4B - Monday, September 17, 2007
The Michigan Dailv - michizandailv.com 4
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GAME STATISTICS
TemSt
First Don
Rsh/Yds
Pmassin Yads
Offensve Plays
Total Offense
Return,,Yrds
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fme/Lost
Penaties/Yards
Time of Pss
MICH
25
61/289
90
77
379=
47
7/16/0
4/40.0
3/2
4/37
33:44
ND
10
33/-6
85
79
13/22/2
7/43.3
6/2
7/51
26:16
Starting, confident
M-allett gets it done
M I CAHSING A N
Player C-A Yds
Mallett 7-15 90
Arrington 0-1 0
Totals 716 90
RUSHING
Player Att Yds Avg
Hart 35 187 5.3
Minor 17' 82 4.8
Brown 4 10 2.5
Totals 61 289 4.7
RECEIVING
TD
3
0
3
Lg
14
21
6
21
0
TD
2
0
0
2
TD
1
1
3
Lg
48
48
Player No. Yds Avg Lg
Mannigam 2 35 17.5 22
ArngoT 2 15 75 17
Hart 2 14 7.0 10
Mathews 1 26 26.0 26
Totals 7 90 12.9 26
Player N o. T Yds Avg
Mesko 4 160 40.0
Totals 4 160 40.0
KICKOFFRETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg ' Lg
Brown T1 7.5 1
Totals 1 17 17.0 17
PUNTRETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg
DEFENSE
Player Solo Asst
Adams 2 0
Brown 2 0
Chambers 4 1
Crable 3 2
Dutch 1 0
Mnglemrin 3 2
Thamson 2 1 .
Pantr1 20
Webb 0 1
By JACK HERMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Early in the second quarter of
Saturday's game, Michigan quar-
terback Ryan Mallett threw a lat-
eral to wideout Adrian Arrington,
intending to receive it back on a
pass. Before he could make the
catch, though, the 6-foot-7 fresh-
man tripped, falling on the ground
as the ball sailed over his head.
Although he spoiled that rare
opening of the Wolverine playbook,
Mallett - and his size-16 shoes -
mostly kept out of Michigan's way.
Doing just what he needed to do,
Mallett completed 7-of-15 passes,
threw three touchdowns and, most
important, successfully handed
the ball off to senior Mike Hart 35
times in Michigan's 38-0 win over
Notre Dame.
"It was everything I dreamed of
-a win," said Mallett, who filled in
for the injured Chad Henne. "It's
all I wanted my first start."
Last week against Oregon, Mal-
lett - widely considered the sec-
ond-best quarterback in this year's
national recruiting class - entered
the game trailing 32-7 at halftime.
Forced to play catch-up, he went
just 6-for-17 and threw an inter-
ception.
But this week, Mallett started
with a clean slate and a clear mind.
To avoid distractions, the fresh-
man turned offboth his cell phones
Thursday.
Michigan teamed up to keep
the pressure off Mallett, too. The
coaching staff limited his role in
the offense, the defense handed
him good field position and Hart
kept moving the ball.
Playing with a short field for
most of his first-half drives, Mal-
lett rarely needed to unleash his
cannon arm; he threw for just 90
yards, and all three of his touch-
downs were shorter than 26 yards
each. On the longest of them
- also Mallett's longest comple-
tion of the game - wide receiver
Greg Mathews caught the ball just
behind the Fighting Irish lineback-
ers and then sprinted 21 yards to
the end zone.
"(Mallett) was surrounded
by good people out there today,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"We just asked him to do the things
that were in the game plan. ... He
showed good poise."
Mallett also deserves credit for
calming down after a mistake-rid-
den start. The always-confident
freshman said he wasn't nervous
to start the game, but he fumbled
his first snap, missed an open wide
receiver and had a passbatted down
at the line before Michigan settled
for a field goal on its first drive.
Mallett turned things around,
though - and scored a personal vic-
tory over Notre Dame quarterback
Jimmy Clausen. The only quarter-
back ranked ahead of Mallettin last
year's recruiting class went11-of-17
for 74 yards and an interception.
The Michigan defense pulverized
his offensive line for eight sacks,
and the complete lack of a Fight-
ing Irish rushing game didn't help
Clausen, either.
Mallett, on the other hand, got
all the help he needed. In addition
to Hart and running back Bran-
don Minor's combined 52 carries,
the senior Henne walked Mallett.
through tape before the game.
Mallett might want to go to
Henne for additional aid this week,
since it's likely the freshman will
have to throw a bit more in this
Saturday's game. Michigan faces
Penn State, which has the nation's
best run defense, and Hart says he
expects to run up against a stacked
box in Ann Arbor.
But Hart's convinced his young
teammate can handle it.
