The Michigan Wolverines hosted the Michigan State Spartans yesterday in the state’s greatest football rivalry. It was the greatest Michigan games I’ve ever watched. The team with the greatest fight song and most recognizable helmets in football came out on top 45-37 in a thrilling 3 OT game.
MSU jumped out to the early 7-0 lead on a 72 yard TD run and went into halftime leading 17-0. After a scoreless third quarter, MSU went up 27-10 with 8:43 remaining in the game after a field goal and 64 yard TD run. Down by 17 points with about 1/2 a quarter to play, it was not looking good for our Wolverines. But wait! Michigan took the ball down the field and stalled inside the 10 yard line. They needed a field goal sooner or later, so rather than go for it on fourth down Lloyd Carr decided to take the 3 points with 6:27 left on the clock. After the onside kick bounced of a Spartan, Michigan recovered, and I was screaming.
“They still have an outside chance at this,” I remember thinking. On the second play of the drive, Braylon Edwards took the ball away from an MSU defender in the end zone for a highlight TD catch. The Wolverines were now down 7 with 6:12 remaining. You could see the wind had come out of Michigan State’s sails. The Michigan defense finally stepped up and stopped the Spartans. After getting the ball back, Chad Henne threw another TD pass to Braylon Edwards on the second play of the drive. We had a tie ballgame folks!
Both teams exchanged field goals in the first overtime and touchdowns in the second overtime. In the third OT, Chad Henne connected with Edwards again. The Spartans couldn’t answer with a TD of their own and the game was over. What a great comeback, but what a choke by the green and white. This ranks right up there with the Yankees losing, especially for us folks here in Michigan.
A few numbers…
- Chad Henne (freshman) 24-35 for 273 yards, 4 TD, and 0 INT
- Mike Hart (freshman) 33 carries for 224 yards and 1 TD
- Braylon Edwards (senior) 11 receptions for 189 yards and 3 TD
Two true freshman are top performers on a star-studded Wolverine football team. Chad Henne is calm, cool, and performs like a senior QB. He has one hell of a cannon too. Mike Hart has broken just about every freshman running record in the Michigan books and there are plenty of games left in the season. He’s rushed for 200+ yards in three straight games! With these two studs, the next few years of Michigan football should be awesome. Braylon Edwards is arguably the best WR in the nation after coming back for his senior year. After yesterday’s game he said, “This is why I came back. To be honest, I’ve never felt like this after a game.” Neither have I!
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!
It’s good to be a Michigan fan…
Nick Momrik 
This was the greatest UM/MSU game I have ever watched. I almost turned the game off after MSU’s long TD run cuz I was so pissed off. Why wait to throw the ball down the field? Hopefully Malone now knows to go down the field earlier in the game and we wont have to come back from a large deficit like that again!
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