4B - October 1, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
GAME STATISTICS
Chambers ineligible for season
TeamStats
First Downs
Rush/Yds
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total offensey
Rturn Yardsg
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
PASSING
Player
Henne
Malett
Totals
RUSHING
Player
HartN
Manningham
TENM
Henne
Totals
RECEMVNG
Manningham
Arrington
Mathews
Butler
Hart
PUNTING
Player
Mesko
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Minor
Totals
PUtNT RETURNS
DEFENSE
Grahar, C.
Harrison
Adams
Ezeh
Stewart
Warren
Rogers
Graham B
,ohnson
McLaurin
Moundros
Wright
TEAM
Brown
MICA
21
38/120
260
76
380
23/38/0
1/A
5/40
29:44
NU
22
34/128
289
76
417
22/2/3
2/2
2/16
30:16
M IC
C-A
18-27
5-11
H I G A N
Yds
193
67
260
TD
3
0
Att
30
4
1
38
No
7
4
1
1
106
19
0
-2
-3
120
Yds
123
90
38
5
4
Avg
3.5
4.8
-3.0
3.2
12.9
9.5
5.0
4.0
Lg
23
7
0
20
23
15
5
4
TD
1
0
0
0
0
1
TD
i
1
0
1
0
3
Penn State result in doubt
as Michigan faces possible
Big Ten penalties
By SCOTT BELL
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON - Freshman safety Artis
Chambers will not play for the rest of the
season because of an eligibility issue.
Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin
informed the media about the decision
during halftime of Michigan's 28-16 vic-
tory over Northwestern on Saturday.
But Chambers may not be the biggest
loss the Michigan football team suffers
from the incident.
Since Chambers played in the team's
first four games, the Wolverines may face
disciplinary action.
Chambers, who enrolled a semes-
ter early in January, was eligible under
NCAA rules but not Big Ten rules. When
the team found out on Thursday, it imme-
diatelytook Chambers off its active roster,
Martin said.
Martin said the incident had to do
with Chambers being a mid-semester
freshman, and how Michigan incorrectly
applied an old rule.
Chambers was eligible for Michigan's
nonconference schedule, so the team's I-
2 record will remain intact.tChambers's
participation in the Sept. 22 contest
against Penn State was a Big Ten-sanc-
tioned game, so that result could be con-
tested.
Martin would not rule out the possibil-
ity of having to forfeit the team's win over
Penn State.
"We'll have to wait and see what the
Big Ten says," Martin said. "I can't rule
anything out. I would think we'll getreso-
lution sometime this week."
Martin also couldn't elaborate on
whether or not the eligibility issue was
academic or not, citing federal privacy
rules. Martin did emphasize that it was
his fault, not Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr's.
other officials, including Carr, are also
remaining tight-lipped on the situation.
"I'm not going to get into that, other
than to say it's a real disappointment,"
Carr said.
Chambers will remain in school and
can practice with the team, but he can't
participate in games for the remainder of
the season.
Chambers's mother, Martha, declined
to comment on the situation in a telephone
interview with the Daily Saturday night.
No. Yds Avg Lg
6 267 44.5 60
6 267 44.5 60
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
2 35 17.5 22 0
2 35 17.5 22 0
No Yds Avg Lg TD
Safety Artis Chambers will not play the rest of the season because of a Big Ten eligibility issue.
'M'injuries list
continues t row
5
4
1
4
3
2
1
Asst Tot
2 10
3 9
2 7
1 5
4 5
0 4
1 4
2 4
2 4
1 3
2 3
2z
0
0
1
1
1
1
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Ten Overall
Ohio State 2 0 5 0
Wisconsin 2 0 5 0
Illinois 2 0 4 1
Michigan 2 0 3 2
Purdue 1 0 5 0
Indiana 1 1 4 1
Michigan State 0 1 4 1
Penn State 0 2 3 2
Iowa 0 2 2 3
Northwestern 0 2 2 3
Minnesota 0 2 1 4
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
Michigan 28, NORTHWESTERN 16
ILLINOIs 27, Penn State 20
PURDUE 33, Notre Dame 19
WsCONslN 37, Michigan State 34
Indiana 38, lowA 20
Ohio State 30, MINNEsOTA 7
AROUND THE NCAA
OU LEADS UPSET-FILLED WEEKEND
In a weekend that featured half of the
top-10 teams losing, the Sooners were
a part of the biggest - and most excit-
ing - upset of them all. Ranked No. 3
before the game, Oklahoma fell 27-24 to
Colorado in Boulder. Down 24-7 to the
nation's highest-scoring offense, Colo-
rado charged back in the second half
behind quarterback Cody Hawkins. Buf-
falo Kevin Eberhart kicked a field goal
with time expiring to win the game.
