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Michigan Wolverine Flashback: Braylon Dominates against MSU
After DeAndra Cobb busted out for his second long touchdown run of the game to put Michigan State 17 points ahead of Michigan midway through the fourth quarter, the Spartans’ defense was dancing on the sidelines, confident that their first victory in Ann Arbor since 1990 was just around the
corner.Instead, the Spartans fell victim to arguably the greatest comeback in the history of Michigan Stadium, as Michigan scored 17 points in the final 6:27 to force overtime before overcoming Michigan State 45-37 in three overtimes.
Senior wide receiver Braylon Edwards keyed the comeback, catching fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 36 and 21 yards and catching a 24-yard touchdown on the second play of the third overtime to give the Wolverines (8-1, 6-0) the lead for good. Edwards ended up catching 11 balls for 189 yards, providing most of Chad Henne’s 273 passing yards.
Before that though, it looked as if the Spartans (4-4, 3-2) were going to pull the upset. Michigan State riddled a previously stout Michigan defense for 535 yards, including 368 on the ground. Most of those yards came on draw plays to Cobb, who ran for 205 yards on 22 carries. Cobb started off the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown run off a draw play on Michigan State’s first drive and added a 64-yarder for a score to put the Spartans up 27-10 with 8:43 left in regulation.
The Spartans extended a 17-10 halftime lead to 27-10 early in the fourth despite the loss of quarterback Drew Stanton, who separated his shoulder when Michigan defensive end LaMarr Woodley slammed him into the turf late in the second quarter. Before that, Stanton was dicing up the Wolverines, running for 80 yards and a touchdown and throwing for 95 yards.
After Cobb’s fourth-quarter touchdown, the Wolverines drove 86 yards to the Michigan State 7 thanks to several big runs by Michael Hart, who ran for over 200 yards for the third straight game in netting 224 yards on 35 carries and a first-quarter touchdown. Garrett Rivas kicked a 24-yard field goal with 6:27 left to make the score 27-13 but fullback Brian Thompson recovered Michigan’s ensuing onside kick to keep hope alive.
Edwards scored his first touchdown 15 seconds later, jumping over Spartan cornerback Jaren Hayes to suddenly bring Michigan within 27-20 with 6:12 left. He pulled the trick again at the 2:59 mark on the 21-yard touchdown, while Michigan State missed a field goal at the end of regulation to win the game.
The teams exchanged field goals in the first overtime and touchdowns in the second, with Jason Teague running in from 3 yards out for MSU and Jason Avant catching a tip-toe 5-yard touchdown pass for Michigan. After Edwards’ third touchdown and an ensuing 2-point conversion pass to tight end Tim Massaquoi. MSU went four and out on the next possession, as the Wolverines tortured the Spartans yet again.
That game was awesome! Hopefully Braykon gets that fire back for the browns this season, contract year for him to step it up and recover from the dropzies he has had.