2008 Capitol One Bowl: Michigan 41 – Florida 35

The 2007 NCAA football season had many ups and downs for the University of Michigan. Starting out the season being unprepared for Appalachian State and then turning around and getting spanked by Oregon at home definitely was not the way any team would want to start out their year. Following those two games the University of Michigan went 7-0 and then ended the season losing to both Wisconsin and Ohio State. Upon the close out of the regular season, Lloyd Carr announced his retirement as head coach of the Wolverines. Despite all of that the Michigan Wolverines ended up going to a non-BCS Capitol One bowl against the 9th ranked University of Florida.

Prior to the start of the Capitol One bowl, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from Michigan due to their up and down season, having over a month off to rest, and also with their terrible bowl standings in the past 6 years. This year it seemed that Lloyd Carr actually did his homework and laid down his pride of playing conservative to actually be aggressive and put the pressure on the Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. Michigan had numerous sacks and when Florida did move the ball it was typically for huge gains. Everything seemed to be going very well for Michigan with their game plan until there was less than 2 minutes to go in the game. Michigan had the ball within the Florida 30-yard line and instead of going for a 1st down and attempting to score. Lloyd decided to try to run out the clock. They ran 3 run plays, which Florida stopped virtually dead in their tracks. Then with about 1:15 to go on the clock, Michigan kicked a field goal, which put them up by 6 points. I don’t know, maybe it is different philosophies of playing aggressive, but I would not feel comfortable with only a 6 point lead and still over a minute to go in the game with the Heisman Trophy winner having the ball back in his hands. Fortunately for Michigan, their defensive line got pressure on Tebow to pull off the victory. The final score in the 2008 Capitol One Bowl; Michigan 41, Florida 35.

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