U The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I November16, 2009
Sophomore Darryl Stonum is flipped during a kickoff return in Michigan's 45-24 loss to No. 20 Wisconsin. The Wolverines now need to beat rival Ohio State next weekend in order to qualify for a bowl game.
Blue's defensive woes |o Even after shaky week,
continue in blowout |Forcier has big game
By ANDY REID
DailySportsEditor
MADISON - With about two
minutes left in the Michigan foot-
ball team's 45-24 blowout loss to
No. 20 Wisconsin, the raucous,
"Jump Around"-crazed Badger stu-
dent section started to chant, "Let's
get wasted."
For different reasons - namely,
to drown their sorrows and forget
about the game - Michigan fans
surely were thinking the same
thing. For the fourth straight week,
the Wolverines were blown out,
showed serious flaws on the defen-
sive side of the ball and inched
closer to clinching their second
consecutive bow-less season,
which hasn't happened since 1974.
But most frustrating of all,
for the fourth straight week, the
game's storyline was exactly the
same: keep up for two quarters,
built some offensive momentum
and then completely shut down
after halftime.
The Badgers racked up 469 total
yards, and quarterback Scott Tol-
zien became the sixth person ever
to throw four touchdown passes in
a game against Michigan.
Defensive coordinator Greg Rob-
inson, who declined to speak with
the media for the second straight
week, decided to switch up his
scheme a little bit this week.
"We were really, defensively,
really reaching to find an answer
and to try tostop people," Michigan
coach Rich Rodriguez said.
Redshirt sophomore Brandon
Smith started instead of safety
Mike Williams. But he cheated up
to the line of scrimmage all game,
which left walk-on safety Jordan
Kovacs as the last line of defense.
More surprisingly, junior Dono-
van Warren, one of the best cover
corners in the Big Ten, logged some
time at safety. He drifted back
while J.T. Floyd and Troy Woolfolk
covered the Wisconsin receivers.
"I actually have no idea," middle
linebacker Obi Ezeh said of War-
ren's switch. "Monday we just kind
of go out, and they tell us where to
line up and that's how we practice."
But before the break, Michigan
(1-6 Big Ten, 5-6 overall) hung with
the Badgers and was actually beat-
ing them at their own game. The
Wolverines held the ball for more
than 20 minutes in the first half,
See BADGERS, Page 3B
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
MADISON - Tate Forcier's
freshman campaign peaked nine
weeks ago.
The quarterback completed
nearly 70 percent of his passes for
240 yards and two touchdowns
against then-No. 18 Notre Dame as
he led Michigan to a come-from-
behind win.
From there, Forcier's play slow-
ly declined from very good to very
freshman. The late-game heroics
ran out, the losses piled up and
Forcier threw just as many inter-
ceptions as touchdowns in the
next seven games.
But this past Saturday was
statistically his best game since
the Fighting Irish visited the Big
House.
Forcier completed 20 passes for
just the second time this season
at an outstanding 77-percent clip.
Though there wasn't any reason to
bask in the 188-yard, two-touch-
down performance after Wiscon-
sin's dominating 21-point victory,
Forcier's game seemed to take its
first uptick in quite some time.
"Tate made some very good
decisions on some plays," offen-
sive coordinator Calvin Magee
said after the game. "The progress
is going with Tate, and we see dif-
ferent things every week that he's
picking up."
Wisconsin defensive back Niles
Brinkley wasn't short with the
praise, either.
"He's a very good quarterback,"
Brinkley said. "We've seen a lot
of good quarterbacks this year
against the spread offenses, and I
feel like he's one of the top quar-
terbacks in the conference and he
will be inthe future."
But just two days before the
game, it looked like Forcier
wouldn't be the one running the
offense againstthe Badgers. Forci-
er missed a study table session
earlier in the week, and the coach-
ing staff was unaware that he was
making the time up in another
way.
Once the situation was cleared
up, Forcier made his 11th start of
the season over freshman Denard
Robinson. Robinson ended up get-
ting just 10 touches, half rushes
and half passes, most of which
came in the game's waning min-
utes.
