Michigan-Notre Dame: Most Memorable Wins - No. 1
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 6, 2014
By Steve Kornacki
Each day leading up to Saturday's (Sept. 6) Michigan-Notre Dame showdown in South Bend, Ind., MGoBlue.com will count down U-M's most memorable wins in the historic rivalry. The 2011 game, featuring last-minute heroics from quarterback Denard Robinson and wide receiver Roy Roundtree in the first night game at Michigan Stadium, comes in at No. 1 in the countdown.
Date: Sept. 10, 2011
Score: Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31
Calculate the odds on this: Three successful two-minute drills in the fourth quarter of the same game.
Go ahead, get your calculator or use the app on your phone to try figuring out just how nearly impossible that is. Was it one in a thousand? How about one in a million? Your guess is as good as mine because there's no real way to calculate what happened on Sept. 10, 2011.
Magic can't be calculated, and that was what occurred in the first night game ever played at storied Michigan Stadium. There were three touchdown passes in 74 seconds -- each one an apparent game-winner. But in perhaps the wildest college football ending ever seen in Ann Arbor, only the third and final scoring pass in the final two minutes was indeed the clincher.
Denard "Shoelace" Robinson's 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with eight seconds left finally proved to be enough, making the Wolverines 35-31 winners in what has been the most memorable Michigan triumph in a very special series between two Goliaths.
And the rivalry will end for now on Saturday night (Sept. 6) in South Bend because the Fighting Irish no longer wish to schedule the school that leads all college football teams with 911 victories.
That absence will likely heighten the heroics of Desmond Howard, Remy Hamilton, Mario Manningham, Rick Leach and other Wolverines in a series that began in 1887 and has seen Michigan lead it with a 24-16-1 mark.
Robinson entered the lore of the rivalry with a finish that will be remembered forever, but it began with Robinson throwing an interception in the Irish end zone that could have sealed Michigan's losing fate with only 4:32 remaining to play. However, freshman Jake Ryan dropped Notre Dame's Cierre Wood for a two-yard loss on a third-and-one play to force a punt and one more chance with 3:14 left on the clock.
There was hope.
Robinson culminated the ensuing drive by hitting tailback Vincent Smith on a first-down screen pass, and Smith used some good blocks and then his quick feet to score a 21-yard touchdown with 1:22 remaining for a 28-24 lead.
Cause for celebration? For sure, but it was not enough for a victory celebration. Not yet.
Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees also proved to be good under the ultimate challenge of having to reach the end zone with time ticking away.
Rees, on a critical third-and-five play, hit Theo Reddick for 29-yard touchdown pass with a scant 36 seconds remaining. Irish eyes were definitely smiling, but not for long. Their 31-28 lead wasn't going to be enough.
But how could that be? How could Michigan possibly cover 80 yards with so little time left?
Robinson overthrew Jeremy Gallon on first down, but then the play so desperately needed got pulled out of the hat. Robinson spotted Gallon wide open down field and hit him with a pass just beyond the 50-yard line. Gallon couldn't believe the wide-open spaces in front of him and scampered for about 30 additional yards on a miraculous, 64-yard play.
Eight seconds were left and 16 yards remained on the journey. Michigan coach Brady Hoke wasn't going to play it safe with a game-tying field goal attempt just yet, and Roy Roundtree looked Robinson in the eye in the huddle with a message.
No. 2: The Catch, 1991
No. 3: Michigan Stuns No. 2 Irish, 2006
No. 4: Remy's Kick Wins It, 1994
No. 5: Leach Bests Montana, 1978
Robinson said, "He told me in the huddle, 'Denard, I got to get it. I got to get it.' "
Roundtree ran a fade route to the right corner of the end zone against Notre Dame cornerback Gary Gray.
"I threw it up," said Robinson, "and I knew he was going to get it."
Roundtree came back to the ball, opening up his back shoulder to be in perfect position to grab the ball away from Gray.
"Denard put the ball up high so I could adjust to it," said Roundtree, who at 6-foot-1 had two inches on Gray. "Once I came back toward (the ball), he was still up on me. So, I just jumped up in the air and focused on it. And when I came down, I made sure my one foot was in."
Roundtree came down with both feet in bounds and Gray was flagged for interference, which was declined. A video review confirmed the touchdown, and Michigan could celebrate with two seconds left.
Or could they? As crazy as the final two minutes had been, how could something zany happening on the ensuing kickoff be ruled out?
But Terrence Robinson recovered Austin Collinsworth's fumble on the kickoff, and time ran out. Michigan had a win to cherish -- a win that left players and fans alike exhausted.
Michigan, down by 17 points after the third quarter, was up by four when all was said and done.
"It's never over until you see zeroes on the clock," said Robinson, who accounted for 446 yards total offense and all five touchdowns in the game.
Robinson was nicknamed "Shoelace" because he leaves the laces of his shoes untied, but he sure could tie a defense into knots.
Said Hoke, "No. 16's ability to elude and evade and step up and throw the ball -- that's something that we always have going for us.
"We've done two-minute drills with different scenarios, different timeouts, different one-on-ones, two-on-twos because those are the high pressure -- most pressure -- situations that you have in a football game. So, I was confident that we knew how to handle that."
They were two-minute drills for the ages -- one for Notre Dame and two for Michigan. And that was the difference in a game that has been the Wolverines' most memorable ever against the Fighting Irish.
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No. 1 Most Memorable Notre Dame Win, 1943: The No. 1 Irish, coached by Frank Leahy and led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Angelo Bertelli, put a 35-12 pounding on No. 2 Michigan, coached by Fritz Crisler, and go onto win the national championship.
