The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
November 2, 2009 - 3B
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GAME STATISTICS JUICE
From page 1lB
TeamStats
First Downs
Rush/Yds
PassingYards
Comp/At/Int
Offensive Pays
Kick returns/Yds
Punt returns/ Yds
Punts/Ayg
Fumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Timeof Ross
PASSING
Player
Frier
Robinson, Denad
RTEM
totals
RUSIENG
Payer
SmithVewst
sinor .
Totals
REUEIING
Player N
Hemiygra
Bown Carlos
PavNI
TotalE
Player N
Mastk.
Krownvarosan
Total
Player
Player
Williams Ml
Warrnkn
Van Bta
llinois h
20
56/337
123
8/11/0
67
NRA
3/48
0/0
5/38.2
3/U
4/36
35:06
M I C H I G A N
C"A Yds
13/23 257
t/1 7
14:2 264
Michigan
17
43/113
264
14/24/0
67
377
3/65
3/39
3/37.3
4/3
3/39
24:54
secondary coach Tony Gibson
said. "I mean, I don't know what
to tell you other than that."
Michigan fluidly contained
Williams in the first half.
Four Wolverines - defensive
end Brandon Graham, defen-
sive tackle Ryan Van Bergen,
middle linebacker Kevin Leach
and linebacker Stevie Brown
- sacked Williams in the first
half for an impressive minus-
35 yards.
That was four more sacks
than Michigan tallied last sea-
son against Illinois.
But when Illinois changed
from a zone read in the first
half to a more open scheme,
things began to unravel for the
Wolverines.
"That comes down to guys not
having their gaps, something
technical, some kind of techni-
cal error," sophomore nose tackle
Mike Martin said. "I know they
changed their running game to
not as much of a read. They were
just hitting the gaps, and we were
doing real well against them try-
ing to read against us."
The switch worked for the Illi-
ni, as they rushed for 317 yards
and passed for 94 yards in the
second half.
Although defensive coordina-
tor Greg Robinson is Michigan's
third at the position in the last
three seasons, the Wolverines
have had trouble controlling
mobile quarterbacks for some
time.
Quarterbacks like Texas's
Vince Young, Ohio State's Troy
Smith and Oregoh's Dennis
Dixon ran over the Wolverines in
recent years.
But it wasn't as though Michi-
gan overlooked Williams and the
Illini. All week, the Wolverines
noted Williams's talent and rec-
ognized the team's record didn't
tell the whole story.
Of those who endured last
year's 3-9 debacle, no one
could forget Williams's record-
setting afternoon. Even after
Saturday's loss at Memorial
Stadium, last year's defeat was
still fresh.
"We had a lot of payback from
last year in our stadium, so we
wanted to give it back to them in
their stadium," Graham said. "I
mean, a loss is a loss, but it hurt
to lose to Illinois."
TD
0
0
Att
25
11
3
1
2
t
43
Yds
94
40
3
0
"6
.2
154
2.6
1.0
0.0
12.3
43.5
70
18.9
17
16
176
int
0
1
0
0
TO
1
0
0
0
0
a
1
To
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Leach, Graham turn in solid efforts in
an otherwise woeful 'D' performance
No. Yds
4 42
3 37
3 34
2 87
1 7
l 7
14 264
No. Yds Avg Lg
3 112 37.3 50
3 112 A s7 3 N
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
1 33 33 33 0
No. Yds Avg Lg2 T
1 26 26.0 26 0
3 39 13.0 12 0
Solo Asst Tot
5 11 16
3 8 11
4 4 a
4 3 7
5 1 6
4 2 6
1 4 5
2 1 3
2 1 3
2 1 3
2 0 2
2 0 2
1 1 2
0 2 2
0 2 2
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 1 1
0 1 1
38 44 82
Penn State
C-A Yds TO
8.11 123 1
6.11 123 1
Former walk-on
tallies 11 tackles in
second start of
the season
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily SportsEditor
CHAMPAIGN - He ran
around the outside, straight at
the quarterback, as if he had
done it every game this season.
But it was linebacker Kevin
Leach's first sack - the first
from a non-defensive lineman
all year, in fact. With the Illinois
line staying with its blocks and
Juice Williams unable to find
a receiver, Leach met Williams
with a vengeance to force a nine-
yard loss.
It was hard to find a feel-good
story in the Wolverines' embar-
rassing loss, but Leach's 11 tack-
les Saturday were solid after the
coaches decided to start the for-
mer walk-on over defensive vet-
eran Obi Ezeh.
"We're trying to, well, we
thought they were going to do
more spread, and they did,"
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
said. "Kevin's pretty athletic."