SOUTH FLORIDA DETHRONES WVU
The fifth-ranked Mountaineers were
widely considered the favorites to win
the Big East. That was until the Bulls
-for the second consecutive year -
knocked off West Virginia and derailed
the Heisman hopes of Steve Slaton and
Pat White. By the end of the third quar-
ter, South Florida led 21-6 and was in the
driver's seat to take over as the Big East
favorite. But the biggest thrill for the
then-18th-ranked Bulls came a few days
later - the AP Poll ranked them No. 6.
TIGERS MAUL GATORS IN SWAMP
Handing Florida coach Urban Meyer
his first home loss, Auburn invaded
the Swamp and ended the defending
national champion's 11-game winning
streak with a 20-17 upset. Not once, but
twice true freshman Wes Bynum kicked
the game-winning field goal after his
first attempt got called back because of
a Florida timeout.
BADGERS BEAT MSU IN SHOOTOUT
In the most exciting Big Ten matchup of
the weekend, No. 5 Wisconsin proved
all the experts wrong. Defense isn't the
Badgers' strength - or at least they
don't need it when they put up 461
total yards and P.J. Hill runs for 155 of
them. But Wisconsin wasn't the only
team flaunting a high-scoring offense.
The Spartans hung in the game, mostly
thanks to quarterback Brian Hoyer's 323
passing yards and two touchdowns. In
the end, though, Wisconsin's field goal
with six minutes left in the game was
enough to extend the nation's longest
winning streak to 14 games.
By JACK HERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - If misery really loves
company, then the Michigan injured list
had plenty of happy people following Sat-
urday's game.
The Wolverines entered Evanston with
a number of notable names missing from
the dress list, including
guards Alex Mitchell NOTEBOOK
and Jeremy Ciulla, and,
unexpectedly, lineback-
er John Thompson. And by the time the
28-16 win finished, three more Wolver-
ines had hobbled off the field.
Tight end Mike Massey, linebacker
Chris Graham and third-string right
guard Tim McAvoy all exited Saturday's
game early. Massey left the stadium
on crutches, and the status of all three
remains unclear.
"We've got to see what it is (Sunday),
and see where we go from there," Michi-
gan coach Lloyd Carr said.
Thompson's absence came asa surprise
to fans, since the linebacker - who looked
much improved in his last two games
- was injured in practice this week.
Without him, the Wolverines turned to
redshirt freshman Obi Ezeh, who took
some time to adjust to the starting posi-
tion before he recorded four tackles and
intercepted a pass.
Carr said he could not comment on
Thompson's return.
"Hopefully he's worked hard to come
back and we need him to come back, but
I can't tell you any more than that," Carr
said.
A TALE OF TWO SPECIAL TEAMS: Well, at
least he's consistent.
The Wolverines called on senior Jason
Gingell to kick two field goals (26, 39) on
Saturday. He missed both."
One of three kickers looking to replace
the once-maligned and now-appreciated ",
Garrett Rivas, Gingell won the field-goal -
kicking job this summer. Since then, he's
done his best to lose it: He's hit just 3-of-9 .
attempts this season.
Punter Zoltan Mesko, however, has
enjoyed much more success. Despite
sometimes lacking good special teams
coverage, he punted six balls for an aver-
age of 44.5 yards and pinned Northwest-
ern inside the 20 three times on Saturday.
His most impressive punt traveled 60
yards after Wildcat returner Rasheed
Ward bobbled it, recovering the ball on
the 2-yard line.
"My guess is that kick was five seconds
or better, which is an incredible kick,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "That
makes it more difficult to handle, so he's
having a sensational year." b
ALMOST No. i One-hundred-six yards
down, 33 to go.
On the brink of Michigan's all-time Y
rushing record, running back Mike Hart
will have to wait another week after he V
struggled to break through a John Gill-led
Northwestern defense for much of Satur-
day's game. One of the worst rush defenses
in the Big Ten, Northwestern stuffed Hart
at or behind the line on six carries and held . -HI
him to a season-low 106 yards.
"It's hard to believe if you stood there
and watched," Carr said. "I would not u,
guess Mike had 100 yards."R /
And, if not for a big fourth quarter, Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Tim McAvoy was just one of a few WolRerines to go down
he wouldn't have. Hart had just 61 yards with injuries Saturday against Northwestern.
through three, but a late-game, 23-yard
dash that set up his 1-yard touchdown run ing list. With just 33 more yards to go, ham caught a career-high 10 passes for
helped him hit the century mark. Hart will likely overtake former Wolver- 123 yards.... Rivals.com's No. 14 outside
Still, Hart's performance pushed him ine Anthony Thomas (4,472) against East- linebacker in the country, Detroit Coun-
ahead of Jamie Morris to claim the No. 2 ern Michigan on Saturday. try Day's Kenny Demens committed to
spot on Michigan's all-time career rush- NOTES: Wide receiver Mario Manning- Michigan this weekend.
