4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 19, 2005 Michigan 55, Eastern Michigan 0 Martin seizes chance in first career start 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 EMU MICH 10 24/15 119 54 134 22 15/30/1 8/35.8 1/0 1/10 23:40 30 56/232 233 84 465 61 20/28/0 2/40.0 0/0 4/20 36:02 By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Editor Max Martin had to be wondering when his turn was going to come. In the first two games this season the sopho- more had just five carries for six yards. But Sat- urday was a completely different story. Martin notched his first career start and took full advan- tage of the opportunity. The running back car- ried the ball 26 times against Eastern Michigan, gaining 117 yards and scoring two touchdowns. "I thought he did a very good job," coach Lloyd Carr said. "Obviously, down the road here, most of the (Big Ten title) races I've been in, you need somebody that can come in and give your team a lift. I think Max put himself right in the middle of our running back situation," In Michigan's season opener against Northern Illinois, fellow sophomore Mike Hart led the Wolverines in rushing with 117 yards, and fresh- man Kevin Grady took over as the starter in the 17-10 loss to Notre Dame. Martin didn't get as much playing time as he wanted to, but he kept his head up despite being passed up. "It was frustrating, but I have to come out here and prove to my teammates and coaches and see that I'm ready to play," Martin said. "I know that I'm going to go out and compete as hard as I can." Martin's perseverance paid off in the practices leading up to the game against the Eagles. The Madison, Ala, native showed the coaches he was ready to do all the things necessary to start. "I think he did a good job," Carr said. "I think the biggest thing that he did, really, was there were a couple passes where he did a great job of protecting the quarterback. That's been some- thing that he has needed to improve on. He was great in practice this week in stepping up and knowing the protections. That's big." Chad Henne agreed: "Max stepped up in prac- tice this week and did something to spark the coaches' eye, and he did well in pass protection, which gives us another element to the offense." With Martin's pass protection shored up, the 6-foot-1 bruiser had to display that he could do more than protect the quarterback. Martin took the first Michigan offensive play seven yards over the left side, giving the Wolverines the ball at the Eastern Michigan two-yard line. Two car- ries later, Martin gave Michigan the 7-0 lead, but he was just getting his day started. The coaching staff showed confidence in Martin early in the first quarter, giving him the ball two more times on the Wolverines' second possession. He gave Michigan a 14-0 advantage, but Martin knew he had to relish the chance he was given. "I don't want to say I was nervous, but I was really anxious to get out there and do what I had to do," Martin said. "But I wasn't nervous because of the way I prepared - I felt like I knew everything like the back of my hand." Martin's number kept getting called well into the third quarter. By the time he went to the bench he had reached career highs in carries, yards and touchdowns and also showed the over 109,000 in attendance that he is not just a backup to Hart and Grady. "Our coaches are going to let the best man play - whoever they deem (to be) that person," Martin said. "They're going to tell you why and what you need to work on, and I have confidence in everyone."~ M I C H IG A N PASSING Player Henne Gutierrez Totals RUSHING Player Martin Jackson. J Grady Bass Bradley Henne Eldridge Gutierrez Totals RECEIVING Player Avant Manningham Grady Tabb Massey Breaston Thompson Totals C-A 13-19 7-9 20-28 Att 26 6 B 3 7 3 2 56 No. 8 2 2 2 2 2 2 20 Yds 114 40 30 20 13 8 3 232 Yds 93 35 26 23 22 20 14 233 No. 1 2 Yds 147 86 233 Avg 4.5 6.7 3.8 6.7 1.9 2.7 3 .5 4.1 Avg 11.6 17.5 13 11.5 11 10 7 8.2 Yds 47 33 80 TD 3 0 3 Lg 13 14 11 12 14 13 3 3 14 Lg 26 21 17 17 16 12 8 26 Avg 47.0 33.0 40.0 Int 0 0 O TD 2 1 0 0 1 0 4 TD 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 Lg 47 33 47 TD O O 0 0 0 0 FOLLOW THE LEADER Michigan has had three different players lead the tear in rushing in the season's first three games Northern Ilinois' Mike Hart 27 carries for 117 yards and one touchdown :Notre Dame Kevin Grady 1$ carries for 79 yards wid zero totschdownls Eastern Michigan Max Martin 26 carries for 126 yards anid two touchdowns PUNTING PlayerP Spencer Ryan Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Tabb 1 Totals1 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Breaston 2 Hall 2 Totals 4 DEFENSE Player Mason Woodley Burgess Barringer Campbell Hood Harris Jamison Thompson Biggs Crable Graham Watson Adams Carl Cartwright Englemon Hall Sarantos Woods Totals tSLLAASNL L L /ua~lJ.)