0
4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 16, 2002
NOTRE DAME 25,
MICHIGAN 23
GAME STATISTICS
Team Stats
First Downs
Rushes/Yards
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Return Yards
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
MICH
15
26/91
230
68
321
71
19/42/1
5/47
3/3
10/88
25:59
ND
16
50/157
154
67
311
126
8/17/1
6/43
4/3
8/57
34:01
M I C H I G A N
PASSING
Player
Navarre
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Perry
Askew
Navarre
Edwards
TEAM
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Edwards
Joppru
Askew
Bellamy
Butler
Totals
PUNTING
Player
Finley
Totals
C-A
19-42
19-42
Att
'16
5
3
1
26
No.
4
7
1
3
19
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
LeSueur 2
Perry 1
Totals 3
PUNT RETURNS
Player N
Curry, J.
Totals
DEFENSE
Player
Hobson
Diggs
Drake
June
Kaufman
Jackson
Orr
Stevens
Rumishek
Lazarus
Shazor
Curry, M.
Dubuc
Reid
McClintock
Spytek
Upchurch
Heuer
Finley
Bowman
Stewart
Combs
Hood
PASS DEFENSE
Player
Jackson
Totals
Yds
78
15
10
-10
-2
91
Yds
95
80
22
18
15
230
No.
5
5
Yds
41
21
62
Yds
9
51
Solo
6
5
5
3
5
4
1
0
2
2
2.
1
0
1
1
0
O
O
Yds
230
230
Avg
4.9
5.0
3.3
-10
-2.0
3.5
Avg
23.8
11.4
5.5
18.0
5.0
12.1
Yds
235
235
Avg Lg
47.0 52
47.0 52
TD
1
1
Lg
13
5
5
0
0
13
Lg
38
18
9
18
11
38
No.
2
4
Avg Lg
20.5 21
21.0 21
20.7 21
Avg Lg
4.5 5
12.8 27
Asst T
4 1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
9g Brk-up
9 .0
19 0
Int
1
TD
1
0
0
0
1
TO
0
0
0
0
1
TD
TO
0
0'
TO
0
Tot
10
8
6
6
5
5
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
It
Yds Ls
19 1s
19 1s
NO T RE D A M E
PASSING
Player
Holiday
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Grant
Holiday
Neal-Powers
Lopienski
Wilson
Team
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Jenkins
Stovall
Godsey
Clark
Battle
Grant
Totals
C-A Yds TD
8-17 154 O
8-17 154 0
Att
28
15
2
3
1
50
No.
3
1
8
Yds
132
14
8
3
2
-2
157
Yds
83
41
16
9
5
0
154
No.
6
6
Yds
49
21
12
82
Avg
4.7
.9
4.0
1.0
2.0
-2.0
3.1
Avg
27.7
41.0
16.0
9.0
5.0
0
19.2
Lg
38
17
8
2
2
0
38
Lg
47
41
16
9
5
0
47
Int
TD
2
0
0
0
0
3
TD
TO
0
O
0
0
Joppru's h
game con
Offense leaves 'D' o
By Joe Smith
Daily.Sports Editor
SOUTH BEND - Michigan captain
Bennie Joppru somberly walked out of
the lockerroom, right past reporters.
After letting his gritty performance
on the field do the talking, the senior
tight end didn't feel like he had anything
else left to say.
It didn't matter FOOTBALL
he had a career-dayN
in one of the Notebook
biggest games of
his life, grabbing seven catches for 80
yards and one touchdown against rival
Notre Dame in South Bend.
It didn't matter that six of Joppru's
seven catches resulted in either first
downs or six points for Michigan, as he
single-handedly helped a struggling
offense move the chains. He became
the go-to-guy for quarterback John
Navarre, who found Joppru on critical
third down plays. Navarre also hooked
up with Joppru in the end zone with
just under three minutes left in regula-
tion to bring Michigan within a two-
point conversion of tying the game.
And it definitely didn't matter he was
declared the game's most valuable play-
er by NBC, which broadcast the event.
It just mattered that the Wolverines
lost, and teammates say that their cap-
tain took the loss particularly hard.
"He doesn't care about the catches,"
said receiver Ron Bellamy. "He's hurt-
ing right now."
Joppru's receptions were especially
important since other Michigan
receivers were admittedly not carrying
their own weight - and not holding
onto the ball. Tyrece Butler dropped a
few passes and fumbled another. Usual-
ly reliable B.J. Askew fumbled on
Michigan's first possession after trying
to run after a catch. But Joppru found
his way underneath Notre Dame's zone
'F s
Receiver Tyrece Butler tumbled once at t
Turnover's
haunt Mic
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Editor
SOUTH BEND Entering Satur-
day's game against Notre Dame, Michi-
gan knew what to expect from the
Fighting Irish's aggressive defense: The
ability to force turnovers in bunches.
Turnovers plagued both teams -
Notre Dame had four as well, two of
which turned into Michigan touch-
downs - but Michigan knew that the
Fighting Irish had a knack for turnovers
and still gave up four. The defensive
strategy has been one that Notre Dame
has had all season and has utilized to
incredible success.
