Jake Moody kicks his way to a Michigan win over Illinois and it was quite ‘magical’
It was a gusty day in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Winds were flailing around at about 20-to-30 miles per hour which affected the offense — mainly the passing game.
The Wolverines were moving the ball on the ground quite efficiently in the first half. Michigan had 123 yards running in the first half, averaging close to six yards per carry, but then Blake Corum sustained a knee injury and it went south. In the second half, the maize and blue gained just 45 yards on the ground and Illinois made Michigan and J.J. McCarthy air it out.
It was another game where there were some crucial drops and some errant throws by the receivers and quarterback. But Michigan made enough plays on offense and the defense did just enough for one man to do his job perfectly.
Michigan won 19-17 but the maize and blue had one touchdown in the game. Senior Jake Moody did the rest of the scoring for the Wolverines when he made four field goals. His first came going into the wind in the third quarter, which was the longest of the day when he made a 46-yard field goal. Moody admitted that kick was difficult but it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before playing in the Big Ten. Dealing with wind conditions is apart of playing in Michigan.
“Yeah, the wind was tough,” Moody said. “But you know, it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before especially playing up here. It’s not the SEC, you got to deal with some tough wind conditions. It was freezing cold out there. But you know, it’s nothing that we haven’t dealt with before. And, you know, that’s what pregame warm-ups are for just try and figure out the wind conditions. And luckily, we got three out of the four going with the wind at my back. And that obviously makes it a little bit easier. But yeah, just trust in the preparation that we did in warm-ups and just trusting everything that I’ve learned throughout the five years here with the wind patterns.”
Moody made three more kicks in the fourth quarter. But the biggest came with nine seconds left in the ball game. The Wolverines were trailing by one point and a Moody field goal from35-yards would all but seal a victory for the Wolverines. So what was going through the senior’s mind?
“Nothing different from any other kick,” said Moody. “Obviously, I knew the situation, I knew that we’d probably have a chance for a game-winner. And, you know, I got a lot of trust in the offense to get down the field and get me in position. And I got a lot of trust in the operation to make sure that everything else runs smoothly. And all I got to do is just make the kick.”
The former Lou Groza Award winner made three kicks prior to the game-winning field goal. Moody told the media he has plenty of confidence trotting out there, but mainly because of the field goal unit he has. He trusts everyone to do their job and that makes his job much easier.
“Yeah, I mean, going out there, I had all the confidence in the world that I was going to make it because, you know, I got such a great field goal team,” said Moody. “All the guys up front they throw their bodies on the line. They got 600 pounds of guys rushing them and they stand there, they stand their ground and shout out to them and shout out to Greg Tarr and Brad Robins. They had a look of confidence on their face, which, you know, gave me some more confidence, and right off my foot, I knew it was going in. Looking up and seeing it fly right down the middle that that was pretty surreal.”
Moody has kicked field goals most of his life, but shockingly, he has never kicked a game-winning field goal. The senior kicker has had many dreams of kicking last-second field goals to win games, especially against Ohio State. But not that he finally did it in real life, it’s a magical feeling.
“I’d say it’s even better, honestly,” Moody said. “This is actually my first game-winner I’ve ever had, you know, my entire life. Never had one in high school and middle school and nothing like that. So you know, for it to be on my final game at the big house, it was pretty magical. And you know, I’m just glad that we could send out the seniors on a good note.”
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