~ iJriy Sophomore Max Martin got the starting nod Saturday and helped carry the Wolverines to a 55-0 victory. Martin rumbled for 117 yards and two touchdowns, both career-highs. Woodley a big hit in win over astern Yds 72 16 88 Solo 5 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 2 0 1 1 1 45 Avg 36 8.0 22.0 Lg 72 12 72 Yds Avg Lg 39 39.0 39 39 39.0 39 Asst 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 Tot 6 6 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 53 F' By Gabe Edelson Daily Sports Writer LaMarr Woodley sports a Woody Woodpecker tattoo on his left biceps. Fittingly, the junior rush linebacker played a whole lot like his animated companion during Saturday's game against East- ern Michigan, flying around the field with ease and making big hits in key situations. Woodley's performance against the Eagles was nothing short of spectacular. He made six tackles - four solos and two assists - in the first half. The Saginaw native was involved in key plays during every Eastern Michigan drive in the opening 30 minutes before leaving the game at halftime because of Michigan's 38- point lead. But he continued to solidify his role as Michigan's primary defensive playmaker. Last year, Woodley led the Wolverines in tack- les for loss with 16. He was also second on the team in tackles, with 70, and sacks, with four. At this point, Woodley's teammates are getting used to his consistently stellar play. "He's overall a dominant player," senior defen- sive tackle Gabe Watson said. "He's strong (and) fast. He gets the job done." Woodley got started on the third play of Eastern's first series, when he broke through the Eagles' offensive linemen to pressure quarterback Matt Bohnet. Even though Bohnet got the pass off, the signal-caller was knocked down and threw an incompletion, bringing up third down. It wasn't until Eastern's next drive that Woodley put his tremendous athleticism on display. On sec- ond-and-10, Bohnet decided to keep the ball and run up the middle. Although Woodley was initially engaged by Eagles right tackle Courtney Ford, he managed to spin out of the offensive lineman's grip, chase down Bohnet and tackle him from behind after a moderate four-yard gain. "LaMarr's a great athlete," redshirt junior defensive end Rondell Biggs said. "He just uses his athletic abilities to make a lot of plays. There were so many (big plays by Woodley)." The left side of the defensive line is typically Woodley's territory before the snap, and that was the launching pad for perhaps his most impres- sive play of the day. After Bohnet managed to slip defensive tackle Alan Branch, Woodley wrapped up his prey with his right arm and tossed the quar- terback to the ground. In a literal sense, Woodley made the play single-handedly, bringing up fourth down and pushing the Eagles back 12 yards. "You have to get him down the best way you can get him," Woodley said of his approach to tackling. "I reached out, and that's what I grabbed him with. One arm. So I had to get him down that way." Redshirt senior defensive end Jeremy Van Alstyne recalls a different play as Woodley's most memorable. It came on third-and-two on Eastern's drive following the sack. After Bohnet took the snap, Woodley stood patiently, shadowing the quar- terback in the middle of the field. When Bohnet heaved a shovel pass to wide receiver A.J. Bennett, No. 56 was there to meet the ball carrier. The mas- sive 6-foot-2, 274-pound defender slammed Bennett to the turf and ended another Eagles possession. "I think that big hit he made on that shovel pass, it was something I knew was going to happen in the game," Van Alstyne said. "I was just waiting to see it. LaMarr Woodley is an awesome player, and he just takes that out onto the field. He's got a real sort of leadership, and he came out to play. We don't expect anything less (from) him." Woodley acknowledged that he was anticipating the toss because of preparation and scouting dur- ing the week leading up to the game. The