The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
eventually playing a key role in Michigan's 35-31 shootout win in Champaign. The Wolverines lost a pair of high-scoring affairs that season — 32-21 at Purdue and 54-51 at Northwestern — but entered Columbus with a chance to grab a share of the Big Ten championship. That represented a tall order, the No. 19 Wolverines facing the No. 12 Buckeyes in the big penitentiary on the banks of the Olentangy River. Henson experienced perhaps his finest moments in a Michigan uniform that afternoon in Ohio Stadium. He threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns in a 14-of-25 passing effort in the Horseshoe, on an afternoon that started out looking as gray as the helmets of the opposition. Ohio State jumped to a 9-0 lead on its opening two possessions, posting a touchdown and a field goal to whip the home crowd into a malevolent frenzy. The Wolverines roared back to grab a 31-12 lead, before the Buckeyes executed a surge of their own to pull within five, 31-26. That's when Henson provided a memorable series highlight, scooting around left end on a naked bootleg for a one-yard touchdown, nailing down the 38-26 win and a Big Ten title. Offensive tackle Jake Long provided another example of missing a good chunk of the season at the start before successfully sliding back into the lineup. Long started as a redshirt freshman in Michigan's Big Ten championship season in 2004, but underwent offseason shoulder surgery, causing him to miss spring ball and fall camp in 2005. The injury reduced him to spectator status for the first seven games that year, including a gut-wrenching home loss to Notre Dame, 17-10, along with a pair of 23-20 defeats, one at Wisconsin and the other in a home shocker versus Minnesota. By the time the Wolverines had pulled off a 27-25 comeback win over Penn State, Long finally found himself ready to reenter the fray. He jumped into the lineup in a 23-20 overtime win at Iowa, and performed in the final five games of that season, including the Alamo Bowl battle against Nebraska. Long and the 7-5, injury-riddled Wolverines were just trying to find their way that year, but they righted the ship in a hurry the next season. Michigan went 11-2, finishing No. 8 in the nation and barely seeing the No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown slip away in Columbus, 42-39. Long earned All-America honors that year, and the next, before becoming the top pick in the NFL Draft in the spring of 2008. Ryan's opportunity still stands before him. He knows what could be out there, down the road. "Every single day is a day to improve," he said. "With my knee, every single day is going to be another day to strengthen it, another day to do more rehab and therapy on it. If other people have done it before me, I can do it. That was my goal. That's what I had to do. I reached that goal." — John Borton