Oklahoma Ball Boy Goes Viral After Chasing Michigan Defender
· Yahoo Sports
Michigan and Oklahoma produced plenty of serious football Saturday afternoon. Somehow, one of the most memorable sequences involved a guy who never played a snap.
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During Michigan’s 17-10 victory over No. 11 Oklahoma, Wolverines linebacker Troy Bowles recovered a second-quarter fumble and headed toward the Michigan sideline with the football. An Oklahoma ball boy apparently had one objective: get that ball back.
The resulting pursuit quickly became one of the game’s viral moments.
The video below shows the Oklahoma ball boy following Bowles down the Michigan sideline, repeatedly attempting to reclaim the Sooners’ football while Bowles kept moving. The effort level was unquestionable. The leverage situation was considerably less favorable.
Troy Bowles Had Other Plans for the Football
The scene followed one of Michigan’s biggest defensive plays of the first half.
Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer connected with Parker Livingstone before Chris Bracy knocked the football loose. Bowles recovered it, giving Michigan the game’s first takeaway. A detailed account of the play credited Bracy with forcing the fumble and Bowles with recovering it.
Bowles had already emerged as an important piece of Michigan’s defense after recording 12 tackles against Western Michigan. The matchup with Oklahoma also came after defensive end Dom Nichols delivered a pointed message about containing Mateer entering the game.
Michigan’s defense backed up much of that confidence. The Wolverines held Oklahoma to 289 total yards and forced two turnovers in the victory, including Jyaire Hill’s fourth-quarter interception that helped set up Jordan Marshall’s go-ahead touchdown.
Much of the attention entering Saturday had been on Bryce Underwood, whose development became a major topic after the Western Michigan opener. Urban Meyer had specifically pointed to Underwood’s processing and progression work before the Oklahoma game.
Underwood answered some of those questions. Michigan’s defense answered plenty more.
And somewhere in the middle of it, Oklahoma’s ball boy provided a reminder that every member of the traveling party apparently has an assignment.
Even when the assignment turns into chasing a 224-pound Big Ten linebacker down the opposing sideline.