GENNARO FILICE:
The Michigan stu-
dent section's antics
are unbearable.
PAGE 3B
The SportsMonday Column
HARRIERS THREE-PEAT
For the third year in a row, the
women's cross country team wins .
the Big Ten championship.
PAGE 9B
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Megan Tuura and four others explain how the
game should be played and what they bring
to the table for the women's soccer team.
PAGE 1OB
.
November 1, 2004
PORJSMONDF I
1B
0 REEM
MICHIGAN 45, Michigan State 37 (30T)
Braylon's
Late
Show
Edwards
snatches
comeback
Michigan State running back DeAndra
Cobb scampered down the sideline for his
second touchdown, you were all thinking the
same thing - "Hello, central Florida." Saturday's
game came dangerously close to joining a seemingly
endless number of other Michigan football disap-
pointments in recent years.
Braylon Edwards was
thinking the same as well.
Edwards became emotional
with fellow senior Marlin
Jackson before the game,
realizing that it was the duo's
second-to-last game ever at
the Big House. But the first
50 minutes of Saturday's BOB HUNT
game were far from what Unleashed
Edwards had envisioned when
deciding to return for his senior season. A potential
third-down catch went right through his hands. He
fumbled the ball after a reception deep inside Michi-
gan State territory, a play that could have cost the
Wolverines dearly.
On top of that, Edwards hadn't had a big catch in
the Wolverines' previous two games against Illinois
and Purdue. While this did not bother Edwards at
first, he started to become increasingly frustrated
against the Boilermakers because he was unable to
change the game like he had earlier on in the season.
Edwards did not forgo the NFL in order to be
another face in the crowd. During a Michigan
career in which he was considered by many people
a selfish player who dropped passes, Edwards has
often felt that he is misunderstood. That started
to change this season when Edwards changed his
image both on and off the field. He was making
incredible catches, and helping his team through
his excellent blocking and leadership. That image
started to fade - fairly or unfairly - after his
recent performances.
But then Edwards turned Saturday's game into
what Lloyd Carr told his team afterwards was the
greatest game ever played at Michigan Stadium and
broke the all-time Michigan career receiving yardage
record.
Down by 17 with eight minutes to go after Cobb's
run, the Wolverines were in dire straits. For a team
that had trouble scoring in the red zone all season,
they had just one option - throw it to Braylon.
"If we don't get something going, it's not going to
happen," Edwards said to his teammates.
The plan worked.
Michigan quarterback Chad Henne connected on
a 46-yard bomb to Edwards, setting up a field goal.
Then backup fullback Brian Thompson recovered
an onside kick, allowing Henne - who had been
uncharacteristically inaccurate with his passes
going into the fourth quarter - to throw it up again.
The throw was short and was headed for the hands
of Michigan State cornerback Jaren Hayes. But
Edwards jumped up from behind Hayes, used his six-
inch height advantage andsnatched the ball away.
One minute, Michigan State was well on its way
toward its first win in Ann Arbor since 1990. The
next, it was holding on for dear life.
"If (Edwards) doesn't make those plays, we're not
standing here," Carr said.
After a quick stop, Michigan had 3:13 to save its
season. It needed just 14 seconds. After hitting run-
See HUNT, Page 5B
RYAN WEINER (left) and TONY DING (top)/Daily, AP PHOTO (bottom)
Braylon Edwards caught two touchdowns (left and top) in the fourth quarter to lead Michigan back
from a 27-10 deficit. In the third overtime, he caught another touchdown (bottom) for the win.
.: 4
.T
d"
R
:r
TWO FOR THE TIE ... ONE FOR THE WIN
Until only 8:43 remained in the fourth quarter, Chad Henne had
struggled with the Spartans' pass rush, Braylon Edwards had a key
drop and fumble and Michigan trailed 27-10. Here's how the duo
turned the game around:
1. After an onside kick, Edwards jumps above cornerback Jaren Hayes and rips
away what looked to be an interception, cutting the deficit to seven, 27-20.
2. On another deep ball, Edwards leaps in front of Hayes and grabs another
touchdown catch, tying the game at 27.
3. Against zone coverage, Henne hits Edwards on a slant route. Edwards
sprints untouched into the endzone. After the two-point conversion,
Michigan leads 45-37.
Montoya leads 'M'
to weekend split
0 wELD e aCKEY
With win, Blue fails
By Gabe Edelson
Daily Sports Writer
BIG RAPIDS - Some sports are
games of inches. On Saturday night,
the Michigan hockey team found out
that its sport was one of bounces.
Despite a stellar performance from
junior goalie Al Montoya - who set
a career-best shutout streak of 150:01
minutes - No. 4 Michigan (3-1-0
CCHA, 5-2-1 over-
all) had to settle for F
ing the small but boisterous crowd into
a frenzy.
"The puck was on the ice the whole
way up to my stick," Montoya said.
"Right when it got to my stick, it took a
weird bounce and went over it."
Senior captain Eric Nystrom acknowl-
edged that the game could have gone
either way in overtime, it just happened
to go into Michigan's net.
"This was a tough game to take," he
said. "(The puck) took a funny hop off
the ice. That's overtime for you. You
to catch
By James V. Dowd
Daily Sports Writer
Guessing the league ch
in any sport these days has
as tough as taking theI
Favorites seem to fall apart
cards or underdogs slip un
radar until they hoist thec
onship hardware. The No.9
gan field hockey ___HGAN
team realized _ENN____
that complacen-
the upset bug
games, limiting the Nittany Lions to
just five shots. Goalkeeper Beth Riley
managed to stop all five, earning her
hampion sixth shutout of the year. Penn State was
become celebrating senior day, and departing
LSAT's. team members were hungry for a vic-
t as wild tory in their final game at Bigler Field,
nder the but Michigan's win will leave a sour
champi- taste of defeat in their memories.
9 Michi- "I am proud of the way the team
® played today," Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz said. "To come in here against
a tough Penn State team on Senior Day
I
,;
I