Wednesday, September 8, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 19A _ E IRV Alk f . r,,. 4 LATACK Continued from Page 13A But here was Jackson again, mak- ing option pitches to the referee, the student managers and everyone else but his teammates. Jackson's fourth- quarter interception was such a bad pass that Tommy Hendricks couldn't have dropped it if he tried. Sometimes, Jackson seemed unbeatable. At others, he was almost a handicap, dancing around in the back- field for so long he ended up taking some crucial second-half sacks. If one of the quarterbacks looked like he was playing his first game of the sea- son on Saturday, it was J-squared. Meanwhile, Brady plugged away. Not flashy, but efficient - as we've come to expect him to be. He com- pleted his first five passes of the sec- ond half, and kept the Notre Dame defense from keying on Anthony Thomas. None of his passes were in danger of being picked off. And with Thomas running as well as he did and David Terrell catching every ball in a 10-foot radius, Brady's job was just to keep things moving. But Brady's performance would have been fairly forgettable if it weren't for his end-of-the-game hero- ics. Brady fueled the game-winning drive by completing two long passes, including a 20-yarder to Terrell that set up first and goal at the five. Brady had been so steady in the second half - he ended 13-of-18 for 160 yards in the third and fourth quarters - that there was no reason to doubt that he could lead such a drive. Or that he could do it again. So be happy for Tom Brady. While his performance didn't win the start- ing job in Carr's eyes, it certainly helped his cause. He proved that slow-and-steady can still win games, as he did 10 times last season. I'll take the quarterback he was on Saturday anytime. Brady looked very good. And if Carr refuses to name a starter because the race is so close, than means Henson does as well. I could think of worse quarterback dilemmas. Which gives Michigan fans plenty of reason to smile. But you can bet that nobody's smile was as big as Brady's on Saturday. That's what hav- ing some job security will do for you. - Andy Latack can be reached via e-mail at latack~qwunich.edu. Ia r &i p. a x 14 i DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily .arry Foote got the best of Jarlous Jackson on this play, but the Notre Dame quarterback gave the Wolverines fits Saturday. ackson passed for a career-high 302 yards as the Fighting Irish almost pulled the upset. epeat performance, but no repeat outcome for Jackson quarterback passes for career high 302 yards TEEING OFF Continued from Page 15A among the fans, who fill Keen with an almost-Yost Ice Arena decibel level. The energy of the crowd is nothing like the energy which is expended during a Michigan cross-country meet. If you don't believe me, you try running 5,000 meters in a half-sprint. Heck, walking from Elbel Field to the Diag is enough to cause some stu- dents to tire out. But not only can cross-country runners do the Elbel-Diag marathon eight times or more at a time, they do it almost effortlessly. The Michigan men's cross-country team is a big player on the national stage, finishing fourth at NCAAs last year. And while the women lost NCAA champion Katie McGregor, they are also intent on making Michigan a permanent national contender. As for the golf and tennis teams, what they do is a lot harder than it looks on TV Any person who can drill a 5-iron within five of the hole or smack a blistering 100-mile-per-hour ace is someone to behold. These athletes don't get the public- ity of their football brethren. They won't make millions of dollars in sports someday. They play for the love of the game, and they love any fanfare which might come with it. So get out of that book line and get to a Michigan athletic event. Besides, the book stores ran out of that English coursepack an hour ago. - TJ Berka can be reached via e- mail at berkata, umich.edu. TEE OFF EVERY MONDAY. :i o L. ly T.J. Berka )aily Sports Editor *ming into Saturday's game with Jotre Dame, Lloyd Carr had one lain concern on defense - stop- ing Jarious Jackson. The previous year, Jackson and le Notre Dame option attack gave e Wolverines fits. Jackson scram- led, pitched and ran past Michigan ith relative ease, helping the ighting Irish accumulate 280 rush- g yards in cruising to a 36-20 vic- >* So going into the rematch, the fichigan defense had one goal in tind - to stop the Notre Dame ashing attack and force Jackson to 'in throwing the ball. He almost did it. While the Wolverines held the ish to under 100 yards on the round, Jackson almost did what the Volverines wanted him to do. Win by throwing the ball. kson "is one of the toughest uarterbacks I've ever had to play gainst," linebacker Ian Gold said. Hewas unbelievable out there." The Wolverines expected Jackson be a difficult assignment. That asnot a question.With what he did Michigan last year with the >tion, the Wolverines were deter- med to not let Jackson beat them e ground. ept for a 12-yard run in which Lckson evaded Michigan defenders ith Houdini-like moves, the Wolverines contained Jackson. Jackson also didn't have much success pitching the ball to his tail- backs, fumbling three pitches. Except for a 40-yard run by Tony Fisher in the second quarter, the Irish had trouble rushing the ball off the pitch. "I thought we handled the option pretty well," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I said before the game that if we got Notre Dame in a lot of third and long situations, I would be confi- dent." Carr accomplished his goal. The Fighting Irish were caught in third- and-long situations numerous times throughout the game. But it certainly wasn't due to Michigan's pass defense. Jackson finished the afternoon 18-for-29 with 302 yards through the air, a career high. Many of those yards came in long yardage situa- tions, something that didn't exactly sit well with Carr. "I thought that getting Notre Dame in third and long situations would be good," Carr said. "We real- ly have a lot of work to do." A popular pass pattern for Jackson and the Irish was the 20- yard crossing route directed toward the middle of the field. Jackson picked the Michigan sec- ondary apart with tosses to receivers such as Raki Nelson and Joey Getherall in the soft underbelly which was contained between the linebackers and safeties. "The linebackers were not getting enough yardage on their drops," strong safety Tommy Hendricks said. Carr was a little more diplomatic in placing the blame, but he agreed with his senior safety for the most part. "Their receivers were getting too far upfield," Carr said. "We want the linebackers to drop 14 to 15 yards and make the tackle underneath. We didn't do that Saturday." But as much as the Michigan defense might have had execution problems, that wasn't the whole explanation behind Jackson's pass- ing display on Saturday. "Jarious is a great passer," Hendricks said. "I didn't think he was that good. I knew he could run the ball, but we didn't expect him to pass the ball like that." Hendricks wasn't the only Michigan defender that was blown away by the Jackson aerial circus. Jackson's passing - coupled with a couple of trick plays devised by new Notre Dame offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers - left the Michigan defenders feeling exhausted and thankful for the victory. "It was tough out there," corner- back James Whitley said. "They were attacking us from the outside, inside, everywhere. But we hung tough and pulled it out" DANA UNNANE/Daily While Uoyd Carr and the Michigan football team garner a lot of support, they aren't the only talented Michigan team competing this fall. I volunteer. to read university services for students with disabilities office haven hall G-625 phone 763-3000 call or stop by for information THE MICHIGAN DAILY THE CL( A mx ' M £ ~T TTT Stucnts "4 q --ggmlmpppl- __ F L I ~~ I if (iA ..C~ * V Pta.v I IfIll. r"*%rruu c I wp I U OUR ALUMS AVE MARRIED J IrZ I1Jd.L~llN Z L M AF' -W - dFJi MLM--IJas L n -5L- O -4m MARILYN PROFESSIONAL PICK-UP and DELIVERY LAUNDRY SERVICE Specifically Designed for U of M Students In Dorms or Off-Campus Housing Ideal for All Busy Students Student Special during the entire month of September Present ID with purchase I_ I MONROE AND I 1 %ono - wiiC r I