ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was the pivotal play for Michigan football against Rutgers, and it wasn’t too unlike what helped the Wolverines pull away from the Scarlet Knights the year before — except for one key difference.
In 2022, on the road in Piscataway, it was linebacker Michael Barrett who intercepted a pair of balls from quarterback Gavin Wimsatt in the third quarter, with one of them being a pick-six. The Scarlet Knights had the lead before Barrett took over on the defensive side of the ball. On Saturday, nickel back Mike Sainristil had similar action, also in the third quarter, picking off the ball on a fourth down play, and bringing it to the house to put Michigan up 24-7.
The key difference? In order for Sainristil to make the return for a touchdown, he had something of a casualty: Michigan linebacker Junior Colson.
Colson, essentially just minding his business, was in Sainristil’s path, and the diminutive cornerback undercut the muscle-bound linebacker, flipping him upside down in the process.
TO. THE. HOUSE. 🏡@UMichFootball capitalizes on the interception! 😤 pic.twitter.com/QrZulGc3sY
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 23, 2023
On Tuesday, Sainristil reacted to that part of the play, in particular how Colson responded once the duo reached the sideline.
“The first thing he said is, ‘You flipped me!'” Sainristil said. “I didn’t even know it was him until he told me. Only thing, like — I intercepted it, kept myself up, and I just saw a pair of maize pants flying over my head. And I was like, ‘What the heck?’ I just stood up, kept running, and — you know!”
Certainly, once Colson got up and saw that Sainristil added six more points to the Wolverines’ score total, he had to have gotten over it quite quickly.