The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com September 28, 2009 - 3B The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom September 28, 2009 - 3B GAME STATISTICS M' finds third cornerback in J.T. Floyd Team Stats First Downs Rush/Yds Passing Yards OfferlPays Total Offense Kick retuns/ Yds Putreuns/ Yds PuGTT/AAE Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss PASSING Robinson Totas RUSHING Player A grown Minor . 1 Robins n Fortier 7 Tam Totas 5 RECEIVING Grady, Kel Grady, Ke. Bown Roltree Savoy Hemigwy PUNTING Player N Mesko Totals KCKOFF RETURNS Payer PUNT RETURNS . Mathews Totals TACKLES Player Mouton 1513 Brown Graham Van Bergen Cissoko Martin Woofolk Herron Warren Fitzgerald Leach -otals PASSING Player Chappel Totals RUSHING Player A Burgess McCray Pys Totals 3 RECEIVING Turner - edmond IBelcher Willis YEvans IITotals PUNTING Player Hagerup Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player Ttals PNT RETURNS lenders Toal TACKLES Player S Mayberry - Kirlew Patterson Thomas, A Black Replogle, A. sher Council Thomas, T. Belcher Totas MICH 20 50/197 223 13/24/1 74 372 8/232 1/8 7/48.1 3/1 9/58 29:08 M1I C H I G A N 23 39 13-24 223 ND 20 33/149 270 21/38/1 467 6/118 1/IT 6/37.0 0/0 6/SO 30:52' 0. 2 0 1 Att 11 12 11 10 2 4 50 No. 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 13 No. 7 7 Yds 833 5a 24 15 149 Avg 7s5 4.2 2.2 1.5 25 30 g9 TD 41 1 12 1 8 0 9 12 3 1 4b TD 1 0 1 0 By ANDY REID Daily Sports Editor Surrounded by friends and family after the game, J.T. Floyd bubbled with excite- ment. He exchanged high-fives and hugs with those close to him. The cornerback happily signed kids' hats and footballs when asked. Floyd didn't seem to notice that most autograph-hunters had to peruse their game programs to figure out who he was - this was his day to shine. After watch- ing from the sideline for the first 15 games of his career, the redshirt freshman was finally in the spotlight. And he loved it. In the first quarter, Floyd found him- self subbing in for Boubacar Cissoko after the sophomore gave up a 56-yard bomb to wide receiver Tandon Doss. And as soon as Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell saw Floyd, he began to test the youngster. Early and often, Floyd's number was called, and nearly every time he answered the challenge on the Hoosiers' deep-pass- ing game. "I know football, and I know they're alwaysgoingto testthe inexperienced guy when you got a guy like Donovan Warren on the other side," Floyd said. "I mean, who would you go at? So, I knew it was coming, and I was just ready to get it." He was called for one questionable pass interference penalty on one of Chappell's deep throws, but for the most part, his coverage was solid. "At first, he was a little nervous, but as the game wore on, he got more and more comfortable, and he did a good job," defen- sive coordinator Greg Robinson said. "He really held his own." If Floyd can continue to progress, he could shore up the third cornerback spot, which has been a concern since the begin- ning of the year. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has made no attempt to hide his concern about the depth in the second- ary, which has already seen some signifi- cant injuries this season. Free safety Mike Williams was dinged up in the Notre Dame game, played limit- edly against Eastern Michigan and sat on Saturday, leaving the starting job to for- mer walk-on Jordan Kovacs. And at cor- nerback, Cissoko has struggled through a few minor injuries and some execution struggles. "We got a lot of young guys, we got guys younger than me, so we just gotta go play hard," Floyd said. "We're real inexperi- enced, but when it comes down to it, we're all (good) players." On Saturday, Robinson and Rodriguez both said it was a coaches' decision to sit SAID ALSyL'H/ss e Redshirt freshman cornerback i.T. Floyd replaced BouhacaF Cissoko iT Satarday's first quarter. 24 19 8 18 1 1 Yds Avg 337 48.1 357 48.1 Cissoko after he gave up the big play. While Floyd played opposite Warren for the rest of the game, Cissoko roamed the sideline near the defensive coaching staff. "I think he was just having problems with coverages," junior safety Troy Wool- folk said of Cissoko's play. "So we just had to try something new. Boubacar, he's a great athlete, and once he comes back, we'll be able to go back." Even though Floyd and Kovacs held their own on individual plays, having the two regular starters on the bench definite- ly disrupted the continuity of the second- ary. Warren blamed many of the Hoosiers' big plays - the 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, for example - on mis- communication within the unit. "We had a really good defense, but if you can't communicate and be on the same page, then nobody can do anything," Woolfolk said. "We just had a little prob- lem, and we fixed that later on and shut the team down." Ls 59 No YS Ag L TD No. Yds Avg Lg TO 1 6 6 6 0 1 6 60 6 0 Soo Asst tot 5 6 11 3 3 6 1 5 6 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 2 2 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 21-3 27 1 . 