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Dayne
stuffed;
Brady
shines
By Andy tatack"
Daily Sports Editor
MADISON - For Ron Dayne, start-
ing the game with 88 first-half rushing
yards is impressive. Finishing it with the
same numbers isn't.
The Michigan defense didn't allow
Dayne a single rushing yard in the second
half, leading the charge as the Wolverines
defeated Wisconsin, 21-16, on Saturday.
After taking an early 14-0 lead, No. 4
Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) sur-
vived a late Wisconsin touchdown to
come away from Camp Randall Stadium
with a win in its Big Ten opener.
Michigan quarterback Tom Brady
played one of the best games of his
career, completing 17 of his 27 passes for
217 yards and two touchdowns. He left
the game after sustaining a vicious
fourth-quarter hit.
In the first quarter, with Michigan's
running game still stagnant, Brady took
control of the passing attack.
He threw for his first two touchdowns
of the season, including a third-quarter
strike to DiAllo Johnson that was the dif-
ference in the game.
"It was a typical Michigan-Wisconsin
football game," Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr said. "I thought it was very physical
and hard-hitting. Wisconsin did a tremen-
dous job against us defensively, particu-
larly against the run.
The 17th-ranked Badgers (0-1, 2-2),
stuffed Michigan's rushing attack, which
struggled for the third straight game.
See BADGERS, Page 78
LOUIS BROWN / Day
The Michigan defense corralled Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne in the second half, allowing him zero yards rushing after the break.
Two d ff'erent looks at Carr's
oft-examined QB rotation
be played in the second quarter.
In this case, Brady got the nod. Maybe Lloyd
knew the drive would end just before the quar-
ter did. Maybe.
Brady may have.earned himself the extra 49
seconds, but the second quarter could not be
his.
There was a plan. Lloyd could not deviate.
Henson came in, and Michigan's offense lost
the wave it seemed to ride with Brady at the
controls. Henson did fine in the second quarter,
he completed four passes. But his performance
seemed more like his second half at Syracuse.
Wisconsin scored, and Michigan's once
imposing 14-0 lead - tough to overcome for
rushing-oriented teams - shriveled to 14-9.
Less than ideal.
No one can say for sure how things may have
been different, but one thing seems clear. By
bringing in Henson, Lloyd lifted a hot quarter-
back in favor of an untested one.
This was not what Lloyd had bargained for.
Finding which quarterback has the hot hand
works if you find him in the last place you look.
But benching the hot hand seems questionable
in a Big Ten game.
Lloyd got away with it, because the benching
didn't bother Brady. He came back and led
Michigan to one more touchdown - this drive
a yard longer than his first-quarter one. It ended
in his second touchdown pass of the year. His
other drives ended in two punts and an inter-
ception. Michigan's offense had lost some snap,
and the logical conclusion was that the rotation
had iced Brady.
THE GOOD SIDE
It would have been easy to blame the rotation
had Michigan lost. But that sort of talk was
silenced by Chris Ghardozi. When Brady went
down, the talent, experience and leadership of
Michigan's quarterback position changed very
little.
Not many teams can say that, and still have
those levels all be as high as Michigan's. So talk
nfth t1rntsati nflist na'~nin nnciti ;fl in cnn at
"These two victories were very important to us,"
ichigan coach Debbie Belkin said. "We gotta win every
ig Ten game."
Michigan began yesterday's 2-0 shutout of Iowa with a
fierce attack. It took just six minutes for Michigan to tally
£oal. Senior midfielder Mari Hoff drove the ball down
1-ight side of the field and lofted a shot over Iowa goalie
Melissa Wickart's head into the back of the net.
After the first goal, the Wolverines never showed a sign
of letdown, buoyed by a strong defensive effort. The
Hawkeyes were unable to mount any offensive attack
throughout the entire game.
Senior captain Emily Schmitt steadied the Wolverines'
ing up.
Suddenly, having two starter-caliber quarter-
backs seemed a better idea than ever. Less than
two hours before, it had never seemed worse.
THE UGLY SIDE
Michigan's offense started off the the game
on its own 10-yard line. It tried to establish the
running game early. It went nowhere. A person-
al foul called on Wisconsin kept the Wolverines
alive. ,
And then, Brady came alive. He engineered a
90-yard drive that ended with his first touch-
down pass since January, a floater to Aaron
Shea.
Although Michigan's second touchdown
came on the ground, on the second play of a
drive, Brady had clearly played his best opening
quarter of the year. He completed nine passes
- enough for some entire games at Michigan.
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