The Michigan Daily -y michigandaily.com
September 14, 2009 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom September14, 2009 - 3B
GAME STATISTICS
jTeam Stats
First Downs
Rush/Yds
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Kick returns/ Yds
Punt returns/ Yds
Comp/Att/nt
Punts/Avg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
PASSING
Player
For.er
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Minr
ForierI
IRobinson
frown
Odoms
Totals
RECEIVING
Player P
Mathews
Stom
KOer
&own
Odoms
Savoy
Grady, Kel.
Totals
PUNING
Per r
Fcer -
Totals
IKICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Odoms
PUNT RETURNS
PlayerH
TAKLESR
Player
Woofk
WhiAs
EHRHR
Graham
Kovcs
RohA
Matthews
Flyd
North
Sith
PASSING
RUSHING
Player .
y Kem
Grayj.
iRick
RECEVNG
Player h
PRudolph
tiAllen
Gray J.
Karanr
PUNIN
Player
Maust
KICKOFF RETURNS
Payer
VGau
Rddck
Toal
PUNT RETURNS
Playr
Hering
TACKLES
Smith, H.
McCarthy
Smith, B.
Walls
McNeil
Smith, T.
Fleming
Johnson
Williams
Ryan
Blanton
Brown
Gordon
Lewis-Moore
r
Anel
Telo
Anello
Slaughter
Motta
Totals
MICH
21
38/190
240
71
430
7/202
0/U
23/33/1
4/40
3/0
6/59
28:35
ND
27
30/154
336
72
490
3/100
1/5
25/42/0
5/36
1/1
9/75
31:25
M IC H IGA N
C-A Yds TO
23-33 240 2
23-33 240 2
Att Yds Avg lg
16 106 6.6 32
13 70 $.4 31
4 21 5.2 14
4 -3 -0.8 6
1 -4 -4.0 0
38 190 5.0 32
TD
t
t
0
0
0
2
No.
4
4
4
3
2
1
23
Yds
68
54
38
36
18
23
3
240
Avg
9.0
13.5
9.5
9
6
11.5
3
10.4
Lg
40
24
20
17
11
17
3
40
TD
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
No. Yds Avg Lg
1 50 50 50
5 180 36 50
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
6 108 18 25 0
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
The Wolverines jump into the student section in celebration seconds after Greg Mathews' game-winning touchdown catch with 11 seconds left Saturday.
Wolverine receivers react to
Mathews' game-winning catch
Solo Asst
5 3
4 4
2 5
3 3
3 3
4 1
4 1
3 0
2 1
1 2
2 0
1 1
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
0 1
0 1
38 26
Notre
G-A
25.42
Tot
8
8
7
6
6
5
5
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
0
63
D a m e
Yds TD
336 3
Att
21
1
1
2
3
1
1
30
No.
9
7
3
2
2
1
1
25
Yds
139
10
5
0
0
0
0
154
Yds
115
131
38
24
15
7
6
336
Avg
5
Avg
12.7
12
7.5
7
6
L9
24
10
5
1
4
0
0
24
L9
27
37
24
19
8
7
6
37
int
0
TO
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
TO
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Editor
Saturday's now-famous Greg Mathews
winning touchdown catch surprised even
the other Michigan receiver on the field.
"Actually, in practice, I caught the ball
on the Y side of the field, because (quar-
terback Tate Forcier) has more room to
throw it," sophomore wideout Darryl
Stonum said. "And I don't know if he saw
something, like a blitz on that side, but
he threw it to Greg." N
On second-and-goal, NOTEBOOK
two Notre Dame line-
backers blitzed, giving Forcier little time
to get rid of the ball. Forcier reacted by
throwing the ball to Mathews, who made
the catch and immediately ran along the
back of the end zone in celebration. The
play, in which Mathews ran a slant and
then broke it outside, was one of three
goal-line routes that Michigan coach
Rich Rodriguez said the team practices
every day.
"I just felt numb," Mathews said. "I
didn't know what to do. I just felt numb
and then the referee reminded me to be
smart. It made me think of Coach Rod
saying, 'Hand the ball to the referee and
celebrate with your teammates,' and
that's what I did."
It wasn't Mathews' only unconven-
tional catch of the game. On Michigan's
first touchdown drive, Mathews leaped
over a Notre Dame defender to grab a
Forcier pass and give the Wolverines a
first down. He finished as Michigan's top
receiver with 68 yards on five catches.
CISSOKO STRUGGLES: The lack of
depth in the Wolverine secondary has
been one of the team's biggest question
marks early this season, and sophomore
cornerback Boubacar Cissoko's perfor-
mance Saturday did little to instill con-
fidence in the unit.
Cissoko covered both of Notre Dame's
star receivers, Golden Tate and Michael
Floyd, but couldn't prevent two of their
touchdowns. The sophomore, listed
at 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds on the ros-
ter, looked outmatched from the start
against the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Tate
and especially against the 6-foot-3, 220-
pound Floyd. The two receivers finished
with a combined 246 receiving yards.
