Johnny Sears (25) and Jamar Adams (22) leave the field after the 3rd-ranked Michigan football team's 32-t8 loss to 8th-ranked USC in the Rose Bowl.
By STEPHANIE WRIGHT
Daily Sports Editor
PASADENA, Calif. - This year's
Rose Bowl was billed as a consola-
tion prize for two teams that came
up just short of playing for the
National Championship.
Southern Cal won the prize.
Michigan still needs consoling.
Nearly a month after Bowl Cham-
pionship Series voters selected Flor-
ida to face No. 1 Ohio State in the
BCS Championship game, thethird-
ranked Wolverines had a chance to
prove they deserved another shot at
the undefeated Buckeyes.
A chance to become just the sec-
ond 12-win team in program his-
tory.
A chance to regain their position
as the nation's No.2 team.
Michigan blew its chance.
On Monday, No. 8 Southern Cal
embarrassed the Wolverines 32-
18 in a game that was considerably
more lopsided than the final score
indicated.
Michigan couldn't move the
ball against the Trojans' imposing
defense - and couldn't stop their
explosive offense, either.
"(The Trojans are) a great team;
they can score points, and the
offense put the defense out there too
many times," co-captain Jake Long
said. "That type of offense, with that
many chances, you know they're
going to score points."
For the Wolverines (7-1 Big Ten,
11-2 overall), it was a disappointing
finish to an otherwise impressive
season.
After racking up 11 straight wins
to start the year, Michigan ended its
season with back-to-back losses for
the third year in a row.
The Wolverines have dropped
their last four bowl games, includ-
ing three Rose Bowls, and haven't
won The Granddaddy of Them All
since the 1997 season.
In contrast to the loss to No. 1
Ohio State, inwhichonlyMichigan's
vaunted defense struggled, the Wol-
verines floundered on both sides of
the ball against the Trojans.
"(Michigan is) a traditional
straight up offense," Southern Cal
defensive end Lawrence Jackson
said. "If they line up one way, if
they're in certain formations, it
doesn't take a rocket scientist to pick
out what they were going to do. Our
coaches have been around for a long
time and were able to exploit that."
In the days leading up to the
game, the Wolverines fielded count-
less questions about the Trojans'
defense and said they were ready for
Southern Cal's relentless pass rush
and creative blitzing.
The game said otherwise.
Michigan's offensive line strug-
gled to protect quarterback Chad
Henne (26-of-41 for 309 yards) and
gave up six sacks, which cost the
Wolverines 44 yards.
The Trojans' swarming defensive
performance on Monday was remi-
niscent of their standout day in the
2004 Rose Bowl, when they sacked
Michigan quarterback John Navarre
nine times in a 28-14 victory.
"(Southern Cal) just has a great
way of bringing pressure, you
know, uncanny styles of pressure,"
Michigan right tackle Rueben Riley
said. "You have unorthodox rush-
ers such as (Brian) Cushing and
Jackson ... just doing a good job at
what they do."
AndMichigancouldn'tstopthem,
especially in the first half. The Wol-
verines went into halftime with 76
yards of total offense, thanks in part
to the Trojans' five first-half sacks.
Michigan's sluggish running
game didn't help.
Including yards lost due to sacks,
the Big Ten's top rushing offense
amassed a meager 12 yards against
Southern Cal. Tailback Mike Hart,
the nation's seventh-leading rusher,
finished with 47 yards on17 carries.
"I thought Henne made some big
plays in the first half on third and
long ... to keep drives alive," Michi-
gan coach Lloyd Carr said. "But it's
just a matter of time when you can't
run the football against ateampres-
suringas well as (Southern Cal) that
you end up (allowing) some sacks,
and that's what happened to us."
The Wolverines found a little
offensive rhythm in the second half
- especially through the air - and
finished the game with 321 total
yards.
But that wasn't enough to keep
pace with the Trojans' offensive
fireworks.
Southern Cal (7-2 Pac-10, 11-2
overall) played it safe in the first
half but came out swinging in the
second. Trojan quarterback John
David Booty threw four second-half
touchdowns and finished with 391
yards on 27-for-45 passing.
Michigan's vaunted defense
couldn't keep up.
"We just have too many weapons
on offense," Southern Cal receiver
Dwayne Jarrett said. "We just have
too many players that can get the
ball, execute the plays (and) make
the big plays when it's on the line.
Michigan, I don't think they knew
who to cover."
