Sunday, October 18, 2015
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There were wide eyes, open mouths and shaking
heads everywhere as ancient Michigan Stadium emptied after a final play
destined to never die in this state or in college football history. Many
among the departing crowd of 111,740 looked as if they had seen a
ghost, and even those who were happy muttered while wandering into the
night.
Down in the bowels of the stadium, victorious players for No. 7 Michigan State and their coach, Mark Dantonio, flashed sheepish smiles knowing they were blessed by bizarre fortune at game’s end.
“I’ve never felt anything like that,” Spartans quarterback Connor Cook said. “I honestly felt like I was in a dream. It was completely crazy.”
The jaw-dropping nature of Michigan State’s 27-23 victory shocked Jim Harbaugh, the first-year coach of No. 12 Michigan, in a manner he said he hadn’t ever experienced as a college or NFL player and coach.
“It’s hard to fathom,” Harbaugh said.
Leading 23-21 with 10 seconds remaining, Michigan punter Blake O’Neill — a graduate student from Melbourne, Australia — dropped a low snap, picked up the ball, got hit from behind and all heaven broke out for the Spartans
The hit on O’Neill jarred the ball into the air straight to Michigan State sophomore Jalen Watts-Jackson, who sprinted 38 yards and dove into the end zone for the winning touchdown as time expired.
It was the first time Michigan State led all game, and it ignited a pile-up of celebrating Spartans that Dantonio said left Watts-Jackson with either a dislocated or broken hip. The sophomore from Dearborn, Mich., was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.
“I don’t know what you say about that,” Dantonio said. “You go from 10 seconds and the guy punting the ball, and you’re thinking, ‘OK, this is done.’ And then, all of a sudden, life gets flipped upside down and we come out on the top end of it.”
Michigan State (7-0, 3-0) overcame a nine-point deficit in the game’s final 8:56 to defeat its Big Ten East Division rival for the third consecutive time and seventh time in the past eight years
After shutting out its previous three opponents, Michigan (5-2, 2-1) saw its five-game winning streak end in such improbable fashion that Harbaugh shrugged incredulously.
“Everybody played really hard, winning football, and competed like maniacs,” Harbaugh said. “Both sides did, but we didn’t get the win. Welcome to football.”
The Wolverines controlled the game with their physical play, and they seemed destined to win after Michigan State could not score on three fourth-quarter drives that took the Spartans within 40 yards of the end zone.
That final possession died at Michigan’s 45 yard line when Cook threw an incomplete pass on fourth down with 1:47 left and the Wolverines ahead 23-21.
“There was no shot for us to win,” Cook said.
And then the improbable occurred to forever link Watts-Jackson and O’Neill in history.
First, however, it appeared Michigan had victory in hand earlier when it took a 23-14 lead with 9:25 remaining on a 38-yard field goal by Kenny Allen.
Cook, however, answered seconds later with a 74-yard completion to wide-open fullback Trevon Pendleton. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by LJ Scott that cut the Spartans’ deficit to two points.
Those two points were going to be enough until the game’s final play.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Dantonio said. “Everybody’s mouth dropped open. It was just an incredible ending to a great football game. That’s why football is loved so much in America.”