On Notre Dame's first touchdown
drive, in the second quarter with Michi-
gan up 14-3, Cissoko was nowhere near
Floyd as the receiver caught a 37-yard
pass to put Notre Dame in field-goal
range. A few plays later, Cissoko had
man-to-man coverage on Tate but gave
too much of a cushion, leaving Tate open
to catch the four-yard touchdown pass.
"It wasn't a point that we lost con-
fidence," fellow cornerback Donovan
Warren said. "Just playing corner, you're
going to have amnesia. (You have) to get
the next play, just play on the next play,
and that's what we did."
Cissoko ran into trouble again midway
through the fourth quarter. With Notre
Dame down by 11 but driving deep in
Michigan territory, quarterback Jimmy
Clausen threw the ball to Tate near the
end zone. Cissoko, who was covering
Tate, tried to make a play on the ball but
missed, laying still on the ground as the
receiver easily ran into the end zone.
"Hey, he's a sophomore - they're try-
ing to test him," senior defensive end
Brandon Graham said. "He gonna learn
as it goes. And he's gonna look at film,
he's gonna make his mistakes and then
he's gonna capitalize on them. Going
against two good receivers, congratula-
tions to Boubacar for sticking through
it."
WALK-ON FILLS IN: What could be
a better plug for Michigan's upcoming
open football tryouts than watching
one of the walk-ons shine on a national
stage?
Walk-on safety Jordan Kovacs wasn't
even listed on Saturday's depth chart
behind starter Mike Williams and true
freshman Vladimir Emilien. But after
Williams had to be helped off the field
with an injury during the third quarter,
Kovacs entered the game and registered
three tackles, two solo and one assisted.
"When he came up on the field, he
wasn't scared at all, actually," strong
safety Troy Woolfolk said. "I was like
expecting him to be all wide-eyed, but
he was ready to get down to business and
execute the plays. He's nice, a little shy,
but he's not timid. ... Once he gets on the
field, he's a mean, tackling machine."
Kovacs is a second generation Wolver-
ine walk-on -his father, Louis, played for
Michigan as a defensive back and earned
a varsity letter in 1982. The younger
Kovacs originally tried out for the teamin
September 2008 and was called back for
further evaluation, but was not allowed
to continue with the tryout process after
the Michigan coaches found out about a
previous knee surgery. In January 2009,
Kovacs tried out again and made the fall
roster. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash
time of all athletes at both tryouts, run-
ning a 4.68 in September 2008.
Since coming to Michigan, Rodriguez
has held four open tryouts, with the fifth
scheduled for this afternoon at 4 p.m.
He is very outspoken about the value
of a solid walk-on program, and talking
about Kovacs' performance after the
game was no exception.
"Notre Dame's got some outstand-
ing players, some four, five star nation-
al recruits ... and then we got Jordan
Kovacs," Rodriguez. "Not only does he
try out and make the team, he's in there
playing at safety in the middle of crunch
time on national TV against Notre
Dame. To me, that's pretty special and
I'm awfully proud of him."
No. Yds Avg lg
4 160 40 46
* 10 4 4
MINOR:Senior gains
106 yards in 2009 debut
No.
2
3
No.
1
Solo
4
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
47
Yds
77
23
100
Yds
5
5
Asst
7
4
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
24
Avg
38.5
23
333
Avg
5
9
7
4
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
Lg TD
52 0
23 0
52 0
Lg TD
5 0
5 0
From page 1B
Tenuta has made a name for him-
self by confusing offensive lines and
wreaking havoc on quarterbacks,
but Minor continuously picked up
blitzers, giving Forcier more time to
make his downfield reads.
Several times during the game,
Minor cut low on a linebacker or
defensive back, flipping the player
over his head.
And even though blocking is a
vastly underrated part of a running
back's duties, Minor did his part to
keep Forcier's uniform clean, figu-
ratively, since the game was played
on Michigan Stadium's field turf.
"Brandon just brings so much
because he's so physical," offensive
coordinator Calvin Magee said,
once again using the magic word
to describe Minor. "You probably
couldn't see with your naked eyes
how much protection he was giving
us on some of those passes. And he
ran hard. And the guys kind of fol-
low Brandon because he's a senior,
he runs hard and he plays physi-
cal."
Although the Michigan offense
found success without Minor in
the Wolverines' 31-7 shellacking
of Western Michigan, the senior is
going to be an integral part of any
success the team hopes to have this
season.
Sophomore running back Mike
Shaw knows just what Minor means
to the Michigan offense - and some-
how described the back's leadership
abilities without using the word
"physical."
"He came in and he took over the
game," Shaw said. "He controlled the
ball, and that's just the textbook way
of a Michigan back, how to play.
"So I know now I have it right in
front of me how I'm supposed to
play."
EISENSTEIN
From Page 1 B
to under Carr just two years
ago. Forcier is a defini-
tive Rich Rodriguez-type of
quarterback that can run the
spread and take off with the
ball.
