EMEMER 4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 15, 2003 MICHIGAN 38, MINNESOTA 35 Hall, Stewart team up late; Woodley has monster game By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Editor N GAME STATISTICS MINNEAPOLIS - Both weren't sup- posed to bein there.I It was a play that was designed for two of Michigan's best defensive backs - Marlin Jackson and Jeremy LeSueur - but that was executed by X two relative unknowns. Sophomore safety e Jacob Stewart and true freshman cornerback Leon Hall teamed up for the biggest defensive play of the game. After Michigan had just scored its sec- ond touchdown of the game, the Wolver- ines were lining up to stop a Minnesota team that had been running all over the Wolverines' defense. But on its own 31- yard line, Minnesota chose to pass on frst down instead of run. Minnesota senior Asad Abdul-Khaliq dropped back to pass on 1st and 10, only to find Hall blitzing from Michigan's sideline, in his face. Unlike previous times, when Abdul-Khaliq was able to escape and scramble for a long run, Hall had a good wrap around the quarterback's legs. Instead of taking a sack, Abdul- Khaliq tried to force a pass to a seemingly wide-open wideout. Enter Stewart, who baited the pass perfectly from the safety position, stepped in and took the inter- cepted ball to the endzone. "It was a play we had been working on all week," said Stewart, who was in for the injured Jackson. "It was a great corner blitz, jumped the tight end ... without (Hall) I wouldn't get that pick." What makes Hall's situation impressive is that he is a true freshman and actually missed a portion of camp due to injury. "We have Leon Hall, who's doing a great job with a senior being out and him being a freshman," said Markus Curry, the opposite corner to Hall. "We feel there's more pressure on him, and he's 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 27 31/94 389 79 483 40 34/48/1 4/38.0 0/0 5/49 28:50 MINN 21 53/424 71 71 495 37 8/18/2 6/39.5 0/0 7/65 31:10 M I C H I G A N PASSING Player Navarre Breaston Totals RUSHING Player Perry Underwood Edwards Navarre Breaston Totals RECEIVING Player Perry Edwards Avant Breaston Bell Navarre Ecker Mignery Thompson Totals G-A 33-47 1-1 3448 Yds 353 36 389 Att 20 1 1 31 No. 11 7 6 4 2 1 1 1 1 34 Yds 85 5 3 3 94 Yds 112 93 57 37 14 36 23 4 3 389 Avc 4. 5.0 3.0 0.5 1. 3.0 Av 10. 13. 9.5 9.3 7.0 36. 23. 4.1 3.1 11.4 TD 2 1 3 r9 Lg 3 15 o 5 0 3 ,5 6 o 1 O 15 9 Lg .2 21 .3 52 5 20 3 14 O 9 0 36 0 23 0 4 4 3 .4 52 Avg 45.0 35.7 0.0 38.0 Int 1 0 1 TD 1 0 0 0 1 TD 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 Lg 45 45 0 45 TD 0 0 TD O 0 True freshman Leon Hall grabs a hold of Minnesota running back Marion Barber to make the tackle. Hall played well Friday in Jeremy LeSueur's absence. really stepping up. The coaches had con- fidence in Leon, definitely. During two-a- days he was out for awhile, and they didn't know how he would hang in there." LA-MORE PLAYING TIME: Michigan defen- sive end LaMarr Woodley has been listed as the starter at right end this weekend against Illinois. Obviously, he'll still have to earn that right to start in practice this week, but after last weekend, it would take a lot for him not to get quality playing time. "In the Minnesota game, there were a lot of people asking me about LaMarr, and honestly, when I saw the film, I have never seen a freshman at that position make as many plays as he did," Michi- gan coach Lloyd Carr said. "This kid had an absolutely sensational game for a freshman. Now, that's one game - but against a very, very good offensive line." Woodley finished with nine tackles, including one tackle for loss. The fresh- man beast (6-foot-2, 263 pounds) also had one key stop on Minnesota's final drive, showing his ability to play an entire game effectively. Combining with defen- sive tackle Grant Bowman, he wrapped up Abdul-Khaliq to force an incomplete pass on the first play of Minnesota's unsuccessful attempt to try and tie the game up. LEWIS Continued from Page IS games, they'd have to finish out the season knowing that after so much hype and with so much potential, there'd be no championship, no BCS bowl. When did you start thinking the Wolverines could win? Did you let the thought creep in after they scored in the third quarter? Or did you push it away still? For many of the players, it was Jacob Stewart's interception at 13:30 in the fourth that r~de them think they could really do this. The cornerback stepped in front of a receiver and ran the ball back, mak- ing it 28-21 and giving the porous defense a little redemption. The defense hadn't made a play all night, it seemed. They flailed their arms while the Gophers ran for 424 rushing yards. "Of course we had to turn it around," defensive end Larry Stevens said emphatically. "I mean, the team's jamming it down our throat. What (are) you going to do? You going to lay down? That's your manhood right there. That's