The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 2, 2008 - 5A
Blue upsets eighth-ranked Fighting Irish
By EMILY FREILICH
For theDaily
YPSILANTI - The drought is
over.
The No. 28 Michigan men's soc-
cer team's dominating 3-1 upset
victory over No. 8 Notre Dame
marked the first time in four years
that Michigan has beaten a top-10
team since its win over Connecticut
in 2004.
"This team can play the wild
card role pretty well," Michigan
coach Steve Burns said. "We have a
lot of maturity and experience. We
have determination to keep a tight
focus on things and not be tracked
by success."
Wednesday's win was Michi-
gan's first ever victory againstNotre
Dame, which still leads the all-time
series 3-1-1.
The Fighting Irish (6-3-1) started
strong with two close shots on goal
in the opening nine minutes. Both
shots were just wide of the goal, but
ignited a fire in Michigan (7-2-2).
The Wolverine offense took charge
of the game and kept the ball on
Notre Dame's side for most of the
half.
Just 30 seconds after Notre
Dame's second shot, junior forward
Mauro Fuzetti put the Wolverines
on the scoreboard. Fuzetti dribbled
the ball down the left side of the
field and then cut to the center at
the penalty box. Having beaten all
the Irish defenders for a clear shot,
Fuzetti set the ball up straight and
hit it into the back of the goal.
Notre Dame senior forward
Bright Dike responded for the Irish
13 minutes later. Dike took the ball
down the center of the field, beat-
ing the tailing Michigan defender.
Face-to-face with only Michigan
redshirt junior goalkeeper Patrick
Sperry, Dike put the ball past Sper-
ry to tie the game at one.
Less than a minute after Notre
Dame's game-tying score, the Wol-
verines set up their own picture-
perfect goal to regain the lead.
Senior forward Jake Stacy took a
right cross from junior mid-fielder
Peri Marosevic and headed the ball
into the center of the goal.
Thirty-two minutes into the
game, the Irish had a chance to tie
the game again on a free kick but the
header went wide of the goal. The
Irish kept pushing for a goal late in
the first half, but came up empty.
The Wolverines came out strong
after halftime, giving the Notre
Dame defense trouble. Michi-
gan almost scored on a cross from
Fuzetti from.the left side of the
field, but Marosevic's shot went
straight into the hands of the Irish
keeper.
The Wolverines weren't satisfied
and went at it again - this time con-
necting for a goal. With 21 minutes
left, Fuzetti took the ball up the left
side of the field and again centered
the ball to Marosevic. Marosevic
faked the surrounding Notre Dame
defense, stepping on the ball and
giving him an open net to widen
Michigan's lead to 3-1.
"Marosevic is a dominating
force," Burns said. "He is a player
you have to contend with and can
hold the ball under pressure. He
allows us to get forward and make
penetrating runs, and that allowed
us to be dangerous offensively."
In the last fifteen minutes of
regulation, the Irish offense had six
shots - each denied by Michigan's
strong defense.
Michigan and the Irish each got
14 shots off, but the Wolverines had
six shots on goal compared to four
for Notre Dame. Three of those
shots came from Marosevic.
As the clock neared zero, Michi-
gan knew it had secured its victory
over Notre Dame. The Wolverines
gathered in a huddle by their bench,
and amid the cheering fans, broke
into a rousing version of "The Vic-
tors."
"This team deserves that win,"
Burns said.
SAID ALSALAH/Daly
Junior Peri Marosevic recorded a goal and an assist in Michigan's 3-1 victory over Notre Dame yesterday.
Graham can't 'loaf' and beat his real competition
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
By the fourth quarter of the
Michigan football team's upset of
Wisconsin, Brandon Graham saw
something in the offensive tackle
lining up across fromhim. He knew
he had an edge.
"I kind of seen a difference in
the tackle," the junior defensive
end said. "He was kind of leaning a
little bit more. So I felt like I could,
duck up under him a little bit, just
with my size."
Graham took full advantage of
the situation, sprinting past the
tackle and toward Wisconsin quar-
terback Allan Evridge to pick up
two key sacks in the final two min-
utes of the Wolverines' comeback
win.
The first of those two sacks
forced a fumble, which stopped a
potential game-tying drive for the
Badgers at the Michigan five-yard
line.
Graham totaled three sacks and
was named the Big Ten's defensive
player of the week, but he was more
pleased with his consistency than
anything else, looking back on the
Win.
"The Wisconsin game really
opened my eyes to how good con-
dition I was really in, because I
was able to go hard on almost 100
percent of the plays," Graham said
Monday. "With one loaf in the
game, that was a pretty good step.
Usually, I'm having like three or
four."
Loafs are a stat measured by
Michigan defensive coordinator
Scott Shafer. Anytime a defensive
player fails to turn and run to the
ball on a play, he gets a loaf.
Graham challenged himself to
be more consistent this season.
