MINNEAPOLIS -- Running entirely on emotion, Minnesota came within 18 inches of making history on Saturday night against No. 15 Michigan.

In the end, emotion wasn't enough.

Playing without coach Jerry Kill, who retired abruptly on Wednesday because of health concerns, the Gophers came up short on a quarterback sneak from the half-yard line on the game's final play as Michigan won 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium, taking back the Little Brown Jug for the 70th time.

"In those situations, you have to be able to get a half a yard," interim coach Tracy Claeys said. "If you're outside the 1-yard line, we'd kick it and move on. But in that situation, I felt like we could get it. If I could do it all over again, I'd do the same thing."

A win for Minnesota would have marked the first time since 1963 it would have retained the Jug; the Gophers won 30-14 at Michigan Stadium last season. It also would have put an exclamation point on a roller-coaster week for both players and coaches.

Michigan backup quarterback Wilton Speight connected on a 12-yard touchdown pass with senior receiver Jehu Chesson with 4:57 to play to give Michigan the lead. He then hit Amara Darboh for the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.

The Gophers took over and drove 74 1/2 yards on 12 plays, converting a fourth-and-5 along the way. Junior quarterback Mitch Leidner connected on a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky that was initially ruled a touchdown on the field, which would have given the Gophers the lead with 19 seconds remaining.

But after a short review, Wolitarsky was ruled down inside the 1. With the clock running, the Gophers made an odd decision to run a play with motion and a throwback pass, which ran all but two seconds off the clock.

After a timeout, Claeys chose to go for it, but Leidner's sneak attempt was stuffed at the line of scrimmage for no gain.

"It was an emotional game, playing for Coach Kill out there," Leidner said. "(After the review) we went out there with the same mindset that we were going to punch it in. Unfortunately, it didn't happen."

Coming off an emotional loss of their own to rival Michigan State two weeks ago in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines kept their Big Ten East Division title hopes alive.

"A phenomenal learning experience for our young men, to be able to win a tough one," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. "It reinforces everything you tell them about never giving up, fighting to the end and not letting them get into the end zone."

Boasting the Big Ten's top defense, the Wolverines looked uncharacteristically charitable with both yardage and points. Michigan entered giving up a conference-low 9.3 points and 210 yards per game.

The Gophers had long exceeded those by halftime, leading 16-14 at the break and 23-21 heading to the fourth quarter. Minnesota finished with 461 yards of offense, including a career-high 317 through the air for Leidner, who threw a touchdown pass and also ran for a score.

Sophomore tight end Brandon Lingen led the Gophers with five catches for 111 yards and true freshman Rashad Still had two catches for 69 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter, for his first career score.

"We made a tremendous amount of mistakes but give our defense a place to stand... you can't let how your defense has played affect the rest of the game. That's the attitude we had on the last down," Michigan linebacker Desmond Morgan said.

But Speight, who entered after Jake Rudock was knocked from the game midway through the third quarter, led Michigan 40 yards on seven plays and into the end zone to win the game.

"The first couple of drives, I was not really comfortable," Speight said. "I talked to Coach (Jedd) Fisch on the phone before that last drive and he said, 'Just relax and have fun and smile because we know you can do it.'"

Speight threw for 29 yards on 3-of-6 passing. Chesson had 33 yards on three catches but scored two touchdowns. Michigan rolled up 296 yards of total offense.

NOTES: Michigan junior RB Drake Johnson (undisclosed injury) suited up and played after being limited in each of the last two games. ... Minnesota junior DT Scott Ekpe missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. Ekpe has 14 tackles in six starts this season, including two tackles for loss. ... Minnesota sophomore WR Eric Carter did not play because of an undisclosed injury. Carter made four catches for a career-high 91 yards against Nebraska two weeks ago. ... Michigan returns home for a game next Saturday against Rutgers. ... Minnesota will go on the road next Saturday and play at No. 1 Ohio State.