Most underrated play of the season?
Generally to win a National Title, a team needs some luck or fortuitous penalties or bounces over the course of a season, most specifically in games of equal talent and coaching. UM was consistently the best team over the course of the CFB season so high leverage plays really only seemed to exist in 3-5 games. Can argue PSU, Maryland, OSU, Bama, and Washington for some swing plays - with the OSU and Bama games being the most competitive or "in doubt" games.
That said, most the high leverage plays can come to mind in a moment - like Corum's TD to go up 24-17 on OSU, or Moore's pick to seal The Game, and obviously McCarthy to Corum on 4th and 2 against Bama or the final stop of Milroe in over time.
One play that stands out to me that doesn't get much attention, but looking back was huge and very overlooked...
For me, it's Rod Moore's overtime tackle of Jalen Milroe on the QB keeper. Yes, Milroe picked up the first down and set up Bama with a first and goal, but if you look back, Moore took a perfect angle to keep Milroe from scoring there - a great play from the safety, the last line of defense. This is not a play many will remember from this magical season, but looking back, it was huge and led to the defensive stand that sent UM to the Championship Game.
Your votes?
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:03 PM ^
Rayshaun Benny strip + Makari Paige fumble recovery against Penn State at the start of the 2nd half. The game was on a knife's edge and they might have built some at-home momentum with a score to take the lead at the start of the half. These two made a big play which is mostly forgotten in the broader arc of that game (Harbaugh suspension, run-run-run, etc.)
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:22 PM ^
The 1 handed catch by JJ from Edward's pass to not only prevent a turnover or huge loss and watching him spin and fire off a pass under heavy pressure for a first down.
January 23rd, 2024 at 7:31 PM ^
That play was insane.
That Bama game shows this team was of destiny.
I don’t recall that many single game ending plays that we pulled off in one game before.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:17 PM ^
Pair this with the fumble - I think it was Corum but would have to go back and check - that bounced right back to Michigan in the PSU game. If those 2 plays go the opposite way then that game ends differently I think. Then we end up with a loss in the first game of the suspension and who knows where things go from there.
January 24th, 2024 at 2:02 PM ^
In a thread chock full of plays we all remember very vividly and immediately, the right answer is indeed the Benny strip + Paige fumble recovery at Penn State.
Despite the fact that we punted on nearly every second-half possession, it seems the narrative of that game has become that we went run-run-run because they couldn’t stop it. The truth is that we Iowa-balled our way out of Happy Valley and (for me) it was easily the most anxiety-inducing contest of the year.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:04 PM ^
Josh Wallace on 3rd down in OT against Bama, keeping that receiver in front of him and taking him down immediately at the 3, to set up the 4th down stop.
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:15 PM ^
That was my first thought as well. Wallace played that exactly like you want him to play it Play extra back to prevent the TD, and then stop the receiver before he gets to tush push range. Don't worry about tackling him really, just stop him until the safety comes over to knock the receiver out of bounds. Just a disciplined, mature play on Wallace's part. They could not take his freedom, or something.
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:37 PM ^
Also had the third down tackle to force the near-disastrous punt to thaw. Kept the game tied. Two massive tackles.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:05 PM ^
I would say that Tommy Doman punt to the 1 yard line against MD. MD had all the momentum and that pretty much stopped that. Losing that game would probably mean we'd be out of the playoffs.
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:14 PM ^
yes i was going to mention that sequence with the huge punt, then the safety.
michigan likely still wins with a touchback as maryland needed a TD but that kick was significant
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:06 PM ^
I think it was Mike Sainristil - but whoever it was that absolutely laid the wood on TreVeyon Henderson at the end of the first half. I think that hit left them with a 4th and short, and that's the 2nd time Ryan Day got skittish on 4th down. To his credit, TreVeyon got up and was even jumping up and down when Ryan Day decided to let the clock bleed all the way down and play for the long field goal. But I think the thunderous hit that Sainristil put on Henderson pushed Day into a tougher decision. And of course...the FG was missed and OSU missed a big chance end the half with points on the board.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:24 PM ^
This will be one of the memorable plays of the season for me which I enjoyed watching with my five year old who fell in love with Michigan football and the team this year. After the play, which was really exciting in itself, my son exclaimed, “he just did the zombie walk!” as Mikey was doing a high-stepping stomp celebration.
So agreed. The zombie walk play was amazing!
