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November 14, 2016 - Image 10

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The Michigan Daily

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4B — November 14, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

FOOTBALL
‘We couldn’t believe it’: Iowa fans relish chaos of upset win

IOWA CITY — Inside the Iowa

student section, at the end of a
night both sides will remember
for a long time, Liam Crawford
had one thought. And of course
everyone else had the same one.

At 5-4, the Hawkeyes had

trudged through a forgettable
season. They lost to North Dakota
State and Northwestern earlier
this season, and few gave them
much of a chance against the No. 3
Michigan football team. It did not
seem to matter. At the end of a long
Saturday night, with three seconds
left and the Wolverines ahead
13-11, Iowa kicker Keith Duncan
jogged onto the field for a 33-yard
field-goal attempt to win the game.

Behind the end zone into which

Duncan would try that kick, the
Iowa students inched forward in
the bleachers. “Rush the field!”
Crawford thought, and the stadium
went silent.

“Please, please, please!” one

fan shouted into the night. Tyler
Kluver delivered the snap. Ron
Coluzzi placed down the hold.
Duncan knocked the kick through
the uprights.

“We couldn’t believe it,” said

27-year-old Corbett Ball, who was
seated near the 50-yard line. “We
were on the field immediately.”

The students crammed into the

last few rows before storming onto
the turf, and everything else was
pandemonium. Tyler Brenneman,
another student, called it the “best
day ever.” A few fans took pictures
while sprawled out in the end zone.
Others just ran around in awe.

“Oh my God, we pulled it off!” one
yelled, adding an expletive.

They
engulfed
the
players

in a mass of bodies on the field.
They stood on top of each other’s
shoulders and took videos. They
left the goalpost lopsided where
Duncan had kicked it.

Through
the
chaos,
the

Wolverines shuffled off the field,
their dreams of a perfect season
spoiled.
November
features

a handful of similar finishes
every year, with shocking upsets
sparking field rushes and knocking
off top teams. Michigan rose to No.
3 in the polls this season for the
first time since 2006. Once again,
the Wolverines were susceptible
to such heartbreak, and with that
came euphoria on the other end.

“We
couldn’t
believe
what

was happening and what was

unfolding,” Ball said. “We felt, for
the first time this season, it made
our season.”

With 114 seconds left in such

a momentous game, the biggest
possible victory seemed implausible.
Hawkeyes
quarterback
C.J.

Beathard had just missed an open
Jerminic Smith on a pass downfield,
instead throwing an interception to
Michigan cornerback Channing
Stribling. The Wolverines needed
only one first down to ice the victory
and escape with a win.

An announced sellout crowd of

70,585, all standing, groaned with
disappointment. About 1,000 of
them left the stadium. “Go home,”
one said as he walked out. “It’s over.”

Inside the student section,

though, the fans knew better.
Kyle Ford, Cameron Clause and
Michael Taloumis saw the 1:14

on the clock and thought if Iowa
could force a three-and-out on
Michigan’s next series, perhaps
there could be just a bit more
magic left in Kinnick Stadium.

From the moment the handfuls

of fans left the stadium, everything
went Iowa’s way, and nobody left
again for a long time. The students
clung to the last shreds of hope for
an upset. Other fans watched on
the TVs in the concourse, afraid
to miss the finish if they journeyed
back to their seats.

Each play, the fans raised the

intensity back up as fortunes shifted
back in their favor. Iowa stuffed two
consecutive Michigan run plays. On
third down, Hawkeyes cornerback
Manny Rugamba broke up a pass
to force a punt. On that punt, a
Michigan face-mask penalty gave
Iowa 15 more yards.

The Hawkeyes inched into

field-goal range until they stopped
and called a timeout at Michigan’s
15-yard line. The masses of fans left
in the stadium awaited the kick.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh my God,

we’re going to do this again,’ ”
said Crawford, who was also in
attendance
when
Iowa
upset

then-No. 3 Penn State on a similar
game-winning field goal in 2008.
“History is repeating itself.”

Sure enough, it did, and it

will again. Each time will bring
something different, a unique
heartbreak for the favored team
and a unique joy for the giant
killer. Saturday in Iowa City added
another chapter to a memorable
history of November finishes.

“We don’t get this opportunity

very often at Kinnick Stadium,”
Ball said. “It was unbelievable.”

JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

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