A heavy silence filled Michigan Stadium as Jalen Watts-Jackson crossed the goal line and Green and White jerseys flooded the north end zone. A silence louder than any cheer that erupted from the 111,740 fans filling the Big House that football Saturday, louder even than the shrieks that must have rang through the hallways of East Lansing dorms.
Michigan fans were stunned, not only by the loss, or the manner in which they lost, but by the magnitude of the moment that had just been snatched away from them. A moment they had waited almost a decade to enjoy. A moment that was just 10 seconds away before slipping through their grasp.
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When the Spartans loaded the Paul Bunyan Trophy onto their bus, they took with it everything the Michigan football team yearned for. They left Ann Arbor undefeated, with another year of bragging rights in their pocket and a chance to play for a national championship in their sights. It was the Spartans' seventh win over Michigan in eight years, and they were well on their way to a third straight season of double-digit wins.
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Meanwhile, Michigan was left licking its wounds -- wondering how and why such a play could happen to them. It was supposed to be a new era -- the Jim Harbaugh era. Michigan wasn't supposed to lose to Michigan State at home. Heck, Michigan wasn't supposed to lose at all.
But Michigan did lose, and the offense, the defense, a really good punter and even Harbaugh himself were to blame.
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Michigan gained only 230 total yards. When the offense finally went up by two scores in the fourth quarter, the defense gave up a 74-yard pass on the very next play. Then, after a poorly managed final drive, Blake O'Neill had trouble with a snap. That perfect chain of events culminated in the most painful moment of Michigan's history this side of Armanti Edwards.
As a hundred thousand Maize-and-Blue-clad supporters shuffled wordlessly toward the exits, the distant hoots and hollers from Spartan fans inside the stadium might as well have been a funeral march. In the last decade, Michigan fans had endured losses to Appalachian State, Toledo and Rutgers, three bowl-less seasons and a 4-16 record against its two biggest rivals.
Harbaugh's return was supposed to put an end to the heartbreak. But instead, it gave heartbreak a bigger stage -- allowing it to jump up and bite fans when they were least expecting it, when everything was on the line.
The loss knocked Michigan from Big Ten title contention and ended any realistic hope of playing for a national title. It toppled the Wolverines from the mountaintop they were quickly constructing beneath Harbaugh's young reign.
But even if it seemed like the end of the world to fans at the time, it couldn't destroy the foundation Harbaugh was building. Everything Michigan lost on Oct. 17, 2015, it has regained a year later.
Well, almost everything.
Michigan has one of the best teams in America, with one of the best coaches and dozens of the best players. In just over a year, the Wolverines have built the best defense in the country, fielded a Heisman Trophy candidate and landed one of the best high school players in recent recruiting history.
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Michigan is every bit as much a national championship contender as Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. One of only nine undefeated teams and ranked No. 2 in the country, Michigan is on top of 126 other schools in the football world.
But there's still one demon left to vanquish.
It's been over four years since Michigan last beat Michigan State. Michigan was dominated in the two meetings between that victory and last year's wild finish, and suddenly, nine years have passed since the Wolverines last won a game in East Lansing.
Since that win in 2007, Michigan is 0-4 against Mark Dantonio's team at Spartan Stadium. The Wolverines haven't been competitive in the last three meetings.
This year, a victory would move Michigan to 8-0 ahead of the season's first College Football Playoff rankings. Michigan would maintain its spot on top of the Big Ten East Division with a 5-0 record and survive another week while fellow contenders around the country drop off.
On paper, Saturday's game shouldn't be much of a challenge for Michigan. The Spartans are 12th in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging just 23.1 points per game (only Rutgers is worse), while Michigan owns the conference's top defense, allowing just 10 points per game.
Meanwhile, Michigan will field the Big Ten's best scoring offense (48.7 points per game) against an underperforming and beat-up MSU defense that's allowing nearly 30 points per game. Michigan allows only 111 passing yards per game, and the Spartans bring an unsettled quarterback situation into the game.
All signs point to the Wolverines walking out of East Lansing with a victory. If they do, it won't even be one of their best three wins of the season. But it would put another program roadblock in the rear-view mirror.
It would be another step toward the actual return of Michigan football.
And maybe, just maybe, the Wolverines will go on to win a Big Ten championship and put that fumbled snap behind them.