100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

October 04, 2004 - Image 14

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 2004-10-04

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 4, 2004
MICHIGAN 35, INDIANA 14

Trio steps up in place
of injured Breaston

GAME STATISTICS
Team Stats MICH IND
First Downs 21 13
Rush/Yds 39/93 38/61
Passing Yards 331 153
Offensive Plays 65 60
Total Offense 424 214
Return Yards 214 116
Comp/Att/Int 19/26/0 14/22/0
Punts/Avg 2/44.0 9/37.7
Fumbles/Lost 3/2 2/0
Penalties/Yards 3/27 4/35
ime of Poss 28:17 31:43

By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Editor
BLOOMINGTON - At times last season,
Michigan wide receiver Steve Breaston did things
that it seemed no man should be able to do.
But three men apparently can.
With Breaston nursing a hand injury, Michi-
gan turned to a trio of players on Saturday to
help overtake Indiana. Senior Jermaine Gon-
zales jumped up to the No. 3 receiver spot -
Breaston's usual offensive role - and quickly
made his presence felt, grabbing a 40-yard
touchdown catch on Michigan's first drive.
Meanwhile, cornerbacks Leon Hall and Grant
Mason were able to make the Wolverines forget
Breaston's absence as a kick and punt returner.
Hall stretched Michigan's cushion to 14-0 in
the second quarter, taking a punt back 76 yards
for a score.
And then Mason rounded out the day as
Breaston's replacement, opening the second half
with a 97-yard kickoff return to set up Michi-
gan's third touchdown of the day - a one-yard
run by freshman Mike Hart.
"We've been trying to get (big) returns and
(Breaston's) been awful close," Michigan spe-
cial teams coach Mike DeBord said. "We had a
return last week where we were one block away
from going all the way. We were close and today
we broke some."
All told, the Wolverines survived Breaston's
absence - and then some.
"That's the thing you need to have if you are
going to be a factor in the championship race,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Along the
line, you are going to have some injuries (and)
you're going to have to have some guys that real-
ly step up."
Gonzales - who was moved from quarter-
back to wide receiver during the 2001 season
- finished the day with two catches for 48 yards
and the touchdown.
"Anytime anyone has to put what they really
love aside - what they've done their whole lives
-it's extremely tough," Gonzales said. "But I
knew I had the ability to play the receiver posi-
tion. I think it's worked out great."

The senior has received increased playing
time over the past few weeks, setting the stage
for Saturday's touchdown - his first since a 20-
yarder at Michigan State in 2001.
"I'm just tickled to death for Jermaine Gonza-
les," Carr said. "He has worked as hard as any
player that we've had that has made the transi-
tion for another position.
"I asked him (Friday), 'When are you going
to score a touchdown?' and he said, '(Satur-
day).' So I told him after the game, 'You bet-
ter tell me you're going to score a touchdown
before every game.' "
Hall's score came with Michigan clinging to
a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Indiana punter Tyson Beattie unloaded a 52-
yard punt that Hall fielded at the Michigan 24.
The sophomore eluded one Indiana defender,
set up his blocks in the middle of the field and
then kicked it to the right sideline, outracing
Indiana's Leonard Bryant for the touchdown.
"They told me (I would be returning kicks)
Thursday night or Friday morning," Hall said.
"I didn't try to put any more pressure on myself.
I tried to take it in stride and just tried to fill
(Breaston's) shoes - which is hard to do."
Indiana managed to score in the final seconds
of the first half, cutting Michigan's lead to 14-
7, and sending the Hoosiers into the lockerroom
with momentum.
But Mason's big play to open the second half
quickly ended any hopes Indiana had of an
upset.
The Michigan junior scored on an intercep-
tion return to cement the Wolverines' win over
Iowa two weekends ago, and suddenly has found
a knack for making big plays.
"We just knew coming out of the half that we
needed a spark," Mason said: "We were down
going into the half because we gave up that
touchdown right at the end."
Breaston's injury wasn't the first adversity that
the Wolverines have had to deal with this season.
The injury bug struck the Wolverines' expected
starting quarterback-running back combo of
Matt Gutierrez and David Underwood.
But just as Chad Henne and Mike Hart did in
those situations, the combination of Gonzales,