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:10 PM ^
Thaw getting on the fumble against Alabama. Saved the season.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:47 PM ^
This was my first thought as well! If he doesn't appropriately recover that fumble, game over dude. Season over dude. No national championship!
Great posts in this thread... it's crazy how things come down to a razor's edge...
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:08 PM ^
He made a miraculous recovery but for the life of me, why is he even trying to field that punt. Nothing to gain and obviously everything to lose.....
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:24 PM ^
It never should have been attempted to be fielded. If they happen to drop one perfectly at the 1 you tip your cap and you deal with it but you under no circumstances have there be any possibility of a turnover.
The next week against Washington they did what I thought we should have been doing. We punted with 12 seconds left in the half. They sent Giles Jackson back to show "hey we have someone back here" but the second the ball was kicked he ran completely away from it and the gunners stopped way short. Zero chance of a bobble or screw up.
We downed it at the 2 but Washington took their knee and went to the locker room without any dramatics.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:30 PM ^
No need to pile on. He feels bad enough as it is.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:10 PM ^
I'd need to look up the exact situation, but Mike Sainristil had a perfectly executed tackle in space on a big Washington third down early in that game. Phenomenal form tackling rarely gets celebrated, but Michigan's DBs did it as well as anyone in 2023. And as we saw with the Lions on Sunday, bad tackling is all too noticeable and costly
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:28 PM ^
Will Johnson also had a huge tackle on the perimeter off cover zero with no help whatsoever. I think it might have been late in the third. Reminded me of a similar call against TCU when we missed the tackle.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:13 PM ^
Kenneth Grants tackle on PSUs RB in the open field preventing an explosive play and momentum changing in not so happy valley.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:16 PM ^
That still was an explosive or chunk play, but it helped set a tone for sure. It was like "you got one. That's all you're gonna get because we are better than you."
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:52 PM ^
Yeah, that's probably the first time Kaytron Allen felt humiliated after a 30 yard run.
January 23rd, 2024 at 4:39 PM ^
That was my favorite play This year
January 24th, 2024 at 8:31 AM ^
This is the one I was going to post too. I'm still incredibly in awe of Grant's speed on this play.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:13 PM ^
I don't know that they are underrated since they were both fairly loud, but JJ McCarthy salvaging two trick plays in the Rose Bowl was another thing that saved our season. The first one, where Edward's throwback was errant, JJ spears the ball and gets the completion to Roman that eventually leads to the Morris TD.
The second one where Corum rushes the flea flicker, if JJ doesn't recover the ball that could well have been a scoop and score which loses us the game.
Without the former, maybe we still score a TD, but that was a 20 yd play. Without the latter, we missed the FG that drive but a TO near midfield mightve been fatal at that point in the game.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:13 PM ^
A play that didn't happen, Bama getting the illegal substitution penalty on their final regulation drive, pushing it to 1st and 15, getting them behind the sticks. They'd been doing just enough to move the ball up til then, and then suddenly the play calling had to change, obviously leading to the last sack and forcing the long FG. They could have put us away.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:54 PM ^
Such a great hit, a de-cleater. One that makes the receiver question if his QB is going to get him killed. A great momentum shifter as well, getting off the field with conviction and slamming that door shut.
January 23rd, 2024 at 3:32 PM ^
This was going to be my entry on this list as well. Huge play by Q-Jo. You can hear it at the end but the crowd goes nuts. I remember it being deafening in our section. Watching the replay after (I think a couple seconds after this clip ends) Klatt mentions how loud the stadium is that point with something like 'stadium has never been louder'
January 23rd, 2024 at 6:57 PM ^
This is the one.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:15 PM ^
Man so many to choose from that all could have had huge impacts.
Rayshawn Benny forcing the fumble on Allar to start the second half. PSU was already at the 50 and was going to get a first down on the play. If they go on to kick even a field goal, we likely are unable to do the "run the ball 30 times in a row" thing and who knows how that game finally turns out.
Quinten Johson hit vs OSU, that's a 7 point game and a ball that was very close to being completed to our side of the 50 later in the 2nd half. They ended up punting on that drive and we followed up with a field goal to go up 10.
All of our open field tackling against Washington. We all remember what happened with Quintin Johnston for TCU breaking off a long TD on a missed tackle. This year that tackle was made, nearly every time.
