4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 25, 2004 MICHIGAN 16, PURDUE 14 Jackson deserves praise that he received in 2002 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 MICH 22 43/223 190 82 394 54 22/39/1 7/45.1 0/0 6/60 35:34 PUR 13 33/93 213 63 263 64 14/30/1 10/43.4 2/1 4/35 24:26 4 EST LAFAYETTE - Purdue wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield entered Saturday's game as the Big Ten's all-time leader in receptions with 274. His 11 touchdown catches in 2004 were the most in the nation, and he aver- aged 101.3 receivingr yards per game - sec- ond in the Big Ten. But the 6-foot-1, 182-pounder finished yesterday's game GENNARO - maybe the most FILICE important game of The SportsMonday Purdue's season Column - with just one catch for 10 yards thanks to Michigan's forgotten superstar, Marlin Jackson. Two years ago, the No. 3 jersey had a pres- ence on campus that rivaled the Von Dutch hat. Big-name players Chris Perry, John Navarre and Braylon Edwards had yet to fully realize their immense talent, so Michigan's sophomore shutdown corner became the fan favorite - and possibly the most recogniz- able player on the 2002 squad. But last year's move to safety wasn't a great fit, and fans quickly forgot about Jackson. Jackson's relocation to safety somehow erased the dominance he displayed during his freshman and sophomore years - at least in fans' eyes. This year, Jackson returned to his old posi- tion and picked up right where he left off - playing like an All-American corner (which, in case you forgot, he was in 2002). But his excellent play prior to the Purdue game went largely unnoticed because Michigan hadn't faced any team with a stellar passing attack, and Jackson had rarely been thrown at. Against Purdue, though, Jackson was given a chance to make fans remember No. 3. Purdue's dangerous spread offense led by Heisman trophy candidate Kyle Orton forced Michigan to employ "cover one" in heavy doses. "If you don't get any pressure on a good quarterback, it doesn't make any difference," Michigan secondary coach Ron English said. "So you gotta play man-to-man." And Jackson was given the tough assign- ment of shadowing the Big Ten's most explo- sive receiver (at least outside of Ann Arbor) for basically the entire game - a challenge that he warmly welcomed. "To have an opportunity to go against a team that passes and being on the No. 1 guy, it was great," Jackson said. "I'm a competi- tor, and I love things like that - it was a lot of fun." In the first quarter, Stubblefield drew two pass interferences against Jackson (the second one being a very suspect call). But, besides a single late-game grab, Purdue's top target was completely shut down for the rest of the day. Jackson was brilliant. In bump- and-run coverage for most of the game, the Sharon, Pa., native overpowered the slighter Stubblefield and rarely let him get into his route. In the few times that Stubblefield got off the ball cleanly, Jackson used his superior speed to obstruct any path from Orton to Stubblefield. Jackson's superiority over Stubblefield had a chain effect on the Michigan defense and the Wolverines held a team that was averag- ing 485 yards and 38 points per game to just 263 yards and 14 points. "For my job, it makes it a lot easier because I really don't have to worry about Marlin," Michigan free safety Ryan Mundy said. "I can be back there and I can kind of float over to the other side because I know Marlin's going to do his thing." Following the game, nobody in maize and blue seemed surprised at how one-sided the game's biggest matchup turned out being. "I knew Marlin was going to shut down Stubblefield," Michigan strong safety Ernest Shazor said. "He's just not an NFL type of receiver. He's a great possession receiver, but Marlin Jackson is a first-round draft pick." Jackson said he never looked ahead to this week, but claimed he was thrilled when the coaching staff told him on Monday that he'd be manning up Stubblefield for most of the game. "When the day came for this game - when we got to this week --I really just wanted to focus in and have my best game of the sea- son," Jackson said. And he did. M I C H I G A N PASSING Player Henne Totals RUSHING Player Hart Martin Team Henne Totals RECEIVING Player Massaquoi Avant Edwards. B. Hart Ecker Dudley Totals C-A 22-39 22-39 Marlin Jackson brings down Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton during Saturday's game. Att 33 3 2 5 43 No. 5 5 5 3 2 2 22 Yds 206 10 -4 -g 223 Yds 60 45 25 22 34 4 190 Yds 190 190 Avg 6.2 3.3 -2.0 -1.6 4.7 Avg 12.0 9.0 5.0 7.3 17.0 2.0 8.6 TO 1 Lg 33 4 0 5 33 Lg 24 15 8 25 29 3 29 Int 1 TD O 0 0 0 0 TO 0 O 1 1 But after the game, some bitter Boilermak- ers were far from congratulatory. "If I was Michigan, I'd have done the same thing," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "Even if they call (pass interference on) you, they're only going to