The Detroit native was dominant
at times as a pass rusher last year,
compiling 8.5 sacks, including
a career-high 3.5 against Notre
Dame.
But this year Graham and the
rest of Michigan's defensive line
have set a high bar for the impact
they want to have in each game.
"We kicked it up a notch at the
end, and I think our strength pro-
gram is great and I think it really
helps us out at the end of games,"
fifth-year senior Will Johnson said.
"When the other teams start get-
ting tired, we try to just kick it into
overdrive, keep going."
The four starting defensive line-
men, Graham, Johnson, senior
nose tackle Terrance Taylor and
fifth-year senior defensive end Tim
Jamison, have a competition each
week to see who can have the big-
gest game.
Wisconsin was Graham's game.
"He's really stepping up as a
leader on this team," Jamison said.
"He had two sacks. After the first
sack, he was still hungry. He wasn't
satisfied."
But Graham knows he can't let
himself be content with his three
sacks against the Badgers and his
Big Ten honor. Though he's leading
the nation in tackles for loss and is
tied for third in sacks, that doesn't
mean he can rest easy.
"Brandon had an awesome
game," redshirt sophomore line-
backer Obi Ezeh said. "I was just
joking with him after I saw the
paper in the morning, his big photo.
It was a no quit attitude. I was just
like, 'You're going to have to show
me.' That's exactly what he did. He
didn't quit the whole game and he
had a great performance."
Junior defensive end Brandon Graham had three sacks and forced a fumble in Michigan's upset of Wisconsin on Saturday.
NOTES: Sophomore wide receiv-
er Junior Hemingway will be out
several weeks with mononucleo-
sis. Junior Carlos Brown will also
miss at least this week's game
with a sprained ankle. ... A game
after redshirt junior punter Zoltan
Mesko was the only player of the
game displayed at Schembechler
Hall, five players earned the honor
for the Wisconsin game. Graham,
Taylor and junior free safety Stevie
Brown were the defensive players.
Redshirt junior right guard David
Moosman was the offensive player
of the game, and fifth-year senior
kicker Jason Gingell was the spe-
cial teams player of the game.
-Dan Feldman contributed
to this report.
WEEK 6 STAFFPICKS
STAFF PICKS
The Daily football
writers do their best
to predict what happens
in the 2008 college
football season.
Dan
Feldman.
Nate
Sandals
Courtney Ian
Ratkowiak Robinson
Josh
Sotsky
Michigan (-3) vs.Illinois Illinois Michigan Illinois Illinois Michigan
No.1 Oklahoma (-27) at Baylor Baylor Baylor Oklahoma Oklahoma Baylor
No.2 Alabama (17) vs. Kentucky Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama
No.4Missouri-1) at Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Missouri Missouri
No. 5 Texas (-13.5) at Colorado Colorado Texas Colorado Colorado Texas
No.6 Penn State (13.5) at Purdue Penn State Penn State Purdue Purdue Penn State
No7TexasTech (-75)atKansasState Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas Tech TexasTech
No. 8 Brigham Young (30) at Utah Stale Brigham Young Utah Slate Utah State Brigham Young Brigham Young
No. S Southern Cal (-17) os. Oregon Southern Cal Southern Cal Southern Cal Southern Cal Southern Cal
N.10 Sooth Florida (-14) vs. Pittsburgh South Florida Pittsburgh South Florida South Florida Sytb Floia
No.12 Florida (-25) at Arkansas Florida Arkansas Arkansas Florida Florida
No.13Auburn(-4.5) at Vanderbilt Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn Auburn
No. 14OhioState(1.5) at No.18 Wisconsin Ohio State Wisconsin Ohio State Wisconsin Wisconsin
No.15 Utah 2) v. Oregon State Oregon State Utah Utah Utah Utah
No. 17 Boise State (-24.5) vs. Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech Boise State Boise State Boise State Louisiana Tech
No.20 Virginia Tech (-28) vs. W. Kentucky W. Kentucky W. Kentucky W. Kentucky Virginia Tech W. Kentucky
No. 21Oklahoma State (-25) vs. Texas A&M klaho acktatrTeixas A&M Teixas A&M Texas A&M Texas A&M
.hoa.tae... . . ... . . .....T.asA.M.. Teo. A&
No.22 Fresno State (-23) vs. Hawai Fresnto State Fresno State Fresno State Fresno State
No.24 Connecticut (-7) at North Carolina North Carolina Connecticut North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina
Michigan State (-8) vs. Iowa Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State
*.td'n(7)tMesta Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota
Best Set North Carolina Penn State Texas Tech Texas Tech Texas A&M
ecordfLast Week (-0-0 (1-0)8-11-0 (1-0) 13-6-0 (0-1)
Overall tRecord 3 - 72-50-2 (4-172-502 (3 ) 74-48-2 (2-3) 63-59-2 (1-4)
Remember, if you want your chance to be a star, e-mail danfeld@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week.
The longest tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season.
A ;A
I
A