When Gardner was down; Gardner and Gallon
10 hands raised him up
electrify record crowd
evin Gardnerwas on
his back in his own end
zone, looking up at the
lights and a sea 'f maize. It was
the fourth quarter of Michigan
vs. Notre
Dame, and
Gardner
had made
the worst
mistake of
his football
life. Could
his legacy
be tainted ZACH
before it HELFAND
even really
began? The
whole world was here it seemed,
and now they were all looking at
him on his back in the end zone
and he was alone, all alone.
What was he thinking as he
lay there, arms sprawled out-
ward, looking up at the sky, at
the lights? He stared at Stephon
Tuitt, who cradled the football
in his arms in Michigan's end
zone. What was he thinking?
Gardner must have known
that in the fourth quarter, he
had given the Irish the biggest
break of the game. The whole
night had gone as planned until
then, when 12:14 remained in
the game. Michigan led 34-20.
But then Gardner tried too hard
to elude his rushers, and sud-
denly he was in the end zone
and running out of space and
options. Austin Collinsworth hit
him first. Then Prince Shembo.
Gardner got his arm free and
heaved the ball. Tuitt was there
to catch it.
Gardner stayed on his back
and behind him, the Notre
Dame cheerleaders went wild.
He saw the band lose their
mind. He watched Notre Dame
players jump over each other. A
foot beyond Gardner's head, the
Notre Dame leprechaun jumped
up and down, signaling a touch-
down.
The lights were on and the
night had been flawless, but now
the record-setting crowd went
silent. It was falling apart, and
fast. This was Gardner's night-
mare.
Gardner sat up and stayed
See TEN HANDS, Page 3B
Michigan wins last
scheduled home
game of rivalry
By MATT SLOVIN
ManagingEditor
The airshow began about a
half hour before kickoff and last-
ed well into Michigan and Notre
Dame's last scheduled meeting
at Michigan Stadium.
It didn't take long for the
high-flying, Devin Gardner-led
Wolverine offense to reclaim the
Ann Arbor air space from the
jets that circled the Big House
during a lengthy pregame fly-
over. Wearing the No. 98 jersey
of Michigan legend Tom Har-
mon, Gardner looked like a leg-
end himself for the majority of
the Wolverines' 41-30 win - as
did his favorite target, fifth-year
senior Jeremy Gallon.
Gallon continued his emer-
gence as the leader of a wide-
receiving corps that had been
one of Michigan's biggest ques-
tion marks entering the season.
He posted career highs of 184,
receiving yards and three touch-
downs.
"He's like a little bulldog,
man," Gardner said of his 5-foot-
8 receiver who plays far beyond
that height. "Behind the doors,
we work so hard. Now we finally
got an opportunity to display it
in front of the biggest crowd in
college football."
That crowd of 115,109 set a.
new NCAA attendance record at
the second night game in Michi-
gan Stadium history.
One year after then-Michigan
quarterback Denard Robin-
son's five-turnover performance
against the Fighting Irish, it
looked as if Gardner might avoid
making any errors. And it wasn't
until the fourth quarter, with
the Wolverines already lead-
ing by two touchdowns, that a
mistake, like the pair of inter-
ceptions Gardner threw in the
opener against Central Michi-
gan, popped up.
Gardner scrambled into his
See MICHIGAN, Page 3B
. 5 THINGS WE LEARNED
The offense is more dynamic than ever.
Jeremy Gallon is more explosive than
anyone realized, and other observations.
Page 2B
NEW RECORD
Michigan re-broke its attendance
record with 115,109 fans in attendance.
That and more in this week's notebook.
Page 3B