Monday
September 16, 2002
@2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Vol. CXII, No. 10
NOTRE DAME 25, MICHIGAN 23
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Rivalry is
better than
ugly game
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards streches for a John Navarre pass that was just out of reach. Edwards remained relatively quiet until the second half of the game, where he had three catches for 62 yards.
I
Varsity self-destructs its
way to crushing defeat
By J. Brady McCollough After a great individual effort by Michi
Daily Sports Writer gan safety Cato June to stop a bootleg b
4-
)y
SOUTH BEND - After an excess of
hype, nostalgic recollections of games
past and obligatory comparisons
between the two storied programs, Michigan
and Notre Dame played an utterly forgettable
game.
The renewal of this rivalry, dormant for
two years, played more like a Conference
USA game than one between the two win-
ningest teams in college football history. If
you've ever had the
pleasure of watching
Cincinnati and Texas
Christian battle it out
on ESPN2 on a Mon-
day night, you've had
the pleasure of
watching a game
plagued by penalties,
turnovers, missed DAvID
tackles and big plays HORN
allowed by missed
defensive assign- Tooting
ments. You've seen my own
two teams that
nobody should probably care about play a
game that probably shouldn't be on televi-
sion.
That's what I saw on Saturday in South
Bend. The quality of play was simply not
good enough for this rivalry game.
The great Michigan-Notre Dame games of
the past have been just that: Great. The rivalry
,boasts of the closeness and competitiveness
of its history - especially its recent history.
But while Saturday's game was close, it was
far from competitive. It was two overrated
teams, neither of which seemed to be intoxi-
cated by the history or setting that should
have buoyed their competitive spirit. One
team played good enough to lose; its oppo-
nent did a better job losing.
Tyrone Willingham and Lloyd Carr are
supposed to be the kind of coaches that don't
let games like Saturday's happen. There were
enough turnovers (eight), penalties (a com-
bined 18 for 145 yards) and missed tackles
(countless) to last a season. Both teams (and
both team's fans) believed the hype surround-
ing their respective 2-0 starts, and had inflat-
ed expectations entering the game;
unfortunately neither's was really burst. Notre
Dame and its fans are talking about the Fiesta
Bowl, which is too ridiculous to even com-
ment on. Michigan players know they played
sloppily and made costly mistakes, but, well,
if my life had a rewind button, I'd have done
things differently too.
"We didn't do what we were coached to
do," captain linebacker Victor Hobson said.
"When you're playing a good team, you can't
make many mistakes, especially on the road,
and the mistakes really hurt us in the long
run."
Almost every opportunity the Wolverines
had to wrap up a tackle, they failed. Almost
every offensive possession that needed to be
prolonged was killed by a fumble. Almost
every John Navarre catch that needed to be
caught - especially in the game's waning
See HORN, Page 4B
SOUTH.BEND - The Michigan foot-
ball team appears to have started a new
tradition.
With its 25-23 loss to Notre Dame Sat-
urday, Michigan severed its faint national
title hopes on the road in September for
the third straight season.
The Irish (3-0) and Wolverines (2-1) met
up for the first time since 1999, rekindling
one of the most intense and entertaining
rivalries in the country.
"I've been waiting to play this game for
a long time," said Michigan tight end Ben-
nie Joppru, who caught seven passes for
80 yards. "I grew up watching this game,
and it just kills me for us to play so hard
but make so many mistakes."
The mistakes that Joppru lamented came
in the form of four turnovers (three fum-
bles and an interception), countless drops
from Michigan wide receivers and 10
penalties for 88 yards.
"It was a hard-fought football game,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "And
certainly for us a lot of turnovers, and you
can't beat a good football team when you
turn the football over like we did. There
were far too many penalties, and we gave
up too many plays on defense."
The last two minutes shaped up to be a
mirror image of Michigan's 31-29 win
over Washington just two weeks ago -
except for the final result.
Notre Dame quarterback Carlyle Holiday
with just over two minutes to play, the
Wolverines got the ball back down 25-23
at their own 30-yard line. They were right
where they wanted to be.
"Never, not one second, did I think we
were going to lose this game," Joppru said.
But Michigan's execution on the final
two-minute drill greatly resembled its
sloppy performance for most of the game.
After a first-down run by quarterback John
Navarre, wide receiver Tyrece Butler
dropped two consecutive passes - one on
See IRISH, Page 4B
September blues
September has been a tough month for
Michigan over the past three seasons, as
the Wolverines have lost on the road in a
nonconference matchup each year. Here is
a reminder of what happened in 2000 and
2001.
Sept. 16, 2000 - at UCLA: Ranked No. 3 in
the country, Michigan went into Pasadena with
legitimate national title aspirations. But thanks
to two missed field goals and one missed PAT by
Hayden Epstein, Michigan lost 23-20.
Sept. 8, 2001- at Washington: The Wolver-
ines led 12-6 in the fourth quarter, but two
touchdowns on a blocked field goal return and
interception return cost them the game, 23-18.
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Notre Dame linebacker Brandon Hoyte (39) and lineman Dan Stevenson (74) celebrate their "Return to
Glory" with students who rushed the field after their dramatic victory.
Field hockey overcomes deficit, wins in OT
By Brian Stowe
Daily Sports Writer
After three straight blowouts, the No. 3 Michigan
field hockey team finally faced a challenge, and it
responded with the resolve typical of a defending
national champion.
Senior Molly Powers scored the game winner in
overtime off a beautiful
assist from Jessica Rose, CONNECTICUT 1
clinching a 2-1 come-from-
behind-victory over Con- MICHIGAN 2
necticut yesterday at Ocker
Field. The win was Michigan's fourth straight, and it
gave the Wolverines (5-1) a weekend sweep in the Big
Ten/Big East Challenge following their 6-2 onslaught
of No. 14 Boston College on Saturday.
"I'm really proud of our team," coach Marcia
ST. -1.«.4 - --; a IT ...t ,- _ - - - _ ~ -- - '
Huskies' goalkeeper Maureen Butler with 25 shots. But
an outstanding performance by Butler, coupled with a
stingy Connecticut defense, prevented Michigan from
finding the back of the net.
The game remained scoreless until the second half,
when the Huskies mounted a strong counterattack, and
Lauren Henderson took advantage of a breakaway.
With the Michigan defense trailing behind her, Hender-
son faked out Wolverine goalkeeper Molly Maloney
and fired a strike into the back of the cage with just
under 15 minutes remaining.
"Those are the breaks of the game," Pankratz said.
"We had three missed tackles - hopefully we won't
have that again. We're a very attacking team, and I feel
that we're such a good scoring team that I'm not really
worried about one goal here or there."
Following a Connecticut timeout, Michigan
The goal rejuvenated the Wolverines, who continued
their offensive barrage against Butler as regulation
came to a close.
In overtime, Michigan survived an early Connecticut
breakaway, when Husky forward Kelly Cochrane was
unable to convert on a wide-open net. Just minutes
later, Rose corralled the ball at midfield and stormed
through the Connecticut defense. With Powers streak-
ing ahead, Rose launched a perfect pass and let her
teammate do the rest. Powers shrugged off Butler, who
was out of position, and lifted a beautiful shot into the
open net.
Rose "did a great job of cutting the ball on an angle
to make the defender commit," Powers said. "I just
went to the open passing lane, and she gave me a great
ball with perfect pace, so I could take it on the move
and never have to slow my stride down."
PRns iiused herwfresh leas to e~ngineer the final score.