4B - November 17, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 6
GAME STATISTICS
Wildcats overcome wet weather,
Wolverines can't do the same
Team Stats
First Downs
Rsh/Ys
Offesie Plys
TotalOffense
Kick returns/ Yds
Punt returns/ Yds
Cmp/Att/Ilnt
Punts/Avg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards,
Timeof Poss
PASSING
Player
Sheridan
Thret
Totals
RUSHING
Player A
Brown
Sheridan
Feagin
Totals
RECEMNG
Player N
Brown
Odom
Ceens
Totals
PNTING
Msk M
TEAM
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Totals
PUNT RETURNS
Player
Odms
Wllams
Totals
TACKLES
Mouton
TIARAo, W S
Graham
Brown
Mteartn
Harrisn
Van Bergen
Tot'ls
PASSNG
Bacher
Totas
RUSHING
Player A
Simmons 2
TEAM
Bacher
Totals T
RECEVING
Player N
Ward s
Stewart 1
Rooks 1
Mitche
Totals 1
PNTINGN
TEAM I
Totals 9
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player N
Totals -
PUNT RETURNS
Plyr N
TACKLES
Willams
Gill
Wootton
Kwaeng
Smith
McManis
Brown
Hahn
Totas
NU
14
203
257
2/31
0/0
17/29/2
9/33.1
U/O
2/10
27:19
M I C H I G A N
C-A Yds
8-29 61
4-7 22
12-36 83
Att Yds Avg
23 115 5.0
10 35 3.5
1 1 1.0
1 1 1.0
46 181 3.9
MICH
15
AK/FAR
1
264
4/93
3/35
12/36/1
7/34.1
3/1
5/52
32:41
TD I
0
0S
0
Lg9
17
12
1
1
17
Lg
24
7
8
24
TD
0
0
0
0
0
t
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
No. Yds
5 46
2 10
2 10
1 8
1 6
1 3
12 83
Avg
92
5.0
8.0
6.9
No. Yds Avg Lg
6 232 38.7 47
1 7 7.0 7
7 239 34.1 47
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
4 93 23.3 34 0
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald
wasn't surprised when he looked out his
hotel room window to
a dark gray sky and a NOTEBOOK
steady rain on Saturday
morning.
"I was pretty excited actually," Fitzger-
ald said. "It seems like every time I've been
to the Big House it's been terrible, weath-
er-wise. I was hoping that that would have
been an omen."
With temperatures in the 30s, rain
turning to snow and then back to rain and
winds from the north blowing harder than
20 mph, the weather played a key role in
Michigan's 21-14 loss to Northwestern on
Saturday.
The trifecta of conditions made passing
difficult - at least for Michigan.
The Wolverines quarterbacks, redshirt
sophomore Nick Sheridan and redshirt
freshman Steven Threet, completed just
12 passes on 36 attempts. All told, Michi-
gan gained just 83 yards passing.
But Northwestern, facing the same
conditions, moved the ball consistently
through the air, especially in the second
half, when the Wildcats threw for 158
yards.
"The conditions were pretty tough to
play in," said Northwestern fifth-year
senior quarterback C.J. Bacher, who has
now beaten every Big Ten team in his
career. "Michigan's front seven did a great
job in the first half stopping the run. So we
knew we had to come out in the second
half throwing the football: We took that
mindset out of the gates at halftime and
were able to do it well enough to win."
Michigan had no such success, and the
weather was no excuse.
"I saw them throwing it and catching
it," Michigan offensive coordinator Cal-
vin Magee said of the weather's role in his
team's futilitythrough the air.
NO PICK-SIX: Trailing by a touchdown
in the fourth quarter, sophomore cor-
nerback Donovan Warren intercepted a
tipped pass near midfield. Warren sprint-
ed up the Northwestern sideline and
reached the end zone for a game-tying
touchdown.
It should have been a key play - except
officials called Warren out-of-bounds at
the Northwestern 44-yard line. Since the
play was blown dead, the call could not be
overturned, even though replays appeared
to show that Warren remained in bounds.
"I don't feel like I stepped out of bounds
at all," Warren said. "I thought I was just
going to score in the end zone. They blew
the whistle."
Despite the possible blown call, Michi-
gan still had excellent field position for a
game-tying drive. The Wolverines drove
up to the 21-yard line, but Threet threw
an interception in the end zone, ending his
team's best chance to come back.
NOT EXACTLY "SPECIAL": Michigan's
6
I
0
No.
2
0
1
3
MIN
C-A
17-29
17-29
Yds
15
35
Avg Lg TD
75 13 0
3 0
11.7 17 0
Solo Asst
6 S
6 4
3 2
1 4
2 2
1 3
3 0
a 0
2 1
0 3
2 0
2 0
2 0
1 0
34 24
N N E S O T A
Yds TD
198 2
198 2
Tot
11
10
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
58
lnt
2
2
TD
1
0
0
0
0
1
TD
1
1
0
0
0
0
2
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez watches his team play through the snow during its 21-14loss to Northwestern Saturday.
Ott
2
2
9
37
Yds
56
-2
-15
59
Avg
2.5
-2.0
-1.7
1.6
Avg
11.0
8.0
7.0
5.0
11.6
Ls
21
0
5
21
special teams were anything but on Sat-
urday.
Ingreatfield position fortheir first drive
after. junior free safety Stevie Brown's
interception, the Wolverines lined up for a
23-yard field goal to take an early lead.
It was blocked.
After forcing Northwestern to go three-
and-out on the ensuing drive, freshman
Martavious Odoms muffed the punt,
which the Wildcats recovered and drove
39 yards for a touchdown to open the scor-
ing.
Special teams didn't improve for Michi-
gan in the second half. Redshirt junior Zol-
tan Mesko had his punt partially blocked
to end Michigan's first drive of the third
quarter. Northwestern took over posses-
sion at Michigan's 40-yard line and quick-
ly scored the game-tying touchdown.
"We went into the game thinking it
would be a field-position, special-teams
game with the weather," Fitzgerald said.
"I thought we executed our plan pretty
well."
But there was one bright spot on special
teams for the Wolverines - a blocked punt
returned for a touchdown by walk-on red-
shirt sophomore Ricky Reyes, which gave
Michigan a 14-7 lead in the second quar-
ter.
"Ricky's a guy that has earned some
special teams play and he has some great
energy for that," Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez said. "We've got a lot of walk-
ons that are contributing, like Ricky and
Jon Conover, and I'm proud of them."
INJURY REPORT: With junior running
back Brandon Minor out with a slew of
injuries, much of Michigan's rushing load
o. Yds
2 22
1 8
1 7
1 5
17 198
Lg9
18
8
7
Brown hits stride WILDCa
8 : 298 37. 4
1 0 0.0 0
9 298 33.1 49
No. Yds Avg Lg
2 31 15.5 16
with McGuffie out
TD
No Yds -Avg L g TD
Solo Asst
6 1
5 2
5 2
5 2
4 3
4 2
5 0
3 2
4 0
2 2
3 0
2 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
i 0
53 16
Tot
7
7
7
7
7
6
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
7
69
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Ten Overall
Injuries to Minor
and freshmen give
junior back
a chance to shine
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
When asked to assess his run-
ning back situation last Wednes-
day in light of the injuries that
sidelined junior Brandon Minor
against Northwestern, Michigan
coach Rich Rodriguez's list of pos-
sible contributors didn't include
junior Carlos Brown.
Rodriguez did mention fresh-
man Sam McGuffie, who practiced
all week. But on Saturday morn-
ing, McGuffie decided he was too
banged up to play against North-
western. He went through pre-
game warm-ups and stood, fully
dressed, on the sidelines.
"I was shocked," running backs
coach Fred Jackson said about
McGuffie's decision. "He's got
some injuries. He's got to be able to
fight through them and be ready to
go. I thought he was ready to go."
But with McGuffie out unex-
pectedly and freshman Michael
Shaw suffering an elbow injury
that forced him to miss half the
game, Brown became the top
option in the backfield.
Before Saturday, Brown had
carried the ball just three times all
season for four yards.
A wrist injury limited him at
the beginning of the season, and
he suffered a foot strain once the
wrist healed. '
But when his team needed him
Saturday, he turned in his best per-
formance of the season - 23 car-
ries for 115 yards.
"He still is not 100 percent, but
he had to play today," Jackson
said.
And when playing in Saturday's
conditions, Michigan made the
easy choice to keep the ball on the
ground as much as possible.
"We knew we had to pound the
rock," left tackle Mark Ortmann
said. "We came in with the mind-
set that we had to run the ball."
With the depleted backfield and
poor conditions, Brown became a
workhorse. His longest gain of the
day was 17 yards, and he was tack-
led for a loss just once:
Twice, when Michigan was
backed up against its own end
zone, Brown came up with second-
and-long runs of more than 10
yards to pick up a first down and
give the Wolverines more flexibil-
ity in their play-calling.
Still, he wasn't able to dis-
play the game-breaking speed in
the open field that McGuffie has
brought to the offense all year. In
the fourth quarter, Brown nearly
had a chance to break one loose,
but tripped on the wet field.
That slip-up might have cost
Michigan a big gain on that play,
but his performance on the after-
noon gave the Wolverines a chance
to win. Without Brown stepping
up, even with his nagging injuries,
Michigan would not haye had an
available back who can be a threat
to break into the secondary.
"I just tip my hat to him because
of the consistency," Jackson said.
"I can't say enough about how he
played."
In a season, and a game, in which
many unexpected things have hap-
pened to Michigan, Brown's ability
to respond was just another unex-
pected occurrence. -
game against the Golden Gophers with a con-
cussion, took another hit to the head, forcing
Sheridan back into the game.
