The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I September 14, 2009
MICHIGAN 38, NOTRE DAME 34
Senior Greg Mathews caught the game-winning pass with 11 seconds remaining in the game. Mathews slanted in, cut back toward the pile-on, and freshman Tate Forcier found him for the score. Michigan is 2-0 for the first time since 2006. CF REEDER/Daily
RICH ROD-EMPTION
'Physical' Minor keys'M'
By ANDY REID healthy - has invoked visions of former
Daily Sports Editor NFL standout Eric Dickerson's hard-nosed
style, finding a hole and sprinting north-
Bring him up after a game - any game, south toward the end zone. Just
even a loss. Ask around - any Michigan If there happens to be a defender in the
football coach or player will have the same way, so be it. Minor is more likely to run numb
thing to say about Brandon Minor. through opponents than around them.
"The biggest thing he brings is a physi- And Saturday against Notre Dame, Mi- and then
cal presence when he runs," Rich Rodri- nor did just that, especially in the game-
guez said after last year's 45-17 beatdown changing third quarter when he tallied 64 referee reminded
at Penn State, in which Minor was the lone yards on his way to a 106-yard day.
bright spot, bruising his way to 117 yards. "On offense, I couldn't tell you exactly me to be smart. It
"You can expect a real aggressive, physi- what they did," said Fighting Irish coach
cal game," Minor said this offseason, when Charlie Weis, who calls all of his team's made me think of
asked about his performance this year. offensive plays. "I was trying to get our of-
And after sitting out against Western fense straightened out. I know they were Coach Rod saying
Michigan with a slight ankle tweak, the se- moving the ball some and had us reeling,
nior running back's 2009 debut lived up to especially on the inside run. When I would Hand the ball to
his reputation. see something, it was usually an inside
"He was physical," sophomore tight end run, No. 4 (Minor's jersey number) getting the referee and
Kevin Koger said. "He ran hard. It was good through right there"
to have him back there.' And while Weis was frustrated with Mi- celebrate with your
Well, there's nothing new there. nor's pounding running style, Notre Dame
On his second carry of the season, Mi- defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta was teammates, and
nor showcased just why he might be one of scratching his head for a wholly different
the Big Ten's most explosive ball carriers. reason - Minor's intense blocking abilities. that's what I did."
He took the ball, found the hole and burst Tenuta's schemes are based around aggres- Senior wide receiver Greg
through it for a 22-yard gain. sive blitzes that are difficult for any quar-
It wasn't a juke-heavy, SportsCenter- terback to read, especially a freshman like Mathews on his game-winning
worthy run. But that's never what Minor Tate Forcier. catch in the final seconds against
has been about. Instead, Minor -when See MINOR, Page 31 Notre Dame.
Forcier the real
Golden Tate
When I was a freshman three
years ago, it was easy to spot
the football players on cam-
pus.
I walked to class
behind those black
backpacks with the
small Rose Bowl logo
and knew who I was
walking behind. That
was a Michigan foot-
ball player.-
Then Lloyd Carr's MICHAEL
team lost to Appala- EISENSTEIN
chian State, he retired
and Rich Rodriguez
came to town. Those
backpacks slowly disappeared.
The longing for the football team's
prominence on campus will disappear
today. Things will feel different. Michi-
gan football under Rich Rodriguez finally
has a tangible image.
Tate Forcier.
Forcier isn't a normal freshman in An-
gell Hall. People spell his first name with
three letters now ("G," "O" and "D"). The
quarterback is the cover boy of the Ro-
driguez Michigan football turnaround
success story that started a little more
than a week ago.
His older brother Jason said that
Tate has blended into his classes well
so far because he's "not the biggest guy
around." But after this weekend, are you
really not going to recognize one of the
most talked-about football players in the
country?
Forcier's game-winning drive Satur-
day against Notre Dame has transformed
him in everyone's eyes. It was certainly
surprising that it came from a freshman
- even for fans that witnessed a simi-
lar freshman-quarterback performance
when Chad Henne beat Michigan State
in triple overtime five years ago.
And it was also somewhat surprising
because he's a completely different type
of quarterback fromthe physical and pro-
skill mold that Wolverine fans were used
See EISENSTEIN, Page 3B
Wolverines smash Lipscomb
Paz sets tone in tourney victory
By JAKE FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
A group of U-13 soccer players lined
the stands yesterday at the U-M Soccer
Complex to watch the men's Michigan
soccer team battle Lipscomb University.
They stood in awe as Wolverine play-
ers flicked passes with their heels and
delivered perfectly placed balls across
the field. Just minutes after the referee's
game-starting whistle, one youngster
smiled and said sarcastically, "I feel bad
for Lipscomb."
Even early in the game, it was obvious
that Michigan (4-1) would take no pity on
the small school from Nashville, Tenn.
The Wolverine offense exploded in the
first half, barraging Lipscomb goalkeeper
Patrick Walsh with 11 shots en route to a
decisive 3-0 victory.
"We were trying to put a complete game
together and we came closer," Michigan
coach Steve Burns said. "There's an ener-
gy level that has to be sustained, particu-
larly when we've got a good bench with
some depth.'
Senior forward Mauro Fuzetti dis-
played his trademark nifty footwork
again yesterday, once sending a Bison de-
fender to the ground as the player's knees
buckled beneath him. On a breakaway
early in the first half, Fuzetti buried his
team-leading sixth goal of the season to
give the Wolverines an early 1-0 advan-
tage. Michigan continued to overwhelm
Lipscomb with quality scoring opportu-
nities but failed to convert again until the
25th minute.
On a free kick from 18 yards out, fresh-
man midfielder Hamoody Saad rocketed
See BISON, Page 2B
By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Another regular-season tournament,
another victory.
To some teams, it might come as a sur-
prise, but to the Michigan volleyball team,
it's just another step.
The seventh-ranked Wolverines have
won 17 consecutive regular-season tour-
naments, the most recent coming this
weekend at home in the Michigan Chal-
lenge.
"We're progressing really well," Michi-
gan coach Mark Rosen said. "This week-
end, we were able to work on the depth
of our team and work some players into
the lineup that haven't played a whole lot
this year.
"Every game, we put just enough pres-
sure on (other teams) that after a while,
they would break for a few points.'
The Wolverines (10-0) capped off the
weekend with a three-set victory over
Missouri (7-3) on Saturday night, after
also defeating Fairfield, Morehead State
and Virginia Commonwealth.
Senior outside hitter Juliana Paz paved
the way for Michigan all weekend. The
Porto Alegre, Brazil native registered 13
kills and 11 digs in the weekend's final
match against the Tigers.
Paz nabbed MVP honors for her stellar
four-match weekend.
"It's an individual award, but it's really
for the team," Paz said. "If I didn't have the
pass or the set, I wouldn't get the MVP....
I'm just trying to do my best here and the
award shows our team's hard work."
See VOLLEYBALL, Page 2B
SAIDA LSALAH/Daily
Senior Juliana Paz celebrates the Wolverines' 4-0
record in the Michigan Challenge.
The Michigan women's soccer team had
never won in California. Did the Wolverines
fare better this weekend? Page 2B.
The new music in Michigan Stadium has
caused quite a stir. Fans love it, but is there any
way to make it better? Page 2B.