Michigan Bounces Badgers

Brandon Williams found a novel way to celebrate his 21st birthday.

He set up Hayden Epstein’s 31-yard field goal that gave No. 11 Michigan a 20-17 victory over Wisconsin by recovering a muffed punt in the closing seconds Saturday.

The Wolverines (8-2, 6-1 in the Big Ten) kept their Big Ten title hopes alive and ended the Badgers’ six-year bowl run with the bizarre finish.

The Badgers (5-6, 3-4) appeared on their way to their first victory over Michigan since 1994 when they lined up for a 36-yard field goal with 1:26 left and the score tied at 17.

But Mark Neuser was wide right by a foot and the Wolverines, who turned two blocked punts into 10 points and forced two more shanks with pressure, got the ball back at their 20.

The Badgers forced a punt from midfield into what was supposed to be an empty receiving backfield. But when Williams broke downfield, freshman Brett Bell covered him as though he were protecting against a fake punt.

But it wasn’t a fake and Bell stayed with his man all the way.

The ball took a sideways bounce into Bell’s left leg and fluttered into Williams’ arms at the Wisconsin 13 with 14 seconds left.

“That was a big break,” Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said. “That game was definitely headed for overtime.”

Although Badger returner Nick Davis said the play was “punt-safe all the way,” Bell said he never cut off coverage because no one ever told him it was anything but a regular return.

Williams didn’t realize it immediately, either.

“I didn’t know there wasn’t anybody deep,” Williams said. “I was happy when I saw it hit him. The ball took a good hop. I caught it and took off.”

Because the ball can’t be advanced, it was returned to the 13 and the field-goal unit ran onto the field.

Nobody on either sideline and none of the 79,633 fans--the fifth-biggest crowd ever at Camp Randall Stadium--could believe it.

“I figured that he’d run away or something,” Badger receiver Lee Evans said. “He didn’t even really have to block the guy. Wasn’t no returner back there. He was trying to do his job. He’s a young guy. Got to learn from it.”

Carr didn’t even realize what had happened. He was just glad Epstein had gotten off the punt against what he figured was an 11-man rush.

“I was shocked because I didn’t see any of it,” Carr said. “It was a good snap. The ball got up in the air. All of a sudden in my headphone they were yelling, ‘We have the ball! We have the ball!’ ”

Badger Coach Barry Alvarez might have made matters worse when he called a timeout to try to ice Epstein, who also punts and was racing into the end zone to congratulate Williams.

Epstein, who said the timeout helped him catch his breath, split the uprights with 10 seconds to go.

Two desperation passes by Brooks Bollinger were knocked down at midfield, ending the game.