i Tho Mirhiain Daily I mirhiannrlaikirnm I Confomkor77 7f17A I Michigan 65, Bowling Green 21 HREE'S COMPANY TOREHAN SHARMAN/Daly Sophomore quarterbacks Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier and freshman quarterback Devin Gardner walk out of the tunnel before Michigan's 65-21 win over Bowling Green. Each quarterback played in the rout. Forcier makes most of opportunity 'M' wins behind By NICOLE AUERBACH Daily Sports Writer He waited 10 months and 205 game minutes, which felt like an eternity to the quarterback who started every Michigan football game last season as a true fresh- man. In the shadow of sophomore sensation and Heisman hopeful Denard Robinson, Tate Forcier learned his role on the team and what being a backup quarterback meant. Robinson was sidelined with a minor injury in the first quarter of Saturday's game against Bowl- ing Green. True freshman Devin Gardner replaced the starter for a few drives. Then, with 5:07 left in the first half of Saturday's game against Bowling Green, Forcier entered a game for the first time this season. Senior offensive lineman Steve Schilling said after the game that Forcier had been "biding his time" waiting for his chance to go in. "Today was his time," Schilling said. Forcier made the most of it. He went 12-for-12 passing, throwing for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball four times for full team effort By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Editor In what could be considered the ultimate team effort, the Michigan football team had no trouble rolling over Bowling Green on Saturday, beating the Falcons 65-21. The Wolverines got valuable contributions from three quar- terbacks - sophomores Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier, as well as freshman Devin Gardner. All three took a good deal of snaps on the way to a 34-point Michigan victory. The 109,933 in attendance at Michigan Stadium held their col- lective breath near the end of the first quarter when Robinson, whose play so far this season has vaulted him to the top of the Heisman race, laid on the ground injured after being tackled on a 47-yard run down Michigan's sideline. Before being knocked out of the game, Robinson was on track for another statistically mind-boggling afternoon. In just the first quar- ter, the sophomore sensation was 4-for-4 for 60 yards through the air and rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Gardner replaced Robinson with about six minutes to go in the first quarter and looked impressive. The Detroit native drove the Wolver- ines down the field to score with an 11-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman wide receiver Jeremy Gallon. Michigan went into the second quarter up 21-0 on the Falcons, but down a quarterback. The second quarter was a forget- table one for the Michigan defense, which played well otherwise, as Bowling Green scored two touch- downs to cut the lead to seven. But with five minutes left in the first half, the crowd at the Big House was treated to a familiar sight. Forcier ran outon the field for the first time this season and got a very warm reception. "Of course I heard (the crowd)," Forcier said after the game. "How can you not? Our crowd is so loud. The crowd always motivates you. See TEAM EFFORT, Page 3B Sophomore Tate Forcier completed 12 passes for 110 yards in his season debut against Bowling Green. 30 yards. Forcier's 12-for-12 day set the Michigan record for completion percentage when the quarterback has taken at least 10 attempts. The previous record belonged to Jim Harbaugh, who went 12-for-13 (92.3 percent) against Purdue on Nov. 9,1985. "Tate's a good thrower, a good football player," quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said. "The key to him, just like any other player, is you've got to stay focused, you've got to stay disciplined in your reads and what you do. Everything else comes natural for those guys." Focus has been a word thrown around when discussing Forcier over the past few months. After a teammate called him out for miss- ing voluntary workouts and Michi- gan coach Rich Rodriguez took away his wings (from his helmet) in August, Forcier's future as the Wolverines' starting quarterback See FORCIER, Page 3B Hunt leads Wolverines to signature win i By ZAK PYZIK - defeating Minnesota in three Daily Sports Writer straight sets to send the fans home happy. Michigan volleyball coach "Being down is something you Mark Rosen said last Tuesday that have to deal with, its something the Wolverines needed a signature in sports," junior outside hitter win. Alex Hunt said after the match. In No. 22 Michigan's first 13 "We just had a challenge, and we matches, the team didn't have a had to beat it. We didn't want to chance to secure that kind of win. go home on Saturday night feeling Before Saturday, the closest thing like that." thus far was the Wolverine's 3-0 Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 13-1 blowout victory over Iowa on Fri- overall) won the third game, 25-22, day night. But the team, down two after Hunt spiked a bullet off the sets to Minnesota on Saturday shoulder of a Golden Gopher. night, took Rosen's words to heart Then, Hunt came through in the clutch again as she sealed a 25-23 win with a spike in the fourth game. Hunt finished the evening with a career-high 28 kills. "I think the scores of the first two games said that what we were doing was not working," Hunt said. "So I knew I had to get into the game and do something differ- ent." The opportunity Rosen had talked about lay before them. Michigan's chance to get a signa- ture win in signature fashion was 15 points away from happening in the most signature of ways - a comeback after being down 2-0 against a top-25 team. Michigan kicked off the fifth and final set by taking a 6-3 advan- tage. But after a few attack errors, the Golden Gophers (1-1, 11-3) scored six points straight and took the lead 9-6. After mistakes on both ends of the court, the decid- ing set was notched at 13-all. On the first match point, Michi- gan couldn't finish, but on their second opportunity, the Wolver- ines signed the dotted line. Hunt ToREHAN sHArM took hold of the pen and killed a Michigan volleyball junior outside hitter Alex Hunt had a career-high 28 kill: See HUNT, Page 3B Saturday in the Wolverines' come-from-behind upset over No.14 Minnesota. CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR Despite outshooting No. 23 Ohio State two- to-one, the Michigan men's soccer team suffered a tough 1-0 loss in the Wolverines' Big Ten opener on Saturday night. Page 2B ON THE HOT SEAT N Daily Sports Editor Ryan Kartje says defensive coordinator Greg Robinson is the real coach under scrutiny in Ann Arbor, four weeks into the season. Page 2B