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 lB aie kg Iirbja fd 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 s,.,... .,.F,-.. A --t1e .. n~.. - -.t-- -%i+ L- xrxr; -.o nn 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" , t..s tt ,Yt.. u.'':: :krt'.. . ..