Aside from setting a new career-high in passing yardage for the second consecutive week (337 vs Rutgers, November 7), Rudock threw for the third-highest total in program history, behind Devin Gardner’s 503 (Indiana, October 19, 2013) and 451-yard performances (Ohio State, November 30, 2013) two seasons ago. O’Neill corralled it just in time to get a boot for Allen, who narrowly put the Wolverines into overtime.
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Michigan’s quarterback dialed up a record-setting effort under center, completing 33-of-46 passes for 440 yards, with six touchdowns to one interception. MI needs their hated rivals, the Ohio State Buckeyes, to beat the MI State Spartans next week and then the Wolverines have their fate in their own hands in two weeks when they face Ohio State. While it’s fair to wonder whether Wilson should have given Howard the ball on the game’s final play, a more constructive conversation might be whether or not the junior running back has played his final game at Memorial Stadium. As the Hoosiers close the season with back-to-back road games at lowly Maryland and Purdue, they can’t afford to play down to the competition. Tegray Scales answered that call during the final seconds of regulation, sniffing out a toss play to Drake Johnson on 3rd-and-goal at the IU 1.
The MI Wolverines showed heart on Saturday, rallying from behind late in the fourth quarter to win in double overtime against the hometown Indiana Hoosiers. But with less than a minute till the break, Howard scored Indiana’s first touchdown of the game.
Howard opened the first overtime with a 16-yard pickup down inside the 10. IN worked its way down to the two yard line, and on fourth and goal the Hoosiers elected to pass the ball instead of doing the usual read option run game in a short down and distance. MI then mounted an eight-play, 66-yard drive, capped by a five-yard touchdown pass from Jake Rudock to Jehu Chesson on fourth-and-goal as time expired to send the game to overtime.
Jehu Chesson sprinted across the finish line first each time, he said, just ahead of speedy teammates such as Jabrill Peppers and Jourdan Lewis. Another crushing loss for the Hoosiers dropped them to 4 – 6, 0 – 6 in conference play. Which make me wonder: would we want to sacrifice this craziness and entertainment for 2-3 more wins each season? Huge, in the same way that in is trying to find a way to now become bowl eligible. A hard task? Not quite, it can easily be accomplished. “We’re 0-6 against a few good teams, but that’s Big Ten football”. IN does have a chance to get to six wins. They’ve left a couple of games on the table against high level opponents. “Our guys found a way to win, and it’s as good a win as you’ll ever have”. “They were making plays the whole game”.
Now, IN adds the MI game to the long list of devastating defeats.
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Jim Harbaugh is a Ring of Honor member for the Colts organization, quarterbacking Indianapolis to the AFC Championship in 1995. That would be a man named Jake Rudock.