Sheridan finished 8-of-29 for 61yards. Threet
was 4-of-7 for 22 yards with an interception in
the end zone as the Wolverines attempted to tie
the game in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we ran the ball good," redshirt
junior left tackle Mark Ortmann said. "But
when the defense knows we are only going to
be able to do one thing, it's hard."
So who's the running back?
Junior Carlos Brown played well against
Northwestern, running 23 times for 115 yards.
But entering the game, he had just four yards on
three carries and hadn't even dressed in several
games this season.
Junior Brandon Minor, Michigan's No.lrun-
ning back for its previous four games, didn't
play because of an assortment of injuries.
,Freshman Michael Shaw, the Wolverines' top
rusher last week, missed a portion of Saturday's
game with an injury.
And freshman Sam McGuffie, the team's
leading rusher on the season, practiced all
week but surprised running backs coach Fred-
Jackson by making himself unavailable.
"Then you deal with people like Sam, com-
ing right before the game, decide that he's too
banged up to go," Jackson said.
What direction is this team going?
RATKOWIAK
From Page lB
Senior Terrance Taylor's motivational speech to
a quiet locker room after the game sounded like
goodbye.
"He just told us that-he loved playing with us
and, 'Don't let a season like this happen again,'"
offensive lineman John Ferrara said. "Even if we
did go 0-13, we are Michigan and we stand for
everything that Michigan's about."
They sounded as if they didn't have to play
another game this season.
Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher unwit-
tingly summed up Michigan's troubles best after
the game, while he discussed Northwestern
coach Pat Fitzgerald's motivational style.
"It's 10 percent what happens to you and 90
percent how you respond," Bacher explained.
"It's kind of how you've got to live your life."
was expected to fall on freshman Sam
McGuffie. That is, until McGuffie pulled
himself out of the game minutes before
kickoff, telling running backs coach Fred
Jackson he was "too banged up to play."
McGuffie has suffered a number of inju-
ries this season, including a concussion
last, month. Rodriguez cited McGuffie's
knee as the reason he didn't play.
Threet didn't start the game two weeks
removed from suffering a concussion at
Purdue, but he entered the game late in the
third quarter to try and spark Michigan's
offense.
But Threet didn't last a full quarter. He
was helped off the field by trainers after a
three-yard rush late in the fourth quarter.
"From what the trainers said, I think
he took a blow to the head and something
with his knee, too," Rodriguez said.
[any thought Michigan's dominant win at
sesotablast week was a turning point for
team, but Saturday's loss was a return to
form the Wolverines have shown for most
ie season.
fter allowing48 points atPurdue, Michigan
allowed just 27 points in its last two games.
Wolverines' switch to a 4-2-5 base has a
o do with the improvement, and defensive
dinator Scott Shafer praised their improve-
t at shedding blocks and tackling.
at with the Wildcats' first touchdown,
sigan clinched its worst scoring defense in
;ram history.
ven if the Wolverines shut out the Buck-
, Michigan will have given up 25.4 points
game. The previous high was 23.8, set in
ad after the offense moved the ball a sea-
high 435 yards against the Gophers, the
verines scored just one offensive touch-
n Saturday, a short run by Sheridan in the
quarter.
ie other score came when redshirt sopho-
S Ricky Reyes returned a blocked punt for a
hdown in the second quarter.
ow, in a season filled with questions, could
ution lie in Columbus?
'here's no question if you play well and win
one, it won't salvage the season but it will
linly make you feel a lot better because
ke rivalry and all that and the frustration
e had this year," Rodriguez said. "You'll be
to get some of that out if you can play well
have success in that game."
e Wildcats have taken that to heart. They
n't lost consecutive games this season. After
rtbreaking two-point road loss to Indiana,
hwestern traveled to Minnesota the next
: and scored the winning touchdown with
conds left in the game.
Lt Michigan has repeatedly proven it isn't a
and team. The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry
; no Wolverine postseason implications for
irst time in recent memory..Michigan con-
atly falls far behind fast or loses early leads.
,en though the Wolverines insist they only
c about the games for 24 hours, they have
>effectively respond to the losses, both with
they say and what they do.
at'll need to change if the Wolverines still
ve they have one game left.
- Ratkowiak can be reached
at cratkowi@umich.edu.
0
01
0
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan State
Northwestern
Iowa
Minnesota
Illinois
Wisconsin
Michigan
Indiana
Purdue
6
6
6
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
10
9
9
8
7
7
5
6
3
3
3
1
2
2
3
4
4
6
S
8
8
8
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS
Northwestern 21, MICHIGAN 14
PENN STATE 34, Indiana 7
Ohio State 30, ILLtots 20
IOWA 22, Purdue 17
WISCoNSIN 35, Minnesota 32