4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 15, 2003
MICHIGAN 38, NOTRE DAME 0

0

Navarre unfazed by Notre Dame in second rivalry win

GAME STATISTICS

By J. Brady McCollough
Daily Sports Editor
It's inevitable. John Navarre will
hold all the Michigan passing
records. But what about the record?
Navarre entered Saturday's game
against Notre Dame with a 1-4
record in rivalry games. While the
senior will downplay it in a second,
a Michigan quarterback's legacy is
shaped by how he plays against
Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michi-
gan State.
In his first five rivalry games,
Navarre completed 49.2 percent of
his passes (93-of-189) and threw
eight interceptions. Saturday, he
played one of the most efficient,
mistake-free games of his career,
and he did it against a big rival on
an even bigger stage.
As the nation looked on and lis-
tened to ABC commentator Brent
Musburger rave about Navarre, it
was Navarre's quiet, workman-like
performance that did most of the
talking. He completed two-thirds of
his passes (14-of-21) for 199 yards,
had one touchdown and no intercep-
tions, bringing the record to 2-4 in a
38-0 rout of Notre Dame Saturday.
Navarre's third play from scrim-
mage seemed like an early omen
that this would be another day the
Cudahy, Wisc., native would like to
forget. Navarre fumbled on a sack
by Notre Dame linebacker Courtney
Watson, and the Irish recovered at
the Michigan 38-yard line.
But Navarre's confidence wasn't
shaken. After 31 games as the
Wolverines' starting quarterback,
he's seen it all.

"We worked hard enough all week
that we had confidence," Navarre
said. "And (the fumble) was just a
fluke thing. He put his helmet right
on the ball. (Losing confidence)
was never an issue."
After the fumble, Navarre settled
into a groove, allowing Chris Perry
and the running attack to set up the
play-action pass.
Navarre hit redshirt freshman
Carl Tabb for 21 yards to set up
Adam Finley's 24-yard field goal.
On Michigan's next drive, he uti-
lized the play-action fake on con-
secutive plays to connect with
Braylon Edwards and Jason Avant
for 31-yard receptions.
On 3rd-and-goal from the 5-yard
line, Navarre stayed patient and
found Perry, his third read on the
play, to put the Wolverines ahead
17-0.
"(The success on play action) is a
credit to an aggressive defense
which Notre Dame has," Navarre
said. "We wanted to take advantage
of that."
Navarre struggled in his first two
games of the season without Bennie
Joppru and B.J. Askew, his favorite
third-down targets from last season.
He completed just 50.8 percent of
his passes.
But the senior looked comfortable
with all of his receivers Saturday, as
the Wolverines converted on 12-of-
19 third downs. Navarre hit Perry
three times for third-down conver-
sions, as well as tosses to Avant,
Tabb and tight end Tim Massaquoi
for first downs.
"Those guys all work really hard,"
Navarre said of his receivers. "They

know exactly what's expected of
them."
Perhaps Navarre's most impres-
sive drive of the game was the
Wolverines' 10-minute, 25-second
drive (the longest in Michigan his-
tory in time elapsed), which began
in the middle of the third quarter
and finished with more than 13
minutes left in the fourth.
Navarre kept the Wolverines mov-
ing forward with his feet. He rushed
for eight yards and a first down on
the drive.
"That's what we wanted to do,"
Navarre said. "That's part of putting
it all together. We did not let up, and
we did not give them a chance."
The Wolverines probably won't
know if they've put it all together
until they win a nonconference
game on the road for the first time
since Syracuse in 1999. The past
three seasons, Michigan has lost to
UCLA (2000), Washington (2001)
and Notre Dame (2002) with
Navarre under center. Needless to
say, Navarre isn't happy with that 0-
3 record entering this weekend's
Oregon game.
"It's always on my mind," Navarre
said. "We want to win out there on
the West Coast. We haven't done
that in a while."
Regardless of a win or a loss at
Oregon, Navarre has gotten used to
being dissected after every game.
When asked Saturday if his per-
formance against the Irish will alle-
viate the pressure on him, he
responded:
"I doubt that. I don't think that
will ever happen. (The criticism)
will always be there."