M I C H I G A N

PASSING
Player
Henna
Richard
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Hart
Martin
Underwood
R"mbrt
Gonzales
Richard
Henne
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Edwards
Gonzales
Hart
Avant
Ecker
Massaquoi
Arrington
Dudley
Totals
PUNTING
Player
Finley
Totals

C-A
17-21
2-5
18-28

Att
20
7
3
1
1
2
5
39
No.
8
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
19

Yds
79
21
17
3
1
1
-29
93
Yds
185
48
36
27
21
21
7
8
331
No.
2
2

Yds
316
15
331
Avg
3.9
3.0
5.7
3.0
1.0
0.5
-5.8
2.4
Avg
20.6
24.0
18.0
13.5
10.5
21.0
7.0
6.0
17.4
Yds
88
88

TO
3
0
3
Lg
17
7
12
3
1
17
Lg
69
40
33
14
13
21
7
54

Int
lo
0
0
0
TO
1
0
0
0
0
O
O
1
TO
O
2
0
0
0
2

S

Avg Lg
44.0 49
44.0 49

Michigan cornerback Leon Hall eludes a final Indiana defender on his way to a 76-yard punt
return for a touchdown that gave Michigan a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Hall and Mason stepped up and kept the damage Carr said that Breaston's injury was not overly
to a minimum. serious, and that there was "a good chance that
"We have a lot of talent, across the board," he'll be back" for the Wolverines' showdown
Mason said. "Me and Leon got a little bit more with Minnesota on Saturday. Apparently, the
of an opportunity to do things. We made a cou- hand injury is "not going to keep him out a sig-
ple of plays and had fun." nificant amount of time," according to Carr.

KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Mason 3
Totals 3
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Hall 3
Totals 3
DEFENSE
PlayerS
Woodley
McClintock.S.
Reid
Mundy
Manning
Hall
Woods
Massey
Jackson. M.
Sarantos
Shazor
Curry
Crable
Of i
Biggs
Branch
Of i
Nienberg
Totals
BIG TEN
Team
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Purdue
Iowa
Northwestern
Michigan State
Ohio State
Illinois
Penn State
Indiana

Yds Avg Lg
136 45.3 97
138 45.3 97
Yds Avg Lg
78 28.0 76
78 26.0 76
Solo Asst l
6 0
6 0
5 0
4 1
3 1
3 1
3 0
3 0
2 1
2 1
2 0
1 1
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
50 10
STANDINGS

Tot
8
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
60

TD
TO
TO
TD
1

04

Quarterback fumbles slow Michigan's offense

By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Editor

BLOOMINGTON - Taking the
ball away has been a main theme for the
Michigan defense this season, as it has

forced 19 turnovers.
But the Wolverines
were the ones giving
the ball away on Satur-
day, all from the hands
of their quarterbacks.
Michigan lost the

/
o

halftime. Between quarterbacks Chad
Henne and Clayton Richard, the Wol-
verines fumbled the ball three times
within an eight-minute span.
Two of those fumbles came directly
under center, where David Baas moved
to last week after 30 consecutive starts
at left guard. Baas said that he worked
with both Henne and Richard on the
sidelines to get a feel for the snap. But
Baas acknowledged that the turnovers
cannot be replicated in upcoming
games.
"It's just things we've got to improve,
every day, every week," Baas said. "It
can't happen for us to win. No matter

