BIG HOUSE, BIG LOSSES It's been a while, but Saturday wasn't the first time Michigan coach Lloyd Carr suffered a loss at home. PAGE 8B IAN HERBERT: The luck of the Irish or the suck of Michigan? It deserves another look. PAGE 3B The SportsMonday Column FIELD HOCKEY BEGINS TO CLIMB After three consecutive los Michigan evened its recorc PAGE 6B September 12, 2005 SPORTS AY sses to start the season, d with a pair of victories. --------------- ----- abe iroipandtiI - - --- --- -- ------------- - NOTRE DAME 17, MICHIGAN 10 Losing " Did M's loss ruin the day? It shouldn't i their grip What can you say? It sucks. could try to put it poetically; but I think that's the perfect way to describe Saturday's game. The hype leading up the game was pretty ridiculous - it was even able to keep people's minds off Ohio State and Texas's battle. The Big House was supposed to host a shootout of epic proportions, but like so many times, the prognosticators were wrong. Before the game had even begun, I had a little talk with my dad. I had heard through the grapevine that Mike Hart may have hurt his hamstring, that Tim Massaquoi was out with an injury and that Mike Kolodziej was also out. I had a feeling that the injuries could really hurt Michigan's chances for a victory, and then my Dad made a good point. "Don't let a potential loss ruin the day for you, Matt." He was right, but at the same time, no one wants to lose that early in the season - especially to a rival MATT like Notre Dame. VENEGONI So when the Irish marched down The Balls the field on their opening drive and made the Wolverines' defense look like a high school team, I was a little worried. When the Michigan offense came out and didn't pick up a first down, I was even more worried. Lloyd's boys just didn't look sharp early on, or ever. The crowd, hyped up early, was already out of the game. Chad Henne and the rest of the offense were out of sync and definitely were not looking like the offensive juggernaut that everyone thought we would be. By the time the bottles had been thrown, everyone knew the game was over. After the game, it was like every one of my friends had become an instant alcoholic. "Drowning my sorrows." "Out, suppressing the feeling of utter disappointment that comes from a loss in the Big House." "I still need cheering up." To me, even though the loss was a big, sad letdown, it was hardly shocking. Our expectations are so high at Michigan that any time we lose (Yeah, I'm using "we" even though I don't suit up for the Wolverines.), the winds are taken out of our collective sails. It got me thinking - being a Michigan fan is like owning a bus. This may seem like a stretch of a comparison but hear me out. My buddy Rick owns a city bus, the size of one of those blue buses here in Ann Arbor. My friends and I dedicated a good portion of a summer to making it street legal and ready for road trips. All the friends chipped in money, time, sweat and all that good stuff. It was a glorious day when we finally took it out for a little trip; we gassed it up and were gone. It was fun, but the expectations were too high. The bus had such high prospects, when people hear about it, they are sometimes let down because we don't take it to too many places. (Kind of like Michigan - it tends to let people down, too.) You see, gas is expensive, buses are difficult to drive and are people magnets. And people includes the police. So many times, it just sits at Rick's house. Even though it's now nothing more than a glorified trailer at times, I still love it. I wouldn't change any part of it. It can aggravate, but it's the best, even if See VENEGONI, page 5B DAVID TUMAN/Daily Michigan linebacker John Thompson blocks Northern Illinois placekicker Chris Nendick's 35-yard field goal attempt early In the third quarter of the Wolverines' 33-17 win Saturday. ostly turnovers sin Wolverines at home By Gabe Edelson Daily Sports Writer It was a stark contrast, if you had the stomach to look. Debris rained down on the northwest corner of the Michi- gan Stadium end zone with just over five minutes left on the clock Saturday, the student section upset about referee. Bill LeMonnier's replay ruling that quarterback Chad Henne had fumbled the football at the goal line on a sneak attempt. Notre Dame's Chinedum Ndukwe emerged from the pile with pos- session, meaning the Fighting Irish would take over on their own 20 yard line with a 17-3 lead over the Wolverines. When time expired, quite a different scene presented itself in the southwest corner of the Big House. Oblivious to the downtrodden Michigan followers mourning their team's 17-10 loss, the Notre Dame players trotted to the green-hued swatch of revelers who had traveled to Ann Arbor to support them. Golden helmets raised, the victorious visitors saluted their fans to raucous applause and cheers. The gesture was more than a thank you for showing up, though. It might have also had something to do with helping