call (it on) you once. They ain't gonna call you twice or three times or four times. I've never seen it as long as I've been in football. So it's a good strategy by them to come up and physically mug the receivers." Orton who, thanks to Jackson, is now as far from the Heisman trophy as Chris Rix, mirrored his coach's resentful feelings: "They should call it every time it happens. I know that officiating is tough, but that's our offense. Our offense is based on timing and throwing the ball and running clean routes, and if you're getting held and you're getting interfered with, just make the obvious calls. "Especially on inside receivers, (the offi- cials) say they can only key on one receiver, and my response is that we throw the ball to Taylor 20 times a game. He's probably a good one to key on if you can key on anyone, so you might want to do that." Real classy in defeat, huh. Oddly enough, the player that actually went up against Jackson was very complimentary. While he did mention a few possible pass interferences - which is probably a common response following every game - Stubble- field praised Jackson's play and said that Pur- due's offensive gameplan completely changed with Jackson on him. "It was a good matchup, and he did a good job," Stubblefield said. "He did a great job, but I can't really say that he just beat me because there was like three plays of the game where like I was actually going to get the ball. There wasn't really a time for me and him to be in the pass concept or be in the route concept. "It was (a week I was looking forward to), but if I don't get the plays called where it's him and I matching up, then really it's almost like, 'What's the point of him and I going against each other?' He did a good job, and maybe our offensive coordinators didn't think that I could beat him." Jackson forced the Boilermakers to com- pletely nix the option of throwing at one of the best targets in Big Ten football history. Not too shabby. Now the appreciation for Jackson needs to return to 2002 levels. Break out those No. 3 jerseys that have been replaced by No. 15 and No. 1 and res- urrect your "We've-got-the-best-cover-cor- ner-in-the-nation" statements that were so prevalent two years ago. Because the Big Ten's all-time leader in receptions came into Saturday's game with 274 catches, and left with 275. Gennaro Filice can be reached at gfilice@umich.edu. PUNTING PlayerI Finley Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Team 0 Totals O PUNT RETURNS Player No. Breaston 3 Totals 3 DEFENSE Player Reid Jackson, M. Woodley Massey McClintock Shazor Watson Hall Mundy Rembert Curry. M. Burgess Dudley Of li Fisher Murphy Englemon Totals No. Yds Avg Lg 7 316 45.1 52 7 316 45.1 62 Yds 0 0 Avg Lg O O 0 0 Yds Avg Lg 54 18.0 26 54 18.0 26 Solo 7 5 4 3 3 3 3 1 2 1 1 0 36 Asst 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 10 TD O O TO 0 Tot 9 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 Blue stuffs veteran Orton BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Big Ten Overall By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - When Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton and the rest of the offense scored an easy touchdown on their first possession, it looked as if the Michigan defense was ill-equipped to muzzle the Boil- ermakers' spread attack. Things wouldn't look that way again. Following that first drive - when Purdue took a 7-0 lead - the Michigan defense shut down a Purdue attack that went into the game ranked sixth in the nation in total offense. The Michigan front seven - which had difficul- ty creating pressure at the beginning of the season - wreaked havoc around Orton all day. The constant pressure affected Orton, as he suffered a hip pointer in the first half and was uncharacteristically inaccurate on his passes all day. The Michigan secondary - which has had questions regarding its depth hovering over it all season - forced Orton to throw the ball away on numerous occasions. After Michigan cornerback Marlin Jackson was called for two pass interference penalties early, the Wolverines were called for interference just one more time for the remainder of the game. At the end of the day, the Boilermakers went three- and-out seven times, and had just one drive after the opener that went for more than six plays. "I thought the defense was absolutely outstanding," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I think our coaches came up with a great game plan." When Purdue coach Joe Tiller came to West Lafay- ette from Wyoming in 1997, he revolutionized how Big Ten offenses operated. Instead of running to set up the occasional pass, Tiller was the first conference coach to spread the field on a consistent basis. Purdue's sets on its opening drive baffled Michigan mainly because it had not seen them previously on film. The Boilermakers featured a four-wide set that included three receivers to the left