what the mistake was, what happened
- we've got to clean that up."
The first miscue came on the Indi-
ana two-yard line following an 81-yard
Michigan drive. On first-and-goal,
Henne took the snap from Baas and
quickly lost the ball. Indiana linebacker
Jake Powers recovered, and the Michi-
gan drive was squashed.
After the game, Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr, having not seen the film,
said that he thought at first that Henne
lost the ball on the snap, but Henne
later told him that the ball was knocked
out of his hands.
"When I came around, somebody

ball twice in the second quarter, result-
ing in a 14-point swing for Indiana
that kept the game close going into

just hit the ball," Henne said.
On Michigan's next play from scrim-
mage, Richard fumbled the first snap
before recovering the ball in his one
play of previously scheduled first-half
action. But right before the end of the
second quarter, the Wolverines gave up
possession anyway after Henne lost the
ball a few plays later. Indiana defensive
end Victor Adeyanju raced in and ham-
mered Henne squarely just moments
later, causing the ball to fly loose. The
Hoosiers recovered, resulting in their
only score of the half.
"(The rusher) simply got there faster
than he should have," Carr said.
INSTANT WAITING: The first half of
Saturday's game was going at a brisk
pace until the Big Ten's test drive with
instant replay brought the game to a
screeching halt within the final two
minutes of the first half.
Before the Wolverines' final posses-
sion of the half, Michigan's Leon Hall
was run into by one of his own block-
ers, preventing him from fielding the
punt. The Hoosiers were originally
given a 15-yard penalty for interfer-
ence, but the replay official in a booth
upstairs decided to review the play,
causing a long delay. The penalty was
then overturned after it was ruled that
the contact was inadvertent.
Then a few plays later, after Indiana
received a fumble, quarterback Matt
LoVecchio was credited with a touch-
down after picking up a fumbled snap
and running the ball in. But the replay
showed that LoVecchio put his knee on
the ground while getting the ball. The
Indiana coaching staff quickly rushed its
players onto the field hoping that the play
would not be overturned, but Michigan
responded by calling a timeout. The fias-
co ended up being trivial when running
back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran the ball
into the end zone on the next play.

Replay was used for a third time in
the fourth quarter when Michigan cor-
ner Grant Mason was ruled for pass
interference after pushing Indiana wide
receiver Courtney Roby out of bounds.
Originally ruled an incomplete pass,
the call was overturned and Roby was
credited with a touchdown.
Carr has shown his displeasure for
referees earlier this season, but he was
more subdued with regard to this week's
encounters with the replay system.
"We have to let it go for a season,"
Carr said. "In most cases, when I go
back and look at the film, the great
majority of calls are the right calls."
ROCKET LAUNCH: Just as in Michigan's
game against San Diego State, Richard
was slated to receive second quarter
playing time. But the flow of the game
put Richard in a bad situation.
Carr said after the game that he had
planned to play Richard at around the
four-minute mark, but then Leon Hall
returned the punt for the touchdown.
The coaching staff still decided to
put Richard in when the Wolverines
got the ball back with 2:04 remaining
in the half, and Richard fumbled the
snap. Then, Richard was taken out of
the game.
"That's a mistake that I made putting
him in that position," Carr said.
The Lafayette, Ind., native did get
a chance to play in the second half,
completing 2-for-5 passes for 15 yards.
There has been much speculation as to
Richard's future with Henne seeming
to be the permanent starter, but Rich-
ard declined comment after the game.
NOTES: Saturday's crowd of 35,001 was
the smallest gathering to watch a Michi-
gan football game since the Wolverines
played Hawaii in Honolulu in November
of 1998 ... Max Martin received his first
action of the season because Carr said
that he had improved in recent weeks.

