SportsTuesday - September 5, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 5B COMMODORES Continued from Page 1B a streaking Mario Manningham along the left sideline for a 27-yard touchdown. Henne and his receivers agreed their problems are correctable. "There were mistakes out there and improvements to be made," said Henne, who threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 completions. "It definitely wasn't my best performance, but we'll see from this week to next week how much improvement we make from myself and from the team." On the other side of the ball, Michigan's defense dominated. Throughout the day, the Wolverines controlled the point of attack and even managed to run down Commodore quarterback Chris Nickson on many of his scrambles. The defense racked up six sacks with senior defensive ends Rondell Biggs and LaMarr Woodley leading the way with two apiece. "I think we did pretty good," Woodley said. "It was the first game, and (we) actu- ally got a look (at a running quarterback). ... We just have to continue to improve on that." Vanderbilt's lone touchdown came off a trick play with 12:26 left in the second quar- ter. The Michigan defense bit on a Nickson lateral to wide receiver Earl Bennett. Ben- nett in turn fired it downfield to a wide-open Marlon White. White waltzed into the end- zone to cut the Wolverine lead to 13-7. But on the following two Commodore drives, the Michigan defense allowed just one play for a gain and racked up two sacks and two stops for a loss. As cth- passing game struggled, the Michigan running attack showed significant improvement from a year ago. Last season, the Wolverine running game faltered down the stretch. It failed to out-rush Ohio State and Nebraska. And the results showed: Michigan lost both games. With the glaring running problem in mind, Carr continually said during the off- season that the 2006 Wolverines would need to return to form before they could become national contenders. And Saturday, Michigan responded. The team finished the game with a total of 246 rushing yards, including 146 from Hart. Behind an offensive line featuring a healthy left tackle Jake Long, the Michigan running backs had plenty of running room. Reserve running backs Grady and fresh- man Brandon Minor showed what valuable support they can give Hart. Minor - who ran for 30 yards on three carries - flashed his speed with an impressive 24-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Grady also finished with 30 yards. "That's what we have to do all year," Hart said. "We have to play together as a back- field. ... That's the biggest thing - those two have to come in and produce so coaches aren't scared to take me out of the game. They did a great job of that today" The Michigan Daily Top 10 Poll - The Michigan Daily Top 10 has 6. West Virginia: The Mountaineers' schedule >rts staffers will fill out ballots, looked easy enough when Big East rival Louisville had g 10 points, second-place running back Michael Bush - a potential Heisman >n. Every Monday, the results candidate - healthy. One broken tibia later, West lace votes in parentheses. Virginia has a clear path to an undefeated season. T3. Notre Dame (2): The Fighting Irish struggled in their opener against Georgia Tech, failing to put away the Yellow Jackets until the fourth quarter. That didn't deter a couple of our staffers from buying the hype and picking Notre Dame as the top team in the nation. 10. Oklahoma: The Sooners looked sluggish against UAB this weekend, just squeaking out a seven-point win. But it's hard to keep ateam with a player like Adrian Peterson out of the Daily Top 10. T3. Southern Cal: No Leinart. No Bush. Butplenty of love from the MichiganDaily sports staff. Hilariously named quarterback John David Booty appears to be more than ready to take the reins of the Trojan offense after throwing three TDs in a blowout over Arkansas. Speedy QB struggles against JM' onslaught SINGER Continued from Page 1B Branch, Terrance Taylor and Will Johnson ate up blockers in the middle, ends Rondell Biggs and LaMarr Woodley exploded the stat sheet. The duo spent most of its day in the Vanderbilt backfield, combining for four sacks and seven tackles for losses. With Michigan's big boys owning the line of scrimmage, the Commodore running game - if you could call it that - never got off the ground. Running back Cassen Jackson-Garrison ran eight times for a laughable two yards, losing yardage on half of his carries. Shutting down a weak rushing attack is one thing, but as Michigan has proven in the past, even the most talented defense can struggle with running quarterbacks. Indeed, I'm sure many Michigan fans have developed ulcers watching signal callers like Troy Smith and Vince Young pirouette around maize and blue defenders for huge gains. Obviously, Vanderbilt quarterback Chris Nick- son is neither of those guys, but he definitely brings plenty of athleticism to the table. The defense let Nickson run for a few decent gains - it's virtually impossible to completely shut down Defensive end La a running signal-caller - but Michigan contained against Vanderbil him by playing fundamentally sound football. All Michigan defensi' game long, the Wolverines funneled Nickson's scrambles inside, preventing him from getting up Carr indicated i the sidelines and turning solid gains into huge more backups p ones. Michigan's discipline paid off - Nickson igan's sketchy o finished with 22 yards on 16 carries and never ran - having the st for more than 15 yards on a single play. to be a nice test "I thought we did an excellent job on the edges, stamina. And ti not letting their quarterback out on the perimeter," Of course, th Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Because that's sive performant where a guy can hurt you. For the most part, we doesn't prove a] did a great job with quarterback run plays." aging that, unli In every sense of the word, Michigan's defense nois put up 411 finished on Saturday. During 2005, tackling raised no defen was hit-or-miss for the Wolverines. But against That's why I Vanderbilt, under English's tutelage, Michigan's out of the Big H defenders could be counted on to hit, wrap and Michigan made bring ballcarriers down. Virtually every time a takes, none of t Wolverine sunk his claws into a Commodore jer- ing penalties) a sey, the player was on Michigan Stadium's Field- turn into chron Turf moments later. of question mar In another notable improvement from last sea- game - but if son, Michigan's defense finished off the game with improve under authority. The Wolverines' off-season emphasis on tainly compete conditioning appeared to pay off, as Michigan's D and the rest of t stayed strong throughout, picking up three sacks and forcing a fumble in the final frame. While - Singer can HAVE A COMMENT OR QUESTION ABOUT MICHIGAN FOOTBALL? EMAIL US AT SPORTS@MICHIGANDAILY. COM AND CHECK OUT OUR BLOG AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM. Central Campus' Full Service Grocery1 Serving Ann Arbor Since 1970 Fresh Produce, Meat & Dairy Ice Cream & Frozen Foods Bottled Waters, Juices & Pop .- School & Household Supplies Magazines & Newspapers Wine Spirits Beer Cigars & Lots More!! VILLAGE CORNER Corner of S. University & S. Forest 995-1818 " www.villagecorner.com Daily 9am-lam " Fri/Sat 9am-2am THE BIGGEST BACK TO SCHOOL ?OTER SALE Most Images Only $6, $7 and $8 ice tMarr Woodley picked up two sacks t Saturday, leading a revamped ve attack. that he would have liked to get laying time - something Mich- ffensive performance prevented tarters in for four quarters proved of the Wolverines' defensive hey passed with flying colors. e Wolverines' dominating defen- ce against a third-tier opponent nything. But it's certainly encour- ke last year, when Northern Illi- yards, Michigan's season opener sive red flags. felt relatively encouraged walking louse on Saturday. Even though more than its fair share of mis- hem (besides, perhaps, the hold- ppeared to be anything that could ic problems. There are still plenty rks - most notably in the passing Michigan's defense continues to English, the Wolverines will cer- against Notre Dame, Ohio State their star-studded schedule. be reached at mattsing@umich.edu. Iraclitional pizza hicago deep dish Ckicago stuffed Calzone Cclamari " Pasta de CIVCPLJ F% FizzcI Iininq ani Delivery evertjcosj from 10:30 am tii 4 am 995-5095 www.pizzokouse.com 618 CLUPCL Sieset Voted Best Chipatis, Take-Out and Restaurant for Large Groups Michigan Daily readership poli 2006 I