ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- What does a coach tell his team after it suffers an unfathomable defeat?
What do you say to your players after they never trail in the game until the final second expires?
That was the challenge for Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh after Saturday's (Oct. 17) 27-23 loss to Michigan State that came in 10 seconds that -- if written into the script of a football movie -- would've been rejected because it was too far-fetched to believe.
Wolverine punter Blake O'Neill fielded a slightly low snap around his knees and fumbled it after attempting to run and still get the kick off. Jalen Watts-Jackson picked it up and avoided getting shoved out of bounds inside the 10-yard line by Wayne Lyons to score on a 38-yard run that ended the game in shocking fashion.
Harbaugh was asked what he told his team.
"They played their guts out," said Harbaugh. "They played winning football and love the game so much. They played good enough to win. I was proud of how our team played. We have to have resolve, steel in our spine and move forward."
What Harbaugh, whose team was ranked No. 12 coming into the game, was telling his players was that it was time to show backbone, stand tall and summon resolve with five games remaining and the record at 5-2.
And he connected with them.
"We can't kill ourselves over one loss," said defensive end Willie Henry. "It hurts, and it hurts everybody that we lost a game like this. It's so close, and then to lose in the final seconds. You don't want everybody to stay down because we still have a whole season ahead of us."
Fullback Sione Houma said, "We've got to be accountable for one another. We can't let each other hang our heads and have to keep our heads high. It's like he said, we've got to have 'steel in our spine' and move on."
Placekicker Kenny Allen added, "Obviously, guys are upset. But we've got to take this with a grain of salt and bounce back, and that's what we're going to do."
Henry had two sacks and broke up a pass in a relentless performance, while Houma scored two touchdowns and busted free for 27 yards on his other carry. Allen made all three field goal attempts, including a 38-yarder with 9:25 remaining that gave the Wolverines a 23-14 lead that forced MSU to score twice to win.
They could've been talking so much more about their heroics had the last 10 seconds gone differently.
The finish had Michigan fans flashing back to Sept. 24, 1994, in the Big House, when Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart completed a game-winning, 64-yard pass to Michael Westbrook on the final play for a 27-26 win.
In both of these stunners, the winning visitors scored 27 points and were ranked No. 7. Go figure.
But as hard as it was for Michigan fans to once again cope with a stunning loss like this, the players are the ones with the greatest task ahead.
"That was heartbreaking at the end," said Allen.
MSU rushed 11 players on the game's final play with the ball on its own 47-yard line. Nobody was left back to field the punt, and the Spartans put all their marbles on blocking the kick. Michigan would have 10 players blocking for O'Neill, meaning that someone was going to get a chance to be a hero for the Spartans.
However, no hero was required where the block was concerned. And making the play stranger still, the hero who emerged for MSU, Watts-Jackson, suffered an injured hip during the end-zone celebration.
O'Neill, who had been brilliant all game long with an 80-yard punt and three that were downed inside MSU's 10-yard line, simply lost the ball.
He was an Australian rules football player and gets a running start before kicking. So, he had a better chance than most of getting off that kick. But he couldn't get it over the oncoming rushers to kill the final seconds and preserve victory.
"The snap was low -- just below the knees," said Harbaugh. "He didn't field it cleanly, kind of bobbled it again and kicked it. He was trying to kick in traffic, and you saw what happened. It was very unfortunate."
Harbaugh said he ran through the scenario of possibly going for it on fourth-and-two, knowing MSU would get a shot at one "Hail Mary" pass had Michigan failed to pick up the first down. Punting made the most sense to him, though, especially with how reliable O'Neill had been.
"I talked to him," said Harbaugh, "and he said that after he bobbled it, he still thought he could kick it. It was a mistake. Mistakes were made. After he bobbled it a few times, he should've just fell on it."
O'Neill is the holder on Allen's placement kicks, and they become fast friends after O'Neill came here this year as a graduate transfer from Weber State.
"I told him that we're behind him," said Allen. "We're going to support Blake through everything. That's the kind of team we're going to be."
Henry said, "We all told him to keep his head up. I left plays out there myself that I could've done better."
I walked back from Michigan Stadium toward my car after the postgame press conference and happened upon Wolverines special teams coach John Baxter at the railroad tracks. He was headed back to Schembechler Hall and said that he'd spoken with O'Neill, as you'd expect.
"He's a tough kid," said Baxter, "a tough kid."
We spoke of the lessons sports are supposed to teach student-athletes, and Baxter stressed that the Wolverines will learn about perseverance from this one and move on. He had the same look of conviction as Harbaugh.
And as unthinkable as the defeat was, as hard as it was to swallow, it can help mold this team into something special if they indeed take Harbaugh's words to heart. If you think being one game down in the standings with five games to go is an impossible task, well, you must not have watched the end of Saturday's game.
"It's about that resolve -- steel in our spine," Harbaugh said once again. "We move forward. There's a lot of fight in our guys, and so I'm proud of that."
