Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore visits with Zak Zinter in the emergency room after his injury last Saturday. Moore was the head coach serving in place of Jim Harbaugh, who was on suspension.

It was easily a Top 5 worst moment in Tiffany Zinter’s life.

University of Michigan had just completed an 18-yard pass to rival Ohio State’s 22-yard line with the score 17-17 in the final minutes of the third quarter.

“I usually watch Zak on every play and then watch the ball,” said Tiffany. “On this play I watched Zak, and then J.J. (McCarthy) throws the ball to A.J. (Barner), who made a nice run. I look back and I see someone on the ground, injured. I saw the No. 5 and thought it was J.J.

“My daughter Kierstyn said, ‘No mom, it’s Zak!’ I said, ‘No it’s not,’” recalled Tiffany. “So then I realize it’s Zak and I’m like ‘Oh my God! What is it?’ Then I saw the first trainer pointing for a cart and I just took off. My husband (Paul) was next to me and I didn’t even think to pull him with me.”

Her eldest son Zak, was lying down writhing in pain, after breaking both bones – tibia and fibula – in his left leg.

When Tiffany got down to the gate, she was met by another trainer, who let her in.

“He said, ‘How did you get down here so fast,’” said Tiffany. “I told him, ‘Mama bear knows.’”

She rushed over to where her son was being treated.

“I was watching and couldn’t take it anymore and just pushed my way to the doctors and knelt down, and grabbed Zak’s hand,” she recounted. “I saw his leg was going in the wrong direction. He was very upset and saying, ‘Why? Why? Why?’”

Soon her husband was there, and Zak was raised up on the stretcher.

That was when something magical occurred. A loud chant started, “Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak!”

Zak gave a thumbs up and pumped his fist a few times before being wheeled to the tunnel where an ambulance was waiting.

The chants, “Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak!” got louder and louder.

There was one problem about that “magical” salute to her son and his place on this undefeated Michigan team.

“It wasn’t until we were sitting in the waiting room when my daughter asked me what I thought about the chant for Zak,” said Tiffany. “I said, ‘What chant?’ I don’t remember a thing. I was in shock. It was an out-of-body experience.

“What I do remember was after I got up from being with Zak and I turned around and the entire team was surrounding us,” she called. “I lost it there.”

It started out like any other play, said Zak.

“It was pass play, (I was) just hopping on a bull rusher,” said the North Andover resident from his Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital bed. “I pretty well had him locked up. When you’re jumping on a bull rush, you’re kind of hopping back, and as soon as I hopped back one last time, another defensive guy fell into my leg.

“I just heard a pop, and got rolled up on, heard the pop again, felt it,” said Zak, “and then my leg was broke.”

Zak said, initially, there was pain, but the overflow of Michigan-Ohio State adrenaline was probably dulling it somewhat.

“My leg was sideways and they started to pull it straight, like to re-center it or whatever you want to call it,” said Zak. “I could feel the bones moving and touching inside my leg as they were trying to straighten it. That was the worst pain I ever felt.”

By the time he was lifted from the ground onto the stretcher, the chants … “Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak! … from the Michigan Stadium crowd of 110,000 standing-room-only fans made him forget about the pain for a short while.

In fact, if there ever could’ve been a smidgen of regret about Zak’s decision to return to Michigan for a final year, the fans chanting his name would’ve eliminated that regret.

“I’ve said this a lot, but Michigan is special, being a Michigan Man means something,” said Zak. “Sure, the injury was unfortunate, but hearing over 100,000 fans saying my name? It just goes to show we’ve got something special going on here at Michigan.”

But love for Zak got even better, as he found out soon after resting comfortably in his hospital bed in the University Hospital emergency room.

On the next play after Zak’s injury, Michigan running back Blake Corum rushed 22 yards for the eventual go-ahead and winning touchdown with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter.

While in the back of the end zone, Corum ran close to a camera and put up six fingers and then five fingers, honoring No. 65, Zak Zinter.

All of it was unplanned. Yet, you couldn’t have planned it any better.

