4 4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 22, 2003 OREGON 31, MICHIGAN 27 Forgettabl By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Editor EUGENE, Ore. - Special teams? More like not-so-special teams. Bad jokes aside, Saturday was a day that Michigan, and even Oregon, would like to forget from a kicking standpoint. From the opening field goal attempt to the final kickoff, the game hinged on either team's ability, or ineptitude, on special teams. Given that both teams were known for their explosive offenses, it was shocking to many that of the 58 points scored in Oregon's 31-27 win, 24 were the result of special teams play. "Coach (Mike) Bellotti was stress- ing before the game that special teams would be the difference," Ore- gon defensive back and punt returner Steven Moore said. "Our two blocked kicks and punt return for a touch- down made a huge difference in the game and left it wide open." While it was the Ducks' special teams that made the ultimate differ- ence, Michigan was at its best and worst, all on Oregon's first drive. Holding the ball for almost 10 min- utes of the first quarter, the Ducks' offense finally stalled at the Michi- gan 6-yard line. Oregon kicker Jared Siegel lined up for a 22-yard field goal, only to have it blocked by Michigan safety Marlin Jackson, who day for special crashed through the left side of the gan was prep offensive line. The blocked kick land- own 27-yard] ed in the hands of senior Jeremy Nelson push LeSueur, who took it to the house Michigan's pe and gave Michigan a 6-0 lead. Thompson, t That lead would stay at six, as Nelson recov Michigan punter/kicker Adam Finley yard line and sent the extra point wide right. Finley the touchdow would later have an extra point to correct his blocked by Oregon in the fourth to fumble the quarter when Michigan pulled within Unfortunatel four points with just 2:18 remaining. Oregon wide Even with a blocked kick against fell on the bal them, the Ducks' special teams would winning touch answer back in full force. Oregon ev "We scored two touchdowns on downed with special teams, and we generally cor- kept Michiga ralled their punt return - which was Breaston in ci the best in the nation - so overall four yards onc I'm pleased," Bellotti said. But for all The first of Oregon's two special gan's special team touchdowns came after a Michi- bright mom gan three-and-out with the Ducks scored to ma leading 14-6. Finley punted the ball took the ensui to Oregon's 39-yard line, and as if But even that there was no one in front of him, when Michiga Moore broke two arm tackles en ing, taking th route to a 61-yard return for a touch- gan's 18. down. The Wolve "It was like floating on air," Moore play out of fr said. "I didn't see who was blocking. who had Micl I just saw grass - open grass - and extra point an I give all the credit to the people recovered by blocking for me." Edwards to k Oregon's other touchdown came alive. with 6:55 left in the game. With the And even fo Wolverines down just three, Michi- Oregon's spec teams paring to punt from its line when Oregon's J.D. hed his way through ersonal protector, Brian o block Finley's punt. ered the punt at the 4- almost stumbled in for n. But Thompson tried ways by forcing Nelson ball into the endzone. y for the Wolverines, receiver Jordan Carey 1 for what would be the hdown. ven had three punts in the 5-yard line and an punt returner Steve heck, allowing him just one return. of its miscues, Michi- teams did have some ents. After Oregon ake it 31-21, LeSueur ing kickoff to midfield. had its dark moments an was called for hold- he ball back to Michi- rines also got a nice eshman Garrett Rivas, Ihigan's only converted nd had his onside kick wide receiver Braylon eep Michigan's hopes r all the acclaim it got, ial teams didn't have a GAME STATISTICS Team Stats First Downs Rushes/Yards Passing Yards Offensive Plays Total Offense Return Yards Comp/Att/lnt Punts/Avg Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss MICH 19 19/37 360 74 357 49 28/55/2 8/33.5 2/1 7/69 24:46 Oregon 21 45/1 53 253 76 380 129 20/31/0 6/40.8 1/0 6/50 31:11 4 M I C H I G A N PASSING Player Navarre Totals RUSHING Player Perry Breaston McClintock Navarre Totals RECEIVING Player; Edwards Breaston Avant Perry Massaquoi Totals C-A 28-55 28-65 Att 11 19 19 19 No. 13 6 6 2 28 Yds 21 3 -9 -3 -3 Yds 360 360 Avg 2.4 3.0 -9.0 -3.8 -0.2 TD 3 3 Lg 6 3 0 8 8 Lg 29 36 23 2 12 36 Int 2 2 TD O O0 0 0 O TD 0 2 1 0 0 3 4 TONY DING/Daily Michigan punter Adam Finley gets a punt blocked late in the fourth quarter. Finley had a rough day, as he also missed two PATs. perfect game by any means. The Ducks barely averaged more than 20 yards a carry on kickoffs, while Siegel had problems keeping the ball in bounds, booting two kickoffs over the sidelines to give "Jared Siegel was very inconsis- tent today," Bellotti said. "He kicked the last kickoff from the 20, and it was probably a 75-yard kick- off or more. He kicked a couple out of bounds that, as he said, almost made him come over and throw up on the sidelines." PUNTING PlayerI Finlay Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. LeSueur 2 Woodley 1 Totals 3 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Breaston 1 Curry 1 Totals 2 Yds 1Avg 144 11.0 109 18.2 98 16.3 -3 -1.5 12 12.0 360 12.9 No. Yds 7 268 8 268 Yds Avg 42 21.0 0 42 14.0 Yds Avg 4 4.0 3 3.0 7 3.5 4 Avg Lg 38.3 50 33.6 60 g Lg . 