The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2018 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2013: Michi- gan just kept on scoring, holding off Notre Dame in a 41-30 shootout at The Big House Sept. 7. Fighting through a tough battle until the final moments, the Wolverines cashed in the clinching touchdown with just 4:18 remaining. Notre Dame's Kyle Brindza kicked a 40-yard field goal with 9:15 left, pull- ing the Irish to within four points, 34- 30. But Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner (21-of-33 passing for 294 yards with four touchdowns) engineered the 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to bury the Irish. Gardner, who also rushed 13 times for 82 yards and a touchdown, tossed a four-yard TD pass to slot receiver Drew Dileo to produce the final score. Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint accounted for 71 rushing yards on 22 carries, while wideout Jeremy Gallon went wild, catching eight passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns. The Wolverines got out of the gate at 2-0, heading toward the Big Ten cam- paign. "There are certain games you get very excited about," Michigan head coach Brady Hoke noted. Plenty of people — for better or worse — got excited about Michigan playing the "Chicken Dance" song after the win, harkening back to Hoke's com- ment about the Irish "chickening out" of the regular series between the schools. 10 YEARS AGO, 2008: Michigan knocked off No. 9 Wisconsin 27-25 in Michigan Stadium Sept. 27, shocking the Badgers with a rally back from a 19-0 halftime deficit. The Wolverines looked dead in the water at intermission, after getting blanked in the first half. But they ral- lied with 27 straight points to pull off a stunner of a win. Michigan opened the second half with quarterback Steven Threet toss- ing a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kevin Koger, getting U-M on the board. However, with only 2:22 remain- ing in the third quarter, Wisconsin still appeared in control. Brandon Minor broke off a 34-yard touchdown run with 10:27 remaining in the fourth, pulling Michigan within five, 19-14, and rousing a crowd of 109,833. Linebacker John Thompson followed three seconds later with a 25- yard interception return touchdown, and the Wolverines grabbed a 20-19 advantage. Running back Sam McGuffie's three- yard TD bolt put Michigan in charge, 27-19, with 5:11 left, and the Wolver- ines held off a late charge by the Bad- gers to win. "If there was a hole to crawl in at half- time, I'm sure a lot of us would have," new U-M coach Rich Rodriguez ac- knowledged. "The sun was out, but it was gloomy." All that changed in the final half of football. "Thirty minutes is a lot, as you can see," Threet said. 25 YEARS AGO, 1993: Michigan entered the 1993 season coming off five straight Big Ten championships. The Wolverines got off to a flying start in this campaign, taking down Washington State 41-14 in the season opener Sept. 4. The No. 3-ranked Wolverines de- livered a message from the opening kickoff, Tyrone Wheatley racing back 50 yards to put Michigan in Washing- ton State territory. On the very next play, quarterback Todd Collins, making his first career start, unleashed a bomb down to wideout Derrick Alexander at the WSU 1-yard line. Tailback Ricky Powers blasted into the end zone for the score, and the Wolver- ines were off and running. Collins then directed a 12-play touch- down drive, firing the scoring pass to Mercury Hayes in Michigan's north end zone. Wheatley broke off a 59- yard touchdown run for a 21-0 lead, and Gary Moeller's squad never looked back. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Michigan rallied from a 19-0 halftime deficit versus No. 9 Wisconsin in 2008 with 27 unan- swered points — capped by running back Sam McGuffie's three-yard scoring run — en route to a 27-25 victory. FILE PHOTO