Any number of plays vs Bama. Forcing that fumble and flipping the field, JJ catching Edwards throwback pass, Thaw holding onto the ball after the muff.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:17 PM ^
Quinten Johnson leveling Emeka Egbuka late in the second half, following that emotional series before where Zinter broke his leg and Corum scored on the next play.
You didn't hear Quinten Johnson's name too much this past season, but man he made an absolutely critical play at a critical moment in The Game. Was right where he needed to be, exactly when he needed to be there, with great closing speed. Had Egbuka caught that, it would've easily been a 20-25 yard completion and taken a lot of wind out of Michigan's sails.
Still can hear Gus Johnson in my head, calling that play:
QUENTIN JOHNSON!! LAYIN' THE WOOD!!
---
Michigan's secondary showed up so big in this game, especially after Will Johnson went down. How they were able to prevent Marvin Harrison Jr from going all world after that is nothing short of immaculate coaching by Jesse Minter.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:34 PM ^
Those guys come back next year. Marvin Harrison Jr does not.
Heh.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:20 PM ^
my wife letting me spend $(absurd) on natty tickets was the underrated play of the season.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:21 PM ^
I like the Rod Moore tackle. Getting them down at the 9 yard line with 1st and goal was also very lucky considering our defense. I remember thinking at time about the best case scenario to have that down and distance in OT.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:25 PM ^
Zinter and Benny (and maybe someone I'm forgetting) aside, I'd say the most underrated plays were the ones that didn't happen. Michigan was very fortunate with injuries this year.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:26 PM ^
Out of all the plays, this year, Moore's tackle is the one I think I've watched the most. It's a quietly incredible play. If we had a mere mortal back there, Milroe scores.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
More of a call than a play, but Sherrone's TO on the OSU FG attempt turned out to be big. It led them from a made kick to a miss and made a huge impact on OSU's last drive.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:58 PM ^
And he made the practice attempt too. Usually that bodes well for the next attempt but he got the yips.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
Moore's tackle on Milroe is a good choice.
Also in the Rose Bowl, Sabb's open field tackle in the flat, where he had to cover over 15 yards to get there is another underrated play. Missed tackle would have been a TD.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:41 PM ^
Great choice. Saw a video of this on the all 22, and yes, he was completely isolated. Huge tackle.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
JJ’s third interception against Bowling Green. Good teaching/learning moment for a QB who was getting a little too loose with the decision-making.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:39 PM ^
Q Johnson delivers a huge hit on an otherwise big play to Ebuka resulting in an incomplete pass and eventual punt
Blake Corum TD against Penn State to seal it.
Mikey open field tackle against Alabama to prevent a first down.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:43 PM ^
Not sure if this can be called underrated, but both of Johnson's picks in the OSU and Wash game.
OSU - that essentially was the difference in the game. Relatively evenly matched game, except M had one drive start at the 10 and OSU didnt.
Wash - They had all the momentum coming out of half and we looked to be in a total battle. That pick gave just the cushion we needed. Plus, it was a damn good play.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:48 PM ^
The sainristil pick against Rutgers. That game could have gotten weirdly close, the PBU alone makes it a forgotten game. The pick 6 really slammed the door shut.
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:01 PM ^
Sainristil slammed more doors closed on our opponents in his career than any other wolverine I remember. Including Woodson.
There is my hot take.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:53 PM ^
Cornelius Johnson had a bunch of super clutch catches late in the season, including a handful of sideline toe-drag 3rd down conversions. None of them were super flashy and didn't gain a lot of yards but were very important for extending drives. I'm going to have to go with one of those plays from the most underrated player on the team.
January 24th, 2024 at 12:31 PM ^
The catch he made on the drive that turned into the FG that put UM up 30-24 against OSU. When JJ threw back across his body and CJ made a great play to turn it into a six-yard gain. It could have easily been a disasterous turnover.
January 23rd, 2024 at 1:58 PM ^
That was an important play. Sticking with the playoffs, JJs 3rd down run deep in our territory to pick up the first was the first contraction by the boa constrictor
January 23rd, 2024 at 2:00 PM ^
For me: Jake Thaw falling on the ball at the 1 yard line in the title game. It was the biggest emotional roller coaster I have felt in a long time from "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" to "THANK YOU FOR HAVING THE AWARENESS TO SAVE OUR SEASON!".
I feel bad for the shit Jake took on some of those plays, he probably had more impact on our season in his limited snaps than Corum/McCarthy, etc.