The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
where are they now? where are they Now? Nothing Is Holding Larry Stevens Back T By John Borton he images will last as long as Michigan and Michigan State knock heads in football, and former defensive end Larry Stevens stood in the center of the November 2001 storm. MSU's Jeff Smoker spiking the football after the clock inexplicably stopped with 0:01 remaining. The Spartans getting time for one more play. Smoker floating a pass to tailback T.J. Duckett for a 26‑24 win at Spartan Stadium. And Stevens, grabbed by the arms and spun around while officials opted for drama over duty, helpless to stop the extra-time enabled MSU passer. "There's never a time I've told this story that I stop getting mad or up‑ set," Stevens admitted. "What is it, 12, 13 years later? I'm still upset about that. "That was the worst. These guys weren't better than us. They weren't more physical than us. We made a couple dumb mistakes, and a couple of bad penalties, and there were a lot of bad calls … especially that last one. Before I even got held, the ball should never even have been snapped. The clock was out." Plenty of real-life time has elapsed since that evening in East Lansing, when play-by-play man Frank Beck‑ mann declared "Thievery!" Stevens earned his degree, got married and fathered a pair of boys, built a host of businesses and moved back to his Stevens tallied 108 tackles, with 12 sacks among 25 tackles for loss, in his four-year U-M career. file photo native state of Washington along the way. But he will never, ever, forget what happened on that play. He has plenty of company regarding that burning memory. "The game was over," Stevens fumed. "Not only was the play over, but the guy was freakin' holding me. I went to the outside, and naturally, I'm spinning back inside. "If he's not holding me, I'm knock‑ ing Smoker … I'm knocking smoke out of his chimney, dude. This game's over. Never mind that the clock is out — I'm putting you out of the game. That's how clean the shot would have been. That's how clear the hold was. "I could not believe there was no flag. He was able to slide away from me, because the guy was holding me. Clearly, my jersey was pulled all the