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
19
54/188
251
78
439
108
17/24/0
3/31.7
3/3
6/40
37:47

Notre Dame
7
25/49
91
49
140
152
8/24/2
9/43.9
0/0
5/31
22:13

40

M I C H IGA N

PASSING
Player
Navarre
Gutierrez
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Perry
Underwood
Jackson
Rembert
Bracken
Kaselitz
Navarre
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Perry
Edwards
Tabb
Massaquoi
Avant
Butler
Matsos
Fisher
Totals

C-A
14-21
3-3
17-24

Att
31
9
4
2
1
5
54
No.
4
4
2
1
3
17
1
1

PUNTING
Player
Finley
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
LeSueur 2
Totals 2
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Breaston N
Hall 2
Curry 1
Totals 8

Yds
133
21
4
15
4
-1
13
188
Yds
44
54
28
20
53
24
19
9
251
No.
5
5
Yds
56
56
Yds
51
13
7
71
Solo
5
4
4
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
O
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
47

Yds
199
52
251
Avg
4.3
2.3
4.0
3.8
2.0
-1.0
2.6
3.5
Avg
11.0
13.5
14.0
20.0
17.7
24.0
19.0
9.0
14.8
Yds
209
209

TD
1
O
1
Lg
27
6
4
7
2
0
6
27
Lg
14
16
21
20
31
24
19
9
31

TD
3
0
0
1
0
0
4
TD
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1

0

int
0
0
0

Avg Lg
41.8 46.0
41.8 46.0

Avg Lg
28.0 28
28.0 28

TO
O
0
TD
0
0
0

Avg
26.3
6.5
7.0
8.9

Lg
23
12
7
23

DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Senior quarterback John Navarre, who found himself handing the ball off to Chris
Perry a lot, had a good game behind center, throwing for 199 yards and a score.

Breaston brings excitement to Big House

By Kyle O'Neiii
Daily Sports Editor

Move over Steve Francis. There's a new Ste-
vie Franchise, and he's not shooting hoops.
Michigan punt returner Steve Breaston is
just three games into his collegiate career,
but he's already creating a lot of excitement
over his position - something that hasn't

been seen since the days of
Heisman Trophy winners
Charles Woodson in 1997 or
Desmond Howard in the
early 1990s.
"He's a good return man, he
has something you can't coach,
and that's the instincts to take it

$o g

ton did a 360 in order to control the punt. the week, Breaston was limited to just punt
His spin, though, seemed to just propel him returns instead of receiving and returning -
through his blocker's hole faster. He was as he normally does.
barely stopped at the 2-yard line. "I heard he's going to be a very good
"It was exciting being out there," said the receiver also, so he might have to do double
soft-spoken and very modest Breaston. "I saw duty," Howard said. "I enjoyed doing it when
good blocking, hit holes and made a play. When I was here, and I think that may be in his
they block like that, I have to finish the job." future."
That first-quarter return set up Michigan's WHO'S KICKING WHO?: After a supposedly
offense for its first touchdown after being good week against Houston, Michigan fresh-
stopped on the two opening drives. man kicker Garrett Rivas - 2-for-3 on field
"It was a great motivator to see him go out goals against the Cougars - found himself
there and run it to the two," said Michigan run- on the sideline throughout the contest against
ning back Chris Perry - who punched in the Irish.
Breaston's setup for the six. "He's a very talent- Finley handled all field-goal and extra-
ed person. Whenever you have a punt returner point attempts for the game.
who can break one on any play, it's a plus." "Garrett didn't (have a good week of prac-
Breaston's magic continued on his next -tice)," Michigan coachLyd Carr said.
two punt returns. He gave Michigan the Carr said he started Finley because he had
ball on its own 47 and 46 yard lines. Even a solid week in practice and was an Indiana
when Setta tried to punt away from Breast- boy overlooked by Notre Dame in favor of
on, it either resulted in a short punt out of Setta coming out of high school.
bounds, or his speed tracked the ball. Rivas and Finley were ultimately sur-
Michigan punter/kicker Adam Finley stat- prised by the decision, though, as Rivas
ed that Breaston was making his job easi- thought he had the starting job up until
er, as his returns took Michigan out of game time.
punting situations in case the offense went "It was more of a yesterday (Friday) and
three-and-out. today (Saturday) thing," Finley said of the
Because of missing a practice earlier in decision.

