FootballSaturday, October 25, 2019
6B

Before the Wolverines took the 
field for the first-ever night game 
at Michigan Stadium in 2011, they 
heard from Desmond Howard and 
Charles Woodson.
The two Michigan legends talked 
about the importance of the rivalry 
with Notre Dame. They told the 
team about how to win big games 
like this. They said these were the 
types of matchups where legacies 
are made.
You 
probably 
know 
what 
happened next. Down by as much 
as 17, Michigan clawed its way back, 
capping off a comeback when Roy 
Roundtree jumped up and caught 
the ball in the corner of the end zone 
with two seconds left to lead to an 
improbable 35-31 win.
But not long after the traditional 
frenzy of the rivalry with the 
Fighting Irish reached its apex that 
night, Notre Dame canceled the 
series. The two teams added one 
more home-and-home — with the 
Fighting Irish’s portion last year 
and the Wolverines’ on Saturday 
— but after that, there are no more 
scheduled games between two of the 
oldest rivals in college football.
Though most members of the 
current Michigan team were in 
middle school — or even elementary 
school — during the original “Under 
the Lights,” the program today still 
has shades of that game. Roundtree is 
a member of the staff, helping coach 

wide receivers. Ed Warinner, Notre 
Dame’s offensive line coach in 2011, 
now holds the same position with 
the Wolverines. Pictures of scenes 
from the game can be found in the 
locker room, just before running into 
the tunnel, as well as the museum 
where press conferences are held 
and the press box.
That’s not even to mention that 
Saturday’s game kicks off at 7:30 
p.m., and while night games at the 
Big House are not nearly the novelty 
they were in 2011, there’s no question 
what people remember when they 
think about Michigan vs. Notre 
Dame under the lights.
It’s safe to say most Wolverines 
today are familiar with the legacy. 
But on Saturday, Michigan will have 
its last chance, at least for a while, to 
add their names to the legacy.
***
The original “Under the Lights” 
was about as hyped as a matchup 
between two unranked teams could 
possibly be. For all the shortcomings 
of 
then-athletic 
director 
Dave 
Brandon, he pulled out all the stops 
for that night. Both teams wore 1960s 
throwbacks and even the referees 
got in on the uniform nostalgia. 
There was a pep rally on the Diag. A 
special ceremony honoring Howard 
happened on the field before the 
game.
For two teams with such storied 
histories, 
neither 
was 
actually 
expected to be that good in 2011. 
Michigan was in its first season 
under Brady Hoke after three 

lackluster years of Rich Rodriguez. 
Notre Dame lost its opener to South 
Florida, of all teams. Despite that, 
College GameDay still ticketed the 
game as its featured matchup.
Maize 
pom-poms 
were 
distributed to nearly 115,000 fans 
— a record at the time and still 
the 
second-largest 
crowd 
ever 
assembled at the stadium. It was a 
crisp September day, not too hot, not 
too cold — perfect football weather. 
The excitement was palpable, and it 
was every bit the spectacle everyone 
had hoped.
“I think that’s probably the loudest 
I’ve ever heard the Big House, since 
I’ve been there,” then-Michigan 
quarterback Denard Robinson told 
The Daily. “Since I came afterwards, 
I think it’s the loudest I’ve ever heard 
the Big House.”
Robinson hated night games, 
because he’d get butterflies all day 
and come into the game too amped 
up. Day games didn’t give you as 
much time to think. Robinson still 
appreciated the atmosphere, the 
uniforms, the tradition, but his 
worry of being too anxious came to 
fruition, and the Wolverines came 
out playing sloppy.
They were down 24-7 at the start 
of the fourth quarter. Even their next 
touchdown came from a fumble at 
the goal line that Robinson picked up 
and ran in.
Somehow, 
Michigan 
found 
its groove and scored two more 
touchdowns in the quarter, but when 
the Fighting Irish got the ball back 

and scored with 30 seconds left, it 
seemed like the Wolverines’ death 
knell. To everyone but them.
“One thing about our team, we 
kinda chilled and got through well,” 
Robinson said. “We all had that same 
common goal and the seniors that 
year was some great seniors and we 
had great leaders on the team. We’d 
been through so much and if we 
could go win the game together, we 
could do anything together.
“ ... (We knew) we could win the 
game and no matter how much time 
was on the clock, we could win this. 
So when they left 30 seconds on the 
clock, I turned to them, I said, ‘That’s 
too much time.’ ”
Every Friday, Michigan practiced 
three plays for situations like this. In 
the waning seconds against Notre 
Dame, Hoke called two of them.
And after missing a wide-open 
Jeremy Gallon on first down, 
Robinson got a second shot. It was 
a different playcall, but the same 
uncovered Gallon. Robinson didn’t 
miss twice, and the play went for 64 
yards.
Down three, the Wolverines were 
playing for a field goal. But with eight 
seconds left, Robinson took one last 
shot.
Roundtree hadn’t been targeted 
all day. He turned to Robinson.
“I need the ball,” Roundtree said, 
according to Robinson.
Robinson responded: “I trust 
you.”
There was no time to doubt. 
Robinson had to get the ball out 

quickly so there was still time left 
to kick a field goal if the pass fell 
incomplete, and he couldn’t take a 
sack. So he found Roundtree in the 
corner of the end zone. Roundtree 
jumped up, and the rest was history.
“It was probably the loudest I ever 
heard the Big House,” Robinson said. 
“It reminded me of — I couldn’t hear 
myself. I couldn’t hear, everyone was 
yelling, ‘Get up! Get up! We gotta 
do our celebration!’ I couldn’t hear 
it. (Someone) was just grabbing me 
by the chest like, ‘Get up!’ I’m like, 
‘Alright, cool, I’ll get up,’ and I moved 
and it was like amazing.
“You can’t even put into words the 
feeling of what happened, and how 
you felt at that moment.”
***
The 
photo 
of 
Roundtree’s 
touchdown is immortalized now. It’s 
the first thing you see when you walk 
into the locker room from the tunnel.
Roundtree declined to comment 
for this story, but Michigan players 
say he still talks about the play 
sometimes — albeit as merely 
something that happened “back in 
his day.” Even eight years later, the 
history lingers.
“I get to work side by side for 
two years now with the guy who 
caught the pass on the last play to 
win the game,” Warinner said. “ … 
Just the angst that you have when 
it happened, but then, because I’m a 
part of Michigan culture now and I 
work with Roy, I’m like, ‘Man, what 
a great play!’ For the rest of his life, 
he’s a hero.”
The significance of the game — 
and the play in the pictures plastered 
everywhere — isn’t lost on the 
Wolverines. Neither is the gravity of 
the coming matchup.
Jim Harbaugh said Monday that 
he’d be open to resuming the rivalry, 
and that there are already discussions 
being had. Still, Michigan’s schedule 
is full through 2028, so even if there 
is an agreement, chances are the 
series is over for the near future.
That gives it even more weight 
in the eyes of the Wolverines, and 
Roundtree is there as a beacon of 
that same message Howard and 
Woodson gave him eight years ago.
“It’s historic and being able to 
be a part of this game coming up 
on Saturday,” said senior defensive 
tackle Carlo Kemp. “ … And one of the 
things that I think is really cool is, 
this game I don’t think is scheduled 
for a little bit, so there’s a chance to 
make a name for yourself, a name for 
this team, a name for the offense, a 
name for the defense, historically.
“And they can talk about what 
happened in this Michigan-Notre 
Dame game in 2019.”

In Michigan’s locker room, memory of ‘Under the Lights’ endures

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson found Roy Roundtree for the game-winning touchdown with two seconds left when Michigan played Notre Dame in 2011.