25 0 0 O 26 TD O 0 0 TO 0 0 Michigan good field own 35. position on its eg .O L9 4 3 4 DANNY NMOLOSOUNDaily Chris Perry and Braylon Edwards can't hide their emotion after Michigan came up just short of a comeback against Oregon. Runnig game headsSouthfor Winter DUCKS Continued from Page IS at the line of scrimmage, and Michigan finished with minus-three yards on the ground. Turnovers and botched plays marred the Wolverines' offense early, while the Ducks' receivers found holes in the Michi- gan secondary all afternoon. "We have no excuses," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "We just made too many mistakes to win the game. We had chances to win. We never stopped fighting, we never stopped clawing and trying to find a way to win, but in the end, we just didn't make a play." The Wolverines opened the scoring with a 78-yard touchdown return by cornerback Jeremy LeSueur after safety Marlin Jackson blocked a field-goal attempt at the 22-yard line. But the Ducks had been chipping away at the Michigan defense for 9:18 on their opening drive, and by the time Michigan's offense took the field at 2:11 in the first quarter, it couldn't get anything going. The Wolverines went three-and-out on their first possession, fumbled the ball on a fake punt snap dur- ing their second possession and headed to the locker- room with just 46 total yards and a 15-point deficit. Oregon extended its lead to 24-6 before the Michi- gan offense started to find any rhythm. The Wolver- ines abandoned their ineffective running game, and Navarre dialed into his receivers. Beginning with Michigan's touchdown drive at the end of the third quarter, Edwards, sophomore Jason Avant and red- shirt freshman Steve Breaston took over, making clutch receptions to keep Michigan alive. At 4:03 in the third, Avant caught a pass near the 10, dragged a defender downfield and extended the ball just over the goalline. On Michigan's next possession, Navarre and Edwards connected on 4th-and-12, and on the next play, Edwards was hit so hard his helmet flew off one way and his do- rag went the other, but he hung onto the ball. Breaston capped the drive with a did-you-see-that diving grab in the corner of the endzone, and Michigan pulled within three after a two-point conversion. "That's just a big-time thing," Edwards said. "We don't have time to get down on ourselves. The game's not over until there's 0:00 seconds on the clock; and until that point you have to play like you're going to win." Michigan had the momentum in the fourth quarter until Oregon's J.D. Nelson blocked an Adam Finley punt with just less than seven minutes left, and Jor- dan Carey returned it to put the Ducks up 31-21. Despite an interception thrown by Navarre, the Wolverines pulled back within four (the extra point on Breaston's touchdown was blocked), and then Edwards recovered the onside kick that Michigan couldn't take advantage of. The loss dropped the Wolverines to 11th in the Associated Press poll - one spot behind the Ducks. Edwards led the team with 13 receptions for 144 yards, and Breaston had two touchdowns and 109 receiving yards. Navarre completed 28-of-55 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns. He threw two interceptions. Perry, rarely used in the second half, finished with 11 carries for 26 yards. "We came here as a team, we go home as a team," Carr said. "We're not pointing the finger." DEFENSE Player M. Jackson Sarantos Woods Massey McClintock Curry Harrison Stevens Watson Reid LeSueur Woodley Christopfal Cummings Breaston J. Jackson Diggs Bowman Shazor Shaw Kashama Totals Solo 2 1 3 1 2 O 6 5 1 1 1 2 4 1 2 37 Asst 0 4 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 4 0 3 38 -....... --. ...... .................................. WHO'S NEXT: INDIANA After a very emotional loss in Eugene, Ore., the Wolverines will have to find a way to rebound as they come home to open the Big Ten season against Indi- ana. The Hoosiers have not looked impressive this season, as they have gone 1-3 in nonconference play thus far. The3Indiana offense is averaging just 18.3 points per game. ................................................................... BIG TEN STANDINGS I I Team Iowa Minnesota Ohio State Michigan Michigan State Wisconsin Purdue Northwestern Penn State Illinois Indiana Big Ten 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Overall 4 0 4 0 4 '0 3 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 3 1 3 Tot 5 7 2 3 3 2 5 2 9 7 1 1 6 4 8 5 76 By I aweed Sikora Daily Sports Editor EUGENE, Ore. - What happened to the Michigan running game? What happened to the second-ranked rushing attack in the nation that had been good for more than 300 yards per game? It took three giant steps backwards. After completely dominat- ing their first three opponents on the ground, the Wolverines hit a wall against Oregon. The Wolverines finished with o oo ': running through. The offensive line succeeded