After the Wolverines'top-ranked
run defense held the Trojans to
20 rushing yards in the first half,
Southern Cal wisely abandoned the
run in the third quarter, rushing
just twice in the frame. Excluding
two quarterback keepers, the Tro-
jans passed 27 straight times in the
second half.
Boasting a first-team All-Ameri-
ca receiver in Jarrett, the Southern
Cal offense exploited Michigan's
secondary. Jarrett finished with 11
receptions for 205 yards en route
to earning Offensive Player of the
Game honors.
Even cornerback Leon Hall, a fel-
low All-America selection, couldn't
stop Jarrett, who burned Hall for
one ofhis two touchdowns.
The score came at a particularly
heartbreaking point for the Wol-
verines. The momentum had shift-
ed in Michigan's favor after Henne
found junior Adrian Arrington in
the end zone to pull the Wolver-
ines within eight at the start of the
fourth quarter.
But Michigan's defense couldn't
stop the Trojans aerial assault.
Seven plays later, Booty found a
streaking Jarrett to all but put the
game away.
When Michigan did manage to
contain Jarrett, Southern Cal sim-
ply turned to another member of
its standout receiving corps. Senior
Steve Smith grabbed seven catches
for 108 yards and a touchdown.
"If (the secondary is) a weak-
ness, why wouldn't they focus on
it?" linebacker Shawn Crable said.
"I think once they realized they
couldn't run on us, they really
resorted to the pass game, and it
took us awhile to realize they were
passing on every down."
Even the Wolverines' highly
regarded front seven didn't bounce
back completely from its breakdown
against Ohio State. Booty had plenty
of time to throw, especially in the
second half, and Michigan notched
just one sack all game (senior co-
captain LaMarr Woodley).
In a battle of two supposedly
stout defenses, Southern Cal had
the edge.
"The media does a great job of
building people up, but we knew
we were a great front seven," Jack-
son said. "We missed a couple
sacks today, so it could have been a
lot worse. Our defense showed up
to play, and we did outplay their
defense and we're happy about that.
... We weren't surprised at all about
how this one turned out."
The Wolverines couldn't say the
same.
This article originally
ran on Jan.4 2007.
7E
Burgess,
defense help
thrash Irish
By SCOTT BELL slew of golden domes stood in
DailySportsEditor between Burgess and his des-
tination, and he ended up just
SOUTH BEND - Warren G. yards short from navigating
Harding High 24, Notre Dame his way to his second touch-
2. down.
In a game where Notre Dame "The second one, there were
Stadium officially became a a couple people I had to show
part of Super Mario's world, my little skills I had to, but
it was a long-time teammate they got me on the five-yard
of Mario Manningham's who line," Burgess said.
jumpstarted the Wolverines' Burgess wasn't the lone
upset bid. Wolverine defender to find the
Senior linebacker Prescott end zone. In the game's wan-
Burgess, Manningham's team- ing minutes, Woodley jumped
mate at Warren G. Harding on a fumble created after the
High School in Ohio silenced ball slipped out of Quinn's
a hostile crowd in the game's hand on a passing delivery.
opening minute. When Quinn unsuccessfully
On the game's second play, tried falling on the ball, Wood-
Notre Dame tight end John ley picked it up and took it 54
Carlson couldn't corral a yards for the game's final score
pass from quarterback Brady after pushing away Carlson on
Quinn. His misfortune quickly his way to endzone.
became Burgess's joy: The ball "I was just running, and I
was tipped directly toward the saw one of the Notre Dame
starting outside linebacker. guys jump on the ball and it
It soon became evident that came out, so I scooped it up
the gift-wrapped interception like we work on at practice and
was going to turn into a gift- I just said, 'Let me get to this
wrapped touchdown, as Bur- endzone.' " Woodley said. "I
gess trotted 31 yards into the saw the guy from the corner of
endzone, shocking the Irish my eye, so I just did what I've
crowd and giving Michigan an seen Mike (Hart) do before
early 7-0 lead. with the stiff arm."
