The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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a 20-17 lead. In the waning moments, with Ohio State thinking comeback, Michigan dealt the final blow, Harbaugh and Kolesar connecting for the 77-yard score. "Being a game that started at 3:30, darkness had descended over the stadium, but we had those portable lights up, and it gave The Big House an almost surreal look in the second half," Hammond said. "I could not believe how open Kolesar got as Harbaugh heaved the ball downfield. The whole stadium seemed to explode on that play while Kolesar sped down the field like a bunny with his tail on fire, and I was sure we had sewed up another victory against the Buckeyes. "That is one of my all-time favorite games versus Ohio." 9. 1997, Tommy Hendricks vs. Notre Dame: Before the Iowa game, before the Ohio State game and the Rose Bowl, there was a matchup with pesky Notre Dame, which wasn't impressed by U-M's 65-6 combined conquests of Colorado and Baylor in weeks one and two. Capitalizing on a Michigan turnover, ND drove to the 10-yard line and was within striking distance, down 21-14, when quarterback Ron Powlus sent a pass to the end zone. There, safety Tommy Hendricks laid out to pick it off. "Michigan did their very best to hand this game on a silver platter to Notre Dame, with three fourth-quarter turnovers, and you felt that the defense was going to break at one point," fan Brian Weldon said. "Sitting there in the stands, it appeared Powlus had a receiver all alone moving with him along the back line of the end zone. When Powlus threw, I thought it was going to be a touchdown. "Hendricks really came out of nowhere to make that pick — it was tough to see what happened, and even when the crowd roared, I initially thought it was an incompletion. When Hendricks came up with that ball, you felt like a bullet had just been dodged." 10. 1976, Rob Lytle vs. Michigan State: Lytle was midway through his senior season, galloping past 3.5 years of defenders, when the Spartans arrived in Ann Arbor for the Oct. 9 date. Lytle had provided so many memorable runs, but on this afternoon he would top himself, breaking through the line of scrimmage for a career-long 75-yard TD run in which he was never touched. "Other guys were fast, and other guys were powerful and played physical, but Rob Lytle was really Mr. Everything," Timmons said. "He could knock you back, he could juke you, he could run, and he was so much faster and quicker than you expected. "On that play, I think he got through the hole so fast it didn't matter what angle the MSU defenders had because they weren't going to catch him. The MSU band was in that corner of the end zone, and you never heard a peep from them." The South End Zone's 10 Greatest Plays 1. 1997, Charles Woodson vs. Ohio State: It all came down to this — a Big Ten championship, a Rose Bowl berth and a shot at the national title. Woodson had been making a Heisman bid all year and provided one of the game's key early plays with an end-zone interception. In the second quarter, leading 7-0, Woodson corralled a punt at his own 22-yard line, knifed through some Buckeyes and sped down the east sideline to the south end zone for a 78-yard punt return. "For as dangerous as Woodson was that year, he hadn't returned a punt for a touchdown. But you had this feeling in that game, with everything on the line, he was going to do something memorable," Rick Gentry said. "I was pretty settled in my seat, but after he made that first guy miss, you just knew, and everyone jumped up. "We were there for Desmond's kickoff return, and I think Woodson wanted to strike the Heisman pose, too, but his teammates mobbed him. I remember after that play thinking to myself just how lucky I was to be there and to have seen this guy play in person." 2. 1971, Billy Taylor vs. Ohio State: Bob Ufer couldn't believe his eyes, screaming at record decibel levels when quarterback Larry Cipa pitched the ball to Taylor and fullback Fritz Seyferth cleared the last remaining obstacle from Taylor's path. The senior ball carrier bolted 21 yards to lift Michigan to a 10-7 victory, providing U-M its first undefeated regular season since the 1948 national title team. "I remember everyone feeling we should win, but we just couldn't seem to get it done against a stout Ohio State defense," Robert Metz began. "As we came down to the south side of the field late in the game, from 20 yards out, I remember seeing Taylor go outside. Every student stood up and saw the TD coming; I didn't even get to see him score because all the students were jumping up and down screaming. "I have been to the Michigan State tripleovertime game and the 'Under The Lights' game, and both of those probably had more exciting finishes, but the pregame build-up for the 1971 and 1973 Ohio State games during the 10-year war at home was so much greater and more intense." 3. 1991, Desmond Howard vs. Ohio State: With Michigan leading 17-3 late in the second quarter, and the Buckeyes putting up very little fight, The Big House faithful focused their attention on Howard and a possible coronation as the Heisman Trophy winner. They didn't expect him to do what he did next, though, planting his heels on the 7-yard line, faking out a defender, attacking the sideline and accelerating past three OSU defenders en route to the end zone and the most famous pose in U-M football history. "We were about 20 rows up in that end zone. When he made the Heisman pose I looked at my friend and said, 'Did he just do what I think he did?' It was surreal," Adam Wirowitz said. "It 52 ■ The Wolverine 2013 Football Preview wasn't like we were starving for a win over Ohio State — we had beaten them the three years before — but that was an exclamation point against Ohio State and for Desmond. "I heard the Keith Jackson call when I got home, when he said, 'Hello Heisman,' and I laughed because I said the same thing at the game." 4. 2011, Roy Roundtree vs. Notre Dame: Michigan Stadium hosted its first ever night game, but the Irish were rude visitors, leading 24-7 after three quarters. But facing the south end zone, U-M would score six seconds into the fourth quarter, then three minutes later and again with 1:12 to play, taking its first lead 28-24. Notre Dame would respond immediately, seemingly clinching a 31-28 win when it left only 30 seconds on the clock, but in three plays the Wolverines went 80 yards, culminating with Denard Robinson's 16-yard TD pass to receiver Roy Roundtree in the southwest corner for the win. "Strangers were hugging, cheering and even shedding a few tears together," Marcus Hall said. "I remember picking my dad up in a bear hug as he cheered. Neither of us will ever forget that night." 5. 2005, Mario Manningham vs. Penn State: For six games and eight years, Penn State brooded, and Michigan chirped, ever the victor. Finally, in 2005, the Wolverines' run over the Nittany Lions seemed destined to end when PSU took a 25-21 lead with 53 seconds remaining. But a 40-yard kickoff return by Steve Breaston, four completions by Chad Henne and an 11-yard run from tailback Mike Hart positioned the Maize and Blue on the 10-yard line with one second left. Manningham ran a slant pattern, the safety bit on Breaston underneath and Henne hit his No. 1 wide receiver in the chest. "I was clutching my hands together hoping for what was a very unlikely touchdown," Maxwell Dillivan said. "The ball was snapped, and it just seemed like slow-motion chaos. From my vantage point, I couldn't tell if anyone would be on the receiving end. Out of nowhere Manningham separated from his defender and appeared. "He caught the ball and everyone erupted. I've never heard Michigan Stadium so loud in my entire life. The feeling was magnified when my buddy and I high-fived over our friend [an unreasonably huge Penn State fan], who instantly put his head in his hands and spent the next five hours saying to himself, 'How do you let that happen?'" 6. 1997, Jerame Tuman vs. Iowa: A 5-0 start, led by a ferocious defense that surrendered just 26 points total, had Michigan fans convinced this 1997 team was special, but Iowa didn't know its place, storming out to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Wolverines' leaders delivered an impassioned speech, and U-M scored 14 third-quar-