The Wolverine Now

sept. 22, 2013 Finishing In 24-21 Win At Connecticut Fight U-M Dodges Another Bullet C Generating only 289 yards of offense, the Wolverines counted on a defense that surrendered only 47 yards on the ground and made a crucial interception at just the right time to pull it off. U-M began the comeback down a shocking 21-7, the victims of teeth-grinding giveaways and UConn opportunism. Gardner (11-of-23 passing for 97 yards and two interceptions) drove the Wolverines 75 yards in nine plays, the biggest involving a perfectly timed option pitch By John Borton oming back from a self-dug, twotouchdown hole against Connecticut's Huskies probably felt like running the Iditarod to Michigan's mushers. But for the second straight week, the Wolverines didn't get left out in the cold. Fifth-year senior Brendan Gibbons' 21yard field goal with 4:36 remaining sealed U-M's furious rally in a 24-21 win over the Huskies. For a team struggling its way into the bye week prior to the Big Ten season, any win counted as a good win. "Definitely," affirmed redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner, who overcame costly turnovers to cash in late. "Without a doubt. We faced adversity, and we responded. We'd rather not let it come to that, but if that's what it takes on this day, we're happy with the win." It came to that, all right. It came to the point where the Wolverines — who turned the football over four times to UConn's one — couldn't afford one more big mistake and still go into the Big Ten season an unblemished 4-0. They were just tough enough, in front of a record crowd of 42,704 at Rentschler Field. "I thought our team did a really good job being resilient, especially in the second half," head coach Brady Hoke said. "Defensively for four quarters I thought we played awfully hard, played productively, did a nice job." 24 Michigan fell behind by 21-7 in the third quarter, but a 21-yard field goal by fifth-year senior placekicker Brendan Gibbons with 4:36 remaining capped the comeback and secured the win for the Wolverines. photo by Cyle Nunemaker 21 to Fitzgerald Toussaint (24 carries, 120 yards, two touchdowns). The fifth-year senior tailback took the pitch racing to his right, dodged a pair of would-be tacklers, then cut all the way back across the grain, rumbling for a 35yard touchdown. The instant offense, at the 5:37 mark of the third quarter, injected life into a crew that desperately needed a jolt out of neutral. "I want to give credit to Devin for reading that very well," Toussaint said. "I give credit to the offensive line for staying on their guy. I got out there and made a play. I saw green grass, and I took it." UConn's Chad Christian missed a 46yard field goal attempt, keeping the Wolverines within one touchdown. But time kept ticking away, and when Gardner (who rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown on 19 tries) failed to make a fourth-and-two keeper at the UConn 22, questions arose

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