4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 1, 2004
MICHIGAN 45, MICHIGAN STATE 37 (3 OT)
4
Hart unstoppable as
'M' rallies yet again
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.
MSU MICH
25 27
57/368 44/261
167 273
83 79
535 496
56 66
18/26/0 24/35/0
6/37.5 8/39.3
0/0 1/0
14/123 7/74
32:36 27:24
4
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Editor
Freshman Mike Hart found out Saturday
what the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is all
about.
And in the process, the run-
ning back taught the Spartans a ,
little bit about himself.
Hart absorbed several big 4,
hits in the Michigan victory
- including a vicious perrsonal
foul face-mask penalty dur-
ing the second of the Wolverines' three scoring
drives the fourth quarter - and eventually had
to leave in overtime with a thigh bruise.
But prior to that, the emerging superstar car-
ried the ball, 33 times for 225 yards and one
touchdown and added five receptions for 19
yards. Hart's performance gave him the distinc-
tion of being the first running back in Michigan
history to rush for 200 yards in three consecu-
tive games.
"I thought Michael was outstanding," Michi-
gan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I think in the first
quarter, we ran the football as well as we could
have ever hoped to run it."
Despite Michigan's need to score quickly at
the end of the game, Hart remained instrumental
to the offense. An 11-yard reception on a screen
pass that ended with the face-mask penalty set
up Chad Henne's 38-yard touchdown pass to
Braylon Edwards that cut Michigan State's lead
to 27-20.
Hart then set the table again on Michigan's
game-tying drive, breaking a 26-yard run to
the left side just a play before Edwards' second
touchdown reception.
When all was said and done, Hart - whose
recent performances have made him a dark-
horse Heisman candidate - had become the
first Michigan freshman to top 1,000 yards in a
season and had once again made the Wolverines'
ground attack a very serious threat.
"We were getting off to a good start run-
ning the ball," Michigan quarterback Chad
Henne said. "That was working. Why not run
the ball?"
Two-FOR-BLUE: The 17-point deficit that
Michigan overcame matched the largest come-
back the Wolverines have ever trade in Michi-
gan Stadium. Ironically enough, that prior
victory - when Michigan stunned Virginia
18-17 after trailing 17-0 in the fourth quarter
in 1995 - came in Carr's first game as Michi-
gan's head coach.
"That game is out of my memory," Carr said.
"I'm getting old - I don't have many of these
left in me, I can tell you that."
Carr's recent teams have made a habit out of
coming from behind. Michigan has rallied back
in its last four games, and the 2003 Wolverines
completed the greatest comeback in team his-
tory, overcoming a 21-point gap at Minnesota.
But for Edwards, Saturday's win was the best.
"(Michigan) State was a tremendous win last
year," Edwards said. "Minnesota was a tremen-
dous win this year and last year. There have been
some other ones - Penn State my sophomore
year - but it's never felt like this."
KICK SAVE: Sophomore Garrett Rivas hasn't
always been perfect since taking over as Michi-
gan's kicker last year. But, if nothing else, he has
been clutch.
Rivas hit the game-winning field goal in
Michigan's rally at Minnesota last year, then
repeated the feat last week at Purdue.
On Saturday, Rivas was a perfect three-for-three
on field goals and four-for-four on extra points.
The Florida native drilled a 34-yard field
goal just before halftime to cut Michigan
State's lead to 17-10 at the break. He then start-
ed Michigan's fourth quarter comeback with a
24-yarder and stuck a clutch 34-yard field goal
to start overtime.
With winds gusting from 20 to 45 miles per
hour during the game, Rivas's performance
became as important as anyone's Saturday.
"If Garrett Rivas doesn't make every single
kick, we're not standing here talking about a
win," said Carr, who also complimented punter
Adam Finley in his first appearance as a holder
this year, replacing injured quarterback Matt
Gutierrez.
Rivas was also responsible for the onside kick
Michigan recovered after pulling within 27-13.
Michigan lined up for the play with Rivas and
fellow kicker Troy Nienberg both on the field.
The two lined up next to each other on either
side of the ball.
But Rivas was tabbed for the kick, and fired a
line drive that ricocheted off two Michigan State
players before Michigan fullback Brian Thomp-
son jumped on it. The Wolverines would score
two plays later to pull within 27-20.
