Sugar Bowl, Michigan Vs. Virginia Tech: Wolverines Win In OT After Suspect Calls

The second touchdown from Robinson-to-Hemingway gave the Wolverines an 11-point lead early in the third quarter. Virginia Tech would respond with a field goal and one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Logan Thomas, who hit Marcus Davis for the two-point conversion that tied the game at 17 with 10:22 to play.

Following the game, Hokies head coach Frank Beamer was torn up over some close calls, including his own decision to call for a fake punt inside his own territory, an uncharacteristic gamble that failed, setting up Gibbons’ 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

The Sugar Bowl just haaaad to have a team from the South despite not being able to take Alabama, Arkansas or Clemson, and, yep:

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Given all the twists and calls overturned during Michigan’s overtime win in the Sugar Bowl, it’s only fitting for the final play of the game to be surrounded in controversy -- albeit by outside observers after the fact.

But did Michigan get away with a false start? Watch the play below -- and pay special attention to Gibbons’ slight stutter before the ball is hiked:

-22: Gain on one run by David Wilson. When you double up your opponent in terms of total yardage and still lose, the goal of a piece like this is to figure out how exactly that happened. One way: your running back makes a terrible decision to cut back and create something out of nothing, and first-and-goal from the four becomes second-and-goal from the 26.

A potential touchdown became a field goal. Four points lost.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

The question coming into this game was whether the Hokies even deserved to be in New Orleans. They certainly proved they can compete with anybody, but missed again in their efforts to add a noteworthy victory to their 2011 campaign.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

(Looks like a catch to me.)

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

But Michigan’s defense held, as it has all night, aided by a false start. With five seconds remaining, Myer punched it in.

* Normal punters are not capable of doing this either.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

For ACC fans, this sort of thing has become a familiar sight:

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

The Hokies have still outgained Michigan by 78 yards and held the ball seven minutes longer, but an extra turnover and some excellent red zone defense by the Wolverines have still left Virginia Tech with ground to make up.

For more on the 2012 Sugar Bowl, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Michigan blog Maize ‘n’ Brew, plus SB Nation Detroit and Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

All that led to ... a successful field goal.

For more on the 2012 Sugar Bowl, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Michigan blog Maize ‘n’ Brew, plus SB Nation Detroit and Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.

For more on the 2012 Sugar Bowl, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Michigan blog Maize ‘n’ Brew, plus SB Nation Detroit and Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.

SI.com: Live Sugar Bowl box score and Sugar Bowl FAQ.

That’s a 22-yard loss. Wilson’s prone to doing this sort of thing, and it usually works, but that collapse coupled with a delay of game killed an otherwise promising drive. Still, a successful field goal from a third-string kicker has to count as good news.

Also, Michigan are wearing their alternate uniforms:

For more on the Wolverines, be sure to head over to the SB Nation blog Maize ‘N Brew. Check out Gobbler Country for everything Hokies. For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs.

The Sugar Bowl has always been the crown jewel of southern football. Held annually in New Orleans since Jan. 1, 1935, the game has a long affiliation with the Southeastern Conference and teams in the South in general. Only twice - for the 1945 and ‘72 seasons - did the game not feature at least one team from the states in the old Confederacy. And this year marks only the sixth time since World War II that no team from the SEC will appear in the game.

Being the biggest game in the South also has its baggages. The Sugar Bowl was the last major bowl to integrate, not having a single black player participating until Jan. 2, 1956, a month after Rosa Parks made her famous stand that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In contrast, the Rose Bowl had an African-American player in just its second game, on Jan. 1, 1916.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

Your move, Sugar Bowl. The first two BCS bowls were both high-scoring, down-to-the-wire thrillers. Michigan-Virginia Tech is evenly matched enough that we could be in for the same tonight. But both teams also played worse against better opponents and ranked high on the schizophrenia list, so another shootout isn’t necessarily a given. (There have also been plenty of distractions.) Fingers crossed.

The college bowl system is outdated and corrupt. You realize this, and I realize this, but nothing’s going to change until old people also realize this. Old people like bowl games.

You know what else old people like, maybe even more than bowl games? Cautionary tales.

The Hokies have some offensive firepower of their own, and will be leaning heavily on running back David Wilson, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

Game date, time: 8:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, January 3

For more on the Wolverines, be sure to head over to the SB Nation blog Maize ‘N Brew. Check out Gobbler Country for everything Hokies. Head over to the official site of the Allstate Sugar Bowl for more info on this year’s game.

For more on the Sugar Bowl, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Michigan blog Maize N Brew. SB Nation also has a full list of updated odds for the bowl season.

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