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Michigan's defense can't get a hand on Jason Giannini's 30-yard field goal that gave Minnesota a 23-20 lead with a second left.Minnesota 23, Michigan 20
U-M's season shattered
Last-second FG sends Wolverines to worst start since '90, gives Gophers the Little Brown Jug.
Brandon Harrison brings down Minnesota's Gary Russell after Russell's 61-yard run that set up the winning field goal.
Right at the jugular
What has been Michigan's biggest problem this season?
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Justin Valentine kisses the Little Brown Jug, which Minnesota won for the first time since 1986, a stretch of 17 games.
ANN ARBOR -- It's simple now -- they are playing for the only thing they have left.
The national title is gone.
The Big Ten title is gone.
"We have to play for our pride now," Michigan rush linebacker LaMarr Woodley said.
Michigan dropped to 3-3, 1-2 in the Big Ten after losing 23-20 to Minnesota on Saturday in its Homecoming game at Michigan Stadium.
It is the Wolverines' worst start since the 1990 season, when they opened 3-3, and it's their first loss to the Golden Gophers since 1986.
Minnesota, which won on a 30-yard field goal with one second left, rubbed the Michigan players' faces even deeper into the hole they've dug.
Not only did the Wolverines watch the Minnesota team run en masse to the Michigan sideline to take possession of the coveted Little Brown Jug -- the oldest trophy in Division I-A football -- but some witnessed several Golden Gophers (5-1, 2-1) plant their flag in the block M at midfield.
"Just them taking the Jug ... this was not just for the Jug, it was for the Big Ten championship," Woodley said. "So they came across (the field) and took all that away."
Minnesota coach Glen Mason had seen his team nearly beat Michigan the previous two years.
A year ago, Michigan orchestrated a winning drive in the final three minutes. Two years ago, Michigan was trailing 28-7 before getting 31 points in the fourth quarter for a 38-35 victory.
"It's been 19 years since we've had the Brown Jug," Mason said.
"We have some guys in the locker room right now who aren't 19 years old.
"It's been a long time, and you know, even the last two times we lost to Michigan, it's always great Big Ten football. It's great college football. It doesn't get any better than that."
The Wolverines might argue with that.
It was another game this season, yet again, of missed opportunities.
Garrett Rivas, a week after kicking the winning field goal in overtime against Michigan State, missed back-to-back field-goal attempts in the second half that would have given U-M the lead.
He could not convert on a 42-yard kick late in the third quarter. With a chance to regain the lead with 8:27 remaining, he missed wide left on a 34-yarder.
With 2:49 remaining and the score tied, Minnesota had possession at its 13. Mason said his thinking was to run out the clock and go for overtime.
After all, starting quarterback Bryan Cupito was out of the game with an apparent injury to his left shoulder after taking a hard hit from Woodley on the previous series. Backup Tony Mortenson spelled Cupito.
The Golden Gophers ran the ball four times to start their final drive. On third-and-10 and after a Michigan timeout with 1:27 left, tailback Gary Russell broke out to the right side and ran 61 yards before Brandon Harrison tackled him at the Michigan 13. Jason Giannini kicked the winning 30-yard field goal with one second left.
"We were in what we call backer support," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said of the broken play that allowed the Russell run. "That ball should be turned in by our outside backer. I don't know, I think he got blocked. From my vantage point, it looked like the ball got outside of him, and then we didn't get the rotation we needed. We knew they were going to run the football. That's the frustrating, discouraging thing about that play. I think they were trying to run the clock out."
Outside linebacker Prescott Burgess admitted he was the defender who allowed Russell outside.
"We didn't get to the ball, that's it," Burgess said. "It was a great run by him."
Laurence Maroney rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown and Russell finished with 128 rushing yards for the Golden Gophers.
It was a disjointed offensive performance by the Wolverines, who were outgained, 403-249.
Quarterback Chad Henne was 14-of-29 for 155 yards and took three sacks. Five of his passes were dropped.
Tailback Mike Hart rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown, but was held to 48 yards in the second half. Senior receiver Jason Avant had six catches for 73 yards.
"We had a lot of opportunities we didn't take advantage of," Carr said. "We didn't block them well up front, I don't think we protected the quarterback very well, we dropped too many passes, we had some open people we missed, (and) of course we missed two field goals.
"You name it (on offense), we need to work on it. ... We just could not crack the Minnesota defense."
The Wolverines were 3-of-14 on third-down situations and had the ball nearly six minutes less than Minnesota.
"We didn't execute, that's what it comes down to," Hart said. "Someone messed up on every play. I made the wrong cut, someone missed a block. We just didn't have 11 people on every play like we needed to. The coaches made good calls; we just couldn't execute them. We put together drives we didn't finish."
Minnesota tied the score at 13 on the first series of the second half on a field goal. But Michigan responded quickly. Steve Breaston scored on a 95-yard kickoff return to take 20-13 lead. It was the first time since 1994 the Wolverines scored on a kickoff return.
The Golden Gophers then tied it on a 13-play drive when Maroney scored on a 1-yard run with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
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