HENNE
From page 1B
cated that he was physically able to play in
the second half, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
made the decision to go with his senior,
even with Henne later telling the media he
was at just 80 to 85 percent.
The four-year starter backed up his
coach's choice with a strong performance.
Henne threw two more touchdowns in
the second half, including a bullet to wide
receiver Adrian Arrington on a skinny post
to give Michigan the lead.
"It was real comfortable," Arrington said.
"(Henne's) been out there with me since
I've been here, so I feel real comfortable. He
knows his reads a lot better than (Mallett)
does, so it's real comfortable out there."
Mallett impressed against Notre Dame
and Penn State with his arm strength and
confidence. After escaping pressure, Mal-
lett didn't just toss the ball out of bounds.
Instead, he looked for either an open
receiver or a running lane. Combined with
his excitability after touchdowns and the
hype surrounding him coming out of high
school, Wolverine fans had hope for the
post-Henne era.But there are inherent dif-
ficulties in having a freshman quarterback
at the helm of an offense.
With Mallett in during the past two
games, the majority of drives featured runs
on both first and second down and passes
almost exclusively on third-and-long.
Mallett also has yet to learn how to put
touch on his throws consistently, leading to
numerous drops in the past couple games
from usually sure-handed receivers.
While Henne's 18-of-27 with three
touchdowns blows Mallett's 5-for-l per-
formance out of the water, it's the other
ways he changes the offense that make him
its requisite leader.
With Henne at quarterback, offensive
coordinator Mike DeBord could open up
the playbook. Michigan called passes on
seven of its first 11 plays of the game, and
three consecutive passes to open the sec-
ond half.
The four-year starter entered Michigan
with a rocket resembling Mallett's, but
he has learned to tone down some of his
DEFENSE
From page 1B
place of injured John Thomp-
son, picked it off a deflection
one-handed.
"Normally in a game where
it's warm, your defense
doesn't get the pressure late
in the game," Carr said. "But
today we did, and we got some
awfully big plays."
The flat start wasn't just a
Michigan defense phenom-
enon. The offense looked
sluggish, registering one
touchdown, so in the second
half, Carr turned to Henne.
Carr's plan was for the
senior to play the first drives
of each half and then deter-
mine future playing time
based on the game situation.
At halftime, it was clear
Henne, who said he's 80 to 85
percent healthy, would have
to play the rest of the way.
Freshman Ryan Mallett
couldn't find his rhythm or
hit open receivers. Michigan's
one touchdown in the first
half came courtesy of an 11-
yard pass from Henne to wide
receiver Mario Manningham
on an efficient first drive.
The first of Henne's three
touchdown throws broke his
tie with John Navarre (2000-
03) for career passing touch-
downs (72).
"It felt good to hear him
back out there," left tackle
Jake Long said. "He worked
hard to get back and he did
well today."
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PETER SCHOTTENFELS/Daly
Senior Chad Henne provided a veteran touch to the Michigan offense in the second half.
passes, making them easier for the receiv- vastly accelerate Mallett's learning curve.
ers to catch. But for this veteran Michigan team with
As a bonus, the running game improves its eyes on a Big Ten Championship, the
with Henne, too. quarterback position is critical. And as
"There's definitely chemistry, getting well as Mallett performed in getting wins
the ball, taking handoffs, (Henne) know- over Notre Dame and Penn State, Henne
ing where I'm going to be, pass protection, is the quarterback that allows this offense
those kinds of things," running back Mike to reach its potential - a ceiling we saw
Hart said a couple weeks ago. "Especially glimpses of Saturday.
handoffs. Handoffs are big. I'm the kind of "Only the people who don't know much
guy that, depending on the defense, I might about quarterback play question (Henne),"
take (the handoff) wider or I might take Carr said. "Because the people who know,
it tighter, and it's up to the quarterback to (they) know what he is."
adjust and get me the ball." And right now, even at just 80 to 85
As Carr indicated, the experience Mal- percent, Chad Henne is the only Michigan
lett has gained during his freshman year quarterback who knows the way to Pasa-
is invaluable. Starting in a rivalry game dena.
against Notre Dame, playing against the-
vaunted Penn State defense and gettingsig- - Bromwich can be reached
nificant time in a conference road game will at dabromwi@umich.edu.
A