Michigan's Drew Dileo was 'hauling butt' to get to Brendan Gibbons for fast field goal slide

Michigan senior holder/wide receiver Drew Dileo had quite a moment Saturday in Evanston, Ill. (Melanie Maxwell |

ANN ARBOR -- When Michigan ran its final offensive play from scrimmage during regulation Saturday, senior wide receiver Drew Dileo was doing anything he could to get down the field.

And then, seconds later, he was doing anything he could to get back.

Dileo ran a vertical route down Northwestern's sidelines on the final pass play of regulation Saturday, and when he saw the throw completed to Jeremy Gallon and the subsequent mayhem line change going on the opposite sideline he knew he had to get moving .

"I see Brendan (Gibbons) running out on the field, so I just start hauling butt," said Dileo in an interview with, Michigan's holder and a key factor in the Wolverines 27-19 triple OT win at Northwestern. "He put his foot down, and I just did a baseball slide into the hold position."

Dileo's slide, and his reactionary response all played a role in the hurry-up last-second 44-yard Gibbons field goal that saved the Wolverines from a third straight loss on Saturday.

After running his pattern across the field, Dileo made it to Gibbons just in time and had to eyeball where to slide himself into position to catch the snap from Jareth Glanda.

But, fortunately for Michigan, he's been holding kicks for a while -- since his freshman season of 2010.

"I kind of judged it," Dileo said. "I think just because I've been doing it so long I kind of know."

Michigan coach Brady Hoke called the kick one of the best team plays he's seen during his coaching career.

On Tuesday, his assistants said it was just typical Hoke.

"You have no idea, guys, that was no shot in the dark there," Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges said. "We practice that play every week. That hurry-up field goal. Brady knew exactly what he was doing. When I watched the video, as soon as Gallon caught the ball, (Hoke) was a traffic cop."

Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said it was one of a handful of small moves by Hoke during the game that ultimately kept Michigan in position to win the football game.

Something most people often overlook.

"The thing that people don't talk much about that I want to bring up, and nobody's told me to do this, I'm just telling you, there were two calls our head football coach made in that game that were really, really big," Mattison said. "The one was when he gave them the wind in the third quarter. That game comes down to the fourth quarter and us having the wind. I thought that was an unbelievable call.

"And then that field goal. I watch that thing every Thursday. Every Thursday we do it. We've done it since the day we've been here. He starts counting down '10, 9, 8, 7' and everyone starts running out onto the field. You can look anywhere and the country, and people don't see that. You don't see it executed like that."