"I think the onside kick was an extremely
big play," Carr said. "If we don't get the onside
kick, (a comeback was) going to be a lot harder
- maybe impossible."
Carr declined to comment on why the unex-
pected two-kicker formation was used because
he "might use it again."
M I C H I G A N
PASSING
Player C-A Yds TD
Henne 24-35 273 4
Totals 24-35 273 4
RUSHING
Edwards
Martin
RECEIVING
Edwards
Avant
Hart
Gonzales
Att
33
1
2
8
38
No.
11
5
5
2
1
24
Yds
224
22
4
-27
223
Yds
189
47
19
13
5
273
22.0
2.0
17.2
94
3.8
6.5
22
3
'nt
0
0
4 1
11 O
46 4
4
Junior Jason Avant hauls in his game-tying touchdown catch during the second overtime.
PLAYING THROUGH PAIN: In spite of a dislocated
finger, Michigan junior Jason Avant made his
first touchdown catch of the year a huge one.
On a third-and-goal in double overtime with
Michigan down seven, Avant leapt in the back
corner of the endzone and hauled in a pass from
Chad Henne. tie then managed to get one foot
inbounds as he was hit by a defender.
"Jason made a great catch in a key situation
of the game," wide receivers coach Erik Camp-
bell said.
NOTEs: Michigan is now 3-0 in overtime con-
tests, having beaten Penn State in 2002 and Ala-
bama in the 2000 Orange Bowl. Both of those
games ended in the first overtime session ... The
82 combined points made Saturday's game the
highest-scoring Michigan-Michigan State game
since Michigan beat Michigan State (then Mich-
igan Agricultural College) 119-0 in 1902 ...
Michigan State running back DeAndra Cobb's
205 yards rushing were the second-most Michi-
gan has ever allowed to a Michigan State back.
Former Spartan T.J. Duckett rumbled for 211
yards in Michigan State's 2001 win.
PUNTING
Player No. Yds Avg Lg
Finley 7 3099 40.9 68
TEAM 1 6 6.0 6
Totals 8 314 39.3 68
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD
Breaston 3 44 14.7 23 O
T*tals 3 44 14.7 23 O
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD
DEFENSE
Player Solo Ast Tot
Mcelntock 4 1
Woodley 7 4 11
Shazor 7 3 10
Reid 5 2 7
Mundy 4 3 7
Watson 3 2 5
Manning 4 O 4
Harson 3 0 0 3
MuIrry 0 0 3
Jackson 2 1 3
Massey O 3 3
M,,li 1 . 10
Burgess 1 1 2
Branch 1 001
EnleoAn1oR00 1
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Ten Overall
Michigan 6 0 8 1
Biscsin 50 8 0
iowar 4 1 e 1
MichAltneStae 3 1 4 1
Northwestern 3 2 4 4
Minnesota 3 3 6 3
Ohio State 2 3 5 3
Purdue 2 3 5 3
Indiana 1 4 3 5
Penn State 0 5 2
Illinois 0 6 2 7
THIS WEEKEND S RESULnS:
MICHIGAN 45, Michigan State 37 (3on)
NPRTHWEsTRNS 13, Purdue 10
Iowa 23, ILoS 13
I n As 30, Minnesota 21
OSi STATE 21, Penn State 10
NEXT WEEKEND'S GAMES:
OHin Stale at Michigan State, Non
NOrthweste at Penn State,12:10 p.m.
Indiana at IinOis, 2:00 p.m.
Minnesota at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m.
Purdue at Ilnowa, 3:30 p.m.
4
Spartans' offense exploits aggressive Blue defense
By Sharad Mattu Michigan State. pass, and for the first half it showed.
Daily Sports Editor But the Spartans' offense gave the Stanton completed 10-of-13 passes
After holding Minnesota's rushing
offense to just 24 yards in the second
half three weeks ago, it seemed that
Michigan's defense wouldn't have
any problem with the rest of its con-
ference opponents. For two weeks
that was the case, and Michigan was
ranked third in the country against the
run entering Saturday's game against
Wolverines more problems than any
other team this season. For the game
they totaled 535 yards, including 368
rushing yards.
Michigan State primarily plays with
a spread offense to give quarterback
Drew Stanton room to make plays
with his legs as well as his arm. The
Wolverines had not yet played a quar-
terback who looked to run as often as
for 95 yards, and ran 12 times for 80
more yards.
