4B- October 6, 2008
S*ortsMondai
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycm
48 --October6,.2008.The.Michigan ..aily . ..hina.....c....
I
GAME STATISTICS
Tam Stats
First Downs
Ruh/Yds
Passing Yards
Offenie Pays
Total Offense
Kick returns/ Yds
Punt returns/Yds
Comnp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
FumIbes/Lost
Penalies/Yards
Tim~eof Poss
MICH
17
35/69
250.
70
8/204
3/39
18/35/0
8/46.9
0/0
6/49
33:06
19
47/191
310
4/76
1/6
13/26/0
6/39.0
5/2
4/45
26:54
Odoms excels in increased role,
but receiver can still improve,
PASIN
RUHING
Player
McIuffi
Minor,
SVhHaw
Odoms,
PThIr
Totals,1
M I C H I G A N
C-A Yds TD
18-35 250 2
18-35 250 2
Att
19
1
11
35
Yds
3
-24
69
No.
7
4
2
1
1
18
Yds
129
73
-1
24
2
250
Avg
37
3.0
-2.2
2.0
Avg
18.4 *
18.3
.05
24.0
2.0
139
L9
21
3
16
21
Lg9
30
31
2
24
2
31
Int
0
0
TD
1
0
0
0
0
1
TD
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
As the clock wound down on Michi-
gan's 45-20 loss to Illinois on Saturday,
a young fan near the Michigan Stadium
tunnel put the afternoon into context.
"I can't believe Michigan lost by this
much," he shouted, speaking to no one in
particular. "This is so embarrassing."
There were plenty of lows for the
Wolverines against the Fighting Illini,
but freshman slot receiver Martavious
Odoms was one of the few bright spots
on the afternoon.
Odoms led Michigan with 129 receiv-
ing yards on seven receptions, making
him the first Wolverine receiver to break
the century mark this season. Along
the way, Odoms appeared to establish a
rhythm with redshirt freshman quarter-
back Steven Threet that had been absent
in the first four games of the season.
"He's exciting, he can run and do a
lot of things," Michigan wide receivers
coach Tony Dews said. "We're just try-
ing to find some ways to get the ball in
his hands and let him play."
The 5-foot-9 receiver took advantage
of the absence of two of Michigan's top
wide receivers, Junior Hemingway and
Darryl Stonum, to set career highs in
catches and receiving yards. Heming-
way will be out for several weeks with
mononucleosis and Stonum did not
play for violating team rules, so Odoms'
increased role in the Michigan offense
may continue in the near future.
Odoms also had the chance to return
Michigan's kickoffs on Saturday and
showed the ability to find another gear
and get to the next level. He returned
seven Illinois kickoffs for 183 yards,
including a 36-yarder on the opening
kickoff, Michigan's longest return of the
season.
Until Saturday, Michigan return men
struggled to get past the first wave of
coverage, but Odoms made good reads at
the first level and often cut the ball to the
outside to gain more yardage.
Unlike in past weeks, Odoms was the
lone deep man on kick returns for Mich-
No. Td, Avg U,
N8 375 46.. 55
8 375 46.9 55
No Yds Avg LgU TD
1 21 0 21 0
8 204 25.5 36 0
N3 39 13.0 32 TD0
3 39 13.0 32 0
Solo
10
1
4
3
4
2
2
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
43
Asst
s
6
2
3
t
2
2
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
28
Tot
15
7
6
6
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
71
CLIF REEDER/Daily
Freshman slot receiver Martavious Odoms' 315 all-purpose yards accounted for 56 percent for Michigan's total yardage in Saturday's loss.
igan, putting more pressure on him to back to Illinois at the Michigan 16-yard we've got to coach it better."
cover the entire field but also giving him line. After the fumble, Rodriguez sent red-
an additional blocker to run behind. "That little guy had been playing shirt freshman Avery Horn in to return
Even with a good deal of success, his tail off the whole game, but the one the last kickoff of the afternoon.
Odoms wasn't immune to the Achilles' time he dropped it low, they put a hat In a day when little went right for
heel of Michigan special teams so far on him, he fumbles," Michigan coach Michigan, Odoms was the standout. But
this season. In the fourth quarter, with Rich Rodriguez. "I'm not going to drop even Odoms has improvements to make
Michigan trailing by 18 points, Odoms him into grease because of it, but we've in the weeks ahead if Michigan hopes to
fumbled a kick return, giving the ball just got to be better fundamentally. And avoid getting embarrassed again.