“We said we were going to do it for [Zak],” said Corum, who like Zak had pro possibilities but decided to return.

But Zak’s injury and the response at the stadium last Saturday became bigger than Michigan and college football.

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt, who called the game, broke down during his podcast the day after the game, talking about what he saw and heard.

“Even though my headset’s on, I hear the stadium start to come alive,” said Klatt. “They’re pumping up the air cast. The team is devastated. and the stadium starts chanting … and if I get emotional I’m sorry … ‘Let’s go Zak! Let’s go Zak!’

“And it’s not just one section. It’s not just one area. It was the whole stadium,” said Klatt. “And it was loud. It was so loud that I took my headset off to hear it.”

Klatt took it further, noting there was nothing fake about what was happening.

“This was completely human-driven – no music, no band, no PA announcer,” said Klatt, starting to get emotional. “The Michigan fans just start chanting for him. I got emotional in the booth. Right then, here’s what happens: The team goes from devastated to unified when this tsunami of emotion from the fans pours out onto the field.”

Michigan players and coaches were like a revolving door, visiting their 6-foot-6, 300-pound captain while he was recovering in University Hospital, the first four days following Zak’s injury were not easy.

Seeing his football family at different times helped Zak forget, even for stretches of a few minutes, about the pain.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who wasn’t on the sidelines last Saturday because of a three-game suspension, was one of the first to visit Zak within an hour of the Michigan 30-24 win.

“They were still cutting everything off me when he got there,” recalled Zak. “It was awesome seeing him and his wife Sarah. They are special people. It meant a lot.”

Seeing his mother, Tiffany, by his side almost every minute since the injury has been the best medicine Zak has ever had.

“My daughter had to go back to school so my husband took her back on Monday,” said Tiffany. “And I stayed because that’s what mothers do. That’s what mothers are supposed to do.”

Zak said having his mother just a few feet away, sitting or sleeping in the chair next to his hospital bed the first three days was a gift from God.

“She didn’t even hesitate to cancel her flight and be with me,” said Zak. “Honestly, she’s been there for me and my family our entire lives. This is who she is. I am so grateful. I love her greatly for it. and I wouldn’t be where I am today or even be able to have breakfast this morning without her.”

Zak’s brother Preston, a freshman at Notre Dame University, showed his Zinter family values early on Sunday morning after arriving on the red-eye after the Stanford game.

After arriving around 4:30 a.m., he immediately went to his dorm, got his car keys, and drove 175 miles to be with his brother by 8 a.m.

“We do have a great, close family and the fact Preston didn’t want to wait and immediately came to be with his brother and his family says that,” said Tiffany. “I couldn’t be prouder.”

University Hospital doctors told Zak and his mom that the surgery went very well. The fact he didn’t suffer any damage to his knee or ankle, including the ligaments, means he could start rehab in three months.

The NFL Draft will be on April 24, a week short of five months, which means all systems go for Zak’s potential pro career.

“I was very lucky in that sense,” said Zak.

Zak was named a Mid-Season All-American at guard and a semifinalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award given to the top offensive linemen (four finalists remain).

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has Zak going in the second round, ranking him as the No. 2 guard in the draft.

But for now the draft is a world away. Zak’s health and, of course, Michigan’s next game on Dec. 2 in Indianapolis — the Big 10 Championship — was on the docket.

Michigan needs to win that game to get the championship series. Michigan is ranked No. 2.

Doctors have allowed Zak, who has spent the last three days in his apartment, to be with the team.

“I’m a captain and I need to be there with my guys, my family, at the game,” said Zak.

“It’s going to be tough not playing, but I want to be there as a leader on the sidelines. This is bigger than me. We have some goals we have yet to attain.”

His family will be there, including dad and daughter, who flew out on Friday, and, of course, mom, who started her 4½ drive from Ann Arbor to Indianapolis around noon on Friday.

“We will have about 14 family members at the game,” she said. “Our son is a Michigan man. and he is going to the game and we want to be there to support him and that team. Yes, I’m tired. But it’s what families do. and yes, it’s what moms do.”

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.