How hobbled Erick All gritted through, made Michigan football's key play vs. Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The play that won the game began with a trio of wide receivers to the right of the formation and tight end Erick All to the left.

It was a play coach Jim Harbaugh said Michigan football had practiced many times this season but rarely used on Saturdays. Quarterback Cade McNamara said the play capitalized on Penn State’s tendency to play man coverage in critical moments.

When the ball was snapped, the three receivers crossed the field from right to left as All did the opposite, leaking toward the space his teammates just vacated. The traffic jam across the middle was a perfect man-coverage beater, and McNamara hit his tight end in stride. All caught the ball, turned upfield and sprinted 47 yards, mid-injury, to dive toward the pylon for what proved to be a game-winning score.

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“When I caught it and cut upfield, my ankle kind of tweaked and I was pretty worried about being able to be fast enough to get there,” All said. “But it was wide open, and I felt like anybody could have made the play. It just happened to be me.”

Which is fairly incredible considering where All was two weeks ago, during the closing moments of a loss to Michigan State in which he limped off the field and did not return. All thought his season was over as he grabbed at his left ankle along the sideline. The feeling, as he described following the win over Penn State, was what he assumed to be a dislocation.

The official diagnosis was a high ankle sprain, one of the more devastating injuries outside of broken bones and ligament tears. Players often need anywhere from three weeks to several months to recover from those types of injuries, and some ultimately require surgery.

For All to be back on the field 14 days later is a testament to both his toughness and his dedication to rehab. Beginning the day after the injury, All said he would arrive at Schembechler Hall around 7 a.m. each morning for treatment. He did not attempt anything resembling football-related drills until the Thursday after U-M’s loss to Michigan State and entered this week’s game against Penn State without the ankle fully healed.

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“I practiced all week, and it was hurting,” All said. “I was probably about like 80% on it. This morning I woke up, it was kind of sore. I just wanted to get out there pregame, see how it felt, worked through it and it felt good. Adrenaline took care of the rest.”

All had made three catches for 17 yards through the first three quarters as he said members of the Penn State defense taunted him about the injured ankle. Then he approached the line of scrimmage on second-and-9 from the PSU 47 with about 3:40 remaining. He crossed the formation from left to right, secured a pass from McNamara and saw nothing but green grass ahead of him.

And when he dove for the pylon 47 yards later, his gutsy performance had pushed the Wolverines ahead on what proved to be the game-winning score.

“That’s a play we work a lot and haven’t called it much,” Harbaugh said. “But when we got the man coverage, we were excited to call that one. Erick took a really perfect pass on the crossing route and circled the entire defense. They were out of leverage, and that was good for us. Erick took it and went the distance. Coming back from a high ankle and put that one to bed. He was rolling.”

Contact Michael Cohen at mcohen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Erick All shows toughness vs. Penn State