in protecting Navarre, but was unable to han- dle Oregon's run defense, which often consist- ed of more than eight men in the box because the Ducks brought the safety up. The Wolverines didn't get much of a chance to establish the running game early on, as Ore- gon ran 24 offensive plays before Michigan's offense even got its hands on the ball. By the time the half rolled around, the Wolverines were already down 21-6 and hadn't done any- thing to establish their ground game. After Perry rushed nine times for 18 yards in the first half, the offense decided to go to the air. Perry rushed just twice in the entire second half. "Our coaches thought it was best to get away from the running game, and you can't argue with them," Perry said. "I wasn't produc- ing for the team. "We knew they were going to be loaded up in the box. They usually had, eight, nine, 10 guys in there. They had a great defensive scheme." BREASTON BACK ON OFFENSE: Michigan punt returner Steve Breaston reappeaied on the offense against Oregon, and immediately made his presence felt. The sophomore finished with six catches for 106 yards and his first two career touchdown receptions. Both his touch- downs, and most of his catches, came in the fourth quarter when the Wolverines were attempting to make a comeback. "Steve has been banged up a little bit the past two weeks, but he had a good week of practice, and I think he'll be a much bigger part of our offense as we go forward," Carr said. Breaston had four catches against Central Michigan, but was limited to returning punts in the two following games. Although he didn't get an opportunity to make an impact on spe- cial teams against Oregon, several of his clutch receptions down the stretch kept the Wolver- ines in the game until the end. MINNESOTA GAME UPDATE: Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin said he would be dis- cussing the start of Michigan's game at Min- nesota, scheduled for Oct. 11, with other Big Ten officials in the near future. If the Minnesota Twins make the playoffs (they're 5 1/2 games ahead), there will be a scheduling conflict with a Twins divisional playoff game on FOX. Martin said one option is to discuss an agreement with FOX that would allow the Wolverines to play early Saturday morning, in time for the baseball game to be played at its scheduled time. 4 THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS MICHIGAN 27, OREGON 31 Ohio State 24, Bowling Green 17 Iowa 21, Arizona St. 2 WASHINGTON 45, IDAHO 14 Michigan St. 22, Notre Dame 16 MINNESOTA 48, LA. LAFAYETTE 14 North Carolina 27, Wisconsin 38 California 31, Illinois 24 Kent State 10, Penn State 32 ARIZONA 7, PURDUE 59 NORTHWESTERN 28, DUKE 10 KENTUCKY 34, INDIANA 17 4 minus-3 yards on the ground. Chris Perry, who had been the nation's leading rusher with 183 yards per game, was held to just 26 yards on 11 carries. His longest run, which came in the first quarter, was for five yards. "Oregon did a great job against the running game," Lloyd Carr said. "They mixed their cover- ages really well, but we didn't get the movement like we needed to get. But we knew coming in that they had a big, strong defensive front." Michigan's offensive line seemed over- whelmed for the first time all season. Oregon's front seven seemed to beat them to many key spots, closing the gaps that Perry was used to Date Aug. 30 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 11 Oct. 18 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 15 Nov. 22 'M' SCHEDULE Opponent Time/Result Central Michigan W, 45-7 Houston W, 50-3 Notre Dame W, 38-0 at Oregon L, 31-27 Indiana 12:10 p.m. at Iowa 2:30 p.m. at Minnesota TBA Illinois Noon Purdue TBA at Michigan State TBA at Northwestern TBA Ohio State Noon 4 WEEKEND'S BEST SOUTHERN SHOOTOUT: Louisiana State wide receiver Skyler Green wasn't supposed to be the hero at the end of the game - but that's the way it turned out. Quarterback Matt Mauck hit Green with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter to give Louisiana State a 17-10 win over Georgia. Mauck was looking for star receiver Michael Clayton, but Green ended up being the open man and caugiht the~ winningi HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Associated Press Poll for week of Sept. 15. Games updated through Sept. 20. NEW AP TOP 25 (first-place votes in parentheses) Team: 1. Oklahoma 2. Miami (Fla.) 3. Michigan 4. Southem Cal. 5. Ohio State 6. Kansas State 7. Georgia 8. Virginia Tech 9. Pittsburgh 10. Florida State Last week: beat 59-24 UCLA beat Boston College 33-14 lost to Oregon 31-27 Idle beat Rowling G-n 24-17 lost to Marshall 27-20 lost to LSU 17-10 beat Texas A&M 35-19 lost to Toledo 35-31 beat Colorado 47-7 This week: Idle Idle Indiana at California Idle Idle Idle Connecticut at Texas A&M at Duke TEAM 1. Oklahoma (55) 2. Miami (Fl.) (3) 3. Southern Cal. (2) 4. Ohio State (5) 5. Virginia Tech (8) 6. Florida State 7. Louisiana State 8. Tennesee 9. Arkansas 10. Oregon 11. Michigan 12. Georgia 13. Iowa 14. Texas 4-0 4-0 3-0 4-0 3-0 4-0 4-0 3-0 3-0 4-0 3-1 3-1 4-0 2-1 PTS 1,612 1,537 1,495 1,415 1,304 1,265 1,257 1,227 978 966 918 888 877 788 PVS 1 2 4 5 8 10 11 12 14 22 3 7 18 13 I