your pride. That's what you stand for." So the defense started making tackles, and the offense had switched to the hurry-up and they were only down by seven. Did you believe in Michigan yet? Not so fast. Sure, it looked like the Wolver- ines could win now, but they've been close at the end before. Remember Oregon? How about "It is remarkable for an 18-year-old kid because normally, at that position, it takes a couple of years to build the type of strength and endurance. Here we're get- ting ready to play the eighth game of the year and in most cases a freshman at this stage, he's worn down, and he's fatigued. LaMarr came up with an exceptional game." INSERTING A TABB: Another redshirt freshman has begun to take a more prominent role with the Wolverines, as wide receiver Carl Tabb was the starting kick returner on Friday. "Carl is a guy that we'd like to get the football to, because he can really Iowa? And sure enough, just as soon as Michigan pulled close, Minneso- ta pulled away again, 35-21. But like some game of tug-of- war, Michigan pulled back, harder. A touchdown bomb to Braylon Edwards. A Chris Perry 10-yard touchdown run. 35-35. On the next drive, the Gophers had a 3rd-and-4 on their own 20, and the Wolverines stopped them. Oddly similar to Michigan's other two road games, it came down to this: Michigan had the ball and a chance to win with just 4:12 left. Did you let yourself think it could happen then? Even with the way the Wolverines had fought back, you had no reason to believe they could finish it. You had every reason to think that they'd come up short again. You'd seen it before. So had the Wolverines. What were they thinking on the field? "Don't let this be (like) the last two games." That's what Braylon Edwards was thinking. "I'm tired of hearing about how we fought hard, but yet we didn't make the plays. 'You guys did good, you guys didn't give up, but you just didn't come up with it.' We said, 'To Hell with that. We're going to come up with this one. We're going to make this one work.' " So they advanced down the field, and they fumbled the ball. Perry dropped it, and you must have been crushed. But wait - there was Tim Massaquoi, finishing a block, spot- ting the ball, falling on it, saving Michigan's chances. And those chances now rested on run," Carr said. "He's worked hard. I think he's going to develop into an outstanding football player. I think the first thing you have to do when you put a guy back there is trust that he's going to bring the ball out and hit the crease. He's not going to come out and dance around. Carl will do that. We missed one of the double teams that we should have had on that kick-off. We only got two out because the rest of them were kicked out of the end zone, but he did his job well." Tabb returned two kicks for 40 yards total. the leg of a true freshman. Michigan took a knee on third down, and Gar- rett Rivas came out to kick the 33- yard field goal. Did you trust him? Stevens, Edwards and John Navarre - they all said they knew Rivas would make it. And he did. That was it. Markus Curry grabbed the Gophers' Hail Mary attempt at the end, and it was over. Did it take a while to sink in? Was it hard to believe that the Wolverines had completed the biggest comeback in Michigan his- tory, scored 31 points in the fourth quarter? Imagine how the players felt. "That's probably the most emo- tional lockerroom I've ever been in in my life," Edwards said. "You had guys that were crying, coaches that were crying. I even cried a little bit. I don't even cry, but I cried a little bit." After the game, Stevens said he still didn't know what happened. How did it happen? How did a team this talented get itself in that posi- tion anyway - 4-2 and staring down loss No. 3? How did Michigan dig ifself such a deep hole and then overcome so much so quickly? "We're not a great football team," coach Lloyd Carr said, "but we've got great heart, I'll tell you that. We've got great heart." You know that now, don't you? Or maybe you knew it all along. Courtney Lewis can be reached at cmlewis@umich.edu. PUNTING PlayerP Navarre Finley TEAMt Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Tabb 2 Totals 2 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Breaston 3 Totals 3 DEFENSE Player Lawrence Woods Woodley Shazor Jackson Bowman Hall Diggs Stevens McClintock Stewart Manning Breaston Massey Curry Heuer Burgess Watson Sarantos Cummings No. Yds 1 45 3 107 0 0 4 152 Yds Avg Lg 40 20.0 21 40 20.0 21 Yds Avg Lg 46 15.3 18 46 15.3 18 Solo 6 5 4 5 4 3 3 3 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 43 Asst 4 5 5 3 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Tot 10 10 9 6 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 4 ............................ .... ........ ... .. WHO'S NEXT: ILLINOIS The Fighting Illini got trounced by the Spartans 49-14 Saturday to remain winless in the Big Ten. The conference bottom-dwellers are just 1-5 overall. With one Big Ten loss already, Michi- gan needs to win out to have a shot at the Big Ten title. The Wolverines have won six of their last seven games against the Illini. ....... TEN........ .. BIG TEN STANDINGS I Team Michigan State Wisconsin Purdue Michigan Minnesota Ohio State Iowa Northwestern Penn State Illinois Indiana Big Tn 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 Overall 6 1 6 1 5 1 5 2 6 1 5 1 5 1 3 4 2 5 1 6 1 6 JEFF LEHNERT/Daily Minnesota quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq (left) ran for 107 yards, but he could do nothing to help Minnesota's defense stop Michigan's offense in the fourth quarter. Minnesota defense can't stop Bu late By Naweed Sikora Daily Sports Editor MINNEAPOLIS - Asad Abdul- Khaliq was not going to let this one get away. The Gophers' senior quarter- back had spent the first two seasons of his college career watching the Wolverines walk away with the Little Brown Jug. He wasn't going to let it happen again. With just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and Minnesota leading 28-21, Abdul-Khaliq exploded through the Michigan defensive line on third- and-short and took it 52 yards all the way to the endzone to put the Gophers ahead 35-21. But as it turned out, Minnesota's fate did not lie in Abdul-Khaliq's hands. Maybe he should have started playing defense, too. Despite leading the Minnesota offense to 35 points (the most its scored against Michigan since 1937), Abdul-Khaliq could do nothing to help the Gophers' 'D' stop the Wolverine offense from putting up 24 points in the fourth quarter. "Every guy who played tonight left everything out on the field, but for some reason, I can't explain it, we did- where, at times, we played really well, but at other times, we left a lot to be desired." The fourth quarter was one of those "left a lot to be desired" instances Mason referred to. The Wolverines passing game start- ed clicking just as Minnesota's defense began imploding. Chris Perry caught seven passes - mostly short screens and dump-offs from John Navarre - for over 70 yards. The Gophers had difficulty reading these short passes, allowing Perry to run for big yardage after the catch. "We didn't have a way to stop him," said Mason of Perry. "I was amazed at how they went from being cold to hot." Michigan also had success going deep, as Navarre connected with Edwards for a 52-yard bomb down the sideline that brought the Wolverines within a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. Minnesota running back Marion Barber, who set a new career-high with 197 yards, said it was difficult watching the Michigan offense score repeatedly from the sideline. "It was tough, but the defense was doing their thing, and they just came up short tonight," Barber said. THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS Michigan 38, MINNESOTA 35 Michigan State 49, ILLINoIS 14 WIScoNSIN 17, Ohio State 10 Northwestern 37, INDIANA 31 PURDUE 28, Penn State 14 'M' SCHEDULE Date Opoonent 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 L, 31-27 Sept. 27 Indiana W, 31-17 Oct. 4 at Iowa L, 30-27 Oct. 10 at Minnesota W, 38-35 Oct. 18 Illinois Noon Oct. 25 Purdue 3:30 Nov. 1 at Michigan State TBA Nov. 15 at Northwestern TBA Nov. 22 Ohio State Noon NEW AP TOP 25 (first-place votes in parentheses) Braylon Edwards stretches to pull In a pass earlier this season. Lloyd Carr says Edwards has been playing very well lately. EDWARDS Continued from Page 11B Carr said the reason he took his issues with Edwards to the public was because he thought it was the only way his 20- year old receiver would get the message. He also said that Edwards might have been distracted going into season with the hype surrounding the No. 1 jersey. "I tried to give him the message pri- vately, and he wasn't getting it," Carr said. "But I was never critical of him. "Braylon is a highly motivated guy, and HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Associated Press Poll for the week of October 14. Team: 1. Oklahoma 2. Miami (Fla.) 3. Ohio State 4. Virginia Tech 5. Florida State 6. Louisiana State 7. Arkansas 8. Georgia 9. Southern Cal. 10. Nebraska Last week: beat Texas 65-13 beat Florida State 22-14 lost to Wisconsin 17-10 beat Syracuse 51-7 lost to Miami 22-14 lost to Florida 19-7 lost to Auburn 10-3 beat Tennessee 41-14 beat Stanford 44-21 lost to Missouri 41-24 This week: Missouri Temple Iowa Idle at Virginia South Carolina Florida at Vanderbilt at Notre Dame Texas A&M TEAM 1. Oklahoma (61) 2. Miami (3) 3. Virginia Tech 4. Georgia 5. Southern Cal. 6. Washington State 7. Florida State 8. Ohio State 9. Iowa 10. Louisiana State 11. Arkansas 12. Northern Illinois 13. Purdue 14. Wisonsin 15. Michigan State REC 6-0 6-0 6-0 5-1 5-1 5-1 5-1 5-1 5-1 5-1 4-1 6-0 5-1 6-1 6-1 PTS 1,617 1,523 1,457 1,407 1,381 1,356 1,192 1,090 1,085 1,032 997. 874 765 705 685 PVS 2 3 4 5 6 8 11 10 12 13 14 7 23 15 4 !I .i