Good teams find a way to win even when they forget to get off the bus. That’s exactly what happened in the Big House today against a Wisconsin team was intent on wrecking the dreams of the Maize and Blue.
Michigan overcame three missed field goals, endured six penalties — all at seemingly key times, and struggled to take advantage of the Badgers inability to show much of anything on offense more often than not.
Jim Harbaugh’s team had look unbeatable through the first three games, but truth be known, it was more or less against teams that didn’t have the personnel to go toe-to-toe with the toughness, tenacity, and big-play ability of the Wolverines.
Then today happened.
Let’s call a spade a spade. This game film won’t be cut and produced by Harbaugh for any of the satellite coaching clinics coming to a campus near you. Not even close. All-everything Jabrill Peppers was nearly invisible, the special teams was a disaster, and the offense had troubles converting third-downs to sustain drives and put points on the board.
Clearly a lot of that had to do with a T.J. Watt and a Wisconsin defense that has stymied almost every opponent so far this year.
TJ Watt is having a heck of a game – 5 solo tackles. #WISvsMICH #OnWisconsin
— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) October 1, 2016
But much of it was self-inflicted as well. There were opportunities to be had, they just weren’t being finished. The game began to take on the feel of one that just wasn’t meant to be. After all, how many missed opportunities does it take before they eventually rise up and take a chunk out of a season of promise.
Luckily for Michigan, its defense came to play once again.
The story coming into this one may have been the Wolverine offense versus the Badger defense, but it was the Michigan defense that put the curtain down today. Wisconsin could only manage eight first downs, 159 total yards, and turned the ball over three times. The Wolverine defense continually got pressure on freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook and it stonewalled the Badger run offense.
You got the feeling that Wisconsin could have played for three days and struggled to score two touchdowns on the Michigan defense.
But Bucky kept hanging around like an unwanted guest, and turned this one into a fourth-quarter game just as it had against LSU. And that’s when we find out what teams that dream of grandeur are made of.
With the score tied at seven, and the sands in the hourglass of the fourth quarter running down, Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight was finally able to take advantage of a one-on-one matchup and drop a tear drop in the bread basket of Amara Darboh:
Here's the Michigan bomb https://t.co/w207ZgpleA
— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) October 1, 2016
And with that, the Wolverines took a touchdown lead that seemed more like a three score lead with the way the Badger offense struggled all day.
Wisconsin’s defense gave it a couple more opportunities to put together a drive to reel the game back in, but Michigan’s defense wasn’t going to let this one go, and sealed the game with a ridiculous one-handed interception on a desperation heave on fourth down.
Holy crap this Michigan INT https://t.co/L5DftQ5NA6
— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) October 1, 2016
Yep. Game over. Season still on track.
Every team has one or two of these types of games it has to grind out to keep a special season alive, but not every team is able to come out the back end to live and fight another day. It is the truly special teams that are able to pull together and win games in the middle of all the chaos.
There’s still plenty of season to go, but Michigan dodged fate today and wrestled this one away, right in the midst of adversity. There’s sure to be more.
The dream is still alive in Ann Arbor for the Michigan Wolverines.
