The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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1988 — the Wolverines had tears of joy in their eyes while they celebrated the victory with the throngs of fans who rushed the field. The Buckeyes, and their first-year starting quarterback Braxton Miller, unleashed an aggressive game plan, throwing deep as early and often as possible, scoring on a 54-yard bomb to wide receiver Corey Brown on the first drive of the game. After a controversial ruling that overturned a Michigan touchdown — when redshirt sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint appeared to have crossed the goal line — Miller took the ball back, down six with two minutes to play. All the recent losses to the Buckeyes crept into Wolverine fans' minds — 2005, 2006, years in which Ohio State barely scraped by. On fourth down, with 40 seconds to go, sophomore defensive back Court- ney Avery made a do-or-die intercep- tion, tipping the ball to himself, to seal the victory. Toughest Loss MICHIGAN STATE 28, MICHIGAN 14: After an 11-2 season, there aren't many games to choose from here. The Spartans closed out a four-year stretch of victories, the school's first senior class since 1962 to go unde- feated against the Wolverines. Fighting intense, gusting winds, Michigan junior quarterback Denard Robinson struggled all day, complet- ing 18 of 34 passes for 78 yards with an interception that sealed the Wol- verines' fate. While the passing game was strug- gling, Michigan State loaded the box and eliminated the run to wreak havoc on the Maize And Blue back- field, holding Michigan to 82 rush- ing yards on 36 carries (2.3 yards per rush). On the other side of the ball, the Spartans physically dominated, shov- ing around Michigan's front seven, piling up 213 rushing yards. Best Touchdown BRANDON HERRON VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: There's no denying that by the end of the year the Michigan defense had evolved into a suffocating unit. Dur- ing the opener, however, it looked like 2011 might be a long season. The Broncos were slicing through the U-M defense with relative ease, averaging 5.2 yards per play on their first three drives — and all it took to stop Western Michigan's momentum was a 94-yard interception return, the second longest in school history. The Broncos were knocking on the door, with a chance to go ahead 14- 7. Then redshirt freshman linebacker Jake Ryan burst through on a blitz, smacked into the quarterback and sent the ball flying high in the air. Herron grabbed it and, 94 yards later, Michigan had a 14-point swing and a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Best Reception JUNIOR HEMINGWAY VS. VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies had almost completely stifled the Michigan offense, which mustered only 184 total yards, by far the worst output of the season. By contrast, the Wolverines gained 288 yards against Western Michigan, and that game was called due to lightning at the end of the third quarter. If it wasn't for Hemingway's hero- ics, it could have been much worse. On a third-and-17 play late in the sec- ond quarter, Robinson just heaved a ball in the general vicinity of Heming- way, who grabbed it amidst hoards of Hokies, somehow stayed on his feet and raced in for a 45-yard score. Later, Hemingway added a leaping catch in the back of the end zone to stretch the lead to 17-6. Those were Hemingway's only two catches all day — but, as Michigan's only two touchdowns, they were arguably the two most important plays of the game. Best Rush FITZGERALD TOUSSAINT VS. PURDUE: Late in the third quarter, the red- shirt sophomore running back did his best Denard Robinson impression. He took a pitch and ran to the left-side edge before cutting back to the right and slipping two tackles. Back in the middle of the field, he found a seam and went into high gear, splitting two pursuing defenders to free himself for a 59-yard touchdown. In preseason practices, coaches voiced concern about Toussaint's lack of field vision, a problem that partly held Toussaint back from grabbing the No. 1 back spot until midway through the season. Fitzgerald Toussaint's 59-yard touchdown run was part of his 20-carry, 170-yard per- formance in Michigan's 36-14 win over Purdue on Oct. 29. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN As the season progressed, Toussaint continued to see the field better and better, allowing him to cut through lanes in the defense adeptly, just as he did against Purdue. Best Interception J.T. FLOYD AT ILLINOIS: For much of the first three quarters, Michigan physically dominated the Fighting Illini, but led only 17-0. Rob- inson left the game late in the third quarter with an injury, and Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase be- gan staging the comeback. On their first drive of the fourth quarter, now down 17-7, the Illini were moving the chains once again, and the wheels seemed to be coming off the Michigan bus. Scheelhaase tried to hit All-Big Ten receiver A.J. Jenkins on a quick curl route, something the Wolver- ines had failed to effectively cover all day, when Floyd expertly jumped the route, returning it 43 yards to set up a 27-yard touchdown pass, icing the Michigan victory. It was one of two picks Floyd had all year (the other against Notre Dame's Tommy Rees), and it was one of the biggest defensive plays of the season. FEBRUARY 2012 THE WOLVERINE 29