4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 13, 2004 NOTRE DAME 28, MICHIGAN 20 GAME STATISTICS Team Stats First Downs Rush/Yds Passing Yards Offensive Plays Total Offense Return Yards Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avg Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss M PASSING Player Henne 2 Totals 2 RUSHING Player Att Jackson. J. 15 Rembert 4 Hart 5 Dudley 1 Underwood 1 Breaston 1 Henne 3 Totals 30 RECEIVING Player No. Edwards 12 Breaston 5 Avant 3 Massaquoi 1 Ecker 1 Dudley 1 Hart 1 Rembert 1 Totals 25 MICH 15 30/56 240 70 296 94 25/40/1 8/38.4 2/2 6/50 32:38 ND 13 40/135 178 61 313 162 10/21/3 7/37.6 2/1 5/49 27:22 I C H 10 AN C-A 5-40 5-40 K S 4 S 1 1 i 3 a . 2 5 3 t t 9 1 1 5 Yds 32 23 17 4 0 -4 -16 56 Yds 129 42 30 11 9 9 8 2 240 Yds 240 240 Avg 2.1 5.8 3.4 4.0 0.0 -4.0 -5.3 1.9 Avg 10.75 8.4 10.0 11.0 9.0 9.0 8.0 2.0 8.81 To 1 1 Lg 13 9 20 9 7 0 7 13 Lg 45 25 16 11 9 9 8 2 45 Int 1 TD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 To 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 In both of Michigan's games this year, It has struggled to run the ball. David Underwood suffered an injury early in Saturday's game, leaving the burden up to Pierre Rembert, left, Mike Hart, right, and Jerome Jackson. lue s tallback carousel yi s no answers By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Editor SOUTH BEND - After two games, Michigan still has problems with its running game, and Lloyd Carr hasn't figured out many solu- tions. The Wolverines had an abysmal running game for the second straight week on Saturday, gaining a total of just 56 yards on the ground. Michi- gan hindered its chances of hold- ing onto the lead in the second half because the Wolverines attempted to protect lead with a true freshman quarterback. After the game, no one from the Michigan football program had much to say. "We can't run the football, and, until you can run the football, you're going to have a hard time," Carr said. "You can't win on field goals." The Wolverines were unable to score a touchdown in the first half, amassing a 9-0 lead going into half- time, partly because of their lack of running game. On Michigan's sec- ond offensive play, senior running back David Underwood made a block in the backfield and fell to the ground. He was then taken off the field, and, according to Carr, was not cleared to re-enter the game. This took away the rusher that had led the Wolverine running game in the season opener against Miami (Ohio) and was slated as the starter in August. "David had probably at least half the reps," Carr said. "Because we're trying to get that part of it straight- ened around, and of course he went down." Neither Carr nor Underwood would say anything as to the specif- ics of the running back's injury. "I made a block. That's it," said Underwood, who ran off the field after the majority of the team fol- lowing the game, and looked partic- ularly dejected about his inability to make a difference in the game. "This is Michigan-Notre Dame, and I just wanted to get back in and play." Carr was then forced to switch off between sophomore Jerome Jack- son, true freshman Mike Hart and junior Pierre Reimbert. In the first half, Jackson received the brunt of the work while Hart filled in from time to time. But Michigan's offensive line was unable to create open lanes for the backs. This caused the Wolverines to be primarily dependent on its passing game and Chad Henne, as they finished the first half gaining just 37 yards on the ground in com- parison to 112 yards in the air. Michigan didn't have a running play over 10 yards until its open- ing offensive play of the second half when Jackson ran up the middle for 13. But Jackson got popped behind the line on the next play by Fighting Irish defensive tackle Greg Pauly, and the Wolverine running game never got going again. Michigan's longest run of the second half was a seven-yard draw play by Pierre Reimbert on third-and-19 deep in Michigan territory. Despite the lack of consistency, Jackson didn't have anything spe- cific to say on the running back situation. "Our line did a great job today, our running backs did a great job