Wolverines' Triumph Over Spartans Led to a Special Locker Room Scene

By Steve Kornacki

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan defense supplied an even more chilling effect than the cold rain and hail that came down most of the third quarter at Spartan Stadium. It rained down on the Spartans with sacks, pass breakups and punishing tackles, holding Michigan State to 94 yards total offense and zero conversions on 12 third-down attempts.

It was domination, pure and simple.

The only points Michigan allowed in Saturday afternoon's (Oct. 20) win came when a lost fumble put MSU seven yards from the end zone.

The defense saw to it that the offense had the ball for 41:03, and the Wolverines got great blocking, a powerful 144 yards rushing from Karan Higdon (U-M is 10-0 when he reaches 100 yards) and spirited play from quarterback Shea Patterson, who picked up 79 of his 212 yards passing on a beautiful deep-ball touchdown to Donovan Peoples-Jones.

And so, when the game ended, the scoreboard read: Michigan 21, Michigan State 7.

Defensive end Chase Winovich and free safety Tyree Kinnel picked up the Paul Bunyan Trophy on the sideline, and ran it over to the band and fans in one corner of the field before taking it to midfield. Somebody placed a winged helmet atop Paul's head along the way, and the celebration had only begun.

What happened in the locker room was equal parts triumph, joy and love.

"Fellas! Fellas!" Harbaugh shouted over the joyous voices of his players. "Man, I mean that might be the biggest win ever. Never had a bigger win than that (at Michigan). Just on a personal note, I can't tell you how many guys came up to me and said, 'Coach, we've got your back.'"

Then Harbaugh was overcome with emotion, and his players roared for him. The Paul Bunyan Trophy was hoisted near Harbaugh and the players began bouncing up and down in pure joy: "HEY! HEY! HEY!"

Then they chanted: "It's GREAT to be A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE!" Over and over.

Harbaugh led them in the "The Victors," and they sang so loud that some of them probably went hoarse.

When it was over, Harbaugh shouted: "THAT'S GOING TO BE ONE HAPPY BUS RIDE HOME!"

He then concluded by asking, "WHO has it better than US?"

"NOOO-BODY!" responded his players in unison.

The Wolverines then dispersed toward their lockers, stopping to hug and shake hands, slap fives and smile. The smiles never stopped, and why should they have?

Viper Khaleke Hudson worked his way to his locker in the far corner and was asked what allowing zero first downs on a dozen third-down plays said about him and his teammates.

"It says how dominating our defense is," said Hudson. "We're all playing together, we know what each other has to do and nobody in the country can get past us.

"It was the pressure we sent on third down. The D-linemen, they're just special, man. They are great pass-rushers and great run-stoppers. And, man, they just gave us all the confidence in the world that on third down we were going to get off the field. That's how we played."

Winovich had three quarterback hurries, and Lewerke appeared to get trigger-happy because of him, often firing too early and usually well off target.

Defensive front tormentor Josh Uche had two sacks, and set the tone on the first drive, dropping Lewerke on 3rd-and-6 after going by the left tackle as if he were standing still. Uche leads the team with five sacks.

Middle linebacker Devin Bush and defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour both had sacks on the final Spartan drive. Dwumfour is one of the big reasons for Saturday's third-down success, becoming a handful coming up the middle in passing situations.

When informed of the third-down dominance, Kinnel said, "That's amazing. I feel very accomplished with that stat as well my teammates do. That's very big. You're going to win a lot of big games doing that. When we're playing great defense, especially on third downs, we can beat anybody."

Bush said, "It speaks for itself. We went out there and executed our scheme as planned, and fought hard all four quarters. We knew coming into this game that it was one of those games you've got to finish in the first and second halves. We finished strong. They came out and went 0-for-12 with 90(-some) yards total offense.

"It sends a message to other teams that we come to play, and we come to handle business."

The Spartans averaged 34:27 in time of possession, but had the ball for only 18:57 in this one. The Wolverine offense kept getting the ball back, and scored on two 84-yard drives in addition to the Peoples-Jones TD.

"It starts with keeping the ball for 41 minutes," said Harbaugh. "That's quite an accomplishment, and that's an offensive accomplishment and a defensive accomplishment. Our defense was lights-out today, holding an opponent to (94) yards total offense, and they were 0-for-12 on third-down conversions. I mean, that's the kind of statistics you dream. That's a dream game.

"And offensively, against a highly-ranked running defense (62.3 yards allowed per game to lead the Big Ten), our guys didn't back down. They just kept battling, and got the job done."

The Wolverines ran for 183 yards and amassed 395 yards total offense.

Patterson said, "The defense put us in good situations, and they were playing lights-out. So, that gave us confidence to stay within ourselves."

Harbaugh's emotional words and time with his team after the game touched the players.

"That was everything, man," said Hudson. "He's a big inspiration for us, and we work each and every day for him. And that was our biggest motivation. We had a big game in front of us and we wanted to get it for him."

Higdon added on seeing Harbaugh's reaction: "That meant a lot, man. We love to make our coach happy, and he was just grinning and doing what he does and was so proud of us.

"And this is just the beginning. We want to keep winning out, and do what we've got to do to make it to that last game."

The No. 6 Wolverines (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) now have a bye week before hosting Penn State on Nov. 3. They are loose, confident and ready for the stretch drive.

When asked to describe the mood in his locker room after the game, Harbaugh said, "It was a great win, a fabulous mood in the locker room. The team feels good about itself, and it should."

Michigan entered the game leading the nation in pass defense, and allowed Lewerke to complete only 5-of-25 passes for 66 yards. Backup Rocky Lombardi completed of 1-of-2 throws for 9 yards.

The Spartans went virtually nowhere on the ground with 23 carries for 15 yards.

Whenever one Wolverine made a big play, the others fed off it.

"We were playing Michigan State and just wanted to get out there all game," said Hudson. "We kept making plays, getting to the quarterback, getting the ball-handler down. It was a big Big Ten game."

Chalk it up in the win column.

"We're going to be taking Paul home," said Bush, "and we want everybody to know that."