Michigan 10, Northwestern 9
De'Veon Smith broke the scoreless tie with 6:49 left in the third on a three-yard plunge, ruining the aesthetic, but this will forever be known as The M00N Game:
#M00N pic.twitter.com/GQcd88rr9a
— MGoShoe (@MGoShoe) November 8, 2014
If it involved futility, this game had it. Northwestern lost on a failed two-point conversion with three seconds left when quarterback Trevor Siemian rolled out, saw Frank Clark, and fell over. That was just the final pratfall in this slapstick, however.
It started right away, with Northwestern taking an illegal formation penalty to negate a third-and-one conversion on the game's first drive. Devin Funchess returned the favor by dropping a third-down pass on Michigan's opening salvo.
The two teams proceeded in such fashion for the duration of the game. Michigan's final three possessions of the first half started inside Northwestern territory. They netted 29 yards and zero points, failing in three different ways: a punt, a pick, and a blocked field goal as the half mercifully expired.
The Wildcats pulled the same trick in the second half, missing a field goal, turning it over on downs, and punting on a negative-28-yard drive on their three possessions beginning on the Wolverines end of the field. The teams finished with a combined 504 yards; 256 for Northwestern, 248 for Michigan.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, Devin Gardner threw a second interception when he stared down Jake Butt, Michigan lost a fumble when Jack Miller's snap bounced off a motioning Devin Funchess, and defensive tackle Matt Godin picked off Siemian after Clark tipped a pass.
Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog
We should all be thanking Pat Fitzgerald for his fourth-quarter decision-making. After punter Will Hagerup pinned Northwestern just outside their goal line, Siemian engineered a 19-play drive that covered 95 yards, only for Fitzgerald to call for the field goal unit on fourth-and-goal from the four. The field goal cut Michigan's lead to 7-3. The Wildcats had literally just doubled their yardage total in one drive. Under seven minutes remained on the clock. He kicked anyway.
Michigan nearly managed to ice the game on the next drive, chewing up 4:16 and all three Northwestern timeouts on a 54-yard drive that ended with a Matt Wile field goal.
The Wildcats marched right back down the field, cutting the M lead to 10-9 on a three-yard throw from Siemian to Tony Jones. Fitzgerald, slightly more bold than before—or perhaps just wanting the game to end—sent the offense back on the field. Michigan's pass rush had landed home all night, sacking Siemian six times, and they anticipated the Northwestern call to roll the pocket right; Clark shot past two blockers and Siemian slipped in an effective but fruitless attempt to avoid him.
One kneel later, the game ended. Nobody was sad to see it go.
November 8th, 2014 at 9:07 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^
U-G-L-Y.
You ain't got no alibi
You ugly
You ugly
November 8th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^
does not show that the team is improving. Wins against weak team doesn't mean the program is on the right track. Anyone that calls themselves a M supporter cannot be in favor of another year of this. I am sure supporters of Sparty and Bucky would love to see another year of hoke at michigan.
November 8th, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^
we had 6 sacks, but who's counting.. This was a perfect example of how bad of a coach hoke is and how we have had 0 improvement from week to week.. especially on the O-line..
November 9th, 2014 at 2:13 AM ^
The only good thing about the offense was the line and Smith's getting YAC. Northwestern only had 3 TFLs, Gardner had all day to throw, we gained 147 yards rushing. There's been 0 improvement from our offensive legends, Funchess and Gardner.
November 8th, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
not find some playing time on this offense?
November 8th, 2014 at 10:34 PM ^
Did you watch the Minnesota game? Morris was 7-19 for 49 yards and a pick 6. He also had two fumbles, one of which Minnesota recovered. In my opinion, Michigan's coaching staff has wrecked Gardner, and it was obvious in the Minnesota game that they have a great start on destroying Morris, if he isn't just a bust.
November 9th, 2014 at 12:51 AM ^
in high school? I saw him play about 6 times. UM did not wreck Gardger. He plays the way he always has played.
November 9th, 2014 at 2:35 AM ^
Has Gardner gotten better or worse since he took over the starting job? I would say that he has gotten progressively worse. I put a lot of that on coaching.
November 9th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^
Michigan won going away? The game during which Michigan scored 41 points? That game?
November 9th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
Is the very definition of selective memory.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^
Whenever I lunch myself in the eye, I make sure it's with a grilled cheese and not tomato soup.
November 9th, 2014 at 11:02 PM ^
...why was he so highly valued as a recruit? Wasn't he chosen Michigan High School Player of the Year or something like that?
