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