"Denard, he took a lot of reps
throughout the week - I actually
expected him to start," Forcier
said about Robinson. "But Coach
Rod threw me out there and I
See FORCIER, Page 38
Michigan State
sweeps Icers as 'O'
continues struggling
Harris posts triple-double in victory
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - As Michigan
hockey fans took their seats in Yost
Ice Arena on Friday, they figured
a home win over rival Michigan
State would speed up the Wolver-
ines' slow start this season. After
all, Michigan had beaten the Spar-
tans six straight times.
Instead, a 3-2 loss, followed by
a 2-0 defeat at Munn Ice Arena on
Saturday, only added to the early-
season doldrums. Michigan has
now lost four straight games.
"The only barometer we have is
the games," Michigan coach Red
Berenson said. "I would've told
you that we would have been bet-
ter this weekend. Were we in some
areas? Yeah. But as far as the whole
package, good enough to win, good
enough to beat a top 10 team - no."
Michigan's losses overshadowed
the return of Spartan forward
Corey Tropp to Yost Ice Arena after
0 his on-ice assault last season on
senior defenseman Steve Kampfer
earned Tropp a suspension for the
rest of the year. Last season, Kamp-
fer was knocked down on a cheap
shot late in the game, and Tropp
came and slashed Kampfer in the
head region while the defenseman
was motionless on the ice.
While the Children of Yost
booed Tropp everytime hetouched
the puck, it didn't stop the CCHA's
third-leading scorer from beating
Kampfer one-on-one with a toe-
drag and a wrist shot over junior
goaltender Bryan Hogan's shoul-
der. The goal was the Spartans'
second of the night.
"At Michigan, that's a really
tough situation for a young kid
to handle," Michigan State coach
Rick Comley said. "I thought
their crowd was fine, though. ... I
thought both teams kind of let it go,
and it was a non-incident."
Perhaps the crowd should have
saved its boos for the Wolverine
power play. The unit failed to score
See SPARTANS, Page 2B
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily SportsEditor
A triple-double is arguably the
rarest of feats for a Michigan bas-
ketball player.
For 22 years, Gary Grant was
the founder, president and lone
member of the club.
Make room for Manny Harris.
During Saturday's season-
opening 97-50 win over Northern
Michigan, amid questions about
his health and conditioning level
due to a lingering hamstring inju-
ry, Harris made history.
With 8:52 left in the game and
Michigan dominating the game,
the junior small forward passed
the ball to freshman guard Matt
Vogrich, who then drained his
fourth 3-pointer of the night. It
was a basic play and a nice shot,
but the pass was the special part.
It was Harris' 10th assist,
which earned him just the sec-
ond triple-double in program his-
tory - and made Harris the first
Michigan player to do it in Crisler
Arena.
Harris wasn't even alive on
March 14, 1987, the night Grant
recorded Michigan's first triple-
double. Still, the junior knew
what was at stake. When the
Wolverines' coaching staff told
Harris just three assists stood
between him and the milestone
partway through the second half,
he relaxed. He knew he had plen-
ty of time to dish out a few crisp
passes. Less than three minutes
later, the achievement became
history.
"The game has just slowed
down so much (for Harris),"
Michigan coach John Beilein
said. "He trusts these shoot-
ers, and he relishes the assists as
much as he does the points."
Harris' 18 points, 13 rebounds
and 10 assists certainly jump off
the page, but perhaps the most
important stat of the game was
Michigan's 57.4-percent field goal
percentage.
"Actually, anybody can get 10
assists, because we shoot the ball
so well," Harris said.
Harris has a good point - four
of the Wolverines' five starters
tallied at least two assists, and
every player who played signifi-
cant time scored at least a bucket
or two.
Michigan dominated Northern
Michigan in all areas of the court
- the boards, the paint and the
3-point line - from the very start,
See WILDCATS; Page 2B
ARIEL BOND/Daily
Junior Manny Harris recorded the second triple-double in program history.
CROSS COUNTRY'
* U The Michigan men's and women's teams
competed in the Midwest Regionals this
weekend. See how they did. Page 2B.
WEEKEND SWEEP
* The Michigan volleyball team gained
momentum by sweeping Purdue and Indiana
this weekend. PAGE 2B.