4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 26, 2005
Wisconsin 23, Michigan 20

Failed stop haunts
Wolverines defense

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

WISC
21
12/140
147
75
287
14
15/32/1
6/46.0
3/O
6/50
34:31

MICH
17
7/143
258
70
401
22
16/34/1
5/41.6
1/1
9/68
25:29

01

By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Editor
When Wisconsin quarterback John Stocco
lined up on third-and-goal from the four, the
Badgers had less than 30 seconds to make
something happen and get in the end zone.
No one could have known for sure that it was
going to be the game-winning play in Wis-
consin's 23-20 upset of the No. 14 Wolver-
ines.
Wisconsin lined up with two wide receiv-
ers to Stocco's right and one to his left. The
Badgers' star running back Brian Calhoun was
the lone back in the backfield, deep and offset
slightly to Stocco's left.
Stocco dropped back and the offensive line
was in a pass-blocking formation. But then
Stocco took off. He broke a tackle and snuck
into the end zone. Game over.
"They just did a good job of executing a
good play," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"It was a good call on their part, but we felt
like we were in a decent defense. We expected
a run on that down, but they executed their
assignments, and it won the game for them."
But what does the anatomy of a blown play
look like? Where were the key players on the
Michigan defense?
The Wolverines lined up Alan Branch, Gabe
Watson, Pat Massey and LaMarr Woodley on
the defensive line. Watson was over center. To
him, it looked like a regular drop-back pass.
After spending all of last week analyzing film
of the Wisconsin Badgers offense, Watson had
learned that when Calhoun lines up to the left
like he did on that play, the tendency is for the
Badgers to pass. And he was right that they

weren't going to Calhoun.
"And it seemed like a pass at first," Watson
said. "But then at the last second you could see
that it was a draw form. And then he scored
on it."
Even after Stocco sprinted past him, Wat-
son still wasn't sure that he would make it
across the goal line. He said it was just hard
to watch. Woodley was watching too. He was
lined up at right defensive end, just a couple
spots over from Watson. He forced his way
up field past Wisconsin's left tackle and was
in the backfield when Stocco made his move.
Woodley saw Stocco take off, but by that time
it was too late.
"I had a guy like 6-foot-7 in front of me,
so you know, I didn't see too much," Woodley
said. "It was just kind of surprising. Not see-
ing that they really ran (a quarterback draw).
It was just a nice play they called."
Massey said that the Wolverines were in
what he described as "a good enough defense
for it." He saw the play forming, but said that
he and his teammates just didn't break to the
ball fast enough. If it wasn't for Massey, the
Wolverines may not have even been in that
position. Two plays earlier, he batted down
Stocco's pass at the line of scrimmage, the
first of two incomplete passes that series.
The play after the batted ball - one before
the game-winning score - cornerback Leon
Hall had been the hero. On a fade to senior Jon-
athon Orr, Hall made an acrobatic, left-handed
tip to break up the pass. But on the third down
play, he couldn't do anything but watch. Hall
was covering one of Wisconsin's three receiv-
ers and couldn't get to the middle of the field
fast enough to-make a play on the ball.

MICHIGAN

PASSING
Player
Henne
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Martin
Grady
Henne
Jackson
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Avant
Manningham
Grady
Ecker
Martin
Breaston
Totals

C-A Yds TD
18-34 258 2
16-34 258 2

Att
16
15
4
36
No.
7
4
2
16

Yds
91
53
0
-1
143
Yds
108
106
27
13
5
_1
258

Avg
5.7
3.5
0.0
-1.0
4.0
Avg
15.4
26.5
13.5
13.0
5.0
-1.0
16.1

Lg
28
11
18
28
28
Lg
27
49
19
13
5
0,
49

int
1
1
TO
0
O
0
O
TO
1
1
0
0
2

0
01

RYAN WEINER/Daily
Wisconsin quarterback John Stocco's four-yard draw in the final minute put the Badgers up for good, 23-20. Most
of the Wolverines expected a handoff on the play, which sent Michigan to its sixth straight loss In a road opener.
"I was way out there on the outside," Hall didn't execute. Maybe they just got beat. But
said. "I saw that it was a draw. The inside no matter what, on that play, the Wolverines
guys and the outside guys and the DBs didn't gave Wisconsin the lead for the second and
get up there. We didn't recognize it soon final time of the game. And it sent them
enough." home contemplating about the anatomy of a
Maybe they didn't recognize. Maybe they loss.
Damaging errors
prove to be ue s
downfall in defeat,

