FootballSaturday, September 17, 2016
4
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Michigan Stadium is usually silent.
It is silent through the offseason.
It is silent at night. It is silent today.
And then there are the rare
moments of silence when the largest
building in football is packed with a
crowd of 100,000-plus people who
don’t make a sound. For some, that
silence can drown out any of the
roars from past memories — John
Wangler to Anthony Carter in 1979,
Desmond Howard’s Heisman pose
in 1991, the first night game against
Notre Dame in 2011.
That
hush
descended
upon
Michigan Stadium on Sept. 24, 1994,
when Colorado quarterback Kordell
Stewart launched a 64-yard Hail
Mary to Michael Westbrook, who
jumped and caught it in the end
zone to cap a remarkable comeback
and stun the Wolverines. The play
became known as the “Miracle at
Michigan,” etched in the minds of
both fan bases forever.
Colorado returns to Michigan
Stadium this weekend for just the
second time since that game and the
first time since 1997. To some, the
Buffaloes’ first trip is but a memory.
To others, it’s not even that.
Just 23 players on Michigan’s
current roster were born before the
“Miracle at Michigan” in 1994. But
the former players, coaches, staff and
reporters in attendance will never
forget it.
***
‘The world changed’
The battle between No. 4 Michigan
and No. 7 Colorado was one of the
biggest matchups in the country that
week. The Wolverines were coming
off a 26-24 victory at Notre Dame
two weeks earlier, in which Remy
Hamilton kicked a game-winning field
goal to improve Michigan to 2-0. The
Buffaloes, meanwhile, had trounced
then-No. 10 Wisconsin, 55-17, the
previous Saturday.
Both rosters featured loads of
future NFL talent. Todd Collins
quarterbacked the Wolverines, who
also boasted a defense led by Steve
Morrison, Ty Law, Jarrett Irons and
Chuck Winters. Running backs Tyrone
Wheatley and Tshimanga Biakabutuka
and wide receiver Amani Toomer went
on to have long pro careers. Colorado
may have had even more offensive
firepower, with Kordell Stewart under
center, Michael Westbrook and Rae
Carruth at wide receiver and Heisman
Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam at
running back.
Jon Falk, equipment manager,
1974-2013: “Everybody knew that
it was going to be a tough game. We
practiced hard. The focus was really
good for the whole week. All the
players were psyched, and we went
out there. And it was a tough week
of practice, and it really was geared
to win that daggone game. And to
be honest with you, they had some
better players than we did. They
were pretty daggone good that year.”
The Buffaloes struck first, driving 63
yards in 11 plays for a Salaam touchdown
in the opening quarter. After a Michigan
field goal, they scored again in the
second on a 27-yard pass from Stewart
to
Westbrook
before
Biakabutuka
answered with a four-yard run that
trimmed the deficit to 14-9. Just before
halftime, Colorado lined up for its first of
two Hail Mary tries.
Chuck Winters, free safety,
1992-1996: “The same exact play
that happened at the end of the
game, but the difference was that we
weren’t on the field right before —
like a two-minute drill — so we were
fresh. … All the receivers never made
it down the field, and I ended up
getting the interception going into
halftime. We walked into halftime
feeling good.”
Michigan came out with new intensity
in the second half, running its streak
of unanswered points to 23 in the third
quarter. Wheatley gave the Wolverines
the lead, and Hamilton added to it
with another field goal. Collins threw
a 65-yard bomb to Amani Toomer to
make it 26-14 — though, importantly,
Michigan missed its second two-point
conversion of the game.
Still, that lead stood with three
minutes to go in the game. Colorado
drew within 26-21 on a one-yard run
by Salaam with 2:16 left, and the
Wolverines couldn’t run out the clock
on the ensuing possession. Colorado
took over on its own 15-yard line with
15 seconds to go, and a 21-yard pass
from Stewart to Westbrook put the
Buffaloes in position for the Hail Mary
try with six ticks left.
Steve
Morrison,
linebacker,
1990-1994: “The thing I remember
is just the seconds weren’t flying off
the clock. They got more plays than
we thought you’d normally get. … It
wasn’t like anybody was celebrating
early. But we were certainly focused,
and we went back on the field and the
world changed.”
