/"Y T 11 T T T SPIKERS DROP PAIR IAN HERBERT: A MUCH-NEEDED WIN In a game televised on Saturday's win was great, but to With tough games still to play, thev PAGE keep it up M' needs consistency.socrtawnabioeinIa ESPN2, Michigan lost PAGE 3B soccer team won a big one in Iowa to No. 4 Penn State The SportsMonday Column PAGE 7B October 19,005 --------ir i an au- women's City T 1B I MICHIGAN 27, Penn State 25 A second to none 'THAT'S THE BEST GAME I'VE EVER SEEN OR PLAYED IN.' - ALA BRANCH, MICHIGAN ~:FNyiVLINEMAN Manningham's play warrants a larger role li e's a receiver with pillows for The second grab was perhaps less hands, so it's no surprise that flashy, but certainly more memorable. Mario Manningham's middle With one second left and the Nittany name is Cashmere. Honestly. Lions up by four, Henne found Manning- And a gigantic piece of Michigan's ham as the receiver slanted in toward the puzzle fell neatly into place with two soft- middle of the end zone. The quarterback gloved catches on Saturday, fired a 10-yard laser, and the courtesy of the true fresh- freshman secured the prized man. pigskin tightly against his The first came with 9:32 chest for the dramatic, game- left in the fourth quarter and winning reception. Penn State ahead, 18-10. Manningham finished Chad Henne dropped back with just three catches for and tossed a 33-yard strike 49 yards, but his stats were down the left sideline, where deceiving. He played far less Manningham had exploded than half of the Wolverines' into full gallop. The receiver GABE offensive snaps, and Henne effortlessly blazed by corner- EDELSON didn't even throw to his back Justin King, beating his newest target until early in defender to the outside before Honest Gabe the fourth quarter, when a leaning forward to scoop the ball off his shoelaces as he crossed the goal line. King, known for his athleticism, floundered in Manningham's wake, div- ing in a futile attempt to bring down the Wolverines' newest - and possibly most dangerous - weapon. After a two-point conversion, the score was tied. poorly placed ball went out of bounds to stall Michigan's first drive of the final frame. Every subsequent pass from Henne to Manningham was successful. The aforementioned pair of catches went for scores, while a six-yard completion on the Wolverines' final drive See EDELSON, page 5B Last-second catch propels Blue to win By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Editor Mario Manningham wasn't the first option - that was Steve Breaston in the slot. But with one second left in the game, Man- ningham beat Penn State's best cornerback, Alan Zemaitis, on a 10-yard post to finish off the upset of No. 8 Penn State. With more than 111,000 people screaming in Michigan Stadium and who knows how many more watching on TV, it was Manningham who made the game's most important catch in the game's most pressure-filled situation. And then he was off. After Manningham made the catch to seal * Michigan's 27-25 win over No. 8 Penn State, he dropped the ball and took off running. And like much of the afternoon against Penn State defensive backs, no one could catch him. "I was trying to chase him down, but he's just too fast,' sophomore running back Mike Hart said. "He was running away from everybody." Twice this season - against Notre Dame and Minnesota - the Michigan players have had to watch visiting teams end games in the Big House by celebrating with their fans. This time, it was Michigan's turn. The Wolverines ran from there to the student sec- tion and jumped into the stands - to sing and dance with their Maize-clad peers. "That's the best game I've ever seen or played in," defensive end Alan Branch said. "It was an unreal feeling." When the hoopla ended, Chad Henne went back to his place - where his friend, a stu- dent at Penn State, was waiting. "He was pretty much shocked," Henne said, "and didn't have anything to say." Neither did Henne's critics. The sopho- more quarterback led Michigan on an eight- play, 53-yard drive in the final 53 seconds. The drive, which came just after Penn State scored to take the lead with less than a min- ute left included five completed passes by Henne to go along with an 11-yard run by Hart. For the game, Henne went 21 for 36 for 212 yards and two touchdowns - both