PAG E 6:ST' AKE DSFOR EN'S SC The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I October 22, 2008 Sophomore Donovan Warren chases after Penn State freshman running back Stephfon Green in the final minutes of the Nittany Lions' 20-point fourth quarter. Mistakes snowball in Going into MSU Wolverines' blowout loss 'M' still unready for 60 minutes 9-game-streak over Penn State snapped, with 6-year run against MSU on the line Saturday By NATE SANDALS Daily Sports Editor STATE COLLEGE - It was late in the first half of Michigan's game against No. 3 Penn State when redshirt junior Andre Criswell took the field as part of the Wol- verines' punt coverage team. Michigan was leading 17-7 and was about to punt after going three-and-out for its third straight possession. Criswell ran down the field in coverage, but after the play he was called for a personal foul for a late hit on senior wide receiver Der- rick Williams, who never even had the ball. "I'm not really sure," Criswell said when asked after the game if he thought his penalty turned the tables. The infraction seemed innocuous enough, but it was the first costly mis- take in a series of mishaps that eventually led to a 46-17 loss to the Nittany Lions, extending Michigan's. losing streak to three games, the program's longest in- season streak since 1979. It was also Penn State's first win over Michigan in the last 10 meetings, a drought dating back to 1997. Michigan didn't tackle well for most of the afternoon and the offense lost its rhythm early in the second quarter, but the team's meltdown started with Criswell's penalty. Instead of taking over possession with two minutes left at its own 26-yard line, Penn State (4-0 Big Ten, 8-0 over- all) started at its own 41. Quarterback Daryll Clark then orchestrated Penn State's second touchdown drive of the game with just 23 seconds remaining in the half. Michigan still went into halftime with a three-point lead, but the image of Clark leading his blue and white armada down- field became all too familiar as the game wore on. "We gave them our best shot for three quarters," senior safety Brandon Harri- son said. "Things just started to fall apart in. that fourth quarter, we hung with them. We've just got to put everything together." But it would be a stretch to say Michi- gan (1-2 Big Ten, 2-5 overall) was really in the game going into the fourth quar- ter. Though Penn State led by just nine points after the third, it had so completely dominated after halftime that a Michi- gan comeback seemed entirely out of the question. The Nittany Lions had eight first downs in the third quarter to Michigan's two. The Wolverine offense, which had looked inept since the middle of the sec- ond quarter, suffered another setback when redshirt freshman quarterback Ste- ven Threet re-aggravated an elbow injury and had to come out of the game. With the score tied just halfwaythrough the third quarter, backup Nick Sheridan came in to replace Threet. But he didn't right the offense. Instead, things only worsened for Michigan. Starting at his own eight-yard line, Sheridan was sacked twice in a row, putting the ball at the five. On third down, he dropped back into the See NITTANY LIONS, Page 4B STATE COLLEGE - fter the Wolverines scored 17 points in the first quarter Sat- urday, it almostlookedlike they could pull off the improb- able against No. 3 ; Penn State. But there was no way the upset was going to hap- pen. If there's C anythingthis sea- COURTNEY son has proved so RATKOWIAK far, it's that Mich- igan is incapable of playing well for four quarters - and after Saturday, it seems the team will have that problem for the rest of the year. On Saturday, freshman Mike Mar- tin tried to explain the collapse. "It was a mental thing," he said. "This whole game was mental. We came outready and I don'tknow what happened. I guess things slipped maybe, you know, mentally." But Michigan coach Rich Rodri- guez sharply dismissed the idea of his team's lack of mental confidence in his postgame press conference. "I aifi't looking for perspective in the middle of a game," he said. "All that mental stuff, whatever." By downplaying it, he's likely ignoring one of the real reasons why the Wolverines keep choking after one or two decent quarters - once they make a big mistake, the team fades fast. The Wolverines weren't close two weeks ago against Illinois, either. The game had originally looked promising when they jumped out to a surpris- ing 14-3 lead in the first quarter, just one week after their unprecedented See CONFIDENCE, Page 4B Top line salvages split in road test Sprinters shine in upset of Gators By GJON JUNCAJ Daily Sports Writer MARQUETTE - Moments after Louie Caporusso's empty-netter clinched a 5-3 Michigan victory, and ended a furi- ous last-min- MICHIGAN 0 ute Northern NMU 2 Michigan comeback MICHIGAN 5 attempt Sat- NMU 3 urday, one of the Wolverines still had his head hung low. Goalie Bryan Hogan looked deject- ed after the win as-the teams lined up for post-game handshakes, and caught the attention of sophomores Scooter Vaughan, Tristin Llewellyn and Aaron Palushaj. All three took turns con- gratulating the netminder, who made 23 saves, including on a point-blank shot in the second period, when Hogan spun around on his knees and used his blocker to close off a shot that snuck underneath him. "Hogan played phenomenal," Palushaj said. "(In) the first two peri- ods, he's the reason why we're still in the game. I don't think I've ever seen him play a game that well." But while Hogan's play was key for Michigan in avoiding a confer- ence-opening sweep, it was Palushaj who broke the game open. Less than two minutes into the second frame, See WILDCATS, Page 3B By RYAN A. PODGES Daily Sports Writer Michigan's new men's swimming and diving coach Mike Bottom has built a repu- tation as one of the world's best sprinting coaches, Friday night, his team showed why. The Wolverines won both the 50- and 100-yard free- style events, something they haven't done since last Octo- ber against Eastern Michigan, and swept the top three posi- tions in both races. The dominating sprint per- formances propelled No. 5 Michigan} to a 182-115 victory over No. 4 Florida in the sea- . son opener at Canham Nata- torium. Over the last two decades, Michigan has become a pow- erhouse program for distance swimmers. Many wondered how the Wolverines would perform after training with Bottom, who became famous for his work with sprinters, including 10-time Olympic medalist Gary Hall Jr. "A lot of people didn't think we had any sprinters at Michi- gan," Bottom said. "I think today, we showed them that we do. I did not expect that, - See SPRINTERS, Page 6B CHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily Sophomore Matt Rust tallied two goals and one assist in Saturday's 5-3 win.