The two teams called their final
plays of the game: “Rocket” for
Colorado, “30 Victory” for Michigan,
the “30” signifying a three-man
front with two defensive ends and
one tackle. With just six seconds left,
many fans had left the stadium, and on
the field, the Wolverines knew a huge
victory was within their grasp.
Morrison: “We certainly weren’t
thinking we were going to give up
a whatever-yard touchdown pass
there. I think we were just concerned
about finishing the game and doing it
the right way. There wasn’t anything
in retrospect, looking back, that I
saw, you know, ‘That’s a problem’ or
‘We got cocky’ or anything.”
Thomas
Guynes,
offensive
lineman, 1992-1996: “It’s a little bit
easier for me to expect the worst,
but you’re hoping for the best.
That’s where my head was at — not
so much that my guys couldn’t do
it or anything like that, or there
was any doubt. But just the way the
momentum shifts were going back
and forth, I don’t know, it was weird.
It just kind of felt like there might be
some shenanigans in the works.”
***
The miracle
Colorado lined up with Westbrook,
Anderson and Carruth all split wide
to the left of Stewart, who was under
center. Salaam was in the backfield,
with a fourth wideout to the right.
Keith
Jackson,
play-by-play
commentator, on the broadcast:
“One more, with six seconds.”
Bob Griese, color commentator,
on the broadcast: “I think he just
went over and said, ‘Just throw it up.’ ”
Just Michigan’s three linemen were
even visible in the TV shot, the rest of
the defenders back deep to guard the
pass.
Stewart
took
the
snap,
and
immediately Colorado double-teamed
each of Michigan’s defensive linemen:
right tackle and guard against left end,
center and left guard against defensive
tackle, left tackle and running back
against right end. The pocket formed
around Stewart as all four receivers
sprinted toward the end zone.
Jarrett
Irons,
linebacker,
1992-1996: “My job was to jam the
inside receiver and then kind of just
fall back in case someone catches
something underneath. So I jam my
guy and obviously get him out of his
route, and I was kind of falling back.”
Winters: “We only rushed three,
but we felt like if we rushed three, we
would have more guys in coverage,
which would allow us to get more
jams. Now a different philosophy is,
you can rush four and then put more
pressure on the quarterback and
don’t allow him time.”
Stewart dropped back as far as his
own 26. He moved
forward,
then
backward to elude
the right end, then
forward again to
gather momentum.
An
instant
after
the last second ran
off the clock, he let
the ball go with his
front foot at the
27-yard line.
Falk: “We were
within his grasp two or three times,
and then all of a sudden, he had
enough room to launch it like a shot.
The ball was up in the air, and we’re
all standing there, looking at the
ball.”
Guynes: “The offensive line, we
were on the south side of the sideline.
So our bench, before you got to the
cutoff on the sideline, was right there,
and that pass was thrown into the
south end zone. So I was pretty much
right there. I just don’t recall seeing it
live. I feel like I was sitting on the bench
and just waiting to hear, ‘Interception,
ball batted down, incomplete pass,’
whatever. I’ll just go grab my helmet
and let’s get out of here.”
Morrison: “I was kind of hovering
there, and the rocket ball went up in
the air. I remember glancing over my
shoulder and tracking the ball with
my eyes and at the same time trying
to run towards it. When I got there
(Westbrook) was probably one or two
or three yards deep in the end zone.
I don’t remember, but I was probably
around the 10-yard line, five-yard
line. I wasn’t that far. I saw it go in
his hands. I had a really good view of
it, actually.”
As the ball started to fall, Westbrook,
Robinson and Carruth had all gathered
around the five-yard
line just outside the
left
hash
mark.
Michigan had five
players in coverage
— Winters and Law
among them — with
Morrison
among
three
stragglers
behind them.
Falk:
“To
be
honest with you,
I thought it was
going to fall at the 15- or 20-yard line.
I looked up and I said, ‘There’s no way
it’s gonna make it into the end zone.’
But all of a sudden, it was just like the
wind (lifted) the ball up, and that ball
was headed down, and all of a sudden
it just lofted back up in the air.”
With Colorado’s three receivers in
position, Robinson, Carruth, Law and
Winters all jumped for the ball at the
same time around the two-yard line.
The ball bounced off their bodies and
Miracle at Michigan, 22 years later
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Colorado wide receiver Michael Westbrook caught the game-winning Hail Mary pass that stunned Michigan on Sept. 24, 1994.
“It felt like there
might be some
shenanigans in
the works.”