Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, who rushed for 1,136 yards in 12 regular-season games, was held to 13 yards on 13 carries while the Wolverines finished with only 184 yards total offense.
No chance for a victory, right?
Wrong.
Michigan's defense and special teams, ridiculed in recent seasons, proved to be the difference when Brendan Gibbons kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime to put the finishing touch on a 23-20 victory over Virginia Tech in overtime Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl.
Who would have thought all of that was possible one year ago at this time?
Coach Rich Rodriguez probably didn't recognize his former team. Who did?
It capped a surprising 11-2 season for the Wolverines in Brady Hoke's first year as coach. It also saved some face for the Big Ten, which finished the bowl season with a 4-6 record. Two of the victories were by Michigan and Michigan State, both in overtimes.
"It was a great college football game," Hoke said. "Two teams who played extremely hard. Our guys stayed together, complemented each other. We had talked about playing 60 minutes of Michigan football. We played about 63 ½, I think.
"I'm just real proud. Real proud of our seniors, real proud of how they took this football team last January and molded it. We have a tremendous legacy of Team 132 (132nd year of Michigan football) that a lot of teams are going to have to try and match up to."
Gibbons, part of last season's kicking disaster, was the night's hero. He made 1-of-5 field goals last season but rebounded to hit 13-of-17 this season.
Gibbons' timing was actually off on the overtime kick. He made a stutter-step forward before the ball was snapped, stopped and then continued his kicking motion.
He set off a wild celebration for the Wolverines as the ball was driven through the uprights.
Asked during the postgame news conference what he was thinking as he prepared for the kick, Gibbons said, "Brunette girls."
Huh?
"Every time we've struggled in kicking, coach (Hoke) always tells me to think about girls on the beach or brunette girls. So that's what we did."
Gibbons added: "Coach Hoke and the whole team had faith in me the whole season. It just felt good to make that kick for the team."
Gibbons came through after Virginia Tech kicker Justin Myer had missed from the same distance to start the overtime period. Myer's attempt sailed wide right just one play after a spectacular diving catch by Virginia Tech's Danny Coale was negated by video review.
Gibbons also made a 39-yarder to give Michigan a 20-17 lead with four minutes remaining in regulation. That came after a bizarre fake punt backfired on Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, giving the Wolverines the ball at Va. Tech's 45-yard line.
Michigan's offense, ineffective much of the night, needed the short field for the go-ahead points.
It was the Hokies' third special-teams blunder of the game, leading to a total of 13 Michigan points, for a program that traditionally has excelled on special teams.
Virginia Tech wasn't finished, though. The Hokies took over at their 8-yard line with 3:53 to go after a holding penalty on the kick return.
Quarterback Logan Thomas led the Hokies into field-goal range. Myer kicked his fourth field goal of the game, a 25-yarder, with five seconds remaining to send it to overtime.
Myer had never made a field goal in his career before Tuesday. He is the Hokies' third-string kicker who took over the duties for the bowl game because the top two kickers were suspended.
After Michigan took advantage of Va. Tech's numerous mistakes, the Hokies came back to tie the score at 17-all with 10:22 remaining on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Thomas. It was followed by a two-point conversion on a pass to Marcus Davis.
The 16-play, 61-yard drive included conversions on third-and-12 (scramble by Thomas), third-and-8 (run up the middle), fourth-and-11 (another scramble by Thomas) and third-and-goal from the 9 (pass interference).
Virginia Tech took a 6-0 lead on 37- and 43-yard field goals by Myer.
The lead could have been larger, but Michigan stopped a fourth-and-1 at its 5-yard line. The Hokies also settled for their first field goal after having first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. A 22-yard loss on a running play and a false-start penalty killed the chance for an early touchdown.
The fourth-down stand later in the first half, along with a roughing-the-punter penalty to keep a Michigan drive alive, turned the momentum.
The Wolverines took advantage on a third-and-17 play when Robinson threw an off-balance pass up for grabs that was caught by receiver Junior Hemingway, who turned it into a 45-yard touchdown with 49 seconds remaining in the half.
Not only did Robinson nearly get sacked, but the pass was almost intercepted. Instead, it completed a 96-yard drive.
The Hokies (11-3) promptly fumbled the ensuing the kickoff, giving Michigan the ball right back at the Va. Tech 26-yard line with 38 seconds left in the half.
Unable to put the ball in the end zone, the Wolverines settled for a 36-yard field-goal attempt. Or so it appeared.
Holder Drew Dileo, however, kept the ball on a fake. He was under pressure and just tossed the ball over the middle. The pass deflected off a Virginia Tech defender straight to long snapper Jareth Glanda, who fell forward to give Michigan a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line with 8 seconds to go. The snapper is normally an ineligible receiver but it became a legal play because of the deflection by the Hokies.
After the next play was stopped inside the 2-yard line, the Wolverines went ahead with the field-goal attempt. Gibbons' 24-yarder as time expired gave Michigan a 10-6 halftime lead.
The Wolverines, shut down for the first 29-plus minutes, had turned it around with 10 points in the final 49 seconds of the half.
It was a big break for Michigan, which had been outplayed for much of the game to that point.
The momentum carried into the second half with the Wolverines scoring first on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Hemingway.
The Hokies still couldn't get into the Michigan end zone, but another field goal by Myer, this time from 36 yards, cut the lead to 17-9 with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.
In the end, it came down to the kickers. Amazingly, that was a good thing for Michigan.
