The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4B - Monday, November 13, 2006 GAME STATISTICS| Amd Ami Tea m Stats First Downs Rush/Yds Offenive Pays Ttal Alffense Return Yards Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avg Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss MICH 21 46/208 133 12/16/1 3/36.0 1/0 2/20 33:56 IND 11 20/26 149 16/33/1 7/40.6 1/0 2/15 24:36 criticism, Breaston breaks out PA ING Henne Forcier M I C H I G A N C-A Yds 11-15 159 1-1 9 Totals 1216 168 2 1 By STEPHANIE WRIGHT RUSH ING Daily Sports Editor Player Att Yds Avg Lg TD Hart 19 92 438 17 1 BLOOMINGTON - If Steve Breaston didn't silence Jackson 8 65 8.1 17 1 his critics on Saturday, at least he presented a compelling Brown 8 25 3.1 7 0 counterargument to ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit's claim Hood 2 12 6.0 10 0 that he's a "worthless" wide receiver. r 6 12 4 , The oft-maligned Breaston racked up 231 all-purpose Bradley 1 2 2.0 2 0 yards on six touches, including a season-high 103 receiving Henne 2 -6 -30 0 0 yards and a career-long 83-yard punt return for a touch- Totals 46 20 4.5 2 down. He also found the end zone on a 62-yard reception RECEIVING 0in the second quarter, his first touchdown of the season. Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD Breaston's big day came just two weeks after Herbst- Breaston 3 103 34.3 62 1 reit disparaged the fifth-year senior's value as an offen- Arrington 3 24 80 12 1 sive weapon. During the analyst's weekly radio show in Manningham 2 11 55 8 0 Columbus, Herbstreit said Breaston hasn't done anything utr 2 6 30 20 on offense since his freshman year. Bradley 1 -5 -5.0 0 After Saturday's game, the North Braddock, Pa., native savoy 0 7 7.0 o0 had little to say in response to Herbstreit's harsh words. Totals 12 168 9.9 62 2 "It is what it is," Breaston said. "I don't use that as my motivation. ... It's said, (but) I'm not really bothered by PUNINA that." Player No. Yds Avg Lg Ryan 1 32 32.0 32 The same can't be said for his teammates. Breaston first Mesko 2 76 38.0 39 heard about Herbstreit's criticism from tailback Mike Totals 3 108 36.0 39 Hart, who Breaston said was veryupset about it. Breaston didn't see a point to getting angry. KPCKerEN No. Yds Avg Lg TD "I've heard far worse in my life," Breaston said. "It's just Breaston 2 45 25 30 t that this was out there. I'm not really mad about it. I'm not Totals 2 45 225 30 0 mad at him because I know what type of player I am and I know how much I contribute to this team every week:' PUNT RETURNS So does Indiana. Saturday marked the second straight Plaer02, ds Ag L5 TO 83easton N 03Avg T year in which Breaston turned in a monster performance Mathews 1 5D 0 5 0 against the Hoosiers. Totals 2 88 44.0 83 1 Last season, he amassed 201 all-purpose yards, high- lightedby an 11-yard touchdown reception, a 47-yard kick- DEFENSE off return and 78 yards off three punt returns. Play Solo Asst Tot Saturday, Breaston notched his first 100-yard receiving Graham, C. 4 0 4 game of the season, mostly thanks to his 62-yard touch- Hall 4 0 4 downcatchinthesecond quarter. Onthatplay,quarterback Branch 2 1 3 Chad Henne looked to awell-covered Mario Manningham Jamin 1 2 3 first before finding Breaston one step ahead of the Indiana Egmn 2 0 2 defender down the right sideline for an easy score. Woodley 1 1 2 Then, in the third quarter, the Big Ten's career punt Graham, B. 1 1 2 return leader fielded a punt at the 17-yard line and took 0 2 2 it up the right sideline and into the end zone for his first Fifth-year senior Steve Breaston put together his best performance on the season on Saturday in Michigan's blowout win over Indiana. The wide receiver finished the day with a season-high 103 receiving yards and a career-long 82-yard punt return for a touchdown. touchdown return this year. Carr disagrees. In preparation for Indiana, he showed With the score, Breaston broke a four-way tie to claim the Wolverines a clip of a first-down play Breaston made Michigan's all-time record for touchdown returns. against Ball State last weekend. "I told him before the game that I thought this wouldbe On third-and-10, Breaston grabbed the ball about three his best game of the year," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. yards short of the first-down marker. He jumped over the "Fourteen points - that's a pretty good day's work when defender and landed on his back, just far enough upfield to you only touch the ball (a handful of) times." move the chains. Saturday's breakout game aside, Breaston's final season Carr cites the play as one example of how Breaston's in Ann Arbor has been widely considered a disappoint- impact as a receiver has been overlooked this season. ment. In 11 games, the preseason Biletnikoff