OMG - UMich just pulled the horns trick!

[BoulderSooner79]

Unbelievable

[Jacie]

Nice shots of stunned wolverines.

[aurorasooner]

Unbelievable Over 100000 stunned fans. That ending was just ridiculous. geeez, I'm not sure if that will be officially scored as a fumble return TD or if the Michigan kicker actually got his foot on the ball while being spun around and it will be scored as a punt return TD. Some of those Michigan fans put Stunned-Aggie to shame. All they needed to do was tackle the returner or push him OB for the W.

[SoonerMarkVA]

Nice shots of stunned wolverines.

That one dude they show as the Spartan score is ticking on the scoreboard just absolutely blew away Stunned Aggie. I don't think there will ever be a stunned shot that will outdo that poor dude!

[aurorasooner]

TCU 14 ISU 14 with about 4 min left in the 1st. ESPiN-2

[BoulderSooner79]

All the punter has to do is take a knee once he doesn't handle it cleanly. It would have left a hail mary try, but pretty low odds on that one.

Coach better order up some police protection for that punter this week.

[BetterSoonerThanLater]

Why were they punting anyway? Take a knee and run out the clock

[BoulderSooner79]

Why were they punting anyway? Take a knee and run out the clock

4th down with 10 seconds to go. Hard to guarantee any play eats 10 seconds and clock stops on change of possession. A successful punt of just about any length (>25yds) puts them out of hail mary range which is really their only hope. I think any coach in the land would punt in that situation. Another tactic might be to roll out your QB and have him throw it as far and high as he can. That *might* eat 10 seconds with that added advantage you might complete it or get a PI penalty. But lots of things could go wrong too.

[SoonerBorn]

Should have just run backwards for a safety. 😀

[Turd_Ferguson]

Read that the Spartan that got the TD was hurt pretty bad by all the teammates piling on top of him.

[BoulderSooner79]

Should have just run backwards for a safety. 😀

Could not do that either - they were only ahead 23-21. It was a perfect storm.

[BoulderSooner79]

Read that the Spartan that got the TD was hurt pretty bad by all the teammates piling on top of him.

A dislocated hip according to ESPN. That is the injury that ended Bo Jackson's athletic career - very sad if it is this serious.

[SoonerSeattle]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRkoNfIWUAA8XrS.jpg:large

[IamBigRed]

They look related to me. Cousins maybe?

[BoulderSooner79]

I thought it was the same guy.

[Turd_Ferguson]

I thought it was the same guy.

Looks like it to me.

[SicEmBaylor]

Fun fact (which I assume is true):

Only two coaches have held the lead and possession on the final play of the game and lost. Kevin Steele (Baylor vs. UNLV) and Jim Harbaugh (Michigan vs. Michigan State).

[Jacie]

Have to think about this one. So only twice in college football a team that was ahead committed a turnover and surrendered the lead on the final play of the game? That same scenario was a plot device in an old Tom Cruise movie, All the Right Moves, when they fumble in the end zone and lose the game when they could have won by taking a safety. That Alabama-Auburn game with the missed field goal returned for a touchdown, they were tied and going to OT but it was just as shocking (to bama fans anyway) way to end the game.

[SicEmBaylor]

Have to think about this one. So only twice in college football a team that was ahead committed a turnover and surrendered the lead on the final play of the game? That same scenario was a plot device in an old Tom Cruise movie, All the Right Moves, when they fumble in the end zone and lose the game when they could have won by taking a safety. That Alabama-Auburn game with the missed field goal returned for a touchdown, they were tied and going to OT but it was just as shocking (to bama fans anyway) way to end the game.

Someone pointed to Nick Saban as a possible 3rd, but Saban didn't have the lead on that play -- it was a tie at that point in the game. If you think about the number of things that would have to go wrong or the stupidity of the coach involved (as was the case with Kevin Steele) then it isn't all that surprising. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if there were others. I think FBS schools in the modern era were the parameters because there had to be others outside of FBS.

[SoonerMarkVA]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRkoNfIWUAA8XrS.jpg:large

That pic doesn't do it justice. It simply cannot capture the twisted pain that poor sap was experiencing, that you can see on the video feed.

But, dang, they really do look like freakin' twins!

[aurorasooner]

4th down with 10 seconds to go. Hard to guarantee any play eats 10 seconds and clock stops on change of possession. A successful punt of just about any length (>25yds) puts them out of hail mary range which is really their only hope. I think any coach in the land would punt in that situation. Another tactic might be to roll out your QB and have him throw it as far and high as he can. That *might* eat 10 seconds with that added advantage you might complete it or get a PI penalty. But lots of things could go wrong too. Seems like we know about that. Landry Jones vs Texass comes to mind. Lucky it didn't turn out the same.

[BoulderSooner79]

As predicted, the UMich punter getting hammered on social media including death threats. "Fans" are effin morons and technology has given them a public forum to prove it.

[SicEmBaylor]

As predicted, the UMich punter getting hammered on social media including death threats. "Fans" are effin morons and technology has given them a public forum to prove it.

Because threatening the life of a kid playing as a punter while also attending college and getting his degree is totally reasonable. You're right -- people are bat**** crazy.

[bluedogok]

That pic doesn't do it justice. It simply cannot capture the twisted pain that poor sap was experiencing, that you can see on the video feed.

But, dang, they really do look like freakin' twins!
Stunned Aggie is in grad school at Michigan?

[Pricetag]

I wonder if it would have happened the same way if the kid wasn't a rugby-style punter. With the way those guys toss the ball out to the side, it was right there for the Michigan State guy to catch it on the run.

[BigTip]

I was watching this game at the Mandalay Bay sports book in Las Vegas. There had been lots of cheering during the game from fans of both teams. You should have heard the roar when this played happened. And it went on and on too. Unbelievable.

[Jacie]

And here is yet another take on it, muffed snap notwithstanding, the punter, Blake O'Neill, should have had time to get off some kind of kick but . . .

. . . and i don't know where the blame should go for this, Michigan was in the wrong formation, considering the circumstances.

The formation was what has become a fairly normal modern punt look: three protectors behind a five-man front with two gunners. Problem is, that formation is designed to get out and cover more than to lock in and protect. Given the time on the clock (10 seconds) and the fact that all 11 Spartans were crowding the line of scrimmage to go for the block, this was a problem.

Not only did Michigan fail to adjust its formation, it failed to adjust its blocking from that formation. A least a couple of the linemen got brief chip blocks and then released downfield – to cover nothing. There was nobody back to return the kick.

“They should have all stayed in to protect,” Derek Rackley (Big 10 football analyst) said. “And if you’ve got to hold, hold. A holding penalty in that situation is not a big deal. If you have to grab them and rip them down to the ground, do it.”

Instead, Michigan released to cover nobody. And O’Neill dropped the snap.

[BoulderSooner79]

A holding call in that situation does complicate things a bit. Had the punter just fallen on the ball, it would have been a 57 yard FG attempt which was out of range for the MSU kicker (10mph headwind reported). A holding call followed by a dropped snap might have made a 47 yard FG doable. A very low odds thing, and not really something they could consider given the time to make decisions, but just stating that a holding call is not "free".

However, time runs off the clock and is not put back on a holding call (a hole in the rules, IMO). Given that situation, they indeed should have held like crazy in order to get the punt off. I wonder what happens then if they get it punted and the clock goes to zero? Game can't end on a defensive penalty, but it can on an offensive penalty (and often does). In this case, they would be fine and dandy with the offense since the penalty occurs before the change of possession.