What do you say to your players after they never trail in the game until the final second expires?
That was the challenge for Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh after Saturday's (Oct. 17) 27-23 loss to Michigan State that came in 10 seconds that -- if written into the script of a football movie -- would've been rejected because it was too far-fetched to believe.
Wolverine punter Blake O'Neill fielded a slightly low snap around his knees and fumbled it after attempting to run and still get the kick off. Jalen Watts-Jackson picked it up and avoided getting shoved out of bounds inside the 10-yard line by Wayne Lyons to score on a 38-yard run that ended the game in shocking fashion.
Harbaugh was asked what he told his team.
"They played their guts out," said Harbaugh. "They played winning football and love the game so much. They played good enough to win. I was proud of how our team played. We have to have resolve, steel in our spine and move forward."
What Harbaugh, whose team was ranked No. 12 coming into the game, was telling his players was that it was time to show backbone, stand tall and summon resolve with five games remaining and the record at 5-2.
And he connected with them.
"We can't kill ourselves over one loss," said defensive end Willie Henry. "It hurts, and it hurts everybody that we lost a game like this. It's so close, and then to lose in the final seconds. You don't want everybody to stay down because we still have a whole season ahead of us."
Fullback Sione Houma said, "We've got to be accountable for one another. We can't let each other hang our heads and have to keep our heads high. It's like he said, we've got to have 'steel in our spine' and move on."
Placekicker Kenny Allen added, "Obviously, guys are upset. But we've got to take this with a grain of salt and bounce back, and that's what we're going to do."
Henry had two sacks and broke up a pass in a relentless performance, while Houma scored two touchdowns and busted free for 27 yards on his other carry. Allen made all three field goal attempts, including a 38-yarder with 9:25 remaining that gave the Wolverines a 23-14 lead that forced MSU to score twice to win.
They could've been talking so much more about their heroics had the last 10 seconds gone differently.
The finish had Michigan fans flashing back to Sept. 24, 1994, in the Big House, when Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart completed a game-winning, 64-yard pass to Michael Westbrook on the final play for a 27-26 win.
In both of these stunners, the winning visitors scored 27 points and were ranked No. 7. Go figure.
But as hard as it was for Michigan fans to once again cope with a stunning loss like this, the players are the ones with the greatest task ahead.
"That was heartbreaking at the end," said Allen.
MSU rushed 11 players on the game's final play with the ball on its own 47-yard line. Nobody was left back to field the punt, and the Spartans put all their marbles on blocking the kick. Michigan would have 10 players blocking for O'Neill, meaning that someone was going to get a chance to be a hero for the Spartans.
However, no hero was required where the block was concerned. And making the play stranger still, the hero who emerged for MSU, Watts-Jackson, suffered an injured hip during the end-zone celebration.
O'Neill, who had been brilliant all game long with an 80-yard punt and three that were downed inside MSU's 10-yard line, simply lost the ball.
He was an Australian rules football player and gets a running start before kicking. So, he had a better chance than most of getting off that kick. But he couldn't get it over the oncoming rushers to kill the final seconds and preserve victory.
"The snap was low -- just below the knees," said Harbaugh. "He didn't field it cleanly, kind of bobbled it again and kicked it. He was trying to kick in traffic, and you saw what happened. It was very unfortunate."
Harbaugh said he ran through the scenario of possibly going for it on fourth-and-two, knowing MSU would get a shot at one "Hail Mary" pass had Michigan failed to pick up the first down. Punting made the most sense to him, though, especially with how reliable O'Neill had been.
"I talked to him," said Harbaugh, "and he said that after he bobbled it, he still thought he could kick it. It was a mistake. Mistakes were made. After he bobbled it a few times, he should've just fell on it."
O'Neill is the holder on Allen's placement kicks, and they become fast friends after O'Neill came here this year as a graduate transfer from Weber State.
"I told him that we're behind him," said Allen. "We're going to support Blake through everything. That's the kind of team we're going to be."
Henry said, "We all told him to keep his head up. I left plays out there myself that I could've done better."
I walked back from Michigan Stadium toward my car after the postgame press conference and happened upon Wolverines special teams coach John Baxter at the railroad tracks. He was headed back to Schembechler Hall and said that he'd spoken with O'Neill, as you'd expect.
"He's a tough kid," said Baxter, "a tough kid."
We spoke of the lessons sports are supposed to teach student-athletes, and Baxter stressed that the Wolverines will learn about perseverance from this one and move on. He had the same look of conviction as Harbaugh.
And as unthinkable as the defeat was, as hard as it was to swallow, it can help mold this team into something special if they indeed take Harbaugh's words to heart. If you think being one game down in the standings with five games to go is an impossible task, well, you must not have watched the end of Saturday's game.
"It's about that resolve -- steel in our spine," Harbaugh said once again. "We move forward. There's a lot of fight in our guys, and so I'm proud of that."