the Irish create an invisible yet impregnable barrier across the south goal line. The Wolverines were unable to put the ball over that stripe in the second or third quarter. The closest threat came during the first series of the third, when Henne was intercepted by Notre Dame strong safety Tom Zbikowski on the one yard line on a throw intended for tight end Tyler Ecker. The pick seemed to knock the wind out of the already struggling Michigan offense, which didn't mount another via- ble drive until the closing minutes of the contest. "Offensively, we just made too many mistakes in the red zone," coach Lloyd Carr said. "You can't get the football down there and give it away like we did and expect to win a game like this." The Wolverines' defense held Notre Dame to a respectable 244 total yards - especially impressive considering the unit's much-publicized struggles last weekend against Northern Illi- nois. This time, the finger-pointing was directed at the offense and its numerous miscues throughout the second half. While most fans were disappointed with Michigan's low first-half totals of 51 rushing yards and 62 passing yards, the most frus- trating events had yet to unfold. "We lost a football game, but I think we found a defense, Carr said. "I liked the way we played, from a standpoint of effort and aggressiveness. I thought we were very physical. I thought we took the fight to Notre Dame. They're a very tal- ented offensive football team. (But) there's nothing good about losing. Nothing." The Wolverines emerged from the locker room after half time in a 14-3 hole, thanks to an effective, methodical opening drive by Notre Dame that culminated with Brady Quinn toss- ing a five-yard touchdown pass to Rhema McKnight. Fight- ing Irish coach Charlie Weis used a no-huddle offense for See IRISH, page SB M' storms back to cap weekend sweep N MEN'S SOCCER Blanks and reserves lift Blue to late win By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer There was a buzz in the air on Satur- day night as fans filed into Cliff Keen Arena: the beats of pop hits new and old reverberated off the arena walls, children ran back and forth around the court collecting stray volleyballs ,and the Michigan women's volleyball team was relaxed, smiling and danc- ing during pre-game warm-ups. The team just needed one more win to secure its second straight Pepsi/ ,Nike Invitational championship. in as many years but it wouldn't be easy. After back-to-back wins against sub- par competition, Michigan matched- up against Illinois State: a team that hits and blocks as well as the Wolver- ines. But Michigan put an exclamation point to the end of the tournament "They hit a lot of balls into our blockers' hands, and they were just swinging for broke," Rosen said. "They were blowing our hands back and getting balls to ricochet off our block.' If we take care of those balls that game is over a lot quicker." The Wolverines (3-2) started out well in the first game and took a 3- 1 lead after senior Megan Bowman's kill. Soon, Illinois State (5-2) came back and the game became a back- and-forth matchup with long and exciting rallies and thunderous kills - from both sides of the net. Michigan took the first game 30-28 after the Redbirds committed an attack error, " and blocking error for the Wolver- ines' last two points. In the match's second frame, they Redbirds jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Michigan quickly fought back. Dur- ing a particularly long rally, the Wol- By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer With the score even and the sun beat- ing down fifteen minutes into the sec- ond half, the Michigan men's soccer team decided to call in some reinforce- ments. The Wolverines (4-1) had just given up a goal to Long Island (0-2), tying the score at one. With just over 22 min- utes remaining, Michigan coach Steve Burns sent in four substitutes, includ- ing senior forward Trai Blanks. Blanks proceeded to convert the game-winning goal, which led Michigan to a 3-1 vic- tory over the Blackbirds in yesterday's second game of the Michigan Invita- tional at the U-M Soccer Field. "Trai has been working extremely hard with his finishing in those type About 13 minutes beforehand, Long Island's Jukka Lehto led a breakaway down the left side of the field. He was able to beat Michigan defenders Kevin Savitskie and Michael O'Reilly on a counterattack and take away the Wol- verines' lead with a single kick. Burns then decided to bring in some fresh legs off the bench in order to regain the momentum. "Long Island had a nice goal, but it was great to see us respond to that," Burns said. "It was a mature team that went after it and said, 'OK, they got their chance. Now let's see if we can pull it out."' Eight minutes after Blanks recap- tured the lead for Michigan, the senior added insult to injury by knocking in an insurance goal at 80:37..Off a corner kick from senior Ryan Sterba, Blanks