Ghe mirbtiga &lg PORTS '. 3 ... .. : }sx h z ,31 +'. ,.vg " y/S 0.\1'2S. h' "'? i+.' f? 'yZ A I, ar r 19 ess 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. .I W .5.1 p r rfy #Yr ,7 ":.: . 4a! l W. .+F$ .. .r U