and one to the right, while the Wolverines had just two defenders on the pack of three receivers, leading to multiple mismatches. Purdue was also able to run the ball, as running back Jerod Void got six carries, including a 17-yard scamper where he ran through a huge hole on the right side of his offensive line. But the Michigan defense regrouped. "In my mind, great defensive football always starts with stopping the run," Carr said. "If you can stop the run, now you can get to a one-dimensional situation. I don't know how many (rushing yards) they got, but they earned every inch of it. "But there were a lot of negative plays, and those plays really make it difficult offensively because you're not third-and-three, you're not third-and-four. When you're in those situations against Purdue, you've got a lot of problems." The defense was successful because of the varied pressure it was able to place on Orton. The Wolver- ines used a variety of blitzing schemes involving both the secondary and the linebackers. Outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley was dominant, sacking Orton twice, and Pat Massey also registered a sack. "I think we mixed it up really well," defensive coor- dinator Jim Herrmann said. "That's a tribute to our kids because they were able to execute the game plan and not let him get into a rhythm, and when you can do that and throw a quarterback out of a rhythm, you can win." While the majority of Purdue's opponents have used a zone defense, Michigan featured man coverage with Jackson facing off against Taylor Stubblefield in the slot. Stubblefield entered the game ranked second in the conference in receiving yards, but he was taken com- pletely out of the game, catching his only pass of the day on Purdue's final drive. This allowed the rest of the Michigan secondary to focus solely on the rest of the Purdue receiving corps. Defensive backs coach Ron English said the four cor- nerbacks - Jackson, Markus Curry, Leon Hall and Grant Mason - played the most man coverage they had all season. "Those four corners did a fantastic job," English said. The one true defensive mishap the Wolverines had was in the third quarter, when Boilermaker running back Brandon Jones blew by Michigan linebacker Scott McClintock for a touchdown. But that would be it for Purdue, as Orton's Heisman hopes, which were sky high just two weeks ago, became a casualty of the Michigan defense. Wisconsin Michigan Iowa Michigan State Minnesota Purdue Northwestern Ohio State Indiana Penn State Illinois 5 5 3 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 5 8 7 5 4 6. 5 3 4 2 2 2 0 1 2 3 2 2 4 3 5 5 6 THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS: Michigan 16, PURDUE 14 Iowa 6, PENN STATE 4 WIScONSIN 24, Northwestern 12 OHIO STATE 30, Indiana 7 NEXT WEEKEND'S GAMES: Michigan State at Michigan 3:30 p.m. Iowa at Illinois, Noon Purdue at Northwestern, Noon Penn State at Ohio State, 12:10 p.m. Minnesota at Indiana, 2:00 p.m. 4 TONY DING/Daily Michigan safety Ernest Shazor celebrates during Michigan's win over Purdue on Saturday. Shazor recorded three tackles on the day. HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Associated Press Poll for the week of Oct. 19-24 Games updated through Oct. 24 NEW AP TOP 25 (first-place votes in parentheses) Team: 1. Southern Cal. 2. Oklahoma 3. Auburn 4. Miami 5. Florida State 6. Wisconsin 7. California 8. Texas 9. Utah 10. Georgia 11. Tennessee This week: beat Washington 38-0 beat Kansas 41-10 beat Kentucky 42-10 beat N.C. State 45-31 beat Wake Forest 20-17 beat Northwestern 24-12 beat Arizona 38-0 beat Texas Tech 51-21 beat UNLV 63-28 beat Arkansas 20-14 beat Alabama 17-13 Next week: at Washington State at Oklahoma State at Mississippi at North Carolina at Maryland Idle Arizona State at Colorado at San Diego State Florida at South Carolina TEAM 1. Southern Cal. (50) 2. Oklahoma (13) 3. Auburn (2) 4. Miami 5. Florida State 6. Wisconsin 7. California 8. Texas 9. Utah 10. Georgia 11. Tennessee 12. Michigan 13. Virginia 14. Louisville REC 70 7-0 8-0 6-0 6-1 8-0 5-1 6-1 7-0 6-1 6-1 7-1 6-1 5-1 PTS 1,610 1,567 1,486 1,441 1,266 1,265 1,234 1,125 1,103 1,039 1,006 985 765 728 PVS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 TIN UIN G/Daly Michigan State coach John L Smith UP NEXT: MICHIGAN STATE The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry usually brings a great deal of excitement with it. But the level of anticipation infinitely multiplies when both teams are in the hunt for the Big Ten title. Such is the case this year. For Michi- gan State, being-in contention in late October is an accomplishment in itself. The Spartans were expected to struggle this year - and did early on, dropping a game to Rutgers en route to a 1-2 start. But Michigan State has bounced back to start the conference season 3-1, thanks to the insertion of sophomore Drew Stanton into the lineup as starting auar- I'm l I I 0