But Michigan also caught a break
late in the first half. On a scramble
to the right, Stanton was tackled by
LaMarr Woodley, and landed hard
on his shoulder, knocking him out of
the game.
"I just caught him across the field,"
Woodley said. "That's why you never
give up on a play. I just came from
behind and he got hurt on the play.
You never hope to injure someone,
but at the same time, sometimes it's
a good thing."
Stanton was replaced by Damon
Dowdell, who was effective but not
nearly the same threat. Dowdell fin-
ished with 72 passing yards and 32
rushing yards.
"Stanton is a great runner," Shazor
said. "He came out of the pocket and
made a lot of plays with his feet and
also with his arm.
"I think it gave us a bit of an edge
when he went down. When he came
out and Dowdell came in the game,
he wasn't a runner like Stanton was.
He ran for a few first downs, but we
contained him."
Michigan State running backs also
gave Michigan headaches on Satur-
day. DeAndra Cobb, who had run for
just 267 yards in the Spartans' first
seven games, ran .for 205 yards on
just 22 carries, including touchdown
runs of 72 and 64 yards. His second
run gave the Spartans a commanding
27-10 lead with less than nine min-
utes left in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans' gameplan was to
use the Michigan defense's strength
- its fast linebackers and defen-
sive backs - to their advantage. On
numerous occasions, Michigan State
ran counter and misdirection plays to
surprise Michigan.
"With a fast defense like Michi-
gan's, we tried to get them to over-
pursue," Cobb said. "Their speed
just worked in our favor. They're a
downhill defense. Anytime they see
something, they rush to it, and we did
a good job taking advantage of it."
Said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
on Cobb's two long touchdown runs
- both of which came on the same
draw play out of the shotgun: "It's not
like we didn't work on the play. That
speaks to their execution."
But, when it turned out that Mich-
igan's offense would give the team a
chance to win the game, the defense
turned itself around. After Cobb's sec-
ond touchdown, Michigan responded
with a field goal and a touchdown
after an onside kick to cut the deficit
to 27-20. Michigan forced the Spar-
tans into two punts and a missed field
goal to end regulation.
"They kind of changed up their
offense in terms of their blocking
scheme," Woodley said. "It gave
us problems, but we were able to
rebound and do a better job as the
game went along."
The defense's best play of the
game came in overtime. In the first
extra session, with Michigan up
three, the Spartans had a third-and-
one at Michigan's four-yard line. But
Michigan's defensive line yielded no
ground, and linebacker Roy Manning
stopped Cobb for a two-yard loss.
Then, in the third overtime, Mich-
igan's defense had enough energy for
one last stop to gain the win.
"We finally came through for the
offense," defensive end Pat Massey
said.
I
TONY DING.
Michigan State running back DeAndra Cobb bursts past Ernest Shazor en route to a 64-yard touchdown run.
WEEKEND'S BEST
HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED
Associated Press Poll for the week of Oct. 24-30
Games updated through Oct. 30
WHAT THE HEEL?: After surviving
scare after scare this season, Miami
fell to the most unlikely of oppo-
nents. North Carolina kicker Connor
Barth drilled a 42-yard field goal with
no time left in regulation to give the
Tar Heels a 31-28 win. It was the
first time in school history that the
Tar Heels had defeated an opponent
ranked in the top five.
After the game, Miami coach
Larry Coker called the loss
"mind-boggling."
SUNSHINE STATE OF DESPAIR:
Miami's stunning loss capped off
a miserable day for the state of
Florida. Earlier, No. 5 Florida State
had been stunned by Maryland, and
Florida lost at Georgia - marking
the first time since 1978 that those
three Florida schools had been
beaten on the same day. Florida
State even turned to demoted
quarterback Chris Rix to try and
stem the tide. The former Heisman
candidate managed to rally the
Seminoles to within 20-17, but that
would wind up being the final.
Florida, meanwhile, was play-
ing in its first game since it was
announced that coach Ron Zook
would be fired at the end of the year.
UTE GOTTA BELIEVE: The BCS
committee continues to face the
possibility of a West Virginia-Utah
matchup in the Fiesta Bowl. The
Utes passed a significant road test
on Saturday, demolishing injury-
riddled San Diego State 51-28. Utah
quarterback Alex Smith continued
to fuel his Heisman Trophy candi-
dacy by throwing five touchdowns
on 22-for-33 passing against the
Aztecs. He was also Utah's leading
rusher, carrying 15 times for 45
yards. There are just three games
left between Utah and a berth in the
BCS: home games with Colorado
State and BYU and a trip to Wyo-
ming between the two.
