WAY'S HAT TRICK BEATS NORTHWESTERN, PAGE 6B
D The Michigan Daily michigandailycom i September 29, 2008
SECOND CHANCE
MICHIGAN 27, WISCONSIN 25
(ABOVE) Junior running back Brandon Minor races for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Michigan's upset of Wisconsin. (BELOW) Junior defensive end Brandon Graham had three sacks against the Badgers.
Attitude key
to victory
Taylor sparks
comeback win
At halftime, there were few
signs Michigan could beat
Wisconsin.
Five turnovers - one fewer than
in two halves
against Notre
Dame.
One first down
- it came on a
broken play.
Minus-seven
passing yards
- it would have
been better if all IAN
the passes were ROBINSON
incomplete.
But defensive
coordinator Scott
Shafer didn't see it that way.
He looked at how his defense
handled "sudden-change situations,"
when the defense unexpectedly has
to go on the field in poor field posi-
tion.
In four of five first-half sudden-
change situations, the Wolverines
heldWisconsin'sphysicalpower-run-
ning offense to field-goal attempts.
Stopping the Badgers on the short
field required focus and intensity.
And senior nose tackle Terrance
Taylor carried that over to the rest of
the team at halftime.
He went around the locker room
motivating both offense and defense
to play hard for 30 more minutes.
The details of Taylor's speech
weren't important. It's that he
brought the team together. As well
as the defense had played and as
anemic as the offense had been,
there was no divide in that locker
room..
It wasn't about changing
schemes, it was sticking together
in the face of adversity - the same
way stuck together during work-
outs with strength and condition-
ing coach Mike Barwis.
They trained together all summer,
lifted together after games and spent
long hours together in the weight
room. After the game, most credited
Barwis for infusing resilience into.
the team.
He talks about pushing his play-
ers' bodies to places they have never
been before. Players say they are in
the best condition of their lives. But
that's just part of it.
His training creates a diehard
mentality.
"In the time of battle, you don't
rise to the occasion. You resort to
your level of training," reads a sign in
the Schembechler Hall weight room.
Junior wide receiver Greg
Mathews recalled that phrase word-
for-word outside the locker room
after the game.
It goes back to trainingall summer,
See ROBINSON, Page 4B
Wolverines overcome
19-point deficit in upset
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Terrance Taylor was worried he might
be right.
Last Monday, the senior nose tackle
said the Michigan football team's game
against then-No. 9 Wisconsin on
Saturday would define its sea-
son.
But when the Wolver-
ines trailed 19-0 at half-
time, there wasn't any
definition - only ques-
tions.
What will a bowl-less winter be like?
What was the team doing during its bye
week? Will Michigan coach Rich Rodri-
guez's spread offense always look this
bad against Big Ten teams?
Unlike his team on the field, Taylor
made a statement. At halftime, he ran
through the tunnel, and his frustration
boiled over. He started yelling, trying to
motivate his teammates. Once the Wol-
verines reached the locker room, he con-
tinued until the coaches arrived.
"Thereis no G-rated version, so he pret-
ty much just gave it to us, and we knew,"
junior wide receiver Greg Mathews said.
Taylor's impromptu pep talk apparent-
ly worked, as Michigan rallied to beat the
Badgers, 27-25, in the Wolverines' larg-
est-ever comeback at Michigan Stadium.
Thevictorygives students who weren't
around in 2005 for Mario Manningham's
last-second, game-winning touchdown
catch against Penn State a signature win
at the Big House to treasure.
"ESPN was talking about this is a war-
mup for the Big Ten for Wisconsin, so
we take that personally," Mathews said.
"Michigan is nobody's doormat, especial-
ly in the Big Ten."
With a renewed swagger in the sec-
ond half, play after play, Michigan (1-0
Big Ten, 2-2 overall) chased the result it
wanted - all the way until three players
tracked Rodriguez down at midfield after
the game. and dumped a cooler of water
on him.
Michigan scored two touchdowns
in less than seven minutes over the late
third and early fourth quarters. Fresh-
man tight end Kevin Koger caught a
26-yard pass over the middle and junior
running back Brandon Minor streaked 34
yards past a blitzing Wisconsin defense.
The touchdowns cut the deficit to 19-14
with 10:27 left and awakened the 109,833
in attendance.
On the kickoff after Minor's touch-
down, fifth-year senior Jason Gingell
boomed the ball into the endzone, firing
up the defense as it took the field. Fifth-
year senior strongside linebacker John
Thompson intercepted a pass on the next
See BADGERS, Page 4B
j
.19
Wisconsin's
halftime lead
27
Unanswered points
Michigan scored ilt
the second hirf
47
Yards Michigan
gained in the
'second half
14
YNers since
Wisconsin has
won n IAn Arbr
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