PUNTING
Playerf
Ryan
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Breaston 3
Thompson 1
Totals 4
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Breaston 4
Totals 4

No. Yds Avg Lg
5 208 41.6 54
6 208 41.6 54

DEFENSE
Player
Harris
Hall
Mason
Barringer
Woodley
Graham
Burgess
Englemon
Massey. P.
Branch
Biggs
Booth
Watson
Thompson
Massey, M.
Trent
Harrison
Johnson
Totals

Yds
47
12
59
Yds
22
22
Solo
6
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
36

Avg
15.7
12.0
14.8

Lg
28
12
28

Avg Lg
5.5 13
5.6 13

TD
0
0
TD
O
0

Asst
3
1
2
3
5
3
4
2
4
4
1
O
1
0
0
0
2
36

Tot
7.5
5.5
5
5.5
. 5.5
4.5
4
3
2
2
1.5
1
1.5
1
1
1
1
.5
53

By Matt Venegoni
Daily Sports Editor

Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
That's probably what Michigan was
thinking as the Wolverines left Camp
Randall Stadium Saturday night.
A 13-3 lead is a good position to be in
on the road, but Michigan could've had
as much as a 24-3 advantage at halftime
instead. Miscues and missed opportuni-
ties hampered the Wolverines from really
taking control of the game.
After stopping Wisconsin's first drive,
Michigan took over from its own five-
yard line and marched 94 yards down the
field. But the Wolverines ended up with
nothing to show for their time-consum-
ing drive. On fourth-and-goal from the
one-yard line, freshman running back
Kevin Grady failed to push through the
Badgers' defensive line and was stopped
for no gain.
"There are some things that are hap-
pening to us that are very frustrating,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "That,
to me, sums it up. That's where we are."
That wasn't the last time Michigan fell
short.
With just over a minute left in the first
half, Michigan decided to drive toward
the end zone instead of running out the
clock. On the first play of the series, soph-
omore quarterback Chad Henne complet-
ed a five-yard screen pass to Grady. Then
the Wolverines moved the ball down to
the Wisconsin six-yard line when Henne
found freshman Mario Manningham
deep down the right sideline. But on the
next play, Manningham dropped a sure
touchdown, and- the Wolverines settled
for a field goal on third-and-goal after a
delay of game penalty.
"There was a flag on the delay of game,
but the game clock went down to six sec-
onds," Carr said. "They marched the pen-
alty off, and with six seconds we were not
going to chance having the clock run out

on us. We substituted when they began
to march the penalty off. ... By the time
I knew they were putting three seconds
back on the clock, we were already on the
field (with the field goal unit)."
With the possibility of another penalty
looming, Carr decided to kick the field
goal and take the 13-3 lead into halftime.
The second half proved to be more of
the same for the Wolverines, with mis-
haps costing them even more points. The
offense never got going, and Carr said
that poor field position and a couple of
mistakes in the kicking game held the
team back.
Even the most experienced Wolverines
made mistakes Saturday night. Senior co-
captain Jason Avant - the receiver with
probably the surest hands on the team
- struggled in the second half.
"We had a third-down pass in our first
drive (of the second half)," Carr said. "We
dropped a pass ... something Jason Avant
just doesn't do. That would have given us
good field position and a first down."
The costliest Michigan turnover came in
the fourth quarter after Wisconsin closed
the lead to seven. Sophomore Max Mar-
tin fumbled the ball, and junior linebacker
Mark Zalewski recovered it for the Bad-
gers. Wisconsin converted the opportuni-
ty, with a six-yard touchdown run by junior
Brian Calhoun, taking a 16-13 lead.
"(Max Martin) ran hard," Carr said.
"I told him before the game ... the most
important thing is, if you're a back, you
can't run afraid to fumble the football.
You've got to run aggressively."
In the end, the turnovers, drops. and
poor decisions sealed Michigan's fate,
and it dropped its sixth straight road
opener. But Carr said he believes that the
Wolverines can turn the season around.
"I think the main thing is we just have
to keep fighting and keep believing that
we can be a good football team if we
make some corrections in terms of the
mistakes that we're making," Carr said.

BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Tan Over

all

§W=Ig! son& owls Vvvopn

Michigan State
Minnesota
Penn State
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Iowa
Michigan
Northwestern

1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1

4
4
4
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2

0
0
0
0
1
2
2
2
2


a0

THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
WIScONSIN 23, Michigan 20
Penn State 34, NORTHWESTERN 29
MINNESOTA 42, Purdue 35 (20T)
OHIO STATE 31, Iowa 6
Michigan State 61 ILLINOIS 14

Date
Sept. 3
Sept. 10
Sept. 17
Sept. 24
Oct. 1
Oct. 8
Oct. 15
Oct. 22
Oct. 29
Nov. 12
Nov. 29

'M' SCHEDULE
opponent Time/Result
Northern Illinois W, 33-17
Notre Dame L, 10-17
Eastern Michigan W, 55-0
at Wisconsin L, 20-23
at Michigan State Noon
Minnesota 1 p.m.
Penn State TBA
at Iowa TBA
at Northwestern TBA
Indiana TBA
Ohio State Noon

RYAN WEINER/Daily
Sophomore running back Max Martin carries the ball against Wisconsin on Saturday. Martin's fourth-quarter
fumble led to a Badgers touchdown late in the game. It was one of several key miscues made by Michigan.

I - --- - - - - I

WEEKEND'S BEST
MINNESOTA THRILLER: Minnesota
controlled much of its contest against
Purdue, but the Boilermakers made a
furious comeback in the fourth quar-
ter to take a 28-20 lead. Minnesota's
quarterback Bryan Cupito - who
threw for 271 yards, three touchdowns
and three interceptions - drove the
Gopher offense 65 yards to score a
touchdown with 1:34 left in the game.
The ensuing two point conversion
sent the game into overtime. After
both teams scored in the first session,
Minnesota notched a touchdown and
denied Purdue on fourth-and-two to
win the dame in the conn ndortime.

HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED
Associated Press Poll for the week of Sept. 25
Games updated through Sept. 24

NEW AP
TOP 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)

Team:
1. Southern Cal
2. Texas
3. Louisiana State
4. Virginia Tech
5. Florida.
6. Florida State
7. Georgia
8. Ohio State
9. Louisville
10. Tennessee
11. Purdue
19 MaAmi

Last week:
beat Oregon 45-13
DNP
Tennessee (tonight)
beat Georgia Tech 51-7
beat Kentucky 49-28
DNP
beat Miss State 23-10
beat Iowa 31-6
lost to South Florida 45-14
at Louisiana State (tonight)
lost to Minnesota 42-35 (20T)
hoot Corraro2 3-3

This week:
at Arizona State
at Missouri
at Miss State
at West Virginia
at Alabama
Syracuse
DNP
DNP
Florida Atlantic
Mississippi
Notre Dame
Snoth Flnrida

TEAM
1. Southern Cal (59)
2. Texas (6)
3. Virginia Tech
4. Louisiana State
5. Florida
6. Florida State
7. Georgia
8. Ohio State
9. Miami
10. Tennessee
11. Michigan State
12. California
13. Notre Dame
14. Arizona State
15. Alabama

REC
3-0
3-0
4-0
1-0
4-0
3-0
4-0
3-1
2-1
1-1
4-0
4-0
3-1
3-1
4-0

PTS
1,619
1,560
1,448
1,424
1,367
1,249
1,242
1,200
1,028
995
905
892
800
690
608

PVS
1
2
4
3
5
6
7
8
12
10
17
13
16
18
20

0