"We have a mentality on defense
right now: We gotta go get that ball and
cause turnovers," Notre Dame defen-
sive tackle Cedric Hilliard said. "We
just have it in our minds right now that
we have to do that every game and
that's what we're doing."
The ease of forcing the turnovers
came as no surprise to the Fighting
Irish, who have been playing this type
of aggressive defense all season.
yes in vain
n the field for eternity
z
f
r
r
i
C
r
est career
coverage and separated himself from
linebackers to keep Michigan in the
game.
THE LONGEST TIME: Bellamy said
Michigan's sputtering offense in the
first half left its defense hanging out to
dry. The Fighting Irish controlled pos-
session, holding the ball for nearly 21
of the 30 minutes in the first two quar-
ters - most of which due to turnovers,
penalties and inefficiencies by Michi-
gan's offense.
"We screwed our defense," Bellamy
said. "There's no way they should be on
the field that long. We definitely didn't
help their cause."
Notre Dame running back Ryan
Grant, who had his first career 100-yard
rushing game with 132 yards on 28 car-
ries, said he definitely could tell Michi-
gan's defense was wearing down in the
second half.
"They had no time to rest," Grant
said. "And our defense got all the time
in the world."
0-LINE SHUFFLE: After a first half
marred by penalties and an unproduc-
tive running game, Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr decided to make some
changes up front at the half. He inserted
freshmen Adam Stenavich and Matt
Lentz to replace left tackle Courtney
Morgan and right guard Dave Petruziel-
lo, respectively; Stenavich and Lentz
played for most of the second half. And
Michigan's running game subsequently
had more success, as the Wolverines
rushed for 96 yards on 18 carries com-
pared to its first-half total of eight yards
on eight rushes.
Morgan committed a critical holding
penalty in the end zone with 3:35 to go
in the second quarter, giving the Fight-
ing Irish a safety and a two-point lead
- the difference in the game. Michigan
was flagged 10 times for 88 yards,
something Carr said was one of Michi-
gan's downfalls.
0
BIG PLAYS GALORE: While sophomore
corner Marlin Jackson made a huge
splash in his first game against Notre
Dame - returning an interception 19
yards for a touchdown and forcing a
Carlyle Holiday fumble minutes later
- most of the talk after the game was
the amount of big plays the Michigan
defense surrendered.
PUNTING
PlayerN
Hildbold
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Battle 3
Duff 1
Shelton 1
Total 5
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Walton 2
Duff 2
Totals 4
DEFENSE
Player
Watson
Walton
Goolsby
Sapp
Earl
Bible
Tuck
Curry
Hilliard
Duff
Campbell
Roberts
Jackson
MAVIDshAZ/Daly
Michigan linebacker Victor Hobson loses his helmet on this hit on Notre Dame quarterback Carlyle Holiday.
Yds Avg Lg
258 43.0 50
258 43.0 50
0
Avg
15.8
22.0
12.0
16.4
Lg
17
22
12
22
Yds Avg Lg
25 12.5 20
18 9.0 12
43 10.8 20
Solo
5
6
5
3
2
2
3
2
2
1
1
10
0
Yds
10
0
10
Asst
4
2
3
3
2
O
0
0
1
TD
TO
0
0
0
TD
0
TO
0
Tot
9
8
6
6
5
4
3
3
2
2
TO
0
0
0
0
0
The Wolverines gave up five plays of
20 yards or more, with most of them
costing Michigan dearly.
On the second play of the game, Hol-
iday connected with Maurice Stovall for
a 41-yard gain that led to Notre Dame's
first offensive touchdown of the season.
On the Fighting Irish's opening drive in
the fourth quarter, Holiday hit Omar
IRISH
Continued from Page 13
the numbers and one behind him -
on first and second down that would
have put the Wolverines near field
goal range.
"As a receiver, I'm supposed to
make big plays, and I didn't make
big plays," a subdued Butler said.
"That's what I'm here to do."
On third down, Navarre dropped
back to pass, but as he began to
throw, Notre Dame nose guard
Cedric Hilliard touched his elbow,
forcing an errant pass right into the
hands of Irish cornerback Shane
Walton to win the game for Notre
Dame.
"I saw the ball go flying and
looked up and saw Shane pick it,"
Hilliard said. "My freshman year, we
lost to Michigan (26-22 at Michi-
gan), and I've been waiting to beat
them since that day. I saw their fans
celebrating, being rude to us, and I
thought, 'I can't wait to beat these
guys down the road.'"
The Wolverines had a chance to tie
the game with 2:49 left after a pris-
tine scoring drive to bring the score
within 25-23. Navarre, who hit 19-
of-42 passes for 230 yards, caught
fire, connecting with Braylon
Edwards twice and Joppru twice,
including an eight-yard toss for the
score. But Walton deflected the two-
point conversion attempt to Edwards,
making a last-ditch effort necessary
for the Wolverines.
"We felt like Michigan didn't want
it badly enough," Hilliard said. "It
took them a few tries to score, and
we knew we were going to stop
them."