November 8th, 2014 at 10:40 PM ^
If he does We go from the Lusitania to the Titanic in epic disasters. Maybe Hindenburg??
November 9th, 2014 at 8:10 AM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
in a nutshell.
November 8th, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^
Longest drive by yards- 54
Plays? 9
Thanks to the NW fumble, UM had their only TD on a 3 play 21 yd juggernaut.
Improvement? Well, a modest 2 game win streak…if that's we are calling improvement, then Yes.
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November 8th, 2014 at 10:02 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^
This was absolutely a signature win for Michigan football during the Brady Hoke era: Play like complete shit and hope the other team sucks worse than you do.
Watching them play just makes me angry now. There is nothing remotely lovable about them and I wish they would just go away.
November 8th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^
...I'm just ready for it to be over. I want to be able to enjoy Michigan football again. And as long as that useless fool is coaching I can't.
November 8th, 2014 at 10:26 PM ^
I'm concerned the M will beat Maryland and go to a bowl. What good will extra coaching time do when the coaching is as bad as it appears? And what good will getting whacked by a mid-level, Rutgers-like team in the bowl game do? M stumbled to a win over a bad NU team --- who they gonna beat in a bowl game?
A trip to a nothing bowl might be very much a mixed bag.
November 8th, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^
"Extra practice" for a bowl game is meaningful if you've got a good coaching staff.
It's like hearing that a team has a large number of returning seniors, and then realizing that same team went 3-9 the year before. We've had plenty of time to suck this year...15 extra practices aren't going to turn this team into the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.
November 8th, 2014 at 10:34 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 11:22 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 12:08 AM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 10:45 PM ^
hoping it would have be 0-0 and gone into OT.
November 8th, 2014 at 10:59 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
Six sacks, but who's counting.
November 8th, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^
November 8th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^
I'm going to try and put lipstick on this pig...
(good) road win.
November 9th, 2014 at 12:08 AM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 12:20 AM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 12:34 AM ^
Someone should check to see if Dark Side of the M00N syncs up with this game.
November 9th, 2014 at 12:36 AM ^
Yeah, glad we got the win, but still painful to watch.
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November 9th, 2014 at 12:39 AM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 12:54 AM ^
This was the ideal result. We won the game, and we did it in the least impressive way possible, clearly revealing at every step how poorly coached we are. Winning while still making Brady Hoke look bad is the goal for the rest of the season. He must not return.
November 9th, 2014 at 12:55 AM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 1:10 AM ^
I rewound the play. You can see that Funchess doesn't know what the hell is going on. He points at the other receiver while Gardner is looking at him, waiting. Gardner encourages him and finally he starts into motion and then it's snapped right into him. I'd have benched him. But then, I'd have been wearing a headset, or talking to somebody, and thus would have had some small clue what was happening on the field.
November 9th, 2014 at 1:16 AM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 1:20 AM ^
While I, like just about EVERY other Meechigan fan, will be happy never to see Devin (EITHER Devin) in our used-to-be-lovely uni again, I will also remember DG's performance for the ages last year in The Game.
Also, this notion crossed my mind while I was trying not to cringe too much or giggle uncontrollably while watching that display of total incompetence by both teams, both coaching staffs, and (ofc) the refs:
Perhaps we could do a variation of how Ohio dealt with Fickell's incompetence as HC - hire a proven winner as HC (come on down, J. Harbaugh!!) & retain Hoke as co-DC and d-line coach?
November 9th, 2014 at 2:18 AM ^
There is a difference. Fickell was an interim coach and clearly not intended to be a permanent HC, while Hoke has been a HC since 2003. It's far less likely in his case.
November 9th, 2014 at 1:24 AM ^
The goal is to win and we did that.
#GOBLUE
November 9th, 2014 at 1:55 AM ^
Both these teams looked awful. Michigan defense played well but still could not keep NU from coming back and almost winning the game. At times the OL seem to dominate the LOS but the backs seem to run opposite of the holes opened for them. Overall, you could see the poor coaching! I hope they beat Maryland at home but they will never beat OSU on the road.
November 9th, 2014 at 2:30 AM ^
When Hoke was hired by Dave Brandon to be his ghost-coach, his record was something like 47-50. Now, after almost 4 full seasons at the winningist program in college football history, his record is 77-67. That is pathetic.
Bill Parcells had a point when he said "You are what your record says you are".
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