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