Award can- "I think he's done a lot of great things that maybe were didate (given annually to the nation's top receiver) has unappreciated," Carr said. "He's caught a lot of balls in nabbed 48 passes for 537 yards - better numbers than he front of the defense all year long and made good, tough, put up last year, but not what was expected from the 2003 hard yardage. SoI like Breaston. I like him a lot." Freshman All-American. There's certainly value in that. Harrison Crable Massey Biggs Trent Hood Taylor Van Alstyne Henne Johnson Brown Barringer Tabh Patterson Germany Adams z 0 i i BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Big Ten Overall Michigan 7 0 11 0 Ohio State 7 0 11 0 Wisconsin 7 1 10 1 Penn State 4 3 7 4 Purdue 4 3 7 4 Indiana 3 3 5 6 Iowa 2 5 6 5 Minnesota 2 5 5 6 Northwestern 1 6 3 83 Illinois 1 6 2 9 Michigan State 1 6 4 7 THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS Michigan 34, INDIANA 3 Purdue 42, ILLINOIS 31 Wisconsin 24, IOwA 21 Minnesota 31, MICHIGAN STATE18 Ohio State 54.ENORTHWESTERN10 PtNSnT 47, Temple 0 AROUND THE NCAA KANSAS STATE HOLDS ON TO GIVE LONGHORNS THEIR SECOND LOSS: Texas's National Championship hopes are all but lost after Kansas State beat the Longhorns 45-42. The Wildcats took a 42-21 lead before Texas battled back to pull within three with one minute left. Then the Longhorns failed to recover an onside kick, securing the Kansas State victory. To make matters worse, the Longhorns also lost their No. 1 quarterback Colt McCoy in the first quarter after he injured his right shoulder. GATORS RELY ON BLOCKED KICKS TO EKE OUT WIN OVER GAMECOCKS: Florida barely avoided the curse of the top-ranked one-loss teams with a 17-16 win over South Carolina. In a back-and-forth game, the Gamecocks took a 16-10 lead when running back Mike Davis found the end zone on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter. But the Gators blocked the extra point and took a 17-16 advantage five minutes later. Then Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss blocked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to keep its national-title dreams alive. ANOTHER HOME LOSS DERAILS AUBURN'S NATIONAL TITLE HOPES: Five weeks after Arkansas came into Jordan-Hare Stadium and beat the heavily favored Tigers, Auburn dropped its second home game of the season, a 37-15 loss to underdog Geor- gia. The Bulldogs can thank defensive back Tra Battle for their big win. Battle intercepted three passes in the first half, and returned one 30 yards for a touchdown. Auburn gained a paltry 171 total yards, including just 35 through the air, which all but eliminates the Tigers' chance at a national - or even an SEC - title. Humble Hall passes Howard, sets record By KEVIN WRIGHT Daily Sports Editor BLOOMINGTON-It didn't seem like a bigplay, so you may not have noticed its significance. When IndianaquarterbackKellen Lewis tried to hit wide receiver James Hardy along the sideline on a third- NOTEBOOK and-nine in the second quar- ter, cornerback Leon Hall stymied the completion. He stuck a hand between Indiana receiver James Hardy and the ball to record his 42nd career pass breakup, moving ahead of former cornerback Todd Howard as Michigan's all-time leader in that category. "I didn't know he broke it, but I'm very proud of him," defensive end LaMarr Woodley said. "I'm going to pat him on the back when I get on the bus." As the quiet leader of the oft-criticized Wolver- ine secondary, Hall has been a steady contribu- tyr - when opposing quarterbacks actually risk throwingto his side. When thathappens, the Vista, Calif., native usually shows why Michigan coach Lloyd Carr calls him the most technically sound cornerback he's ever coached. Saturday, Hall broke up three Lewis throws on his way to passing Howard. Lewis first tested the Jim Thorpe Award semifi- nalist on Indiana's first play of the game. He tried to hit his receiver deep along the left sideline, but Hall beat him to the ball, nearly picking off the pass. Then, in the second quarter, Hall took sole pos- session of the record when he broke up Lewis's pass to Hardy. The 5-foot-11 cornerback finished off the show- case with an acrobatic deflection in the back left corner of the end zone. The next play, Morgan Trent intercepted Lewisto effectively end Indi- ana's only real threat of the game. "Leon's a quiet leader," Woodley said. "He doesn't say much, but he leads. He's quiet and just goes out there and does his job on the field." RESTOCKING THE SHELVES: After weeks of hearing about how much progress tight end Tyler Ecker has made in practice, Michigan fans finally got to see him on the field. And he even caught a pass. Ecker, who dressed against Ball State but didn't see any action, had been sidelined with an