it and it was a block from my side—I was on the right side—and I came around and I got an incredible get-off and I was like Oh, I am gonna block this and I went to go block it but it didn’t hit my hand. I’m like, Man, how the hell did I miss that thing? I look up and he hooked it wide right. I was like, Oh, that’s how I missed it.

Final: Michigan 35 Alabama 34

Terrell: Jesus, I did not want to go back on that field, man. Shaun Alexander was a beast. He was a beast. He was carrying the load. When I saw that boy I said 'Woo-ee, the NFL’s gonna have their hands full with this guy' and he went and did his thing with Seattle.

Thompson: The missed extra point was just… you go from this feeling of "here we go again" to it was almost so shocking I don’t think—you could probably ask any coach or anyone and at that point the extra point has become such a formality in a lot of ways that it was almost just such a shock. I'm sure there was guys on the sidelines with their heads down or not really paying attention and then you go to that. It was just such a feeling of excitement, it just made it that much more special and exciting as we kind of stormed the field there.

Knight: Happiness. Elation. You’re watching it, you’re looking at it, you don’t expect it and then all of a sudden as you watch the play happen you look at the ball go toward the goal post and you see that it has a chance to miss wide and it does. Nothing but happiness.

Howard: It’s interesting because when you get in those situations and you get a big win like that, it’s like We’re in Miami! We’re in South Beach! Let’s go party afterwards! But literally after a game like that you’re so emotionally and physically spent I think we all just kind of went back to the room and iced up. It was like, Yeah, I’m gonna call it a night tonight.

Knight: It was a hot, humid day. It was a long, grinding game. I don’t think it ended until 12 or 1 in the morning Miami time. It was just one of those moments where you’re just like ‘Okay, now I can take a deep breath’ and we finished our year, my senior year, on a positive note, and that’s always a great feeling. You hate to win it like that against a team that works just as hard to get the same result but I was happy that I was on the winning side because it would have been that much worse to have to lose a game like that.

It would have been a much better experience if we would have had an opportunity to play in the national championship game, which I thought we did have the talent and we did have the year barring two slip-ups in the middle of the year that kind of kept us out of the running for it. But I thought we, as a team, had a really good team of really good guys with really good talent that understood how to win. Most of us were part of that ‘97 team or just came in right after it so we all had that understanding that this year could be special and we started off 5-0. Ended up slipping up in two games and ending on a five-game winning streak, so we had no regrets. Only thing that could have been better is if we would have had an opportunity to play that Peter Warrick team in the national championship game. That would have been the only thing—and win it—that would have been the only thing that would have made it sweeter for me personally being an Alabama kid.

Howard: It was awesome. It kind of put an exclamation point or a sunny side to a season that wasn’t necessarily disappointing but there was just some games we thought we could have won—the Michigan State game, the Illinois game, if we did pull those off what kind of ending it would have been, but to beat a team like Alabama in a BCS bowl and Dave Terrell ended up getting MVP, I remember us throwing oranges around afterwards and it was just a great experience.

Shea: That Orange Bowl game was probably my favorite bowl game to play. It was my last college game and in ‘97 I played but I wasn’t, you know—that was a lot of fun because Alabama was a great school and your last college game to play, a lot of fun.

We stayed in South Beach right next to the Fontainebleau [at Eden Roc] so I told coach Carr ‘When we beat Alabama,’ because coach Carr had the top suite, I said, ‘I’m gonna get that suite from you.’ I never got it from him, so I’m still mad at him for that. [laughs]