COMPOUND SOLUTION:
The men's gymnastics team hopes
better chemistry means success.
PAGE 2B
THE SPORTSTHURSDAY COLUMN:
The starting game is just as
important as finishing.
PAGE 3B
BOWLIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD:
The Daily breaks down the bowl
games you might have missed.
PAGE 8B
SPORTS.
January 5, 2006
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NEBRASKA 32 Michigan 28
Aw, Shucks
Crazy finish
not enough
to save Blue
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Editor
SAN ANTONIO - It resembled California
vs. Stanford in 1982 - but without the fairytale
ending.
Down by four with two seconds left, Michi-
gan lined up on its own 36-yard line.
Michigan never considered throwing a 60-
yard pass, instead opting for a hook-and-lad-
der-style finish.
Chad Henne to Jason Avant to Steve Breaston,
and so on. All Michigan's key offensive players
were involved, including Mike Hart and Mario
Manningham, but in the end - with players
and coaches, fans and media members all on
the field - Tyler Ecker, who was tackled 13
yards shy of the goal line, was the last player to
touch the ball.
The Wolverines went home losers of their third
straight bowl game - this time a 32-28 defeat in
the Alamo Bowl at the hands of Nebraska. The
game capped off a nightmare season for Michi-
gan (5-3 Big Ten, 7-5 overall), which ended the
worst football season in more than 20 years with
two straight losses.
"Things happened at the end that need to be
looked at on film," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
said. "Our players deserved better."
Avant, a senior co-captain, called it the
most poorly officiated game he'd ever played
in. Some Michigan players claimed that Titus
Brothers, the player who tackled Ecker, was not
originally a part of the final play, but review
showed that he was in fact one of Nebraska's
deep defensive backs.
But even without the confusion at the end,
Michigan had its chances. After a seven-yard
touchdown run by Henne early in the fourth
quarter, Nebraska trailed by 11. It looked as if
the game was out of reach. With less than 12
minutes to play, the Wolverines needed to pro-
tect the football and move the chains to pick up
their first bowl game win in three years.
But that proved to be a monumental task.
First, it was the Michigan defense giving up
a 31-yard touchdown run to running back Cory
Ross, who finished with 165 yards and a score
See NEBRASKA, page 5B
Texas' Vince Young won MVP honors at the Rose Bowl, leading his Longhorns
to a 41-38 victory over Southern Cal in the national championship.
Trojan failure:.
Young penetrates
USC 'D' for title
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -
Vince Young and Texas are sec-
ond no more to Reggie Bush and
Southern Cal.
With the national champion-
ship down to a final play, Young
scrambled for an 8-yard touch-
down on fourth down with 19
seconds left and the No. 2 Long-
horns stunned the top-ranked
Trojans 41-38 in the Rose Bowl
last night.
The high-scoring game everyone
expected to see broke out in the
second half - yet it was a defen-
sive stop that was the key to Texas
ending Southern Cal's 34-game
winning streak and Matt Leinart's
college career.
When Southern Cal coach
Pete Carroll gambled, the Long-
horns stuffed LenDale White on a
fourth-and-2 at midfield with 2:09
left.
Young, bitterly disappointed
at losing the Heisman to Bush,
then wound up with the ultimate
See ROSE BOWL, page 2B
Members of the Nebraska football team celebrate the Cornhuskers' 32-28 Alamo Bowl win over
Michigan. The Wolverines had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter before Nebraska rallied.
Third Straight Bowl Loss
Jan. 1, 2004
No. 1 Southern Cal 28,
No. 4 Michigan 14
The Trojans dominated the
Wolverines throughout the
game, which gave Southern
Cal a share of the national
championship. Trojan
quarterback Matt Leinart
shredded the Michigan
secondary for 327 yards and
three touchdowns - and
caught a fourth - while
Wolverines signal-caller John
Navarre was sacked nine
times. Southern Cal receiver
Keary Colbert had 149
yards and two touchdowns
in the win. Michigan running
back Chris Perry and
receiver Braylon Edwards
combined for 192 yards of
total offense, but it wasn't
enough. This game was
never close, as Southern Cal
jumped out to a 21-0 lead.
Jan. 1, 2005
No. 6 Texas 38,
No. 13 Michigan 37
In one of the most exciting
college football games of
recent memory, the Longhorns
outlasted the Wolverines on
Texas kicker Dusty Mangum's
37-yard field goal as time
expired. Despite Michigan
receiver Braylon Edwards's
three touchdowns and
freshman quarterback Chad
Henne's Rose Bowl record-
tying four scoring tosses,
the Longhorns stormed back
on the legs of quarterback
Vince Young. The sophomore
picked up 192 yards and four
touchdowns on the ground
and passed for 180 yards and
another score in accounting
for each one of Texas's
touchdowns. The score was
a back and forth tug-of-war,
and never got out of hand.
N MEWS BASKETBALL
Hoosiers silence
Blue in opener
By Kevin Wright
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - With less than under a minute left in the game, junior
Dion Harris rose from the baseline and hoisted a fadeaway jumper. The shot
perched precariously on the rim for a second before falling to the court. Har-
ris dove to the ground, but Indiana's Marco Killingsworth
scooped up the loose ball. l
And as it had gone all night, the Michigan men's bas-.s
ketball team came up just short. It fell in its Big Ten opener
70-63 to the 16th-ranked Hoosiers (1-0 Big Ten, 9-2 overall) at Assembly Hall
on Tuesday night.
In a game that featured a series of runs, the Wolverines (0-1, 10-2), without
an injured wing Lester Abram, couldn't overcome a late second half surge by
Indiana.
"I thought that both teams put together certain stretches where they played
very well and certain stretches that we would like to forget how we played,"
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said.
After Michigan used an 8-1 run to battle back and tie the game at 55, the
Hoosiers responded with 8-4 run of their own to take a 63-59 lead, a lead which
they would never relinquish.
Sophomore Robert Vaden took Indiana on his shoulders during the key run.
He hit two 3-pointers and collected two big offensive rebounds off of missed
Hoosier free throws. Indiana cashed in both times.
Vaden, who scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, exploited
the matchup against Michigan's 6-foot-9 senior forward Graham Brown. The 6-
foot-5 sophomore moved to power forward position the second half and was able
to take advantage of the mismatch against the taller and slower Brown.
See HOOSIERS, page 6B
WRESTLING
Formally attired
fans suit Wolverines
By Amber Colvin
Daily Sports Writer
On a night when fans wore suits and ties, the Michigan wrestling
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Shorthanded Icers
grab third place at GLI
By H. Jose Bosch night before.
Daily Sports Writer "We really needed that one'" said Berer
;n-
DETROIT - Much like a conduc-
tor attempting to lead an orchestra without
its top musicians, Michigan hockey coach
Red Berenson was
forced to work with a
son of Friday's win over Michigan Tech (3-
10-1 WCHA, 4-17-1 overall). "Especially
when we were behind going into the third
period. Sometimes you can become unrav-
eled. It was not turning out to be the weekend
that we wanted, but we stuck together"
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