to Manningham. The first came earlier in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard pass down the left sideline. After the game, Carr took the opportunity to vent about the critics. "Well, Chad Henne is a great quarter- back, and anyone that knows anything about quarterback play would understand that," Carr said. "But there are a lot of people out there that don't know a quarterback from a first baseman, so they don't know that." But for a while, it seemed as if Henne might have to continue to face the critics. After taking a 10-0 lead four minutes into the second half, Henne and the Wolverines handed the ball - and the game - to the Nittany Lions, literally. Just one play after Penn State had tied the game at 10 on a four- yard touchdown run by dual-threat quar- terback Michael Robinson, Henne lined up under center, and, with no receivers open, See LIONS, page 5B RYAN WEINER/Daily Freshman receiver Mario Manningham caught a 10-yard touchdown pass as time expired to give the Wolverines the victory over previously unbeaten Penn State. MAKING EVERY Down 25-21 with just 53 seconds left, Michigan SECOND COUNT appeared destined for its fourth lost of the season. Instead, the Wolverines marched down the field to save the game and perhaps the season 1. Steve Breaston returns the kickoff 41 yards to the Michigan 47. 2. Ball on Mich. 47: Chad Henne pass com- plete to Jason Avant for 17 yards. fo 3. Ball on Penn State 36: Henne pass complete to Carl Tabb for four yards. Michigan calls timeout with 30 seconds left. 4. Ball on Penn State 32: Henne pass complete to Tyler Ecker for five yards. 5. Ball on Penn State 27: Mike Hart runs for 11 yards. 6. Ball on Penn State 16: Henne pass incomplete to Breaston. 7. Ball on Penn State 16: Henne pass complete to Mario Manningham for six yards. 8. Ball on Penn State 10: Henne pass incomplete to Breaston. Michigan calls timeout with one second left. 9. Ball on Penn State 10: Henne pass complete to Manningham for 10 yards, touchdown. With twowins, 'M' bac 9 191 By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer On Sunday afternoon, just 10 minutes before the Michigan hockey team warmed up for its game against Merrimack, a spe- cial delivery arrived in the Wolverine's locker room. "I told my par- ents to bring down. -MERRIMACK 2 my stick from last year," forward Andrew Cogliano said. The freshman was hoping the change of sticks would exorcise the bad luck that had been plaguing him for the first three games of the season. The stick did more than help Cogliano. It seemed to help the entire team (4-0-0) roll to a 9-2 victory over the Warriors (0-2-0), bolstered by a which he fired from the right point to beat Merrimack goaltender Jim Healey on his glove side. His second was a shot from the left face-off circle that went top shelf. "The first three games I had some bad luck scoring and things like that," Cogli- ano said. "To get the first goal in the first period and the second one to follow is a good feeling." Sophomore forward Kevin Porter also had a big night, notching a hat-trick in the first period. The third and final goal was set up by freshman defenseman Jack Johnson. Johnson skated into the slot and made a few stick fakes before dumping off to Porter, who was able to punch the puck in from the right side. "I don't think I have (scored a hat trick in one period)," Porter said. "Not since mini-mites." But the big game of the weekend was on k atop polis had a five-on-three power play. In a set formation, junior defenseman Matt Hun- wick passed the puck across ice to Porter, waiting in the lower right corner of the offensive zone. Porter passed the puck back to Hunwick, who quickly sent the puck to the right point. Johnson, waiting patiently, fired a shot over the right shoul- der of Eagles' goaltender Cory Schneider just 1:44 into the game. Six minutes later, freshman forward Travis Turnbull took a shot from point- blank range on the left side. Hensick picked up the rebound, skated around a Boston College player toward the middle of the slot and flipped it over Schneider's shoulder for the game's second goal. "It was our gameplan from the get-go to get all over those guys," Johnson said. "Especially with having the home crowd here, we knew we had the advantage." AiUW. I -W mm