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