I L L I N O 1 S
PASSING
Payr C-A Yds TO I
Willams 3-26 310 2 '"
Totals 13-26 310 2 0
RUSHING
Player Att Yds Avg Lg TO
Benn 3 20 6.7 13 0
Ford 5 9 1.8 5 1
Leshoure 4 2 0.5 1 1
Po"la'd 1' - -70 0 0
Totals 47 191 4.1 50 4
RECEIVING
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TO
Benn 6 122 203 46 9
Dufrene 2 66 330 57 1
Cumberland 1 1 0 1
udson 1 14 140 14 0
Jenkins 1 6 6.0 6 0
ToMso 310 219 77 2
PUNTING
PlyrNo Yds Avg 4
Totals 6 234 39 48
KicKOFF RETURNS
Player No2 4ds Avg Lg TD
Saenn 2 0 120. 3
Jenkins 2 36 18.0 23 2
Totals 4 76 19.0 23 0
HPUNT RETURNS
Player No Yds Avg Lg TO
Pene Stte20,PU6 U6. 6 0
Total 1 6 6.0 6 0
TACKLES
Player Solo Asst Tot
Miller 8 1 .9
-Davis, V 6 3 9
Hardemnan 7 1 8
Bly ' 3: 2: 5
Das W 3 1 4
Hicks 1 3 4
Jfeson 2 0
Waer 2 0 2
Pilcher 2 0 2
Lindquist 2 0 2
Guillen 1 0 1
Ellington 1 0 1
Lugset 1 0 1
Edwards 1 0 1
Totals 50 16 66
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Ten Overall
Penn State 2 0 6 0
Michigan State 2 0 5 1
Ohio State 2 0 5 1
Northwestern 1 0 5 0
Minnesota 1 1 5 1
Ilinois 1 1 3 2
Michigan 1 1 2 3
Purdue 0 1 2 3
Wisconsin 0 2 3 2
Iowa 0 2 3 3
Indiana 0' 2 2 3
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
ILLINOIS 45, MICHIGAN 20
Ohio State 20, WISCONSIN 17
Penn State 20, PURDUE 6
MICH IGAN STATE 16, IOWA 13
.Minnesota 16, INDIANA 7
Williams torches Wolverine defense
By IAN ROBINSON line, junior defensive end Brandon Gra-
Daily Sports Editor ham came off the line of scrimmage }
and tackled Illinois running back Mikel
Not everything is new with Michigan Leshoure.
football these days. Graham started celebrating with a
After Illinois quarterback Juice Wil- teammate.
liams set a Michigan The television cameras focused on
Stadium record Satur- NOTEBOOK that.
day by running all over Illinois offensive coordinator Mike
the Wolverine defense, it was clear that Locksley said once he saw Leshoure go
one thing has remained: Michigan still down, he started looking whatplayto call
has trouble stopping mobile quarter- on the next down.
backs. "Coach LocksleythoughtIgave the ball
Williams dominated the Michigan to Mikel," Williams said. "So I faked him
defense the same way Texas quarterback out as well. That's something we work on
Vince Young did in the 2005 Rose Bowl, every day in practice." -
Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith did in They all missed Williams calmly run- - M
the Horseshoe two years ago and Oregon ning into the end zone.
quarterback Dennis Dixon did lastyear. INJURY REPORT: From offensive line
Statistically, the Illinois quarterback to running back and receiver, the Michi-
did better than either of those guys. He gan offense has had injury problems.
racked up 431 yards of total offense, ran This weekend, it was the coaching
for two touchdowns and threw for two staff.
more. His offensive production was the Offensive coordinator Calvin Magee
best in Michigan Stadium history, sur- fell Friday morning, underwent tests all ROB MIGRIN/Daily
passing the previous record of 403 yards day and spent the night in the hospital. Illinois quarterback Juice Williams set a Michigan Stadium record with 431 yards of offense.
set by Illinois quarterback Tony Eason in . "They had concerns if there was any He emerged from the locker room after wasn't 100 percent.
70-21 Michigan win in 1981. heartissues," Michigancoach Rich Rodri- the game with his left arm in a sling and STONUM'S SITUATION: Rodriguez
Williams won't be the only highly guez said. "They did a bunch of tests, and said he expects to be practicing again suspended freshman wide receiver Darryl
talented dual-threat quarterback the he was able to come over. He's goingto be soon. Stonum for Saturday's game for a viola-
Wolverines face. Michigan travels to fine." The other two players apparently tion of team rules and wouldnot elaborate
Columbus Nov. 22 to face Ohio State and He was released in the morning and injured during Saturday's game were on the length of the suspension.
its mobile quarterback Terrelle Pryor. coached the game from the press box as sophomore cornerback Donovan Warren Redshirt junior LaTerryal Savoy start-
YOU WEREN'T THE ONLY ONE: Many usual. and redshirt junior running back Kevin ed in Stonum's place and caught one pass
fans might have missed Williams' finest In terms of player injuries, freshman Grady. Grady slowly got off the field after for seven yards.
moment. defensive tackle Mike Martin left the field a kickoff, and Warren hobbled out of the Stonum would not comment after the
On second and goal from the six-yard slowly near the end of the third quarter. locker room after the game and said he game.
