BSportsMonday

OPENING NIGHT

n After a slow start, the Wolverines 
rolled over Northern Michigan to 
begin their regular season. Page 3B

NIAGARA FALLS

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | November 16, 2015

n The Michigan hockey team used a 
big first period to cruise past Niagara on 
Friday at Yost Ice Arena. Page 3B

‘M’ saves season 

on last play

BLOOMINGTON — The 

Michigan football team’s season 
vanished tonight, only to reappear, 
disappear and reappear again. 
Hundreds of 
thousands of 
fans around the 
country lived 
and died and 
lived again as a 
four-hour game 
wound toward 
a close.

Indiana 

tugged every 
string, took 
every gamble 
and, oh God, the Hoosiers were 
going to pull it off.

The inner monologue of a 

Michigan fan had to be verging on 
insanity as Jordan Howard scored 
a go-ahead touchdown with 2:52 
remaining, then Jake Rudock led 
a touchdown drive to tie it, then 
overtime, another overtime and 
one last goal-line stand.

Hold them! Let them score! 

Hurry up! Slow down! Why are 
they running?! Touchdown! 
Overtime! Another play? Overtime! 
Not again. More of this! Yes! Oh, 
please n-YES!

In the end, the ball was in 

Mitchell Paige’s hands. It was 
fourth down, in double overtime, 
on the goal line. If Paige could just 
come down with Nate Sudfeld’s 
pass, the Wolverines and Hoosiers 
were likely headed for triple 
overtime. But Delano Hill stuck 
his hand in and ripped the ball out. 
Game over.

Hill didn’t steal victory from the 

hands of defeat, but he stole it from 
the hands of chaos — more chaos 
— on a night that had nothing if 

not that.

Michigan 48, Indiana 41, and a 

season still alive.

All week, the talk was of the 

Wolverines’ renewed hope for 
a Big Ten Championship berth 
thanks to Nebraska’s wild upset of 
Michigan State. Win the next two, 
and Michigan could be playing 
for the Big Ten East title the last 
weekend of November.

That meant beating Indiana 

first, something the Wolverines 
have had little trouble doing since, 
well, ever. Since 1968, the Hoosiers 
have beaten Michigan only once. 
But nothing went according to 
plan on Saturday.

Indiana nearly ran Michigan 

off with its tempo, wearing out a 
defense that earlier this season 
rang up three straight shutouts. 
Riding the legs of Jordan Howard, 
the Hoosiers bludgeoned a 
seemingly un-bludgeonable 
defensive line. Howard ran for 238 
yards alone — nearly four times as 
many as Michigan State ran for as 
a team when it beat the Wolverines 
one month ago.

When Howard got in the 

end zone with fewer than three 
minutes to play, it looked bleak for 
Michigan — not just for Saturday, 
but for the season.

If Indiana hung on, Michigan 

would be all but eliminated from 
division contention. The goal-line 
stand at Minnesota two weeks 
ago? Moot. The game against Ohio 
State in two weeks? The stakes 
would be considerably lower.

Michigan pulled a miraculous 

drive out, though, bringing the ball 
within a sniff of the goal line. With 
six seconds left, when fifth-year 

MAX
BULTMAN

EIGHT AND PHEW

Michigan 48, Indiana 41 (2OT)
JAMES COLLER/Daily

GRANT HARDY/Daily

JAMES COLLER/Daily
JAMES COLLER/Daily

See BULTMAN, Page 4B

