FATEFUL PANIC ATTACK
Punter’s discombobulation snatches defeat from jaws of victory for snakebit Wolverines
How appropriate that No. 7Michigan State’s 27-23 comeback victory over No. 12 Michigan happened in October. Because all I could do after the Spartans won it on one of the most improbable final plays in the sport’s history was shout like the late, great baseball announcer Jack Buck: “I don’t believe what I just saw!” Imagine how Jim Harbaugh must have felt.
In case you were trying to rescue Matt Damon from Mars and completely missed it, allow me to recap the aforementioned final play:
Step 1: With Michigan leading 23-21 and a handful of seconds left to play, its Aussie punter, Blake O’Neill— who was having a great game— dropped the snap. Step 2: And then panicked. Step 3: I mean really panicked. Step 4: Almost as if he were an option quarterback, O’Neill pitched the ball to Michigan State’s Jalen Watts-Jackson, who ran it 38 yards, crossing the goal line after the game clock had expired.
Watts-Jackson reportedly dislocated a hip while diving into the end zone, though even he might say it was worth it. It was beyond huge for the Spartans, who moved to 7-0 and kept themselves every bit in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. And it was an absolute crusher for the Wolverines, who fell to 5-2 despite playing the best ball of any Big Ten team all season.
“I guess we won on a crazy play,” said Spartans coach Mark Dantonio, “but we played hard and with conviction and our guys did what I asked them to do.”
In a nutshell, it was go to Ann Arbor and not only stand chin-to-chin with the Wolverines— who entered the game on a streak of three shutout victories— but beat them for the seventh time in eight meetings in this tremendous rivalry series. Yes, that would mean outdueling magic-making Michigan coach Harbaugh, who in Year 1 on the job has transformed his players from soft to salty and from Big Ten also-rans to legitimate contenders.
Led by quarterback Connor Cook, who looked every bit the part of a future NFL first-round draft pick, MSU won the yardage battle by a wide margin (386-230) and had a chance to win on its final possession. After the Spartans turned the ball over on downs in Michigan territory with less than two minutes to play, though, the game seemed over.
Seconds later, it was over — in unthinkable fashion.
“A mistake was made,” Harbaugh said, tersely.
But the Wolverines needn’t apologize to football fans around Big Ten country. They lived up to their billing and, along with the Spartans, kicked the Paul Bunyan rivalry into a higher gear than it has been in many years. Led by elite coaches and with better and better players pledging allegiance to both programs all the time, we can look forward to more of the same in the coming years.
And Sparty still has eyes on the biggest prize this season.
“Our dreams are still alive,” Dantonio said.
Indeed they are. Miraculously.