Robinson picks up a fumble... Are you kidding me!!!!
Article by Bob Wojnowski Detroit news:
nn Arbor -- There's no way to explain it, no suitable way to describe it. That's because what unfolded in Michigan Stadium on Saturday night hadn't been seen before and might never be seen again.
The lights were on, the full (blue) moon was out and the crowd was raucous. So naturally, the game had to be unfathomably crazy. Michigan beat Notre Dame with two seconds left because, well, that's what Michigan does to Notre Dame.
How this game got to that point is a trek that will be recounted for a long time. In the first night game in Big House history, before the largest crowd ever (114,804), with players decked out in special "throwback" jerseys, the Wolverines pulled out a 35-31 victory on Denard Robinson's 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with two tiny ticks left.
We'll call this an incredible game, with three touchdowns in the final 1:12. We won't call it a matchup of two incredible teams because, truth be told, there were mistakes all over the place. But that's what made it memorable. Michigan was soundly beaten, then suddenly alive, then beaten again, then victorious, then beaten again, then victorious ultimately.
Guts and glory
Chalk this up to a bit of luck, a load of magic and the amazing competitiveness of the most-unique quarterback we've ever seen. Michigan made fewer big miscues (three turnovers to Notre Dame's five) in a performance that was all guts and gory glory, once the pomp and unusual circumstance ended.
The guts went to Brady Hoke in his second game as coach by electing to go for the touchdown with eight seconds left instead of settling for a tying field-goal attempt. The glory went to Robinson in the most topsy-turvy performance imaginable. When Michigan trailed 24-7 in the fourth quarter -- and later trailed 31-28 and had the ball at its 20 with 30 seconds left -- what was Hoke thinking?
"I was thinking we're gonna win the game," he said. "We're gonna find a way to get it done. No. 16's (Robinson's) ability to elude, evade and step up and throw the ball, that's something we always have."
It's something the Wolverines didn't have much of the game, as the Irish dominated behind the spectacular skills of receiver Michael Floyd. Robinson was nowhere, then suddenly, he was everywhere.
He was 2 for 9 in the first half, when Notre Dame had a 268-90 yardage advantage. This was a romp, except that it wasn't. And I swear, that roar heard through Ann Arbor just before midnight wasn't merely the final touchdown, but the sound of Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly's head exploding.
As they have three straight seasons, the Wolverines (2-0) scored at the very end to stun the Irish (0-2), and you wouldn't wish a finish like this on your worst rival. It actually began on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Robinson picked up a fumble by running back Stephen Hopkins and dashed in for a 1-yard touchdown.
On that play, the ball bounced fortunately to Robinson. After that, the ball bounced every which way. Robinson's 14-yard TD toss to Jeremy Gallon made it 24-21 with most of the fourth quarter remaining, and it was a sprint to the end.
First, Robinson made the big error, throwing his third interception into the end zone with 4:23 left. Then remarkably, he started making big play after big play, and his 21-yard throwback screen to Vincent Smith gave Michigan its first lead, 28-24, with only 1:12
"Every time you see this (Michigan-Notre Dame) game, you know both teams are gonna fight to the end," said Robinson, 11-for-24 for 338 yards. "You know it's never over until there are two zeroes on the clock."
We get the point now. The Irish marched right back behind the passing of Tommy Rees, and somehow receiver Theo Riddick got wide open for a 29-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left. That made it 31-28 and killed the notion of another Michigan Miracle against the Irish, right?
Of course not. On second-and-10 from his own 20 with only 23 seconds left, Robinson eluded pressure, stepped up and fired a pass to a wide-open Gallon. He chugged 64 yards before getting forced out of bounds at Notre Dame's 16 with eight seconds left.
It was one of those improbable plays that teams always work on, but never really work. Roundtree saw it unfolding and couldn't believe it: "I saw Gallon by himself and I said, 'Whoa, how did this happen?'"
Whoa. How did this happen? Hoke said he didn't hesitate going for the touchdown at the end, and he really couldn't. Can't play it safe with this team, because as Hoke and the players admitted, it was bad Michigan football for a long stretch. The defense was partly shredded, but as long as coordinator Greg Mattison can dial up blitzes, the Wolverines have a shot.
See how they run
Figuring out how to run this offense is going to be coordinator Al Borges' huge challenge. At times, Robinson's pocket passing was poor, but the threat of everything else he can do changed the game.
At halftime, Robinson had 88 total yards. He finished with 446 (338 passing), nearly matching his 502-yard total in the 28-24 victory at Notre Dame last season. The wild atmosphere over-juiced Robinson at first, and his teammates noticed.
"I talked to him at halftime, and we just really needed to calm him down," center David Molk said. "This is what we do. It's what we train for, to overcome adversity."
Let's just say, through the first two weeks of the Hoke Era, the Wolverines are well-trained in that area. Their opener was stopped in the third quarter because of a storm. This game featured an historic honor bestowed on Desmond Howard, the first player designated a "Michigan Football Legend."
That was at the beginning, long before the beginning of the comeback.
"We hung in there and hung in there," Hoke said. "I'm as optimistic about anything as anybody in the world. I always think that way and feel that way. I believe in these kids and I believe in Michigan."
I believe him, because in a game of inexplicable shifts, there's no clear answer to the question of the night: Whoa, how did this happen? Not sure how, but by the time Robinson was done turning it all around, we sure knew who.
