[jayenomics]

Minnesota Drops Heartbreaker in Final Seconds to Wolverines

All week it was said that Minnesota would need to make big plays in all aspects of the game if they wanted to have a chance to knockoff Michigan. They got a pick six, a kickoff return for a touchdown, and a big pass play that set up a field goal, but that was not enough as Michigan hit a 30 yard field goal with 7 seconds to play to top the Golden Gophers 24-23.

On Michigan's first possession Minnesota forced a fumble and turned it into points, and on the first play after the kickoff Devin Gardner found Minnesota defensive back Marquez Shabazz for a 27 yard interception return, and a quick 10-0 lead for the Gophers. After a 3 and out for Michigan, Minnesota would add another field goal, taking a 13-0 lead into the second quarter.

Michigan would finally score, but it would be Minnesota leading 16-7 at the half, with the ball first in the third quarter. It wouldn't take long for Marcus Jones to make his presence felt, taking the second half kickoff 103 yards for his third return touchdown of the season, and staking Minnesota to a 23-7 lead. It went all down hill from there.

Minnesota managed just 41 yards of offense in the second half, and despite a great defensive effort Devin Gardner and the Michigan offense proved to be just too much, rallying back to eventually take the lead with just seven seconds to play on a 30 yard field goal. Philip Nelson would heave it up for one last shot at the end zone, but it was knocked down, ending all hopes.

"It was a tight game." said Koch. "We fought hard. I can't say I'm not disappointed that we blew a 16 point lead in the second half against Michigan, but we had a good effort. It's tough dropping a game like that."

Marquez Shabazz made the big play early, but the Gophers weren't able to hold on.

Minnesota Golden Gophers at Michigan Wolverines
Oct 5, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-1 (0-1))	13	3	7	0	23
#10 Michigan Wolverines (4-0 (0-0))	0	7	7	10	24

Team Stats Comparison
	MINN	MICH
Total Offense	206	427
Rushing Yards	113	122
Passing Yards	93	305
First Downs	9	14
Punt Return Yards	38	17
Kick Return Yards	237	18
Total Yards	481	462
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Converstion	0-8	2-9
4th Down Conversion	0-0	2-2
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-0-3	4-2-1
Penalties	0-0	1-5
Posession Time	13:51	14:09

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MINN	MICH
3:15	(MINN) Hawthorne 31 Yard Field Goal	3	0
3:09	(MINN) Shabazz 27 Yard Interception Return	10	0
0:50	(MINN) Hawthorne 33 Yard Field Goal	13	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MINN	MICH
3:40	(MICH) Green 3 Yard Run	13	7
0:40	(MINN) Hawthorne 36 Yard Field Goal	16	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MINN	MICH
6:49	(MINN) Jones 103 Yard Kickoff Return	23	7
1:45	(MICH) Chesson 46 Yard Field Goal	23	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MINN	MICH
2:41	(MICH) Funchess 9 Yard Pass from Gardner	23	21
0:07	(MICH) Gibbons 29 Yard Field GOal	23	24

Minnesota Golden Gophers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Philip Nelson 10/14 90 0 1 Mitch Leidner 1/1 3 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Donnell Kirkwood Jr. 13 52 3.9 0 Philip Nelson 8 35 4.3 0 Rodrick Williams 2 10 5.0 0 Mitch Leidner 1 6 6.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Donnell Kirkwood Jr. 6 55 9.1 0 Isaac Fruechte 3 33 11.0 0 Lincoln Plsek 1 8 8.0 0 Rodrick Williams 1 -3 -3.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Caleb Bak 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Aaron Hill 8 0 0 0 DeVondre Campbell 6 0 0 0 Martez Shabazz 6 0 1 1 Cedric Thompson 5 0 0 0 Ben Perry IV 4 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Chris Hawthorne 3/3 2/2 11 36 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Christian Eldred 5 220 44.0 3 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Marcus Jones 5 237 47.4 1 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Marcus Jones 3 38 12.6 0

Michigan Wolverines PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Devin Gardner 21/28 305 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Derrick Green 10 54 5.4 1 Devin Gardner 7 47 6.7 0 Fitzgerald Toussaint 6 16 2.6 0 Thomas Rawls 1 5 5.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Drew Dileo 6 118 19.6 0 Jehu Chesson 5 86 17.2 1 Devin Funchess 4 38 9.5 1 Jeremy Gallon 3 61 20.3 0 Derrick Green 3 2 0.6 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Taylor Lewan 2 0 Chris Fox 2 0 David Dawson 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Keith Heitzman 6 0 0 0 Courtney Avery 5 0 0 0 Blake Countess 4 0 0 0 Frank Clark 3 1 0 0 Jibreel Black 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Brendan Gibbons 1/1 3/3 6 30 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Matt Wile 5 297 59.4 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jehu Chesson 1 18 18.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jeremy Gallon 3 17 5.6 0