Monday September 16, 2002 @2002 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan catJle luhrbiguu tiI SP I ...4.A SECTIONB Vol. CXII, No. 10 NOTRE DAME 25, MICHIGAN 23 0ool's ol 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.