4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 12, 2005
Notre Dame 17, Michigan 10
Henne struggles as
late comeback stalls
GAME STATISTICS
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Editor
On second-and-nine, just three minutes into the
second half, quarterback Chad Henne had wide
receiver Jason Avant open in the middle of the end
zone. Instead of making that pass, he tried to hit tight
end Tyler Ecker in the right corner. Instead, Notre
Dame safety Tom Zbikowski stepped in front of
Ecker, made the pick and stole seven points from the
Wolverines.
"I figured that they would have man-to-man cover-
age on Tyler, and I figured he would cross the space,
but the safety made a great play and I just kind of
forced the throw," Henne said.
After that, it didn't take long for the boo birds to come
out. By the end of the day, the Michigan fans had booed
their quarterback numerous times and had even called
for his replacement, redshirt junior Matt Gutierrez.
Still, the crowd was back behind Henne when
he and the Wolverines took the field with less
than three minutes to go and the team trailing
17-10. They were expecting another comeback,
a la Michigan State last season.
But this time, Henne looked more vulnerable than
he did all of last year. He missed redshirt junior Steve
Breaston on an out on first down. On second down he
lobbed a deep pass to freshman Mario Manningham,
who was flying down the right sideline. But the pass
was just a little bit long. He tried for Ecker on his third
chance, but again threw it incomplete. Then, after a
false start penalty made it fourth-and-15, Henne tried
to string another pass to Ecker, this time in the flat.
Incomplete. Game over.
"It's not Chad's fault," offensive lineman Matt
Lentz said. "It's on the whole offense. For them to boo
him or boo the coaches is just not right. That's my
take on it. It's on everybody's shoulders. The blame
should go to the whole offense and the whole team.
We lose as a team."
Statistically, Henne's game was below average. It
was certainly not a Rose Bowl-esque performance,
when Henne threw for 227 yards and four touch-
downs. His completion percentage was under 50 per-
cent for just the second time in his career. He had
multiple passes batted down at the line of scrimmage,
and threw an interception inside the red zone.
"I think it wasn't his best performance," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said bluntly.
Henne was being pressured all game. He was
sacked twice and was forced out of the pocket many
other times. He had trouble throwing past the defen-
sive line. Henne said that the pressure in the pocket
didn't affect his performance, but he had a handful of
balls knocked down at the line of scrimmage."
"It's all right if you get hit after you throw the ball,
but the ball wasn't where it was supposed to be,"
Henne said. "A couple of them were high. I just didn't
come out and execute today."
Even with his poor performance, there were
a couple of bright spots for the sophomore
quarterback. Henne threw for more yardage on
Saturday, 223 yards, than he did in five of his
12 games last year. In the first quarter, Henne
threw a 17-yard pass to Ecker that put the young
quarterback over the 3,000-yard mark for his
career. The throw moved him into ninth-place
all-time among Michigan quarterbacks, just
two games into his second year.
Henne also connected on a 25-yard touchdown
to Manningham with 3:47 left in the game. Not
only did the pass bring Michigan back into the
game, but it also kept Henne's impressive streak
alive. He has thrown at least one touchdown in
every game he has played in the Maize and Blue.
But on Saturday, he was still one score short.
Team Stat.
First Downs
Rush/Yds
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Return Yards
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
M
PASSING
Player
Henne 1&
Totals 1s
RUSHING
Player Att
Grady 18
Henne 4
Hart 3
Breaston 2
Martin 1
Jackson, J 1
Totals 29
RECEIVING
Player No.
Ecker 7
Avant 5
Dutch 2
Manningham 1
Breaston 1
Thompson 1
Totals 19
ND
17
44/104
140
74
244
43
19/30/0
9/41.2
3/1
4/21
30:56
MICH
15
29/114
223
73
337
103
19/44/1
8/41.2
3/1
4/28
29:04
I C H IGA N
C-A
9-44
G-"
PUNTING
Player
Ryan
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Mason 2
Breaston 2
Totals 4
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Breaston 6
Totals
DEFENSE
Player
Mason
Graham
Harris
Burgess
Englemon
Woodley
Barringer
Hall
Trent
Massey
Watson
Woods
Riley
Johnson
Adams
Totals
Yds
79
-3
4
34
-4
4
114
Yds
74
90
16
25
9
6
223
No.
