Biff Poggi’s brief tenure as Michigan interim head coach might have reached its end — but he made sure to drop the mic on his way out.
Michigan’s associate head coach led the Wolverines to back-to-back wins while Sherrone Moore served his self-imposed two game suspension for the university’s sign-stealing scandal.
A 60-point thrashing of Central Michigan in Week 3 was to be expected. But a nailbiter victory in their Big Ten road opener? Now that calls for celebration.
The Wolverines held on for a gritty 30-27 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
After the game, the 65-year-old former Charlotte head coach was asked about how he intended to celebrate the hard-fought victory, a common question typically met with a formulaic response.
But Poggi’s no ordinary guy — and nothing could have prepared CBS Sports reporter Jenny Dell for the all-time answer that he was about to provide.
“I’m gonna eat some Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream with my wife and smoke a Cuban cigar… and then probably go the hospital,” Poggi said.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola’s last-second, 52-yard touchdown knotted the score at 17 heading into halftime — but the No. 21 ranked Michigan never lost control of the matchup.
The Wolverines dominated on the ground, racking up three rushing touchdowns and the most rushing yards against Nebraska since 2022 (286). Meanwhile, their defense sacked Raiola seven times and forced him to throw his first interception of the season.
Nebraska cut the lead to three with 1:34 left on the clock, but Michigan recovered the onside kick and drained the remaining time.
Poggi had high praise for Michigan’s defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale, offering yet another piece of humorous imagery after the game.
“Wink Martindale, we’re going to put him in bubble wrap on the plane on the way back so nothing happens to him,” Poggi joked. “Our defensive kids played so hard. They never gave up. The whole team never gave up.”
Poggi will hand the reins back over to Moore, who returns to the Michigan (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) sidelines for their conference home opener against Wisconsin on Saturday, October 4.