1 21-38 270 0 1 Moosman's sloppy snaps a concern for Blue By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Editor You may not agree with the belief that center is the second-most important posi- tion on offense, the quarterback being the first. But Michigan's six botched snaps - including two that resulted in 20- and 22- yards - probably changed your opinion on the matter. Redshirt sophomore NOTEBOOK center . David Molk, whom Wolverine coach Rich Rodriguez called "one of our best football players," broke his foot last week against Eastern Michigan. With Molk out another three to five weeks, fifth-year senior guard David Moosman stepped in against Indiana. "I thought the line did awesome," Moos- man said. "I thought I did not do so well." Moosman was certainly not shy in dis- cussing his shortcomings. "Put the blame on me," Moosman said. "It was my fault, because I gotta put (the snaps) right where they need themn. And if they need them somewhere where I'm not putting them, then that's on me and I'll take care of it." Granted, Moosman was returning from a shoulder injury of his own that forced him to sit out last week's game against Eastern Michigan. And the ball was a bit slippery from the misting rain. But Moos- man was chosen to fill in because he had played the position in spring and fall camp, and Rodriguez felt "pretty comfortable" with his snaps earlier in the week. Moosman's bad snaps particularly hurt Michigan in the third quarter, whentwo of its three drives were essentially halted due to the negative-yardage plays. "It's a concern," quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said. "We gotta get that honed up, and that was probably the only concern we had coming into the game, to be honest with you. We knew we were good block- and protection-wise, but the exchange is a concern, which is natural, because it's a new guy." Moosman was also called for a five-men- in-the-backfield penalty, which is another part of the learningcurve. "We like to think that we can roll anyone in there and do as good as if we had Molk in there," redshirt sophomore right guard Mark Huyge said. "It's hard to replace Molk - that's for sure - as you could see today." WARREN'S "WILLED" PICK: With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell and the Hoosier offense took the field needing a 75-yard comeback drive. To start, Indiana went with a five-yard in-route that, according to Chappell, "real- ly had been open all game." Michigan junior cornerback Donovan Warren wasn't about to let that drive get started. "When the ball came, we both actually had our hands on it," Warren said. "But I tugged it, tugged it from the get-go and so we were both wrestling for it, and - Bar- wis, Mike Barwis." Warren was referring to director of strength and conditioning Mike Barwis, who he credited for helping him become strong enough to rip the ball free. But just as much as Warren credits his conditioning with Barwis, his third career interception was caused in large partby his determination to grab the ball - and poor camera angles in the official review. The six-foot, 185-pound Warren looked like he fell to the ground with equal pos- session of the ball with six-foot-five, 214- pound receiver Damarlo Belcher. By rule, that would be the offense's ball, but War- ren popped up with the pigskin in hand. As defensive coordinator Greg Robinson put it, "all of a sudden, (Warren) just willed it." Indiana coach Bill Lynch was under- standably furious after the play, screaming along the sidelines and chucking his gum out of his mouth in disgust. He said after the game that he couldn't see the play from his vantage point, and he wouldn't elabo- rate on the play that sealed the win for Michigan. "He's a big-time player," senior defen- sive end Brandon Graham said. "Big-time players make big-time plays. That's all I'm going to say with that one." SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS: Wide receiver Darryl Stonum and punter Zoltan Mesko have about as different skill sets as they come, but they both helped Michigan win the field-position battle Saturday. Stonum racked up 218 kickoff return yards against Indiana, including