The following recap may or may not make any sense. This game ended up being quite the circus…In fact the Circus Bowl would have been more accurate than the Sugar Bowl title!

Michigan and Virginia Tech went into overtime before Brandon Gibbons made a field goal after VT missed theirs to win the game 23-20.

The first half of the Sugar Bowl will go down in history as one of the weirdest 2^nd quarters of football I’ve ever seen; also the first game ever between the University of Michigan and Virginia Tech.

The first quarter only saw Michigan with 3:59 of ball possession and an inability to get anything started. Fitzgerald Toussaint was rarely used and center David Molk didn’t start the game because he hurt his foot in warm ups. Not having him playing in the first series was disastrous for the Wolverines because Denard fumbled snaps on downs number two and three of the series leading to an early three and out.

Virginia Tech scored their first FG of the game after running back David Wilson was forced into a 22 yard loss by the Michigan defense after turning to reverse the field, running the wrong way, and being tackled by Jake Ryan.

Michigan ended up giving VT several 3^rd and long opportunities and the Hokies capitalized on 3 out of 4 of them in the first quarter. Denard Robinson also threw an interception. Molk did return to the game in the second series and the snaps got better, but the offense was missing blocks left and right!

To begin the second quarter, Hokie third string place kicker, Justin Myer scored his second FG of the night to give VT a 6-0 lead.

After making the kick, he proceeded to send his kickoff out of bounds giving Michigan the ball on their 35 yard line. Michigan can do nothing with the good field position and kick the ball back to VT.

VT moved the ball downfield swiftly then got hung up inside the Michigan 10 yard line. Eventually they give the ball over to the Wolverines on downs.

Michigan was able to record a couple first downs with the help of Toussaint and Robinson, but eventually was forced to punt again. This time, the Hokies ran into punter and were hit with a roughing the kicker personal foul giving Michigan the ball back.

Robinson was able to sneak out of what should have been a sack and air the ball out to Junior Hemingway who was able to score a 45 yard touchdown. Just like that, the Michigan football team turned the game around to lead 7-6.

It didn’t end there, however. With 49 seconds left, Virginia Tech fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Michigan recovered.

Brandon Gibbons came onto the field for the field goal attempt, but he and holder Drew Dileo seemed to have other plans. Dileo ended up throwing the ball into the air and it was batted down by a Hokie before being caught by the Michigan long snapper, Jareth Glanda. Michigan ended up with first and goal, but ran out of time and had to settle for a field goal.

Halftime Michigan leading 10-6.

First Michigan possession of the second half looked to be over when Robinson threw an interception. That interception was reviewed and ruled an incomplete pass because the cornerback did not have complete possession of the ball. On the next play, VT put 7 guys in the box and Michigan was unable to protect to Denard so they were forced to punt.

On the first play of the next series, Michigan defender Frank Clark got in the way of a Hokie throw and intercepted it!

Denard then threw another interception, which was then called back because of defensive pass interference, so Michigan didn’t lose the ball!

Denard literally put a ball in the air that looked like a 500 dead or alive ball to Junior Hemingway in the back of the end zone. Hemingway was able to get a hold of it and get one foot in bounds before he fell backwards out of the end zone.

Michigan 17 – Virginia Tech 6, 9:43 Third Quarter

Myers hits another field goal to give VT 9 points with 6 minutes remaining in the third period.

Michigan punted the ball back to VT who put together a seven minute drive that resulted in a touchdown of their quarterback Logan Thomas’ run and then a game tying 2 point conversion.

Michigan 17 – Virginia Tech 17, 10:22 4^th Quarter

When Michigan got the ball back, the Hokies held them to another three and out. Denard has had 11 carries this game and has run of 0 yards!

The Hokies were moving the ball well on the next possession before getting stuck at 4^th and 1 just over mid field. They chose a trick play with their punter who was instead tackled and looked a bit lost carrying the football in his arms.

Michigan was given the ball on downs and good field position and they were able to get a first down with running from Robinson! Michigan ends up scoring a field goal.

Michigan 20 – Virginia Tech 17, 4:00 4^th Quarter

Michigan was able to stick VT deep in their zone (8 yard line) after a holding penalty on the kick off. That didn’t seem to do much good since VT was able to move the ball well down the field. A couple times the corners were a split second from preventing the passes from being caught, but VT was able to keep moving the ball.

Justin Myer had a 25 yard field goal attempt with 5 seconds to go in the game when Brady Hoke tried to ice him with a timeout. And he made it so we’re going to overtime!

