The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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U-M struggled to generate offense, but was still set for overtime when Minne- sota took possession of the football at its own 13-yard with 2:49 left in the game. On a third-and-10 from their own 26, the Maroon and Gold handed off to Gary Russell, seemingly accepting the fate of an extra period, but Russell burst to the outside. Burgess, who had lost containment, watched Russell sprint by him for 61 yards down to the U-M 13-yard line. Three plays later, Minnesota kicked the game-winning field goal. A junior linebacker, Burgess played strong down the stretch, contributing 44 tackles, including two for loss, in the Wolverines' final six games. In 2006, he truly emerged, notching 38 stops, four tackles for loss, three passes broken up and two interceptions — one he returned for a pick-six against Notre Dame — in the first eight games of his senior season before being limited the rest of the year due to injury. Devin Gardner, Iowa, 2013: After a dazzling start to his career under cen- ter in 2012, Gardner experienced the all-too-familiar ups and downs during his junior season in 2013, but heading into Iowa City he commanded a team that was 7-3 and still in the Big Ten race. The November day wasn't kind to Gardner — he threw for only 98 yards and rushed for 12 — but trailing 24-21 late in the fourth he began to discover some magic; Gardner completed two passes for 31 yards and was scamper- ing eight yards towards the Iowa 31- yard line when he had the ball poked out. The Hawkeyes recovered and would not relinquish possession, running out the clock. If Gardner was emotionally spent, he didn't show it the following week, turning in, arguably, the top individual performance of his career. The junior quarterback threw for a Michigan-Ohio State game-record 451 yards, and four touchdowns, completing 71.1 percent of his 45 throws in a heartbreaking 42-41 loss to the Buckeyes. — Michael Spath Devin Gardner did not play well in the 2013 loss to Iowa, but he bounced back with 451 passing yards the next week against Ohio State. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL