Lightning Strikes: Michigan 21, MSU 7

The single moment that defined Bo Schembechler's impact on the Michigan Wolverines football program occurred in his first year as coach, when he led his 7-2 Wolverines to the Upset of the Century over everybody's #1, Ohio State. That's the moment everybody knows. What nobody knew that day, and what few even know today, was the moment an hour or so before kickoff that set the tone for the afternoon.

Legendary coach Woody Hayes and his Buckeyes took over Michigan's side of the field for his team's pregame warmups. The Wolverine players knew what was happening as they emerged from the tunnel, and they awaited their coach's orders. Schembechler, plenty pissed off at the time, marched to midfield to confront his friend and mentor. In an all-too-courteous tone as he later admitted, Bo informed Woody that he was on the wrong side of the field and ordered him to move his squad back across midfield.

Bo's players saw their coach stand up to the bully and it inspired them. They went into the locker room for one of the most motivational speeches they'd ever heard before exploding through the tunnel to the thunderous cheers of over 100,000 fans. The rest, like I said, you know. The monumental upset led the rebirth of Michigan football, as the school won 11 conference championships in the next two decades. Bo ended up with a winning record against Woody, putting a close to the old man's career with three straight wins from 1976-78, 180 minutes of maize and blue heaven where the Buckeyes didn't so much as score a touchdown.

This past Saturday, a similar pregame skirmish may have energized the Wolverines to an electrifying 21-7 win at Spartan Stadium, sparked by a 79-yard thunderbolt from Shea Patterson to Donovan Peoples-Jones (see my pic). And it may have created the lightning rod for a return to greatness in Ann Arbor.

Two hours prior to Saturday's kickoff against in-state rival Michigan State, in a traditional team march borrowed from the military strategies of ancient Sparta, the Michigan State players locked arms from sideline to sideline and strode from one end zone to the other. One long green caterpillar slowly drifting along the playing surface.

Only thing was, some of the Michigan players had taken the field early to warm up. After all, it was the Michigan State game. The Spartans covered every inch of the field like a search crew in a meadow looking for a missing person, passing over and through the few players in their way. Coach Mark Dantonio walked behind his army with a satisfying smirk across his face, neither shocked nor disapproving of his team's antics.

Harbaugh called it "bush league", and it was. Dantonio called Harbaugh's comments "B.S.", and they were. Spartan players admitted that they "may have taken the field a little bit late" for their weekly ritual. They also claimed that the reaction by Michigan's Bush (linebacker and team captain Devin, who tore up the Spartan logo at midfield with his cleats) was childish. Right on both counts. Were the Spartans intentionally late for their pregame battle march so they could encounter and intimidate the Wolverines as they entered the field? The Big Ten Conference thought so, as they fined MSU $10,000 for their unsportsmanlike behavior. Were the Wolverine players on the field early to intentionally force an encounter? Hard to say that wasn't unsportsmanlike either.

Yes to all of the above, most likely. Why? Because it's a rivalry. None of any of it matters unless you emerge victorious. In the case of last Saturday's renewal, saying Michigan emerged victorious is a vast understatement.

The maize and blue continued the dominating style that crushed the Wisconsin Badgers' will to live the previous weekend, stifling a reasonably productive MSU offense on a day that featured a two-hour weather delay--for lightning, of course--and ended with a welcome sheet of hail across Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans ended the long afternoon with a mere 94 yards of total offense. They entered Wolverine territory exactly three times, only once to their own credit. Their only points came as a direct result of a fumble by Chris Evans in a third-quarter downpour which gave MSU the ball on Michigan's 7-yard line. Their final desperate drive was aided by 44 yards in Wolverine penalties including two personal foul calls. Yet even with all the charity, the Spartans turned the ball over on downs at the Michigan 40 with a minute left.

Shea Patterson led the way, again not just by arm but by foot. On the play that blew the lid off the contest he stepped back and fired a missile 30 yards downfield, hitting DPJ perfectly in stride along the far right sideline. The fleet wideout danced through the outstretched arms of Spartan safety Tre Person and sprinted untouched the rest of the way, assuming Paul Bunyan's pose on the trophy that would soon come home with the Wolverines. On the key play of Michigan's 84-yard drive that finished off the day's scoring, Patterson brilliantly faked a handoff to tailback Karan Higdon on fourth and two at the Spartan 41 and scooted around left end untouched for an 11-yard gain.

Perhaps the best Wolverine possession of all didn't even result in points. With 9:19 left and the Spartans reaching for the momentum that carried them to a last-minute come-from-behind win over Penn State in Happy Valley the week before, Michigan ran nine straight running plays, swallowing over six and a half minutes and pushing the nation's #1 rushing defense helplessly backwards across their home field. Higdon, tailback-turned-warrior whose number was called for eight of those plays, ended the day with 144 yards on 33 carries that broke the spirit of the Spartan faithful like Mike Hart and Chris Perry had years before, back when victory in East Lansing was expected if not assumed.

It was the kind of drive Mark Dantonio would appreciate, you know, were it not for his seething hatred for all things Michigan.

As Patterson snapped the ball in victory formation and touched one last knee to the turf, players stormed the field headed for the MSU sideline. They snatched the Paul Bunyan Trophy from the Spartans and did a victory lap with their well-earned trophy in hand. Mr. Bunyan was quickly outfitted with a blue block "M" ball cap, which was soon replaced with a winged helmet. And head coach Jim Harbaugh, butt of college football jokes from sea to shining sea, relished his first road win against a ranked opponent. In a building where he's never seen defeat, not as player nor coach.

MSU has still beaten Michigan 8 of their last 12 meetings. Were it not for a last-second blocked punt returned for a touchdown with no time remaining, however (a play with a 0.002% probability of success), Michigan would be sitting today with 3 wins in its last 4 meetings against MSU. Correctamundo. Bragging points for both at the moment. But on a day delayed by lightning, the electrically charged events before and during this year's installment may have signaled another turn in the rivalry.

Stakes will be drilled into the turf. Flags will be planted at midfield. Michigan and MSU band members will continue to stand guard at the Diag and the Sparty statue on game week each year. I even heard that back in the 1960s, a group of students from the agricultural school snuck onto Spartan Stadium a week before their nationally televised game and spelled out "BEAT STATE" on the natural grass surface in fertilizer.

Congratulations, Mitten. After more than a half century of shenanigans, you have the competitive rivalry on the field that you've always wanted.