The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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weighed in on his own Facebook page. The Wolverines overcame his dropped snap in a 40-34 win over Ohio State in 2011, but had it occurred at game's end in similar fashion, he also would have been the goat. "You just saw first hand that punt- ing is really hard," Hagerup said. "I challenge anyone to go catch a snap in 30-degree weather with 100,000 peo- ple watching. He had a terrific game and put our defense in great field posi- tion multiple times." Including an 80-yarder to the Michi- gan State 2-yard line that became even bigger when the Spartans drove 70 yards, but came away with no points. The Wolverines reportedly had a 99.8 percent chance of winning prior to the last play, statisticians calculated in the postgame post-mortem, but fate had a different idea. Instead of being hailed as one of U-M's unsung he- roes in a huge win that kept the Wol- verines' playoff hopes alive, O'Neill will likely be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Given what was at stake, an improb- able run to a Big Ten title and the four- team playoff might be the only thing to change that. "It's sad, because it was a fluke play," Stapleton said. "I reached out to him because I knew there were all these horrible things being posted on Twitter and social media. I know what it's like to be out there. "You're only as good as your last punt, kick or play, because when you screw up back there, everybody is go- ing to see it. If you miss a block, you only see it on film." And nobody remembers. Former linebacker Shawn Crable hasn't been known for his whiff against Appa- lachian State in 2007, resulting in a blocked field goal that secured one of the most stunning upsets in college football history. Had the Spartans not pulled off the improbable, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio — who ran through the Michigan Stadium tunnel in the postgame shouting, "Where are all the Wolverines now?" — would have taken plenty of heat for an ill- advised fake punt in the third quarter that set up a short field and a Michi- gan touchdown. Fate, though, decided that it was O'Neill who should join people like Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, Bos- ton Red Sox first baseman Bill Buck- ner and other well-respected people whose lives have been adversely af- fected by the big-stage blunder. "And how about this … after I sent him that message, he got back to me right away to thank me," Stapleton said. "He told me he was really ap- preciative of the support." Someday, somewhere one of these moments will occur when we say, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," and not mean it sarcastically. For now, though, the football gods have added another good one to their list of victims. ❏ Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997, working part time for five years before joining the staff full time in 2002. Contact him at cbalas@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter at Balas_Wolverine.