8
Yds
42
30
72
Yds
31
0
Solo
13
5
7
7
4
3
4
3
3
3
2
2
1
S1
0
58
Yds
223
223
Avg
4.4
-.8
1.3
17
-4
4
3.9
Avg
10.6
18.0
8.0
25.0
9.0
6.0
4.8
Yds
330
330
Avg
21.0
15.0
18.0
TO
1
1
Lg
23
1
2
30
-4
4
30
Lg
21
54
13
25
54
im
1
TD
TO
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
0
1
1
O
Avg Lg
41.3 56
41.3 56
Lg
23
20
23
TD
0
0
O
TD
0
0
LOOINGLIKE A FRESHM.N u.......
Saturday was probably the Nos gne spooe hdHem' are.Te AllB-Tip f
sharpallatsaepciall nth~e ue Bw., N hele tos.ed a Roe Bo, ecr-yig£4 tt nn
uthn against Nor ae en id' oqiea el.Hr salo -thssa ie fo ats w' o
Bowl lost/easadh,, aeti we gistteIih
.: :
Saturdy: 19 44 1 1
Rose Bowl: 18 344;
Avg Lg
5.2 15
O 0
Asst
3
4
1
1
2
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
19
Tot
16
9
8
8
6
5
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
77
0'
DAVID TUMAN/Daily
Quarterback Chad Henne had a disappointing afternoon against Notre Dame. The sophomore signal-caller
went just 19-for-44 with a late touchdown and two costly mistakes - an interception and a fumble.
BIG TEN STANDINGS
In loss,
Wolverines
hit hard by injuries
Team
Northwestern
Indiana
Michigan State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Illinois
Minnesota
Purdue
Ohio State
Iowa
Michigan
0._...
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
:1
:1
1.
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1.
1
Big Ten Overall
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Editor
The Wolverines may not have missed
Mike Hart's legs, but they did miss his
hands.
Hart lost just one fumble all last
season. On Saturday, his replacement,
freshman Kevin Grady, dropped the
ball twice - one week after he fum-
bled along the goal line against North-
ern Illinois.
Hart left the game late in the first
quarter after Notre Dame linebacker
Corey Mays hit him hard on a one-yard
gain. The sophomore spent the second
quarter on the sideline and did not see
action in the second half.
In his postgame remarks, Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said an injury had
slowed Hart in practice last week but
declined to discuss the nature of the
injury.
"It's not something that needs any
surgery, but it's something that could
be a while," Carr said. .
It's been widely speculated that Hart
strained his hamstring in practice and
aggravated it in the game. Carr did
not say whether Hart would miss any
games or how long it will be before he's
100 percent.
Before leaving the game, Hart car-
ried the ball three times for four yards.
In his place, Grady received the bulk
of the carries and ran well, gaining 79
yards on 18 carries.
Grady has had trouble holding
onto the ball in his first two games.
But unlike Grady's "careless" fumble
against the Huskies, Carr wasn't mad
about his fourth-quarter blunder.
"That particular fumble, that was
caused because of great effort," Carr
said. "He was running hard, he was
running aggressively, (and) he was
picking up some extra yards ... What
are you going to do? Tell him, Don't
run hard?' That's not part of the solu-
tion."
In addition to Hart, Michigan also
suffered injuries on the offensive line.
Right tackle Mike Kolodziej did not
dress for the game after sustaining an
injury last week. Carr did not disclose
Kolodziej's injury or put a timetable
on his return.
Senior Rueben Riley started in
place of Kolodziej Saturday. Riley
had battled Adam Kraus at center for
much of the offseason and, in light
of Kolodziej's injury, had been listed
as a potential starter at right tackle
and the backup at left tackle earlier
this week.
"Rueben played his butt off, and I'm
proud of him," right guard Matt Lentz
said.
Tight end Tim Massaquoi also did
not dress Saturday. Senior Tyler Ecker
filled in for Massaquoi, catching seven
passes for 72 yards. But he dropped
a couple key passes late in the game.
Carr listed Massaquoi's status as week-
to-week.