today," Jackson said. "We just couldn't find the big plays, and that's football." Meanwhile, Notre Dame finally got its own running game going after pulling together just 11 net- rushing yards in its loss at Brigham Young the previous week. Michi- gan's lack of running game allowed Notre Dame to win the possession battle in the second half, which it had lost badly in the first half. Fighting Irish freshman running back Darius Walker beat the Wol- verine defense to the outside on numerous occasions, scoring two touchdowns in the second half and helping Notre Dame run down the clock when it took the lead. After picking up just 32 yards in the first half, Walker finished with 121, becoming the first Notre Dame freshman to run for 100 yards since 1999. "I think he's a good football player, and he did a heck of a job in there for a freshman," Carr said. "He made some cuts, he's a slip- pery guy." PUNTING Player Finley TEAM Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Breaston 3 Mason 1 Totals 4 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Breaston 1 Totals 1 DEFENSE Player Shazor Watson Reid Massey Woods Woodley Mundy Curry Harrison Jamison Jackson, M. McClintock Graham Manning Crable Burgess Hood Edwards Biggs Stewart Ecker Fisher Totals No Yds Avg Lg 7 307 43.9 53 1 0 0.0 0 8 307 38.4 53 Yds 77 10 87 Yds 7 7 Solo 5 4 3 2 2 4 4 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 31 Avg 25.67 10.0 17.83 Lg 31 10 31 Avg Lg 7.0 0 7.0 0 Asst 3 4 2 f 3 3 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 1 ' 34 TO O 0 TO 0 0 Tot 8.0 8.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 69 6 Quarterback pressure eludes defense again Little clicking on offense other than Henne-to-Edwards BIG TEN STANDINGS By Gennaro Filice Daily Sports Editor SOUTH BEND - Gabe Watson doesn't beat around the bush. And in assessing the Michigan pass rush, Watson broke it down in the most lay- man of layman's terms. "We, ,hAd some opportunities, to get (Brady Quinn) and just didn't get him," Watson said. For the second consecutive game, the Wol- verines badly struggled to apply consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback. Michigan incorporated a 3-4 defense at they beginning of the year to make use of its depth at linebacker. In the Wolverines first game of the season, they recorded two sacks, but pressure on Miami (Ohio) quarterback Josh Betts was scant. On Saturday, Michigan did not sack Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn once. The Wolverines' new base scheme features four linebackers at any given time. Saturday, Lawrence Reid, Prescott Burgess and Scott McClintock split time on the inside, while LaMarr Woodley, Roy Manning, Pierre Woods and Shawn Crable shared reps on the outside. The outside backers sandwiched the defensive line on the line of scrimmage - one standing upright and one down in the three-point stance. Because there's uncertainty as to which line- backers are coming on each play, the 3-4 defense is supposed to enable the team to enjoy much suc- cess on the blitz. Blitzing Wolverine linebackers encountered multiple open-field opportunities on Quinn, but could not capitalize, missing a slew of tackles. "We're supposed to make plays," cornerback Marlin Jackson said of the defense. "We weren't disciplined." While defensive linemen Gabe Watson, Larry Harrison, Pat Massey, Rondell Biggs and Alex Ofili stuffed most runs up the middle, they were unable to really get in Quinn's face when he dropped back to pass. Having plenty of time to throw, Quinn was able to easily connect with his receivers on multiple deep balls that really changed the game. "Their defense didn't give up big plays, and ours did," Jackson said. "That's why we lost the game." TUNNEL VISION: Recording his fourth double- digit receptions game of his career, senior Bray- lon Edwards led Michigan with 12 catches for 129 yards. But, many times during the game, freshman quarterback Chad Henne tried to force balls into Edwards instead of trying to go Lanme - a . through his progressions. "It has probably just naturally happened," Edwards said. "Young guys always look for the older guys who are reliable. I remember when (John) Navarre was a sophomore, he'd be look- ing to Marquis (Walker) all the time." Lloyd Carr praised the play of Henne - who tossed for 240 yards on 25-for-40 passing with a touchdown and an interception - while admitting that his starting signal caller has a ways to go. "Playing on the road in a place like this, I thought he did very well," Carr said. "Every game is a learning situation for a kid that young you certainly can't learn his position in two weeks." NOTES: Saturday's attendance of 80,795 is the largest crowd ever to witness a Michigan-Notre Dame game at Notre Dame Stadium ... Senior Markus Curry leads the NCAA with three inter- ceptions ... Junior Jason Avant has caught at least one ball in 14 straight games. Team Indiana Iowa Minnesota Ohio State Purdue Wisconsin Michigan Penn State Illinois Michigan State Northwestern _Bi Ten Overall 0 0f 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1.> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 a 6 THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS Northwestern 21, ARIZONA STATE 30 MICHIGAN STATE 24, Central Michigan 7 WISCONSIN (22) 18, UNLV 3 ILLINOIS 17, UCLA 35 IOWA (17) 17, Iowa State 10 PURDUE (23) 59, Ball State 7 Michigan (7) 20, NOTRE DAME 28 MINNESOTA (24) 37, Illinois State 21 OHIO STATE (9) 24, Marshall 21 INDIANA 3O, Oregon (25) 24 BOSTON COLLEGE 21, Penn State 7 WHO'S NEXT: SAN DIEGO STATE San Diego State comes into Ann Arbor two weeks after defeating Idaho State 38-21. In what should be their toughest game of the season, the Aztecs will need to rely on junior quarterback Matt Duglolecki, who had a solid performance going 16 for 27 for 233 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The defense is the weakest link after allowing 398 total yards against the-Bengals, a Division I-AA team. 'M' SCHEDULE 0 Date Sept. 3 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 oponent Time/Result Miami (Ohio) W, 43-10 at Notre Dame L, 20-28 San Diego State Noon Iowa TBA at Indiana TBA Minnesota TBA at Illinois TBA at Purdue TBA Michigan State TBA Northwestern TBA at Ohio State Noon 0 TONY "N"/Daiy Twelve of Michigan's 25 completions were caught by Braylon Edwards. With Chad Henne still adjusting to the offense, Edwards has become Henne's first option. I . I A Slice of CkjCago P ei re in Ann Apk0r! OEN .. N OPEN EVERYDAY K WEEKEND'S BEST KICK START: No. 5 Miami won its ACC debut 16-10 in overtime against its heated rival, No. 6 Florida State. The Seminoles took the halftime lead 10-0 thanks to an Xavier Bettia field goal and a fumble recovery that was returned for a touchdown by freshman cornerback Antonio Cromartie. The second half belonged to the Hurricanes as they scored 10 unanswered points, capped off by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Brock Berlin to Sinorice Moss with 30 seconds remaining. In OT the Hurricanes were able to rarnvar a ,,,, MY ,fi ..nh a , , wo HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Associated Press Poll for the week of Sept. 7. Games updated through Sept. 6. NEW AP TOP 25 (first-place votes in parentheses) Team: 1. Southern Cal. 2. Oklahoma 3. Georgia 4. LSU 5. Florida State 6. Miami 7. Texas 8. Michigan 9. Ohio State 10. West Virginia 11. Florida 12. Kansas State Last week: beat Colorado State 45-0 beat Houston 63-13 beat South Carolina 20-16 beat Arkansas St. 53-3 lost to No. 6 Miami 10-16 beat No. 5 Florida State 16-10 beat Arkansas 22-20 lost to Notre Dame 20-28 beat Marshall 24-21 beat Central Florida 45-21 beat Eastern Michigan 49-10 lost to Fresno State 21-45 This week: at BYU Houston Marshall at Auburn UAB Louisiana Tech Rice San Diego State at N.C. State Maryland at Tennessee La Lafayette TEAM 1. Southern Cal. (52) 2. Oklahoma (10) 3. Georgia (3) 4. Miami (Fla.) 5. LSU 6. Texas 7. West Virginia 8. Florida State 9. Ohio State 10. California 11. Florida 12. Virginia 13. Tennessee 14. Auburn 15. Utah 16. Iowa REC 2-0 2-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 0-1 2-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 2-0l PTS 1,611 1,552 1,478 1,398 1,344 1,311 1,087 1,058 1,030 969 955 812 798 739 699 Pvs 1 2 3 5 6 7 10 4 9 12 11 15 14 18 17 16f II s j