GENNARO FILICE: The Ann Arbor rumor mill needs new fuel for the fire. PAGE 3B The SportsMonday Column THE TROPHY TOUR The Daily catches up with the Larry O'Brien Trophy, which recently made a trip to Ann Arbor. PAGE 8B September 27, 2004 SPORTS lB MICHIGAN 30, Hawk, yeah! Turnovers help Blue get revenge By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Editor As Michigan began Big Ten play, its offensive weap- ons continue to develop. But the part of its arsenal that shined the brightest was on the other side of the ball. While the offense turned in 27 points, the Wolverines' defense forced five turnovers on Saturday, leading them a 30-17 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Michigan ended its two-game losing streak against Iowa and won its confer- ence opener for the 23rd consecutive year. The barrage of takeaways allowed Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 3-1 overall) to take a 16-7 halftime lead that it would not relinquish. Seventy-nine of 117 of Michigan's points this season have come off turnovers. "If you force five turnovers, you're going to win," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. Because both teams gave the ballup a combined seven times - Michigan lost two fumbles - the game had little sense of flow. The Hawkeyes shredded through the Wolverine sec- ondary on their opening drive, which was highlighted by a personal foul on Michigan cornerback Marlin Jackson that kept Iowa on offense and a diving touchdown catch by Ed Hinkel. But Hinkel would lose the ball following a recep- tion three possessions later after getting hit by linebacker Lawrence Reid. Michigan safety Ernest Shazor recovered the fumble, and the Wolverines would capitalize. On the next play, quarterback Chad Henne threw a deep fade on the sideline intended for Braylon Edwards, but in the path of heralded Iowa corner back Jovon John- son. The 6-foot-3 Edwards snatched the ball right atop of the 5-foot-9 Johnson and proceeded to scamper for the 58-yard touchdown and a 10-7 Michigan lead. "I don't know how Braylon caught the ball," Carr said. "The ball was perfectly thrown, but I thought the defender had pretty good position. Some way this guy found a way to catch it and score a touchdown.' Iowa (0-1 Big Ten, 2-2 overall) gave up the ball again on the third play of the ensuing possession. Iowa quarter- back Drew Tate overthrew his pass intended for Clinton Solomon and cornerback Leon Hall, who replaced senior Markus Curry in the starting lineup, laid out and caught the errant pass. Despite Tate's two interceptions and one fumble, he didn't believe that the miscues came from a lack of prepa- ration. See HAWKEYES, Page 5B ELISE BERGMAN/Daily Sophomore Leon Hall, center, celebrates his interception with Lawrence Reid, left, and Ryan Mundy. Michigan's defense forced three fumbles and two Interceptions, leading to-27 of Michigan's 30 *intuI P01ns. Defense 'ba fficially, Michigan linebacker Roy Manning finished Saturday's 30-17 victory over Iowa with seven tackles. But his best play of the day won't show up on any stat sheet. With just under 12 minutes left in the fourth quar- ter, Michigan cornerback Grant Mason picked off an overthrown pass from Iowa's Drew Tate. Just. yards short of the Hawk-Y eyes' end zone, Mason appeared to be falling out of bounds - until Man- ning spun, grabbed him CHRIS ' and tossed the corner for- BURKE : oward for Michigan's final touchdown. Goin' to Work All told, the Michigan defense forced five turnovers in the game. And, if you ask Manning, that means trouble for the rest of the Big Ten. "That old Michigan defense is coming back, that old Michigan defense," the fifth-year senior said. "We're just relentless and getting out there, and we're going to keep on getting turnovers game after game." ck and leading Varsity Through four games this season, the Wolverines' defense has forced a nation-leading 19 turnovers. Notre Dame is second in the category with 16, and no one else has topped 13. Those turnovers have led to 79 of Michigan's 117 points this season. There may have been Michigan defenses that land- ed more sacks, gave up fewer yards or were more effective in keeping opponents off the scoreboard. But Michigan's 3-1 record is a direct result of the fact that this year's Wolverines feature - so far - the most opportunistic defense in the country. "We just know - it's a mentality that we have now - we expect to get turnovers," cornerback Mar- lin Jackson said. "We don't want to get turnovers, we expect to get turnovers every game - at least three." In spite of the 17 points Iowa scored or the 270 yards Tate threw for, Saturday's game was probably the Wolverines most impressive of the season, if for no other reason than because of how quickly the defense righted the ship after Iowa marched 75 yards for a touchdown to start the game. After that, Michigan allowed just 100 yards for the next three quarters before Iowa finally put together a second touchdown drive. And by that time, Michigan enjoyed a 30-10 cushion thanks to two Tate interceptions and three Iowa fumbles. Not to mention the fact that the Wolverines' defen- sive front was dominant. It held Iowa running back Jermelle Lewis to just 49 yards on 14 carries, and had Tate running around like a little kid who just ate a pillowcase full of Halloween candy. Michigan sacked Tate four times, and the Iowa quarterback fin- ished with negative 49 yards rushing. Yeah, you read that right. "I think (the defense was) magnificent all day," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Our defense con- trolled the line of scrimmage. Any time you hold a team to that few yards rushing, you are really con- trolling up front." Now, if there were ever a year for the Michigan defense to be a turnover-forcing machine, if there were ever a season where the Wolverines needed their defense to make big play after big play, then it's this year. With true freshmen starting at both quarterback and running back, Michigan cannot necessarily rely on its offense to win games for it. That being said, the Wolverines can force all the turnovers in the world, but if the offense cannot take See BURKE, Page 5B DEFENSIVE TURNAROUND Michigan's defense appeared to be in trouble when it allowed Iowa to march right down the field to begin the game. But the Wolverines rebounded and allowed just 31 yards the rest of the half. They finished the game with five forced turnovers and currently lead the nation with 19 turnovers this season. Here's every Iowa drive. Plays Yards Time of Possession Result 7 75 3:29 Touchdown 4 2 2:18 Punt 3 -15 2:21 Punt 4 38 1:15 Fumble 3 0 1:35 Interception 5 5 2:32 Punt 3 1 1:09 End of Half 9 79 3:27 Field Goal 3 6 1:31 Punt 2 3 0:19 Fumble 1 6 0:09 Fumble 3 -8 1:59 Interception 10 80 4:16 Touchdown 4 2 0:55 Downs Stickers sweep Hoosier State trip By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer MUNCIE, Ind. - Being in the right place at the right time paid dividends for the No. 7 Michi- gan field hockey team this weekend. Precision passing and immaculate positioning helped the Wolverines to a Hoosier State sweep, as they with seniors Kate Dillon and Katy Moyneur denying the Ball State offense any chance to even the score. The few shots that the Cardinals were able to slip past the Wolverines' defense were swiftly turned aside by sophomore goalkeeper Beth Riley. Meanwhile, Michigan continued to pressure Bannister and the Ball State defense by spread- with a slap shot from the top right of the circle. Once again there was nothing Bannister could do, and Cardinals' coach Annette Payne called a timeout, hoping to rally her players before the game was beyond their reach. The revival lasted' a mere three minutes until Michigan senior Adrienne Hortillosa ended all hopes of a Cardinal comeback with a shot from 10 t,.. ,