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Gardner Shows Grit By Returning To Game, Leading Wolverines To Win

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

ANN ARBOR (CBS DETROIT) - With Michigan and Penn State tied, 13-13, heading into the fourth quarter Saturday, the Wolverines needed quarterback Devin Gardner, who had limped off the field and been replaced by Russell Bellomy.

In the first series with Bellomy at the helm, Michigan had moved the ball three yards. Fortunately for the Wolverines, the team had started its drive at Penn State's 28-yard line thanks to an interception by Jourdan Lewis, and settling for a 42-yard field goal still allowed Michigan to tie the game with 2:30 to go in the third quarter.

In the next drive with Bellomy at quarterback, the Wolverines went three-and-out. Gardner, who had been pacing the sidelines, talked his way back into the game after jogging effectively enough to placate the team's medical personnel.

"He just said, 'Coach, I'm going,'" head coach Brady Hoke said. "And I said, 'Trainers say you're okay?' 'Yeah.' I said, 'Okay, go.'"

Gardner reentered the game for the first drive of the fourth quarter, and on second down, he found wide receiver Dennis Norfleet for a 24-yard gain that put the Wolverines in field goal range.

"I didn't see it," Gardner said. "I was just hoping to God that he would catch it, and God answered. He got it, and I guess - I don't know if it was a good pass, I'll get a chance to see it later, I didn't see - but I looked up, I was on the ground and I looked up, and I saw him doing his little deal, so I was like, 'Yeah, he caught it.'

"I took a chance," Gardner added. "I feel like we can't play passive if we want to win football games, and I took a chance there, and he made a play for me."

The ensuing field goal put the Wolverines ahead, 16-13, and they never relinquished the lead. By defeating the Nittany Lions, 18-13, Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak.

The defense made Saturday's comeback possible, keeping the Wolverines within striking distance by several times holding Penn State to field goals and keeping constant pressure on the quarterback, who was sacked six times.

Still, based on the series Bellomy played, it is not an unreasonable assumption that Michigan would have lost had Gardner not returned.

"Devin's leadership has been outstanding," Hoke said. "He played a game a year ago with a broken toe for half the game, so you know he's got a toughness to him. He is turning [into], through his maturation process and everything else, into a tremendous leader. He was cheering the defense on when they were out there, and he just was - he wants to compete and play, and the trainers said, 'Yeah, he can go.'"

Hoke said Gardner, who completed 16 of 24 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown, did not tell the coach how much pain he was in. Gardner admitted to some discomfort after the game but dismissed its relevance.

"It's a team out there that needs me, and they said that they needed me, and it's much bigger than myself," Gardner said. "If I can be out there, I'm going to be out there.

"I'm going to do whatever I have to do to try to win the game every week," Gardner continued. "I'm going to give it everything I have because I know my teammates are going to do the same, so it's only right that I repay them with that."

Gardner has still thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes this season, with one of each Saturday. The Wolverines still have a losing record of 3-4. When they return from their upcoming bye week, they face Michigan State. All that aside, Saturday's win represented a much-needed step in the right direction.

"Obviously it's always good to win," Hoke said. "We've had some tough times and tough weeks, but the resiliency of our football team, the resiliency, how they go about every day in practice and the hard work that they put in, paid off. It wasn't pretty at times, but I don't know if anything's pretty all the time. What they did, though, is they played together, they stuck together."

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