DEFENSE
Player
Jackson
Sarantos
Woods
Massey
McClintock
Curry
Mundy
Stevens
Van Alstyne
Reid
LeSueur
Woodley
Thompson
Hood
Tabb
Biggs
Bowman
Manning
Kaufman
Young
Stewart
Shazor
Shaw
Kashama
Totals

Asst
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
O

Tot
6
5
4
4
4
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
52

t""

right up.he middle north to south,"said
Howard, who witnessed Breaston firsthand.
While it is too early to even begin to men-
tion Breaston's name following "Heisman
contenders," his attack-first, get-tackled-
later approach to returning punts provided
the spark for Michigan on Saturday that was
needed to get on the board first.
After a defensive stop deep in Notre Dame
territory with just over seven minutes left in
the first quarter, punter Nick Setta bombed
one to Michigan's 44-yard line, where Breas-

WHO'S NEXT:
OREGONA
On the road for the first time this sea-
son, Michigan will battle an Oregon
team it hasn't faced since 1973. Hav-
ing yet to score on the Wolverines in
any of their three previous meetings,
the Ducks are coming off a blow-out
win against Arizona (48-10)and boast
a record of 3-0.
BIG TEN STANDINGS

DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Michigan punt returner Steve Breaston had a big day
Saturday, including one return to the 2-yard line.


WEEKEND'S BEST

HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED

NEW AP
TOP 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)

RAZOR SHARP: The biggest shock
of the weekend came in Austin,
where the Razorbacks surprised
No. 6 Texas with a 38-28 upset.
The win put an end to Texas's
20-game home winning streak.
Arkansas quarterback Matt
Jones didn't put up spectacular
numbers (8-of-16 for 139 yards),
but he led his team with preci-
sion and poise. He was under
constant pressure, but found
ways to escape almost every
time.
Jones sealed the game in the
fourth quarter when, on third
down, he took a bootleg keeper
from his own 39 all the way to
the endzone. Arkansas got a
field goal, which was all it need-
ed.
BULLDOGS BITE BACK: No. 8 Geor-
gia hadn't scored a touchdown
against South Carolina since
the 2000 season.
That streak ended Saturday,
though, as Georgia defeated No.

25 South Carolina 31-7.
Georgia's Reggie Brown played
a role in three of the touch-
downs, catching two himself
and setting up one with a long
reception.
Bulldogs quarterback David
Greene went 16-of-27 for 208
yards.
The Gamecocks avoided being
shut out by scoring a touchdown
in the final minute of the game.

Team
Michigan
Iowa
Ohio State
Minnesota
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Illinois
Northwestern
Penn State
Purdue
Indiana

Big Ten
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0

Overall
3 0
3 0
3 0
3 0
2 1
21
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 1
1 2

0

Associated Press Poll for week of Sept. 8.
Games updated through Sept. 13.