"It's nice to have the defense Defensive tackle Alan
score," senior defensive end Branch, whose hit on Quinn
LaMarr Woodley said. "Defi- caused the errant pass that led
nitely at the beginning of the to Burgess's second intercep-
game, with Prescott getting in tion, agreed that the key to
there, it changed the momen- quieting the Fighting Irish's
tum of the game. It takes the offense was the ability to pres-
crowd out of it" sure Quinn without using too
Burgess agreed and said many men.
he was just glad his play "If you blitz every time, the
could help get his teammates offense is going to be able to
involved as well. make checks, and eventually,
"Anytime a defender scores they'll hit a big one on you,"
on an interception or turnover, Branch said. "Really, it just
it gets everyone going," Bur- shows the confidence Coach E.
gess said. has in his D-line"
The excitement resonated on Front four, middle three,
the sideline, and Manningham back four - you name it, they
was the beneficiary of it. His all got the job done.
three receiving touchdowns For the game, Michigan
over a 17-minute span gave the caused five turnovers against
duo from Warren four touch- a team that hadn't committed
downs in the first half - more one in 273 consecutive plays
than Notre Dame's entire team entering the game.
could muster for the entire The Wolverine defense had
game. one, more turnover than the
But Burgess had plans on Fighting Irish rushing attack
making a repeat trip to the had total yards.
endzone. And Quinn, arguably the
With the score at 34-14 mid- Heisman frontrunner before
way through the third quarter, the game, went from feeling
Burgess had another ball come the pressure as a Heisman
his way. Quinn couldn't cleanly favorite to feeling the pressure
get a pass off after Michigan's sent by the Michigan defense.
front four pressured him. The "I know he felt us today,"
always-opportune Burgess said Burgess after the game,
stepped across the passing lane grinning.
and caught the ball, and for the
second time in the game, it was This article originally
off to the races. This time, a ran Sept.18, 2006.
Slim margin
doesn't stop Blue
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - As the
Michigan and Penn State women's
gymnastics teams prepared for
their final routines, 2,729 fans's
hearts pounded in State College.
And the lives of 14 gymnasts
changed forever.
A .375 point Michigan lead
* seemed precarious at best, and the
voracious Nittany Lion crowd ren-
dered any advantage moot. The
Wolverines held their own in the
vault, but four amazing perfor-
mances on the uneven bars by Penn
State obscured the outcome. As
the events concluded, both teams
headed back to their locker rooms,
clouded in mystery and ready to put
an end to the agonizing wait. Nei-
ther team knew who won, but both
experienced a lifetime worth of jit-
ters as the results were tallied. The
announcer said that the top two
teams were separated by a mere
10th of a point, hushing the crowd.
The moment of truth finally
came and the response couldn't
have been more pronounced. The
women donning the maize and
blue shot into the air at the news of
their Big Ten Championship, and
the tears of joy flooded the stage,
stamping an explanation point on a
rollercoaster season for Michigan.
"I'm just so overwhelmed at how
proud I am of these kids," Michi-
gan coach Bev Plocki said. "We had
so many injuries and so many bad
things happen. ... and they never
gave up."
The scoreboard read Michigan
196.575, Penn State 196.475. The
Wolverines' surreal victory was
assured. But it wasn't until the pho-
tographers snapped team pictures
and handed out championship T-
shirts and hats that reality set in.
Their pose was symbolic of their
missionthis season. They embraced
on a small platform, figurative of
their team effort that won them the
championship. As the teammates
stood there, they weren't a group of
bodies composingateambutateam
that overcame so much to achieve a
goal many thought unlikely.
"This was the most emotional
season and the season where we
pulled together the most," junior
Katie Lieberman said. "We worked
together as a team and have been
so close, we had some bumps in the
road, but we overcame the adversity
and came away with the win."
Michigan came into the match as
a slight underdog, which is unusual
given it has won 13 of the past 15
titles. But the injury-plagued Wol-
verines had to prove they could
unite together and bring home a
trophy without their full roster.
Two-time All-American Lindsey
Bruck and freshmen Jordan Sexton
and Sarah Curtis were all lost for
the season with injuries.
"This team is an amazing group
of young ladies," sophomore
Huneth Lor said. "We've been
working so hard to pick up from all
the injuries that winning makes it
all the better."
The Wolverines followed the
Nittany Lions in the rotation andj
bested Penn State's performance in
every event except the uneven bars.
Michigan posted near season-high'
scores on all events and pulled away
with exceptional performances on
the balance beam and floor exer-
cise, which are generally two of
their weaker routines.
Michigan finished up the eve
ning on vault, its most success-
ful event. But a series of amazing
routines reinvigorated the Nittany
Lions and the home crowd. Two
Nittany Lions stuck beautiful rou-
tines, scoring 9.900 each, but fell
just short of Michigan.
The win is an exclamation point
in Plocki's illustrious career and her
most memorable championship.
"I've been coaching 18 years, and
there's no championship that's ever
made my heart feel as good as thisj
one." Plocki said.
This article originally
ran on April 2, 2007.
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