But in his next breath, Rodri-
guez talked about the ineptness
of his defense instead of attempt-
ing to further explain the per-
sonnel decision.
"Obviously, we didn't play
well defensively," he contin-
ued. "Missed tackles are upset-
ting. Probably more upsetting
to me is when the ball is laying
on the ground, and it seems like
it's there for an eternity and we
weren't able to get on it."
Leach earned a scholarship
about two weeks before the
beginning of the season. Against
Eastern Michigan, he started at
weak-side linebacker after the
on the play."
That gave Michigan a chance
to narrow Illinois's lead for
pride's sake, if nothing else. But
judging from Michigan's red-
zone conversions up to that point
- one touchdown in six trips
inside the 20-yard line - getting
in the end zone was statistically
looking like a longshot.
And it was. Graham's blocked
punt was his second in two
games, with his block against
Penn State coming in the third
quarter with the Wolverines
down by 22. And just like in last
week's game, the Wolverines
squandered the good field posi-
tion by immediately turning the
ball over.
This time, it was courtesy of
quarterback Tate Forcier, who
ran on first down and fumbled
to end the drive. Forcier finished
the game with three fumbles
(two lost), and Illinois rubbed
the win in the Wolverines' faces
a few plays later with a 79-yard
touchdown run.
Graham finished the game
with seven tackles and one sack,
bringing his career sacks total to
25 and passing former Wolverine
James Hall (1996-99) for second
place on Michigan's all-time
sacks list. But as his individual
accomplishments continue to be
overshadowed by the team's fail-
ures, he hasn't found much con-
solation in his play.
"It just hurt," Graham said,
echoing his mantra during this
season's other three losses.
"We're just trying to get to a
bowl and we're trying to finish
strong, and I'm gonna make sure
we go in there and we don't lose
focus.
"Stuff happens, we lose, wp
gotta just take it and run witf it,
and you know, just make sure it
don't happen again. It just hdrt
to keep saying it but it's gonna
happen."
CLF REEDER/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leach picked up his second career start this weekend in Michigan's 38-13 loss at Illinois.
Int
0
Big Ten suspended starter Jonas
Mouton for punching a Notre
Dame player the week before.
But Leach wasn't even listed on
this week's three-deep chart at
middle linebacker.
Ezeh refused to talk to the
media after Saturday's game,
which was the first in 29 games
he didn't get the starting nod.
He ended the game with just one
assisted tackle while playing in
fourth-quarter garbage time, but
he still leads the team in tackles
this season with 63.
Rodriguez and his team have
started two walk-ons this year at
crucial defensive positions. The
other, walk-on safety Jordan
Kovacs, has now started four
straight games on the strong side.
The practice of starting walk-
ons on defense over recruited,
scholarship players seems to be
turning into a trend - which,
even if Leach and Kovacs turn
in strong performances, shows
in disturbing fashion the vulner-
ability of the Wolverines' paper-
thin defense.
"I think you have to constant-
ly coach their mentality, with
so many guys playing for the
first time in different roles than
they've ever been in," Rodriguez
said. "But at the end of the day,
it's - you've gotta go out there
and execute, and as coaches, we
have to put them in a position
where they can make plays and
make it happen, and we're just
not doing that the last couple of
weeks."
One of the only players who
has consistently been able to
make those plays is senior defen-
sive end Brandon Graham. But
on his most impressive play of
the game - his second blocked
punt in two games - the rest of
his defense had already sealed
the collapse for the Wolverines.
With 3:49 left in the game and
the Wolverines down 31-13, Gra-
ham lunged through the middle
to knock the ball down just after
Illinois punter Anthony San-
telli's foot made contact. The
ball bounced backward 26 yards
before rolling out of bounds at
the 15-yard line.
"It just happened, just keep
coming and it opened up for me,"
Graham said of the play. "That's
all I think about, just keep com-
ing and somebody's gotta get up
Att
12
21
56
No.
:ngs
mes
pure
i1
Yds
160
131
134
3
.1
428
Yds
51
2
1
1
11
2
123
Avg
10.7
4.6
6.7
Avg
25.5
8
37
14
2.0
L9 TD
79 1
28 1
79 4
Lg
34
4.0
37.0
14.0
11
TD
4
37
14
0
.i
PUNTING
TEAM
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Totals
UNTRETURNS
Player
Total
TCLES
Aiken
Bussey
Wilson
Nurse
Ellngton
Wilims, Sirod
Williams, A.
ellamy
Cumberland
Hicks
Jaes,
No. Tds Avg LR
4 11 47.8 6
1 0 0.0 0
5 191 38.2 65
ILLINI ingup on the schedule.