Hilliard and the Irish defense
showed how anxious they were to
beat Michigan in the first half, hold-
ing the Wolverines' offense scoreless
with 73 yards of total offense.
Thanks to fumbles by fullback B.J
Askew and Butler, the Wolverines
spent the first half searching for
their rhythm. Michigan went into the
half down 16-7 with a 19-yard Mar-
lin Jackson interception return as
their only score.
"We put our defense on the short
end of the field," Joppru said. "They
played a tough game all game, but we
just put them in really bad situations."
HORN
Continued from Page 13
moments - was dropped. Flags flew
with such ferocious frequency that
there was more yellow than green in
Jenkins for passes of 29 yards and 47
yards to set up the eventual game-win-
ning score.
Players said the plays were a result of
either missed assignments, or guys bit-
ing on cleverly disguised play-fakes.
"We kind of put ourselves in a hole
today with big plays," safety Julius
Curry said.
Notre Dame scored its first offen-
sive touchdown of the season by
driving 80 yards right down the
Wolverines' throat to start the game.
After Butler's fumble in the final
two minutes of the half, the Irish had
to go just 27 yards to increase their
lead to 16-7 on a controversial three-
yard touchdown run by Holiday.
Replays showed that the ball never
broke the plane of the end zone.
Notre Dame running back Ryan
Grant set a career high with 28 car-
ries for 132 yards against a suppos-
edly staunch Michigan run defense.
Carr said the most disappointing
series of plays for his team was his
defense's meltdown after Michigan
took its first lead, 17-16, at the end
of the third quarter.
The Irish immediately struck back
with a five-play, 76-yard drive. Holi-
day hit two long passes to receiver
Omar Jenkins, including one for 47
yards down to the three-yard line.
The Michigan safeties bit on a per-
fect play-action fake and left Jenkins
with nothing but green in front of
him.
"It was super," Hilliard said.
"Because at the time when we fell
behind, I was a little down. But that
lifted everybody's spirits."
Said Michigan safety Julius
Curry: "It's very disappointing, but
we still have our goals. We can do
what we have to do this year."
Joppru, the senior captain, vehe-
mently echoed Curry's sentiments.
"We're not going to let this ruin
our season."
First for everything
Notre Dame's victory over Michigan
represented a series of firsts for the
Fighting Irish.
The Irish scored their first offensive
touchdown of the season on their first
drive against Michigan
Notre Dame won its first game against
a top-1O opponent since Sept. 5, 1998,
when the Irish beat No. 5 Michigan, 36-
20.
Willingham became the first Notre
Dame head coach since Dan Devine in
1975 to win his first three games.
The Fighting Irish are now 3-0 for the
first time since 1996.
unfair to expect that out of the Irish. It
was Saturday in South Bend on
national television, and ought to have
been a model of what a great college
football game should be. The mistakes
that were made were inexcusable, and
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
he end of the first half, as well as dropping two crucial passes on the final drive.
, untimely penalties
higan in South Bend
PASS DEFENSE
Player
Walton
Tuck
Curry
Hilliard
Budinscak
Totals
Int
1
O
0
0
1
Lng
10
O
0
0
0
10
Brk-up
0
1
4
PIAYERS'OF THE GAME
......
Against Purdue, Sapp returned a
fumble 54 yards for a touchdown for
one of Notre Dame's three defensive
touchdowns this season.
Despite the warning shots fired by
Notre Dame in its previous two games
against Maryland and Purdue, Michi-
gan failed to protect the football, fum-
bling three times and throwing a
game-ending interception.
"You can't beat a good football team
when you turn the ball over like we
did," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
In its first two games, Notre Dame
forced seven turnovers, but was unable
to capitalize offensively with anything
more than a field goal. Against Michi-
gan, the Fighting Irish offense scored
points when the Wolverines' turnovers
gave them a shortened field - some-
thing that even an extremely flawed
offense can capitalize on.
"We just turned over the ball too
much and let them in the game," Michi-
gan wide receiver Tyrece Butler said.
"We should have never done that, and
there was no way they would have been
in the game."
the first play after Notre Dame took the
lead, the Wolverines fumbled for the
third and final time. After a 10-yard
run, Chris Perry fumbled on Michigan's
40-yard line to give the Fighting Irish
the field goal to seal the game, 25-17.
Perry appeared to break free of the line
when he was caught from behind and
the ball was forced out.
Michigan's final turnover came on
the Wolverines' last drive. In a passing
attempt to Butler, quarterback John
Navarre's throwing arm was hit, which
caused a fluttering ball to land in the
arms of Notre Dame's Shane Watson to
end the game.
Carr remains optimistic for the sea-
son and believes that Michigan is better
than the mistakes it showed.
"If we can get away from turning the
ball over and stop the penalties, then
we are going to have a good football
team."
Fumble-itis
8:48, 1st quarter; B.J. Askew fube
On the first Michigan possession ofbthe
game, Askew's mistake made his defense
DAVID KATZ/Daily
OFFENSIVE - Bennie Joppru: The
senior tight end caught seven balls
for 80 yards and a touchdown. Six