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Blue's success needs to
be measured by 0 -line
From Page 1B
produced at least 10 yards.
Long passes come from time in
the pocket, and long runs come
from big holes. Juice had plenty of
both.
"On defense, you can't give them
plays - not in this league and not
against a good team like Illinois,"
Michigan defensive coordinator
Scott Shafer said.
That was true 40 years ago, and
it's true today - no matter which
offense is in vogue.
You can talk all you want about
the spread, but the Illini won
because they played like the better
old-school, hard-nosed team. It's
still football, and it's still largely a
battle in the trenches.
And that was also true on the
other side of the ball.
Yes, redshirt freshman quarter-
back Steven Threet struggled after
his excellent first quarter. But his,
protection, behind an offensive line
returning only one starter, faded
in the last three quarters. He was
sacked four times and pressured on
several other plays.
The Wolverines started a dif-
ferent combination on the left side
of the offensive line for the fourth
straight game. The most recent
contingent struggled with Illinois
linebacker Brit Miller's blitzes, and
the four-man rushes it faced most
of the game, too..
After the game, Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez sounded almost
jealous of his longtime friend, Illi-
nois coach Ron Zook. Zook, in his
fourth year with the Illini, has had
a chance to put his stamp on the
program.
"They're a very talented team,
and they've done a good job
increasing their talent," Rodriguez
said. "And we're going to -"
He sounded like he was going to
say he would do the same. But then
he changed course. "- We've got
some talented guys."
Give Rodriguez credit for not
throwing this season away. But if
he hopes to succeed in the future,
he has to have more than just the
Juices.
He needs the Fultons, Blocks,
McDonalds, Asamoahs and Allens.
- Feldman can be reached
at danfeld@umich.edu.
FIGHING LLIN tional offense last week. for the drive.
FIGHTING ILLINI "We just had a couple of Before Saturday's game,
From Page 1B blown assignments," safety the Wolverines had out-
Brandon Harrison said. scored their opponents 39-13
"Guys weren't fitting around in the fourth quarter.
Wolverines looked sloppy right." But Michigan ended up
and disjointed by the end of But blown assignments with minus-15 total rushing
the game. started to become a trend. yards in the second half and
When asked about his A 46-yard bomb to Illinois was outscored 21-6 in the
team's turnovers, Rodriguez wide receiver Arrelious last frame.
became animated, speaking Bennwith less than a minute After giving the crowd of
faster with every sentence as left in the first quarter set up 109,750 a show for the first
his voice rose. Illinois' first touchdown of 15 minutes, the Wolverines
"You think I like stand- the game five seconds into left the field the same as
ing there watching that?" the second quarter. they have two other times
he said. "You think I want Minutes later, Williams this season. Some ducked
to stand and watch us drop launched a 57-yard touch- out the other door of the
the ball? I mean, you think down screen pass to running Junge Family Champions
it hasn't been addressed? I back Daniel Dufrene that put Center, away from fans, par-
mean, you've got to be kid- the Illini ahead for the first ents and media. Others just
ding me. I've never seen time. And in his first drive shook their heads in disgust
nothing like it. And I don't after halftime, Williams and quickly walked into the
know if you can work on it threw a lofting 77-yard pass parking lot. The players and
more than we're working on to wide receiver Jeff Cum- coaches who stopped to talk
it." berland to give the Fighting recited the same refrain: the
But it was the Michigan Illini a 24-14 lead. . Wolverines will keep work-
defense's inability to cover "How open some of those ing hard.
the Williams-led spread guys were was ridiculous," But- five games into the
offense that slaughtered the Rodriguez said. "It should season, it's still unclearwhen
Wolverines' chances for a never happen that way." working hard will turn into
win. As the game unfolded, the consistent success.
Sophomore cornerback Wolverines continued tolook "You knowyou're goingto
Donovan Warren attributed lethargic. Midway through get better, you know you're
the mess to a "lack of disci- the third quarter, Threet going to improve because
pline" by the defense, saying was sacked on a third-and- there's signs of it," running
the Wolverines were sur- 17 to give the Wolverines backs coach Fred Jackson
prised after being able to "get fourth down and 26 on their said.
away with certain things" own 10-yard line. Michigan "But growing pains hurt.
against Wisconsin's tradi- tallied minus-10 total yards They hurt."
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