From page 1B "I don't want to say it's slip-
after the game was long over, ping away, but we're not getting "W e're just
redshirt junior linebacker Jonas wins that we should," Woolfolk
Mouton could only explain it said. "We're just playing for pride playing for
with two words. now.
"Definitely shocked," he said. "We know we're not able to pride now,"
The loss extends Michigan's win the Big Ten. But we still got a W oolfolk said
conference skid to four games, chance to go to a bowl - just one
leaving the Wolverines still on more win - and if we do that,
the brink of bowl eligibility with then it'll be a better season than
much tougher competition com- last year."
Freshmen expected to play
early and often for Michigan
No. Yds Avg
1 18 18.0
2 30 15.0
3 48 16.0
18 >0
17
18 0
fl-H,,
No. Yds Avg .g TD
0 0 0 0 0
sow
7
8
5
4
4
3
3
1
2
2
1
1
1
i
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Asst
3
1
2
2
1
2
1
2
0
0
1
1
7
i
0
0
1
i
1
1
1
t
Tot
10
9
7
6
5
5
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
)BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team
Iowa
Penn State
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan State
Northwestern
Purdue
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
ait Ten Overall
5-0 9-0
4-1 8-1
4-1 7-2
3-2 6-2
3-3 5-4
3-3 4-5
2-3 5-4
2-3 3-6
1-4 5-4
1-4 4-5
1-5 2-6
Michigan picked
11th in the Big Ten
in preseason polls
By AMY SCARANO
Daily Sports Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. - There are
a lot of question marks and not
a lot of answers coming along
with the start of the women's
basketball
team's season. NOTEBOOK
But that isn't
necessarily a bad thing.
The Wolverines went 10-20
last season and are ready to
start fresh.
Of last season's six return-
ing players, just two of them
- junior guard Veronica Hicks
and senior center Krista Phil-
lips - were regular starters. If
Michigan wants to improve,
Michigan's sophomores will
need to step up this year. In
addition, the freshman class,
led by highly touted guard Day-
eesha Hollins, will need to make
an impact on the court.
"I think Dayeesha Hollins is
ready to play," Michigan coach
Kevin Borseth said at Big Ten
Media Day last week. "I really
do. I think she is a kid that you
can expect to play and you can
expect to do well. I don't think
it's fair to put the weight on her
shoulders, but I think she is a
kid that needs to be played."
In past years, Borseth has
given freshmen the choice to
redshirt if they don't think they
are ready to play on the Big Ten
stage, but that likely won't be an
option this year.
"We don't necessarily want to
have to count on young kids too
often, but we're in that position
now in our program," Borseth
said. "We don't know who those
people are going to be or what
they're going to be able to do
when the lights come on."
With a young roster, the
program will be able to build
consistency over the next few
years. Once the freshmen have
a season of experience, Borseth
is hoping for big things.
"Dayeesha Hollins can deliv-
er," Borseth said. "She's not self-
ish. We get selfish players, and
I teach them to be unselfish so
they can make players around
them better."
BIG SHOES TO FILL: Ashley
Jones is back after redshirting
her senior season due to a foot
injury. She was a team leader
even while restrained to the
bench last season, but she can
now be a much-needed leader
on the court, too.
"She's definitely a glue play-
er," Hicks said. "She helps our
program stick together. Losing
her last year was like a big blow
to us ... She is just someone you
can't replace. She is the type of
person you really want on your
team and she is the type of per-
son who helps you build your
program."
Two years ago, as a junior,
Jones averaged 20 points per
game and helped the team fin-
ish 19-14 overall.
"She is really good at taking
the ball to the basket," Phillips
said. "I think that is something
we were really missing is some-
one who can really slash to the
basket and take it to the hole
and finish."
THE NUMBERS: The Wolver-
ines are ignoring the fact that
they are ranked last in both the
preseason Big Ten coaches poll
and media poll. While teams like
Ohio State and Michigan State
- ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the
conference, are circled on every
opponent's calendar, Michigan
is skipped over. Nobody else in
the league expects big things
out of the young team this year.
"Any time you bring in young
kids, they're wet behind the
ears and it's a little more diffi-
cult," Borseth said. "So there's
going to be some growing pains
.,. but we sure got some kids that
are going to be able to contrib-
ute to our success."
Big tn Results
Illinois 38, Michigan 13
Ohio State 45, New Mexico State 0
Iowa 42, Indiana 24
Penn State 34, Northwestern 13
Minnesota 42, Michigan State 34
Wisconsin 37, Purdue 0