Michigan 20 – Virginia Tech 20, End of Regulation

Virginia Tech had the first possession. And holy cow Danny Coale came up huge again with the touchdown pass from 20 yards out. He caught it with his right hand and landed on top of the ball, knocking the wind out of him in the corner of the end zone. The play went to review and it was said by the referee that the receiver did not maintain control of the ball.

And then Myer, the third string kicker, missed the field goal to the right…pushing it to the right.

Michigan got their turn with the ball and ran three plays up the middle to set up Brendon Gibbons with the field goal attempt from 37 yards. The Hokies took a timeout to try an ice Gibbons.

Icing him did not work because he blasted it through the middle of the uprights to give them the win!

The Michigan fan in me was very happy they won, but it was obvious that this game was dominated by the Hokies. And I believed that catch by Coale was a catch and touchdown! This was not how I imagine the game to end. Even Coach Hoke thought “It was good!”

Congratulations to both teams! The University of Michigan football team is your 2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl Champions. Brady Hoke goes 11-2 in his first year as Head Coach.

Junior Hemingway was named MVP of the game with his 2 touchdowns! Denard finished 9-21 for 117 yards, 1 TD, 1 InT.

Random Fact: Tom Wilson, who presented the trophy to Brady Hoke, is a Michigan Alum!!

Those who stay will be champions!-Bo

Bo was with the team today as always inspring them with his lasting messages. These seniors have been through the ringer, but they stayed! And now they celebrate by singing “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine” and “Pour some sugar on me!”

Team 132 is the 5th team to win 11 games in a season!

Denard leading his team

The University of Michigan football team will play Virginia Tech in Tuesday night’s BCS Sugar Bowl on ESPN at 8:30 PM.

They are currently ranked 13^th with a record of 10-2 (losses to Michigan State and Iowa).

Virginia Tech comes to the game ranked 17^th and a record of 11-2 from the ACC. Their only losses came from Clemson…twice!

Michigan is coming into this game having lost 5 of their last 6 bowl games. But they are a new team this year, with solid leadership and coaching that reverberates throughout the locker room. “Team 132” as they are so affectionately called has worked very hard this season to get to this game.

They won in stunning fashion in the first game Under the Lights at the Big House vs. Notre Dame 35-31 in the second game of the year.

They handed Minnesota a blowout loss of 58-0.

The loss at Michigan State could have gone either way. Michigan was outplayed, but was able to capitalize on Michigan State’s miscues. A few different plays going the other way and that would have been a victory.

Same with the loss at Iowa.

The win vs. Ohio State had been a long time coming. Yes the Buckeyes have suffered this year and rightfully so, but they have an excellent future quarterback in Braxton Miller who the Wolverines were able to coral on different occasions during the game while on other series he dominated the line of scrimmage. In the end, Michigan won 40-34 and the celebrating continued into the next week!

This season has led the Wolverines to this game.

There are some who say they don’t belong in this game. Like Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins, who on Monday night with his Spartan team beat Georgia 33-30 in triple overtime in their bowl game.

After Michigan State lost in the Big Ten Championship game, they were no longer looked at as being a team that could compete in the BCS Championship Series.

From ChicagoNow.com:

Reporter: There’s talk that Michigan now gets into the BCS, you want to make a case for state? Do you need to make a case for State?

Cousins: “Michigan sat home tonight on the couch and watched us, we played our hearts out, you saw it. I don’t see how you get punished for playing, and someone else gets to sit on the couch and get what they want. If this is the way the system is, I guess it’s a broken system.”

There’s always going to be people who think you don’t deserve what you get. He has a valid point in that it doesn’t make sense and that the system is broken.

But in the mean time, Michigan was invited to this bowl game and Michigan will be on that field tonight playing for the Sugar Bowl trophy and a victory in the BCS Bowl.

As a Michigan fan, I am very proud of this team and can only hope for them to play for a full 60 minutes of football tonight. I wrote on twitter yesterday that they need to win the turnover battle. Having our defense recover a fumble or get an interception would do great things for their confidence.

On the offensive side we need to establish the running game—I’ve always wanted to say that!—But honestly, we need to give the ball to Fitz and let him do his thing. He’s been dominant when given the chance this year and his presence lightens the load for quarterback Denard Robinson to do his thing. Having multiple threats has never been a bad thing!

The offense also needs to control the ball and eliminate turnovers. Take care of the ball, guys! And it will take care of you.

Let’s go blue!