The 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl featured the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

of the SEC against the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Both teams were surprised to be playing in the game. The defending National Champion Wolverines, with their two early season losses and the Razorbacks playing under first year coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is a former American football player and coach. He currently works for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (19 ...

caused very different expectations.

Game summary

Trailing 31-24 with just 5:49 left in the game, the Wolverines rallied by scoring 21 points in four minutes to win their 15th bowl game all-time.

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Anthony Thomas led the Wolverines with three rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s and 139 yards. Thomas was named Citrus Bowl

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and linebacker

Sam Sword Sam Lee-Arthur Sword (born December 9, 1974) is a former American football player. A native of Saginaw, Michigan, Sword played college football as a linebacker for the University of Michigan from 1995 to 1998. He was the leading tackler on the ...

was named Michigan Defensive MVP by the media after recording 11 tackles. The Wolverines scored first with 6:29 left in the first quarter as

Jay Feely Thomas James "Jay" Feely (born May 23, 1976) is a former American football placekicker and current sportscaster. He started his career with the Florida Bobcats in the Arena Football League as a street free agent in 1999 before playing for seve ...

kicked a 43-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. However, Arkansas responded on a 35-yard touchdown pass from

Clint Stoerner Clinton Jacob Stoerner (born December 29, 1977) is a former American football quarterback, who played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins. He also played in the Arena Football League and NFL Europe. He p ...

to Michael Williams in the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead. Michigan then scored with a two-yard touchdown run from Thomas, and a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown by

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Ian Gold Ian Maurice Gold (born August 23, 1978) is a former American football player. Gold played eight seasons of professional football as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos from 2000 to 2003 and 2004 to 2007 an ...

. After Arkansas’

Todd Latourette Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

completed a 42-yard field goal cut the lead to 17-10, Michigan drove 69 yards with a five-yard touchdown run by Thomas taking a 24-10 lead into halftime. However, the Razorbacks would score three consecutive second half touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead. Thomas tied the game on a one-yard run.

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

found

Diallo Johnson Diallo (pronounced ; ff, 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞥆𞤮, italics=no, Jallo, ) is a transcription of an African surname of Fula origin (English transcriptions are Jalloh and Jallow; the Portuguese and Creole transcription is Djaló). It is one of several co ...

in the endzone from 21 yards out for the eventual game winning score with 2:25 remaining. Michigan

Cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

James Whitley sealed the victory with 1:47 remaining by intercepting a Stoerner pass, returning it 26 yards for a touchdown

Aftermath

Michigan became the first Big Ten team to win the Citrus Bowl since 1993.

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
{{Tom Brady

Florida Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, an ...

Citrus Bowl (game) Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Tangerine Bowl, Florida Citrus Bowl

Tom Brady