ankle injury, suffered in the first play of the Wolverines' contest against Minnesota. But with Michigan facing a third-and-13 with 4:18 left in the second quarter, quarterback Chad Henne hit Ecker over the middle for 22 yards and a Michigan first down. "Tyler made a big play there in the second quar- ter," Carr said. "And it's great to have him back." Saturday also saw the return of tight end Mike Massey, who hasn't been on the field since injuring his shoulder against Penn State. He didn't catch a pass and saw most of his limited action playing on special teams. With Massey and Ecker back in the lineup and Carson Butler emerging as a viable passing option, the Wolverines now boast a complete and talented tight end corps,just in timefor the Ohio State game next weekend. "I got three guys now that are very talented, that play well," offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said. "They have a lot to offer, so now it keeps them a little bit more fresh in the game. And that really Senior cornerback Leon Hall recorded three pass breakups in the Wolverines' 34-3 victorp over Indiana on Saturdap. Hall passed former cornerback Todd Howard in the sec- ond quarter when he broke up a pass intended for Hoosier receiver James Hardy. helps. I think that's a big positive." BACK IN THE HOOD: Darnell Hood is known for hitting the opposing team's return man. But taking a handoff? The special teams' standout, who has anchored the coverage teams, got some rare touches in the backfield late in the fourth quarter as Michigan was wrapping up its victory. The fifth-year senior rushed for 12 yards on two carries. Holding a commanding 34-3 lead with just under six minutes left in the third quarter, Carr finally got the chance to rest some of his starters, especially running back Mike Hart. "(I was) messing around, watching the other guys go in and play, like Carlos (Brown) and Alijah (Bradley), and even D-Hood got in there and had a couple carries," Hart said. "It was great to win a game like this." But, it wasn't until six minutes remained in the game that Carr brought in backup quarterback Jason Forcier to rest Henne. Forcier completed his only pass attempt and rushed for 12 yards on one scramble. "It's great anytime a backup quarterback can get game reps," DeBord said. "We try to simulate prac- tice to be as much like games as we can, but you can't, so games are critical." INJURY REPORT: Linebacker Prescott Burgess, who left last week's game with an ankle injury, didn't suit up on Saturday, but Carr said he would play next week against Ohio State. Kunning back Kevin Grady, who didn't dress against Ball State because of a shoulder injury, practiced leading up to Saturday, and Carr said he expects him to be able to play next week. GOT AN EVENT PLANNED FOR OSU WEEK? LET US KNOW AT SPORTS@ MICHIGANDAILY.COM. ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL This weekend, it almost looked as if Ohio State and Michigan are the only teams that want to make it to the National Championship game. The nation's No.1 and No. 2 squads demolished their com- petition, finalizing the Nov.18 showdown everyone's been dream- ing about for weeks. But it wasn't pretty for many of the teams that had just one loss heading into the weekend. Auburn notched another big loss at home, California dropped a home game to an average Arizona team, and Kansas State pulled off the upset against then-No. 4 Texas. Thanks to Rutgers' big win over Louis- ville, the Scarlet Knights jumped into the top 10 for the first time. TEAM LAST WEEK THIS WEEK 1. Ohio State beat Northwestern Michigan 54-10 2. Michigan beat Indiana 34-3 at Ohio State 3. Florida beatSouthCarolina Western Carolina 17-16 4. Southern Cal beat Oregon 35-10 California 5. Arkansas beat Tennessee at Mississippi State 31-14 6. Notre Dame beat Air Force 39-17 Army 7. Rutgers beat Louisville Cincinnati 28-25 8. West Virginia beat Cincinnati at Pittsburgh 42-24 9. Louisiana State beat Alabama 28-14 Mississippi 10. Louisville lost to Rutgers South Florida 28-25 11. Texas lostto Kansas Idle State 45-42 12. Wisconsin beat Iowa 24-21 Buffalo 13. Boise State beat SanJose Utah Slate State 23-20 14. Wake Forest beat Florida Virginia Tech State 30-0 15. Auburn losttoGeorgia37-15 at Alabama 16. Oklahoma beat Texas Tech at Baylor 34-24 17. California lost to Arizona at Southern Cal 24-20 18. Georgia Tech beat North Duke Carolina 7-0 19. Virginia Tech beat Kent State at Wake Forest 23-0 20. Boston College beat Duke 28-7 Maryland 21. Maryland beat Miami (FL) at Boston College 14-13 22. Tennessee lost to Arkansas at Vanderbilt 31-14 23. Brigham Young beat Wpoming 55-7 New Mexico 24. Nebraska beat Texas Idle A&M 28-27 25. Clemson beat North Carolina Idle Stale 20-14 Games updated through Nov. 12.