Like the vast majority of the college football world, Zoltan Mesko found himself speechless as Blake O’Neill’s fumble led to a heartbreaking defeat for the Michigan team Saturday night.
The former Wolverine captain, a four-year letterman from 2006-09 who still holds the program record for punts and punting yardage, has had a singular goal since that ill-fated final play transpired.
"My motivation for this conversation is to get people off Blake’s back," Mesko said Sunday night in a phone interview with Maize N Brew. "You can’t blame someone for trying their hardest. You can’t."
O’Neill’s attempt to pick up the loose ball and scissor-kick it ultimately resulted in the Spartans’ game-winning touchdown with no time left on the clock – a moment which instantly became one of the most thrilling endings in the rivalry’s storied history.