Big Ten Overall

2
2
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
2
2
2

5
5
4
4
3
2
2
3
2
2
2

S

THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
IOWA 38, Michigan State 16
Purdue 41, NOTRE DAME 16
Michigan 35, INDIANA 17
WISCONSIN 24, Illinois 7
MINNESOTA 16, Penn State 7
NORTHWESTERN 33, Ohio State 27 (OT)
WHO'S NEXT:
MINNESOTA
Homecoming. The Little Brown Jug. The
Big Ten's best rushing duo (Minnesota's
Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber Ill).
The conference's top receiver (Braylon
Edwards). Fifteen-straight wins against the
Golden Gophers for the Wolverines. The
memory of pain for a Minnesota team that
gave up 31 fourth-quarter points and blew
a 21-point lead last year in Minneapolis.
It's only October, but this rivalry has huge
implications on the Big Ten picture.

Al

Date
Sept. 3
Sept. 11
Sept. 18
Sept. 25
Oct. 2
Oct. 9
Oct. 16
Oct. 23
Oct. 30
Nov. 13
Nov. 20

'M' SCHEDULE
QQQnent Time/Result
Miami (Ohio) W, 43-10
at Notre Dame L, 20-28
San Diego State W, 24-21
Iowa W, 30-17
at Indiana W, 35-14
Minnesota Noon
at Illinois TBA
at Purdue TBA
Michigan State TBA
Northwestern TBA
at Ohio State Noon

DAVID TUMAN/Daily
Indiana running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis hops into the endzone for Indiana's first touchdown. The score
came after a referee replay had overturned a touchdown that the Hoosiers had scored on the previous play.

XFL- FYI G THE MAIZE AND BLUE
Indiana coach Gery DiNard orne coached in the
~XFL serigth irigh~am Thunderbolts to a 2-8
record i 2001. VWhie the XFL quickly foded, some
~aspets of the league were enjoyable, and could do
wonders around te niation. *Here are some new twist
the Dal~y would like to see h impemented.
Instead of the "boring" cin-"toss, the XFL had a player on
each team, print to a football lyng on the turf. The te ami of
theperson who recovers the ball, won the toss."
This would be unbelievable inbcolege football. But coaches
would have to be careful, because injuries can happen. In the
first week o~f the XI4L season, a player tore his AOL. Who would
Lloyd Carchose?~ Out guess is Scott McClinock, who Carr
said is the fastest non-skill position player.

WEEKEND'S BEST
NUGENT FOR HEISMAN?: Ohio
State's media-proclaimed Heisman
contender Mike Nugent missed
his second field goal of the sea-
son, sending a 40-yarder wide
right in overtime. The miss left
the door wide open for unranked
Northwestern to win the game on
running back Noah Herron's two-
yard touchdown run. The 33-27
win over the then-No. 7 Buckeyes
was Northwestern's first over Ohio
State since 1971.
ROCKY TOPPLE: After defeat ing

HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED
Associated Press Poll for the week of Sept. 28

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

Games updated through Oct. 2

Team:
1. Southern Cal.
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. West Virginia
7. Ohio State
8. Auburn
9. Florida State
10. California
10. Tennessee

This week:
DNP
beat Texas Tech 28-13
beat LSU 45-16
beat Georgia Tech 27-3
beat Baylor 44-14
lost to Virginia Tech 19-13
lost to Northwestern 33-27
beat Tennessee 34-10
beat North Carolina 38-16
beat Oregon State 49-7
lost to Auburn 34-10

Next week:
California
Texas
Tennessee
Idle
at Oklahoma
Idle
Wisconsin
Louisiana Tech
at Syracuse
at Southern Cal.
at Georgia

TEAM
1. Southern Cal. (48)
2. Oklahoma (15)
3. Georgia (2)
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Auburn
7. California
8. Florida State
9. Purdue
10. Virginia
11. Utah
12. Florida
13. Minnesota
14. Michigan

REC
4-0
4-0
4-0
4-0
4-0
5-0
3-0
3-1
4-0
4-0
5-0
3-1
5-0
4-1

PTS
1,604
1,560
1,491
1,409
1,358
1,305
1,180
1,149
1,047
1,036
937
866
722
868

PVS
1
2
3
4
5
8
10
9
15
12
14
16
18
18

0

I

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan