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." READ OUR BLOG "THE GAME" AT MICHIGAN DAILY. COM/THE GAME. 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