The injuries could have been worse
for the Wolverines. In the second quar-
ter, Lentz appeared to injure his left
knee and sat out the rest of the half.
But Lentz was fine and returned to the
lineup after halftime.
Carr said Lentz's absence at the end
of the first half changed what he could
do with his offense.
"We would have liked to have gone
after it, get some points on the board in
there, but we needed to regroup in the
locker room," Carr said. "Fortunately,
Matt is a tough, competitive guy. With
that rest, he was able to come back in
there."
After the game, Lentz made light of
the injury, joking that he didn't remem-
ber getting hurt.
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
Notre Dame 17, MICHIGAN 10
PENN STATE 42, Cincinnati 24
WISCONSIN 65, Temple 0
PURDUE 49, Akron 24
MINNESOTA 56, Colorado State 24
ILuNos 40, San Jose State 19
IOWA STATE 23, Iowa 3
MICHIGAN STATE 42, HAWAII 14
NORTHWESTERN 38, Northern Illinois 37
INDIANA 35, Nicholls State 31
Texas 25, OHIo STATE 22
WHO'S NEXT:
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Michigan hosts an Eastern Michigan team
coming off a 31-10 victory over Louisiana
Lafayette, rebounding from their week-one
loss to Cincinnati. QB Matt Bohnet threw
for 263 yards and two touchdowns and
also ran for 85 yards and two scores in
the victory.rThe Eagles took control of the
game with a 21-0 lead in the second quar-
ter and led throughout. Eastern Michigan
has a 1-1 record for the season.
'M' SCHEDULE
Date
Sept. 3
Sept. 10
Sept. 17
Sept. 24
Oct. 1
Oct. 8
Oct. 15
Oct. 22
Oct. 29
Nov. 12
Nov. 29
Qgonent Time/Result
Northern Illinois W, 33-17
Notre Dame L, 10-17
Eastern Michigan Noon
at Wisconsin 6 p.m.
at Michigan State TBA
Minnesota 1 p.m.
Penn State TBA
at Iowa TBA
at Northwestern TBA
Indiana TBA
Ohio State Noon
DAVID TU
Fifth-year senior guard Matt Lentz (67) lies on the turf after being injured in the second quarter.
01
WEEKEND'S BEST
YOUNG CARRIES TEXAS: Sopho-
more QB Vince Young showed the
country that he's much more than
just a running quarterback. Passing
for 270 yards and two scores, Young
led No. 2 Texas to a 25-22 win over
No. 4 Ohio State. After Ohio State
kicker Josh Huston made his school
record-tying fifth field goal of the
game, Young stayed calm and led the
Longhorns to the go-ahead score on
the very next possession. It was the
first ever meeting between the two
storied franchises, and a rematch is
scheduled for next year in Texas.
HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED*
Associated Press Poll for the week of Sept. 10
Games updated through Sept. 11
NEW AP
TOP 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)
Team:
1. Southern Cal
2. Texas
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. Tennessee
7. Virginia Tech
8. Iowa
9. Georgia
10. Florida
11. Florida State
12. Louisville
Last week:
DNP
beat Ohio State 25-22
lost to Notre Dame 17-10
lost to Texas 25-22
beat Arizona State 35-31
DNP
beat Duke 45-0
lost to Iowa State 23-3
beat South Carolina 17-15
beat Louisiana Tech 41-3
beat The Citadel 62-10
DNP
This week:
Arkansas
Rice
Eastern Michigan
San Diego State
Tennessee (9/24)
at Florida
Ohio
Northern Iowa
LA Monroe
Tennessee
at Boston College
Oregon State
TEAM
1. Southern Cal (56)
2. Texas (8)
3. LSU
4. Virginia Tech
5. Tennessee
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Florida State
9. Ohio State
10. Notre Dame
11. Louisville
12. Purdue
13. Miami
14. Michigan
REC
1-0
2-0
1-0
2-0
1-0
2-0
2-0
2-0
1-1
2-0
1-0
1-0
0-1
14
PTS
1,592
1,538
1,404
1,345
1,297
1,242
1,181
1,138
1,100
1,036
941
837
754
740
Pvs
1
2
5
7
6
10
9
11
4
20
12
13
13
3
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