In one of the wildest finishes in Michigan football history, the Wolverines’ Denard Robinson and his team shocked Notre Dame with a final-seconds touchdown to come back and win the first game ever played under the lights at “The Big House”.
The entire 4th quarter was a nail-biter as both teams see-sawed back and forth exchanging the lead in the final minutes until Michigan’s star QB connected on a 16-yard TD pass to Roy Roundtree with two ticks left on the clock for the stunning 35-31 win.
The win puts new “Michigan man” Brad Hoke at 2-0 and has the faithful in Ann Arbor believing again.
Photo/Andrew Horne
The stadium was rocking with a new NCAA record crowd of 114,804 on their feet much of final quarter when the Wolverines scored 28 points to overcome a 24-7 deficit. Although neither one of these teams were ranked in the Top 25 going into this game, it ended up being the game of the day in college football.
The scrambling Robinson finished 11-of-24 for 338 yards four TDs and three INTs and rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries.
Last play victories are becoming commonplace for Michigan when they play N.D. This is the third season in a row the Irish walked off the field losers from a final play. Last season Robinson scampered to the end zone 27 seconds left for a win and the year prior to that QB Tate Forcier connected on a touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in regulation time.
This ongoing scenario is becoming college football’s version of shock and awe.
It may be time to change the slogan, “Luck of the Irish” to “Luck of the Maize and Blue”.
MORE NCAAF: Top 25 Scores: “What We Learned”
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Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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