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
12. Michigan
13. Virginia
14. Louisville
15. West Virginia
16. Texas A&M
17. Purdue
18. Boise State
19. LSU
20. Arizona State
20. Oklahoma State
22. Virginia Tech
23. Iowa
24. Minnesota
25. Southern Miss.
This week:
beat Washington State 42-12
beat Oklahoma State 38-35
beat Mississippi 35-14
lost to North Carolina 31-28
lost to Maryland 20-17
Idle
beat Arizona State 27-0
beat Colorado 31-7
beat San Diego State 51-28
beat Florida 31-24
beat South Carolina 43-29
beat Michigan State 45-37(38t)
Idle
Idle
beat Rutgers 35-30
lost to Baylor 35-34 (ot)
lost to Northwestern 13-10
beat Hawaii 69-3
beat Vanderbilt 24-7
lost to California 27-0
lost to Oklahoma 38-35
beat Georgia Tech 34-20
beat Illinois 23-13
lost to Indiana 30-21
beat East Carolina 51-10
Next week:
at Oregon State
at Texas A&M
Idle
Clemson
Duke
Minnesota
Oregon
Oklahoma State
Colorado State
at Kentucky
Notre Dame
Idle
Maryland
at Memphis (Thurs.)
Temple
Oklahoma
at Iowa
Idle
Idle
Stanford
at Texas
at North Carolina
Purdue
at Wisconsin
Cincinnati
NEW AP TOP 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)
TEAM - REC PTS PVS
1. Southern Cal. (56) 8-0 1,616 1
2. Oklahoma (8) 8-0 1,556 2
3. Auburn (1) 9-0 1,507 3
4. California 6-1 1,362 7
5. Wisconsin 8-0 1,3596
8. Texas 7-1 1,230 8
7. Utah 8-0 1,212 9
8. Georgia 7-1 1,162 10
9. Tennessee 7-1 1,132 11
10. Michigan 81 1,062 12
11. Miami 6-1 1,035 4
12. Virginiata -1 815 13
13. Florida Stale 6-2 803 5
14. Louisville 5-1 793 14
15. West Virginia 7-1 754 15
18. Boise State 8-0 685 18
17. 150 8-2 557 19
18. Virginia Tech 6-2 515 22
19. Oklahoma State 6-2 469 20
20. Iowa 6-2 416 23
21. Southern Miss. 5-1 209 25
22. Texas A&M 6-2 206 16
23. Arizona State 6-2 189 20
24. Boston College 5-2 111 NR
25. UTEP 6-2 69 NR
Others receivingvotes: Northern lllinois 52, Pitts-
burgh 42, TexasfTech 35, Purdue 34, Alabama 26,
UCLA 22, Navy 20, Michigan State 11, Toledo 11,
Oregon 11, South Carolina 8, Ohio State 7
UP NEXT:
NORTHWESTERN
The more games it plays, the tougher North-
western looks. On Saturday, the Wildcats
stunned a reeling Purdue team, winning 13-10
- lust weeko after they upset Ohio State. At
3-2 in the Big Ten and 4-4 oserall, the Wildcats
are definitely still thinking about being bowl
eligible. They head to Penn State this week.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines have had to rally
in the second half of their last four games for
victories, and Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said
there isn't a team that ever needed a bye
week so badly. Still, the Wolverines will have
to guard against being rusty against North-
western if they hope to be 7-0 in the Big Ten
headingto Columbus.
Date
Sept. 4
Sept. 11
Sept. 18
Sept. 25
Oot. 2
Oct. 9
Oct. 16
Oct. 23
oct. 30
too. 13
too. 20
'M' SCHEDULE
Opponent Time/Result
Miami (Ohio) W, 43-10
at Notre Dame , 20-28
San Diego State W, 24-21
Iowa W, 30-17
at Indiana W, 35-14
Minnesota w, 27-24
at Illinois w, 30-19
at Purdue w, 16-14
Michigan State w, 45-37 (3 ot)
Northwestern TBA
at Ohio State 1 P.M.
ocA
& - I