In 2007, the last time Notre
Dame came to the Big House,
Michigan put up 38 points
in an emphatic win. It was
a statement game to tell the
country the Wolverines were
back after losing to Appala-
chian State and Oregon. It was
the debut of then-freshman
quarterback Ryan Mallett
against another very highly
recruited freshman quarter-
back, Jimmy Clausen.
Mallett didn't last at Michi-
gan. But Forcier will. He has
that speed and improvisation
to turn a fourth-and-three
with a defender in the back-
field into a 31-yard touchdown
run - something he learned
while doing one of his father's
drills in the backyard with his
brotherswhere theymastered
how to avoid getting hit.
On every touchdown pass,
from his two to wide receiver
Junior Hemingway last week
to the ones to tight end Kevin
Koger and wide receiver Greg
Mathews on Saturday, he
couldn't be more accurate if
he walked over to them and
put the ball directly in their
hands.
And it's impossible not to
like the attitude the spunk
he brings to the field, and the
nerves he doesn't bring any-
where near it.
"Everybody kept saying a
freshman can't do it," Forcier
said after the game. "And I did
it."
His comfort, both on and
off the field, as Michigan's
starting quarterback makes
it easy to believe he belongs.
Not to mention his ambition.
Jason, who lives with Tate,
said Tate watched film until
10 p.m. this whole week to
prepare for Notre Dame, until
the coaches had to kick him
out at night.
Forcier's personality has
radiated through the team.
Mathews and senior running
back Brandon Minor had de-
cent games themselves but held
nothing back when it came to
the 19-year-old quarterback.
Minor said that Forcier
"really showed us some-
thing" with his late drive.
And Mathews said he just felt
"blessed to have the opportu-
nity to play alongside him."
on the final play of the
game,hereadtheman-to-man
coverage, passed to his best
option and started the erup-
tion in Michigan Stadium.
It may be different when
we go to class today. Michigan
football feels back.
As for Forcier? It's impos-
sible to predict the next four
years. But fornow, he's already
off to the races, even with the
Wolverines on his back.
- Eisenstein can
be reached at
mseisen@umich.edu.
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team Big Ten Overall
Michigan 0 0 2 0
Indiana 0 0 2 0
Iowa 0 0 2 0
Wisconsin 0 0 2 0
Minnesota 0 0 2 0
Northwestern 0 0 2 0
Penn State 0 0 2 0
Michigan State 0 0 1 1
Ohio State 0 0 1 1
Purdue 0 0 1 1
Illinois 0 0 1 1
Bis 'Ten Results
Michigan 38, Notre Dame 34
Central Mich. 29, Mich. St. 27
Southern Cal 18, Ohio State 15
Indiana 23, Western Mich. 19
Penn State 28, Syracuse 7
Iowa 35, Iowa State 3
Wisconsin 34, Fresno St. 31 (OT)
Oregon 38, Purdue 36
Illinois 35, Illinois St.17
Minnesota 20, Air Force 13
High expectations highlight Blue's first tournament
By NICK SPAR from last season's run to he played so well, and he's
Daily Sports Writer sophomore Matt Thompson's built some momentum for
show-stealing performance the beginning of this fall."
For the first time in over this weekend. After posting back-to-back
40 years, the Michigan men's At the two-day, 54-hole 69s, Thompson shot a career-
golf team came into the sea- Wolf Run Intercollegiate at best, four-under 67 in the third
son's first tournament with Wolf Run Country Club in round. He called it the bestgolf
high expectations. Zionsville, Ind., Thompson he ever remembers playing.
After an NCAA Final Four shot three-straight sub-70 Just as Thompson saved
berth last season and the rounds (69-69-67) en route his best for last, so did Michi-
team's first top-15 finish since to a third-place finish. His gan, who jumped five spots in
1968, No. 21 Michigan looked eight-under 205 is tied for the the final round to seal fourth
poised for another breakout second-lowest 54-hole score place. The Wolverines shot a
year. And for the first time in in Michigan history. 293 in the first round and a
program history, was ranked "Matt played fabulously," 294 in the second round, but
in the preseason top 25. Michigan coach Andrew finished strong with a 287
But the focus after yes- Sapp said. "He's coming off of yesterday. Big Ten rival and
terday's final round shifted a tremendous summer when No. 12 Illinois won the tour-
nament by 13 strokes.
"Going into the last round,
we knew that we had to make
a move," Thompson said. "I
knew we could play better (in
the first two rounds) than we
did on Saturday and we were
able to do that."
Given that the Wolverines
came into the event as the
defending champions, Sapp
was disappointed with the
fourth-place finish. But he was
pleased with how the team
responded in the final round,
especially with a new lineup.
Senior David Weisfeld,
who finished tied for 66th,
and freshmen Jack Schultz
and Rahul Bakshi, who fin-
ished 42nd and 47th, respec-
tively, all made their first
career collegiate starts.
Junior Alexander Sitompul, a
mainstay in Michigan's Final
Four run last spring, missed
the tournament due to a left
foot injury.
"Starting three people who
hadn't started before, includ-
ing two freshmen, you never
know what's going to hap-
pen," Sapp said. "The new
faces definitely contributed
and hopefully gained a lot of
good experience.