"I think he can," Hart said. "It all
comes down to gameplanning, and
he knows what he has to do every
game. He made the right throws
today when he had to throw the
ball, so when he's making the right
throws, he's going to get more con-
fident every week, so we'll see."
T 0
7 0
9 TD
RODRIGO GAYA/Daly
Freshman quarterback Ryan Mallett did what his coaches asked
of him when he started his first career game.
Tot
2
2
5
5
1
5
4
7
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
6
3
5
1
Motivated Hart tastes victory again
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team BigTen Overall
Purdue
Penn State
Indiana
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Ohio State
Illinois
Northwestern
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
2
2
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
MICHIGAN 38, Notre Dame o
INDIANA 41, Akron 24
MICHIAN STATE 17, Pittsburgh 13
PENN STATE 45, Buffalo 24
PURDUE 45, Central Michigan 22
WIsCoNsIN 45, The Citadel 31
IOWA STATE 15, Iowa 13
Ohio State 33, WAsHINGToN 14
Duke 20, NORTHWESTERN 14
Illinois 41, SYRACUsE 20
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 42, Minnesota 39
BySCOTT BELL
Daily Sports Editor
There was nothing wrong with his pal-
ette, he just hadn't enjoyed the taste in a
long time.
For captain MikeN
Hart, it was time to NOTEBOOK
remember the taste of
victory.
"I was just telling the team I lost the
taste of winning for a while," Hart said.
"I hadn't won a game in a while - four
games - so we got that victory. I got that
taste back in my mouth, and we want to
keep winning."
To solidify his guaranteed victory,
Hart carried the ball 35 times. He ran for
187 yards. He scored two touchdowns.
Mission accomplished.
"I knew coming into the game I was
going to have to perform, because you
can't say something like that and not per-
form," Hart said.
In his post-game press conference,
Hart quickly pointed out he meant no
disrespect toward Notre Dame with last
week's comments.
Carr mirrored his player's thoughts,
makinga guarantee of his own.
"There's nobody that has greater
respect for Notre Dame than we do at
Michigan and than I do as the head
coach here," Carr said. "It was simply I
think out of frustration that Mike made
that statement because he was trying to
encourage his own teammates and make
a statement for his team. It certainly was
out of no lack of respect for Notre Dame, I
guarantee you that.".
After recording nearly 200 yards on
the ground, Hart jumped up to No. 3
on Michigan's all-time rushing list. He
THE FAVORITE
Penn State: If they get
past Michigan next
week, they have a great
home schedule in confer-
ence and probably the
fast track to the Big Ten title. Back
at Big Ten media day, coach Joe
Paterno said he had a good but not
great team. Apparently, this season
is looking a little better than the old
ball coach thought.
Odds: 3-1
WHAT ARE
passed Tyrone Wheatley with a five-yard
carry late in the third quarter.
"The only thing that matters is No. 1,
and this team being No. 1, that's all I'm
focused on," Hart said. "If we keep win-
ning and I keep moving up, it's cool."
HAPPY TRAILS?: Junior cornerback
Johnny Sears was listed on the team's
dress list before the game, but once the
team took the field, he was nowhere to be
seen. With message board rumors swirl-
ing that Sears had been dismissed from
the Wolverines, Carr was asked following
the game whether or not Sears was still
with the team.
"I don't have any comment on that
right now," Carr said.
Carr was also tight-lipped about Chad
Henne's condition. The senior quarter-
back wasn't on the sidelines for Saturday's
game after suffering a lower leg injury
against Oregon. He helped with playcal-
ling from upstairs.
Carr would only say that he would list
Henne as "day-to-day" and declined to
provide a timetable for his return.
NoT-SO-GOOD-TIME-CHARLIE: Notre
Dame coach Charlie Weis wishes he
could restart the season. With an 0-3
start and the worst offense in the nation,
the Irish are in a tailspin. But since Weis
can't travel back in time, he's planning on
doingthe next closest thing.
"We're starting training camp tomor-
row," Weis said. "We've already talked to
the players - they're going early to get
their treatment, and they're not watching
this game, because obviously, after three
games in, the team's headed in the wrong
direction."
Later on in his press conference, a
Notre Dame media relations official
tried winding up the questioning. Weis
4
Running back Mike Hart ran with a purpose. He carried the ball 35 times for 187 yards
stopped the man saying everyone would
get his chance to ask him questions.
"Hey, I'll get you," Weis said to a
reporter trying to ask him a question..
"I'm not going anywhere," "I'm going to
take my beating like a man, just like we
just did. I'm not going anywhere."
If his training camp approach doesn't
work, Weis and his Irish may have more
beatings in their immediate future.