four for 30 yards or more. Former Wolverine Steve Breaston is the only player who has tal- lied more kickoff return yards in a game in Michigan history, which he did in the 2005 Rose Bowl when he ran back six returns for 221 yards. So far this season, Stonum is averaging 32.6 yards on 12 returns. Breaston never averaged more than 28.1 yards on kickoff returns for a season. But Rodriguez knew the sophomore, who was playing with a nagging hamstring injury, will feel dissatisfied nevertheless. "He's probably going to be disappointed because he was probably within one trip up, two or three times, of taking it the dis- tance," Rodriguez said. Just as Stonum set the offense up with good field position, Mesko gave Michigan's defense room to work by pinning Indiana deep in its own territory. The redshirt senior averaged 48.1 yards a punt, including one that pinned Indiana on its owntwo-yard line and one that went 59 yards after Mesko kicked from Michi- gan's own two-yard line. Mesko became the Wolverines' all-time leader in both punts and punting yardage in the first game of the season. Against Michigan State next week, he will likely, become the only punter in Michigan histo- ry to rack up over 9,000 yards, a milestone that is currently 61 yards away. Att '8 1 3 3 1 21 Yds 151 41 13 1 -il 197 Yds 104 48 35 39 27 17 270 Avg 1.6 1.0 60 14 18 17 96 Cg 1 1s TD 0 0 0 0 0 No. Yds Avg Lg 6 222 370 46 6 222 37.0 46 No. Yds Avg Lg TD 6 138 283 '89 0 NE, Yds Avg Lg TD S 1 1I.0 11 0 1 10 ti 0 Soto 5 6 4 6 5 4 4 1 3 1 1 1 0' 0 1 0 0 44 Asst S, 2 4 } 2 0 3 3 3 0' 2 2 0 1 0 32 Tot an 8. 6_ 7. 6: 6 4. 4 4 4. 3 2 2, 2 2 2 1. i b 76 CHRIS DZOMBAK/Dai Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier led Michigan to another late-game comeback win. BIG TEN STANDINGS Team sioTew Overall Iowa Michigan Wisconsin Minnesota Ohio State Purdue Indiana Penn State Northwestern Illinois Michigan State 1 1 ,1 , 1 1 0 0 0 0 { 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 3 1 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 2 3 HOOSIERS From page 1B On third and seven, Forcier found sophomore slot receiver Martavious Odoms in the back of the end zone. With a perfectly placed tight spiral pass, Forcier led No. 23 Michigan to a 36-33 win over Indiana. "The kid's got something about him - he knows how to win ball games," quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said. "I don't think pressure's going to affect him. "You don't get much more pressure than being down late in a drive when you have to make a play and on (third down), they give you cover zero. He stepped up and made a play." Forcier's late-game heroics saved Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) from an early-season conference loss, and his 184 yards on 11-of-21 passing prevented the Hoosiers (0-1, 3-1) from upsetting the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium for the first time since 1967. With his recent accomplishments, it's easy to forget Forcier is just a freshman and a long way from a fin- ished product. But during the last two games, the San Diego native has shown signs of inexperience, with inevitable flaws becoming obvious. "I got to get him to calm down his feet in the pocket," Smith said. "We're scrambling way too much. We're not getting our reads in, and I think some- times we're looking to run because we're not getting our eyes downfield, which causes us to get some negative plays. We got to get that corrected." Besides improving his decision- making, Smith said Forcier can work on keeping two hands on the ball at all times and trusting the offensive line more, which will give Forcier more of a pocket presence. Despite his shortcomings, Forcier remains a true leader on the field. His constant claims that he "doesn't get nervous" seemed like a stretch at first, but his poise and gutsy game-changing plays continue to prove otherwise. One of those plays meant sacrific- ing his body early in the fourth quar- ter. Forcier showcased his vertical aptitude as he leapt over the throng of defenders at the goal line for the touchdown. "I got a great view," sophomore wide receiver Darryl Stonum said. "I was blocking my dude. ... It was actually a pass play, so I saw Tate scrambling. I was trying to get open, and I just saw him leap over my two defenders into the end zone, and it shocked me, but I'm glad he did it." At the beginning of the season, Forcier's youth seemed like a possible liability. Now, it might be more of an advan- tage. "I think a lot of times with young guys, they don't panic as much," Rodri- guez said. "Sometimes an upperclass- man will think, 'Uh oh, what's going on?' But