Team:
1. Oklahoma
2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Ohio State
4. Southern Cal.
5. Michigan
6. Texas
7. Kansas State
8. Georgia
9. Virginia Tech
10. Florida State
11. Pittsburgh
12. Louisiana State
13. Tennessee
14. Wisconsin
15. Notre Dame
16. Arizona
17. Colorado
18. Nebraska
19. Florida
20. Wake Forest
21. Washington
22. Texas Christian
23. Iowa
24. North Carolina State
25. South Carolina

Last week:
beat Fresno State 52-28
beat East Carolina 38-3
beat North Carolina State 44-38
beat Hawaii 61-32
beat Notre Dame 38-0
lost to Arkansas 38-28
beat Massachusetts 38-7
beat South Carolina 31-7
beat James Madison 43-0
beat Georgia Tech
beat Ball State 42-21
beat Western Illinois 35-7
beat Marshall 34-24
lost to UNLV 23-5
lost to Michigan 38.0
beat Utah State 26-16
lost to Washington State 47-26
beat Penn State 18-10
beat Florida A&M 63-3
lost to Purdue 1610
beat Indiana 38-13
beat Navy 17-3
beat Iowa State 40-21
lost to Ohio State 44-38
lost to Georgia 31-7

This week:
UCLA
at Boston College
Bowling Green
at California
at Oregon
at Rice
Marshall
at LSU
Texas A&M
Colorado,
at Toledo
Georgia
at Florida
North Carolina
Michigan State
at Iowa
at Florida State
at Southern Miss.
Tennessee
East Carolina
Idaho
Vanderbilt
Arizona State
Texas Tech
UAB

TEAM
1. Oklahoma (50)
2. Miami (FI.) (3)
3. Michigan (4)
4. Southern Cal. (2)
5. Ohio State (6)
6. Kansas State
7. Georgia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Pittsburgh
10. Florida State
11. Louisiana State
12. Tennessee
13. Texas
14. Arkansas
15. Nebraska
16. Arizona State
17. Florida
18. Iowa
19. Washington
20. Texas Christian
21. Alabama
22. Oregon
23. Missouri
24. Washington State
25. Purdue

3-0
3-0
3-0
3-0
3-0
4-0
3-0
2-0
2-0
3-0
3-0
2-0
1-1
2-0
3-0
2-0
2-1
3-0
1-1
2-0
2-1
3-0
3-0
2-1
1-1

PTS
1,601
1,508
1,457
1,445
1,402
1,248
1,230
1,151
1,061
1,054
999
956
677
651
647
643
602
521
352
309
223
150
149
141
122

PVS
1
2
5
4
2
7
8
9
11
10
12
13
6
NR
18
16
19
23
21
22
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR

THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
MICHIGAN 38, Houston 0
UNLV 23, WIScONSIN 5
Purdue 16, WAKE FOREST 10
OHIO STATE 44, N.C. State 38
Iowa 40, IowA STATE 21
NEBRASKA 18, Penn State 10
Miami (Ohio) 44, NORTHWESTERN 14
Louisiana Tech 20, MICHIGAN STATE 19
Minnesota 42, OHIo 20
INDIANA 33, Indiana State 3
UCLA 6, Illinois 3
'M' SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time/Result
Aug. 30 Central Michigan W, 45-7
Sept. 6 Houston w, 50-3
Sept. 13 Notre Dame W, 38-0
Sept. 20 at Oregon 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 Indiana TBA
Oct. 4 at Iowa 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 11 . at Minnesota TBA
Oct. 18 Illinois Noon
Oct. 25 Purdue TBA
Nov. 1 at Michigan State TBA
Nov. 15 at Northwestern TBA
Nov. 22 Ohio State Noon

10

0

Others receiving votes: Notre Dame, Minneso-
ta, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, Bowl-
ing Green, Texas A&M, Virginia, Wisconsin,
Colorado, Louisville, Wake Forest, Boise State,
Boston College, Colorado State, Air Force

I -

coeny Union
and Cam pUS5Life presen
We The Planet

its Margaret Cho
Thursday, October 2, 2003
9 p.m., EMU Convocation Center
Tick4ets Homecoming fun with the hilarious
vaaiiable comedienne Margaret Cho.
S ssE EMUstudents


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