"I obviously am embarrassed by that
performance out there," Weis said. "As I
always do, I'll take full accountability for
our team playing like that, but the bot-
tom line is we're really not getting good
at anything."
AROUND THE NCAA
UTAH UNDOES UCLA
Salt Lake City provided the week's big-
gest headscratcher as the Utes demol-
ished the 11th-ranked Bruins 44-6.
UCLA mistakes, including 10 penalties
for 66 yards and five turnovers, attrib-
uted to a Utah 30-0 second half. The
Bruins were denied the red zone the
entire game, a feat that hasn't occurred
since UCLA coach Karl Dorrell's first
win in 2003. Utah's Tommy Grady threw
246 yards for 3 touchdowns in just his
second start to produce the Utes's high-
est-ranked upset since 1994.
REVIVING A RIVALRY
With Kentucky's 40-34 win over No. 9
Louisville in Lexington, the border battle
is finally back on. After five straight
losses to the Cardinals, Wildcat Andre
Woodson released a perfect 57-yard
touchdown pass to Steve Johnson with
28 seconds left. Despite Louisville quar-
terback Brian Brohm putting up 366
yards on his arm, Kentucky's Woodson
engineered an error-free offense. Wood-
son has not had an interception in 257
attempts, 14 short of the NCAA mark
set by Trent Dilfer.
BIG BLOW TO BIG TEN
As if critics of the Big Ten weren't hav-
ing fun already, Northwestern adds to
the fire with a 20-13 defeat against Duke
in Evanston. The Blue Devils snapped a
22-game losing streak without scoring
in the second half. Duke also claimed
its first road win since November 2003.
The Wildcats tallied 506 yards on
offense, but killed itself with 13 penal-
ties for 125 yards. Duke quarterback
Thaddeus Lewis finished the game with
a .826 completion percentage and three
touchdowns. The longest losing streak
now belongs to Florida International,
which has lost 15 straight.
- - 1
CONTENDERS
Wisconsin: Many peo- Ohio State: Silently
ple's favorite once Michi- having a solid start to
. gan fell. Arguably the best the season. The most
'D' in the Big Ten and an impressive nonconfer-
offense that relies heavily ence win of the young
on the run. PJ. Hill has been the work- season came when the Buckeyes
horse for the team, even though the went on the road and handled a
Badgers looked shaky against UNLV Washington team many thought
and the Citadel. Still, with Michigan could win. Watch out for Jim Tres-
coming to Madison and a favorable sel's team down the stretch. You
Big Ten schedule, Wisconsin is a dan- can't afford to count out Ohio State.
gerous team.
Odds: 6-1
Odds: 5-1
Michigan: Loaded
with senior talent, just
a matter of whether
or not they can put it
together. If coach Lloyd
Carr can find a way to get this
team to play to its potential - the
kind it showed against Notre
Dame, don't think the Wolverines
can't make a run. It's improbable
but not impossible.
Odds: 6-1
I
i
THE DARK
HORSES
THE ODDS?
The Daily foot-
ball writers take
another shot at
calling this year's
Big Ten champ.
Purdue: Most dangerous offense
in the Big Ten. The Boilermak-
ers are flying under the radar
because of their weak noncon-
ference schedule. One look at
the Big Ten statistical rankings tells the tale.
Purdue is tops in total offense in the Big Ten,
and with quarterback Curtis Painter and
wide receiver Dorian Bryant, who knows? It
could happen.
Michigan State: Poised under
new coach Mark Dantonio, the
Spartans are a shadow of their
former John L. Smith image.
Dantonio has Michigan State
playing solid defense and scor-
ing enough points to beat Pittsburgh and
Bowling Green. When Big Ten play rolls
around, the offense will be exposed, and
the Spartans won't be able to score.
Iowa: Not very good, but
great schedule. The Iowa
f b State loss isn't as bad as it
looks. The Cyclones have
traditionally played the
Hawkeyes tough, especially at home.
Iowa lacks an experienced quarter-
back and has had to replace numerous
pieces on the defensive side of the ball.
Odds: 15-1
Odds: 15-1
THE PRETENDERS
Illinois: Let's be seri-
ous. Ron Zook is the
Illini coach. He's only
good at text messag-
ing.
Odds: 100 to 1
Indiana: The Hoosiers
might want to try get-
ting students to come
over to the stadium
before thinking about a
Big Ten championship.
Odds: 450.7 to 1
Minnesota: One of the
nice things for the Golden
Gophers: They can focus
on final exams in Decem-
ber. They're not going to
a bowl game, let alone win a Big Ten
title.
Odds: 2,054 to 1
Northwestern: The
Wildcats lost at home to
a team riding a 22-game
losing streak. End of
story.
Odds: The highest number possible
to 1
6
0