Football is back, and major props go to drum major—and Belleville native—Jeff Okala for nailing the traditional back-bend in his very first game:
I love that the BTN showed large portions of the pregame show; they had three(!) different camera angles of Michigan touching the banner. This one's my favorite:
Of course, I'm sure you want to see GIFs from the actual game. For Kyle Kalis and Devin Funchess setting their phasers to "kill", Taylor Lewan dominating with however many arms he pleases, epic ninja Hokepoint, and much more, read on below the jump.
[JUMP!]
If you're new to OFAAT, here's the deal—I pick my ten favorite GIFs, count them down, and then you get to vote on your favorite at the bottom of the post. Click on the still images to open each GIF in a lightbox; the links on the honorable mentions (there are always honorable mentions, as I can't help but be painstakingly thorough) also open in a lightbox.
HONORABLE MENTION
Devin Gardner's first touchdown run should probably be in the countdown, but as you'll see, it makes it in another form. Desmond Morgan stonewalls Zurlon Tipton. Dennis Norfleet comes thisclose to scoring on a reverse. Fitz maneuvers around a pretty awful pull by Lewan, cuts it back, looks like Fitz again. Raymon Taylor's interception with bonus HUSTLIN' OFFICIAL. James Ross ends any chance of Zurlon Tipton recovering this fumble. Derrick Green's 30-yard run featured great blocks from A.J. Williams and Jehu Chesson. Jetpackin' James Bond. Jarrod Wilson screen pass destruction. Drew Dileo catches third-down pass, acknowledges linebacker's futile effort to stop him. Dennis Norfleet is really weird in really awesome ways. Channing Stribling's strip. Norfleet completely embarrasses CMU kickoff coverage guy. Derrick Green's first career touchdown is appropriately mooseback-like. Devin Gardner goal line easy button. Shane Morris hits a wide open Devin Funchess. Devin Funchess subsequently gets some very awkward treatment for his unfortunately-placed cramp.
10. Catching Radius Be Damned
Jeremy Gallon is secretly 6'4", which is nice, since he also has the body control of a tightrope walker.
9. Ain't No Walk On No More, Either
Helluva grab, Joe Reynolds. The news that his injury was minor was far more of a relief than I ever expected any Reynolds-related injury news to be.
8. The Whole Point Of Holding Is To Not Let This Happen
Fighting through a hold that could've easily been called a facemask as well and somehow finishing the play should be worth two sacks.
7. So Close
Yeah, that's CMU's punter, and this return got called back on a (rather dubious) block in the back call. Do I care? No. Faceplants are one of the world's highest forms of physical humor.
The sequence of jukes to begin this return were pretty impressive, as well.
6. FUUUUMBLEEEEEEEawwwwwwwwww
In fairness to this guy, the cameraman—and large swaths of the stadium—was fooled on this play too. Still, he's going to want to take a bathroom break when they get to this play in film study.
5. Funchess Destroys, Gardner Olés
Did Devin Funchess block the player that Gardner was pointing at? Nope. Was it still spectacular? Yup. Plus, it set up a hilarious diving whiff on the sideline, so all's well that ends well.
Alternate view of the whole play, with more of the focus on Gardner's finishing flourish.
4. Brady Hoke Ninjapoint
Great Hokepoint or Greatest Hokepoint? If the BTN hadn't been in a double-box, robbing us of the full view of the final portion of Hoke's triple-action ninja point, I'd definitively say the latter.
3.Taylor Lewan's One-Armed Finish
SI's Andy Staples makes the argument that this should be number one on the list:
@AceAnbender That one’s nice, but I prefer Lewan one for the sheer indifference to the DE whose legs were churning and taking him nowhere.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) September 2, 2013
If we're talking most impressive block, he's absolutely right. Best GIF, however? Respectfully disagree.
2."Roughing The Punt Blocker, On The Kicking Team"
Me: It's certainly worthy. I mean, the ball goes off Dymonte's foot.
Brian: lol
Brian: World's first offensive roughing the kicker penalty?
FRAMES OF THE GAME: Kyle Kalis Thunderslam
Was there any doubt? Kyle Kalis didn't have anyone to block on Devin Gardner's 22-yard touchdown run, so he decided to help out his friend Michael Schofield and commit a violent assault:
No trident necessary; Kalis may want to lay low for a while anyway.
VOTE