U-M can't recover from uneven night, loses Orange Bowl to FSU, 33-32
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – In a fitting parallel to its regular season, Michigan’s Orange Bowl effort came up just short.
The team that was four points from an undefeated regular season finished one point short in Friday’s Orange Bowl, losing 33-32 to Florida State at Hard Rock Stadium.
Michigan (10-3) made it interesting with two fourth-quarter offensive touchdowns, but when it needed a stop in the final minute, the No. 2 defense in the country couldn’t get it, watching Florida State get the midfield celebration, the Orange Bowl trophy and the successful end to its season.
Between two of its best players missing most of the game with injuries and riding the fourth-quarter roller-coaster of elation then disappointment, all the Wolverines got was bitter coal.
Losing three of the final four games in a season that at one point had U-M 9-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country, was all pain.
"We just didn't execute," said U-M All-America cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who was beaten for the game-winning touchdown with 36 seconds left. "You can't think about it. When we had the chances, we didn't have it. So you can't think about it anymore. You've got to keep going forward."
He called his teammates relentless, describing how they played this season and Friday's game.
But when the hole starts too big, sometimes even all the pushing and climbing is not enough.
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Michigan's offense didn't score a touchdown until the final 5 1/2 minutes of the game and then suddenly scored two to take its first lead of the game with under 2 minutes to play.
But then its special teams failed, allowing a 66-yard kickoff return, followed by the defense wilting, when Lewis was beaten for the game-winning 12-yard touchdown pass to Florida State's Nyqwuan Murray.
"The way that we came back, the way that we told ourselves we're not that far away, one more stop, one more touchdown, Coach (Jim) Harbaugh said at halftime, be the guy that makes the play," U-M fullback Khalid Hill said.
Which is a major leap of faith, considering the steamroller Florida State (10-3) rolled into Hard Rock Stadium. In a game defined by bookends, the opening stanza -- the 17-3 first-quarter lead, the 201-22 total yardage edge -- was decisive enough to bury most teams.
And with Michigan choking away repeated opportunities, the Wolverines looked ready to roll over.
But Harbaugh's teams never quit, even as difficult as they make it on themselves. The surge came in the final 21 minutes, with Mike McCray's 14-yard interception return for a touchdown and then the wild fourth quarter.
Stay with us here: In the final 5:22 of regulation, Michigan's offense sprung to life.
Hill caught U-M's first touchdown, on an 8-yard pass from Wilton Speight.
"Even when we were down, my mind-set was we're going to win the game," Hill said.
U-M's defense got a stop and the Wolverines answered with another quick score, a 30-yard ballet-on-grass touchdown run from Chris Evans with just 1:57 to play for the game's first lead.
"As soon as I've seen the hole, I went and I did what coach (Tyrone) Wheatley said, just run and react," Evans said. "My body just reacted to certain defenders and I scored."
But after the kickoff return and FSU boldly attacking Lewis for the score, U-M made it more interesting with a blocked extra point and Josh Metellus' two-point return to bring the Wolverines within one.
Getting the ball with half a minute left and needing only to get to field-goal range, the Wolverines reflected their season and couldn't drop the hammer. A quick four-and-out popped that hopeful balloon and the air that left the regular season following the Ohio State game vanished once more for this team, for the final time.
The No. 6 Wolverines came to the Orange Bowl week focused entirely on football, mimicking the success of last year’s bowl season.
But this was hardly the cakewalk last year was in the rout of Florida.
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This was a game filled with mistakes -- allowing two of the three longest plays of the season, a 92-yard touchdown with a corner-safety miscommunication and FSU star tailback Dalvin Cook's second-half 71-yard run. It was U-M's dominant offense vanishing for the first 3 1/2 quarters, even when handed the ball on the one yard line to start a first-quarter drive yet not cashing in.
In a season of near-misses, the last game ending with a whimper was appropriate.
Michigan spent most of the season on the cusp of being an elite team. But for the second straight game against a team that could match its talent it fell just short.
On Friday, against a team probably more talented -- Cook with his 145 rushing yards on 20 carries qualifies -- U-M needed to rally from behind and couldn't finish.
This was pain in the beginning, hope in the middle and heartache at that end.
As usual, Lewis could only be honest.
"They had a great game," he said. "We didn't perform well, probably one of the worst games of my career. But I'm proud of the way we fought."
And that's what the Wolverines will take with them, pride.
Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder. Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!