Michi- gan defense was fully aware that the shovel pass was part of Eastern's playbook. "You're so tight in there," Woodley said of the situation. "The man was right there, so it wasn't a great collision. But it was all right. We worked on the shovel pass (in practice). We expected that." There were other moments, as well. Woodley brought up yet another fourth down on the Eagles' next drive, fighting Eastern's right tackle, right guard BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Indiana Michigan State Penn State Wisconsin Minnesota Purdue Michigan Northwestern Illinois Ohio State Iowa Big Ten Overall 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS MICHIGAN 55, Eastern Michigan 0 PENN STATE 40, Central Michigan 3 Wisconsin 14, NORTH CAROLINA 5 Purdue 31, ARIZONA 24 MINNESOTA 46,;Fla Atlantic 7 CALIFORNIA 35, Illinois 20 IowA 45, Nothern Iowa 21 Michigan State 44, NOTRE DAME 41 ARIZONA STATE 52, Northwestern 21 OHIO STATE 27, San Diego State 6 'M' SCHEDULE ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily Junior rush linebacker LaMarr Woodley (56) takes down Eastern Michigan quarterback Matt Bohnet on Saturday. Woodley and Grant Mason tied for the most tackles, six, in the 55-0 win. and center before getting to Bohnet and bringing him down after a three-yard gain. Woodley also closed a five-yard gap between himself and Eagles backup quarterback Tyler Jones to make a leaping assist with help from linebacker Chris Graham in the second quarter. The final two Eastern drives featured Wood- ley making a hurry-and-knockdown on Bohnet just after he released a pass and contributing another assist in tackling Eagles running back Anthony Sher- rell after Woodley spun away from a blocker. "LaMarr forced a lot of pressure on the quarter- back," linebacker David Harris said. "He disrupted a lot of things they were trying to run, just putting pressure (and) getting back there." But Woodley took his success on Saturday in stride, brushing off the notion that he did anything special. His right hand wrapped in ice because of a jammed finger - nothing serious, he claimed - Michigan's defensive standout explained it was just another day on the football field. "I was just doing what I was coached to do," Woodley said, a smile on his face. His grin bore a striking resemblance to that of the figure inked onto his arm. Date Sept. 3 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Oct. 29 Nov. 12 Nov. 29 Opoonent Time/Result Northern Illinois W, 33-17 Notre Dame L, 10-17 Eastern Michigan W, 55-0 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 WEEKEND'S BEST IRISH FALL SHORT IN OT: After ral- lying back from a 38-17 third-quarter deficit against Michigan State Satur- day, Notre Dame (2-1) succumbed to the Spartans 44-41 in overtime. Irish quarterback Brady Quinn capped the furious comeback by throwing a touch- down pass to Jeff Samardzija with 2:31 remaining in regulation to tie the score at 38. After Notre Dame managed just a field goal in its overtime possession, Jason Teague dashed 19 yards for a touchdown to give the Spartans (3-0) an emotional victory. Drew Stanton threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns to lead MSU. MEYER PASSES FIRST TEST: New HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED NEW AP TOP 25 (first-place votes in parentheses) Associated Press Poll for the week of Sept. 17 Games updated through Sept. 18 Team: 1. Southern Cal 2. Texas 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 Last week: beat Arkansas 70-17 beat Rice 51-10 DNP beat Ohio 45-0 lost to Florida 16-7 beat Tennessee 16-7 beat LA Monroe 44-7 beat Boston College 28-17 beat San Diego State 27-6 lost to Michigan State 44-41 beat Oregon State 63-27 beat Arizona 31-24 beat Clemson 36-30 beat Eastern Michigan 55-0 This week: at Oregon DNP Tennessee Georgia Tech at LSU at Kentucky at Miss State DNP Iowa at Washington at South Florida at Minnesota Colorado at Wisconsin TEAM 1. Southern Cal (57) 2. Texas (8) 3. LSU 4. Virginia Tech 5. Florida 6. Florida State 7. Georgia 8. Ohio State 9. Louisville 10. Tennessee 11. Purdue 12. Miami 13. California 14. Michigan 15. Georgia Tech 16. Notre Dame 17. Michigan Stae REC 2-0 3-0 1-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 2-0 2-0 1-1 2-0 1-1 3-0 2-1 3-0 2-1 a-n PTS 1,617 1,564 1,437 1,406 1,372 1,246 1,235 1,138 1,096 929 916 901 739 702 699 609 500 PVS 1 2 3 4 6 8 7 9 11 5 12 13 15 14 16 10 NR W.** . ®< I