the young guys go out and play a little bit. "Tate wasn't sharp all the time, but he made some plays at the end." RATKOWIAK From page 1B At the time, that felt so true. This year's team is undeniably exciting to watch. Its offense is flashy and glamorous, and it calmly pulls through at crunch time. Saturday's two fourth-quarter touchdowns - freshman quarterback Tate Forcier's acrobatic leap into the end zone and his clutch last-minute touchdown pass to Martavious Odoms - are proof of that. But it's obvious now there's only so much longer the offense can continue to cover up the defense's mistakes. "To me, I felt like (the comeback) should have never happened," defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen said. "We made way too many mistakes, and I feel like all we did was bail ourselves out. We were able to get water out of the boat and stay afloat." Some of Saturday's offensive gaffes, like the team's six muffed snaps, are correctable. Although David Moosman hasn't played center in a game since 2007, he is surrounded by a strong offensive line and the quarterbacks will soon adjust to his style. The Wolverines are currently leading the Big Ten in both scoring and rushing offense, two foreign thoughts at this time last year. And, of course, Michigan has already managed to surpass last year's win total in just three weeks - the most important indicator of all. But Forcier's bruised shoulder may potentially be more serious than he or Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez let on after the Indiana game. And with the Wolverines favored by just two points against 1-3 Michigan State next Saturday, the amount of time the Wolverine offense can compensate for defensive weaknesses looks like it might be almost up. This weekend, the defense seemed to have no sense of urgency until Indiana had driven the ball inside the 20-yard line. Other Big Ten teams with better offenses won't be as easily held to field goals. The scary part is that through four games, last year's Michigan defense - the one that allowed the most points per game in school history - may have been stronger than this season's. The 2009 Wolverine defense has given up 76.6 more yards per game than it did last year, good for ninth in the Big Ten. The most striking indicator of how much the offense has improved while the defense hasn't maybe in points per game. Last year, through four games: Opponents 22.8, Michigan 20.8. This year: Opponents 22.8, Michigan 37.5. That may be a little misleading, though. Even if it looks like the defense has stayed stagnant on paper, the 2009 Wolverines have played stronger after successful halftime adjustments. That has manifested in just 31 total points allowed in the second half of the four games, compared to the 60 they have allowed in the first two quarters. Their problem is anticipating the need for those defensive adjustments in the first place. Michigan was burned by big plays again early on Saturday, notably on the Hoosiers' first touchdown play, a wildcat formation that caught the Wolverines completely off guard. The Wolverines have talked for three straight games now about how they're a second-half team, and how strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis's workouts have made it possible to outlast their opponents when the game comes down to the wire. But as they get into the meat of the Big Ten season, struggling to read out-of-the-ordinary plays - and allowing 280 yards before halftime to a three-touchdown underdog - just isn't going to cut it. "We dodged a bullet, but I think we helped ourselves to do it - it wasn't just luck," Van Bergen said. "We secured our assignments, made one big mistake in the second half, and then we were able to rally back and make some plays for our offense." At this time last season, the Wolverines went on to lose six straight games. Unlike last year, they aren't about to completely implode. But even though this Saturday's game is against a Michigan State team whose season looks like it's already over, it's probably one of the Wolverines' biggest tests of the year. "You find out a lot about your team and I think your team matures a lot in a tougher environment, and we're getting ready to do that," Rodriguez said. Michigan will find out plenty - starting with the fact that if the defense doesn't start pulling its weight very soon, the surprising 4-0 start may soon be a distant memory. - Ratkowiak can be reached at cratkowi@umich.edu. RigTen Results Michigan 36, Indiana 33 Notre Dame 24, Purdue 21. Ohio State 30, Illinois 0 Iowa 21, Penn State 10 Wisconsinh 38, Mich. State 30 Minnesota 35, Northwestern 24 ,"