The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
September 27, 2010 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom September 27, 2010 - 38
GAME STATISTICS
Wolverines dominate in re m PageB
Team Stats
FirstDowns
Rush/s
Passig ar~ds
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Kick turns/ Yds
Punt returns/Yds
Cormp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fobles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
PASSING
,soy,
Player
Forcier
Gardner
Robinson, D.
Totals
" RUSHING
Player A
Robinson, D.
Touissant
Smith 1
Shaw 1
Coxl
Hopkins
Forcier
Gardner
Totals 5
RECEMVNG
Player
Roundtree
stonum
Grady
Gallon
Hemingway
Odorms
McColgan
Totals 2
PUNTING
Player N
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Totals
PUNT RETURNS _
Gallon
Dileo
Totals
TACKLES
Player 5
Gordon, C.
Demens
Ezeh
Robinson, M.
Moundros
Roh
Hawthorne
Johnson, Z.
Gordon, T.
Fitzgerald
Reynolds
Leach
Gyarmati
Chrstan
Totas
MICH
31
5/4GA
255
82
4/50
3/37
23/26/0
0/0
2/2
7/58
33:06
BG
27/32
251
58
203
9/145
0/0
19/31/2
5/474
0/0
5/55
26:54
zone due to stellarline Dlav
M I C H I
C-A
12-12
7-10
4-4
23-26
I G A N
Ys
110
85
60
2ss5
TD
1
0
2
Att
5
2
12
12
6
6
4
6
3
56
No.
9
3
2
2
2
2
1
23
Yds
129
66
62
59
56
33
30
25
7
467
Yds
118
38
26
25
25
16
3
2
2
255
Avg
25.8
33
5.2
4.9
9.3
5.3
7.5
42
23
8.3
Avg
13.1
127
13.0
12.5
12.5
8.0
2.0
11.1
Lg
47
61
11
11
35
19
16
9
4
61
L9
36
30
17
14
17
14
2
36
0
0
TD
2
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
0
7
TD
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
No. Yds Avg Lg
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
4 10 12.s 28 0
No. Yds Avg Lg TD
2 22 11.0 15 0
1 1s 1s.0 is5 o0
3 37 12.3 1s 0
Solo
36
4
Asst
3
3
Tot
6
5
2 1 3
2 0 2
2 0 2
1 1 2
1 1 2
1 1 2
1 1 2
1 0 1
1 0 1
1 0 1
1 0 1
1 0 1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 1 1
0 1 1
0 1 1
39 18 57
3 0 W L I N G G RE E N
By TIM ROHAN
Daily Sports Editor
It's hard to push the Michigar
football team around espe-
cially in the red zone.
On both sides of the ball, the
Wolverines' line play has beer
somewhat
of a strength NOTEBOOK
this season.
And Michigan has had suc-
cess punching the ball into the
end zone, as well as preventing
opposing offenses from doing
the same.
In Michigan's 65-21 win ove
Bowling Green on Saturday, twvo
of the Falcon touchdowns came
on fouTrth-and-goal situations
after the Wolverines stoppe
them short on the first three
downs inside the five-yard line.
Bowling Green resorted to the
Wildcat formation and fresh-
matsrunoing back Jordan Hop-
good took a direct snap the
first time, lie barely scored ans
the second time, it took an extr
effort to get around Michigan'si
wall of defensive players.
"We could not run the foot-
ball, and really, even when we
scored on some of those goal line
plays, we were a little bit lucky,'
Bowling Green coach Dave
Classon said after the game. "t
was because of a great individual.
effort in the backfield; it's noI
because we have people blocker
up front or we created a push
at the line of scrimmage. They
completely controlled us up
front. To be honest with you, thaI
was our biggest concern coming
into the game."
All the offensive line did was
pave the way for 466 rushing
yards and eight red zone touch-
downs - including six on the
ground. After Saturday, Michi
gan's red zone touchdown effi-
ciency is 89 perent - the oteamr
has scored touchdowns On 17 o
19 trips.
"Anytime we get close to tha
end zone, s an offensive line
we're all talking to each other
telling each other, 'We gotta gel
in. We gotta get in,' " fifth-year
senior offensive lineman Steve
Schilling said. "We don't wan
to settle for field goals. We wan
seven points every time we're on
the field."
Last season, the Wolverines
struggled to score touchdownsl
inside the 20. Michigan cashed
in its red zone trips at a 63-per
cent clip and scored touchdowns
just 53-percent of the time. 'fTe
Wolverines are now scoring at
will in the red zone and stopping
their opponents too.
As redshirt junior defensive
end Ryan Van Bergen sees it, i
all starts up front.
"We're really good at getting
HUNT
FromPage 1B
weak Minnesota block to send
the Golden Gophers home
with their hearts broken.
"I think we learned a
lot about our team," Rosen
said. "We have the ability to
compete, to have your back
-against the wall and have the
courage to say that we can
get better. We are starting to
believe a little bit."
Hunt led the Wolverines
in scoring, tallying 31 points.
Redshirt sophomore Claire
McElheny also contributed to
Michigan's scoring offense.
She followed Hunt with 16
points.
Though the Wolverines'
offensive production glossed
the comeback performance, it
was Michigan's defense that
came through in the biggest
of ways.
Junior libero Sloane Don-
hoff accounted for 16 digs,
which was especially impor-
PASSING
Player
Pankratz
Pagel
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Geter
Hopgood
Pankratz
TEAM
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Jorden
Pronty
Geter
Wiley
Bayer
Cooper
Roblott
Totals
PUNTING
Wright
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Pronty
Totals
TACKLES
Leacock
Morgan
Fells l
Gates
Dunlap
Farrington
Lorenzi
Campbell
McIoy
Robinson
Jorden
Bay"'v
Wiey
Hopgood
C-A
17-28
233
19-31
Yds TDO
231 1
20 0
251 1
Redshirt junior Ryan Van Bergen and the defensive line have excelled
OND/Dai
ed zone situations this season.
was in serious doubt.
Rumors that he would transfer
began swirling around campus after
Rodriguez named Robinson the
starter for the season opener. The
rumors gathered steam when Gard-
ner became the second-string quar-
terback and Forcier got bumped to
third string.
"A lot of people said I'm not stay-
ing here," Forcier said. "But I'm still
here. I love Michigan. I love every-
thing about it. I'm not going to leave
- not a chance. I love Coach Rod.
I love these fans. I love Michigan
football."
Forcier's giddiness was evident
when he was asked what it felt like
to get into the game.
"Oh God, I was so happy. I was
so happy," Forcier said. "It felt like
it was my first start again. It just felt
so good to go out there and hear the
crowd."
Fans gave Forcier a warm recep-
tion both when he entered the game
in the second quarter and when he
exited in the fourth after his flaw-
less passing day.
While some teammates main-
tained that Forcier was the same
quarterback he was last year, Forci-
er and the coaching staff discussed
notable improvements. Forcier said
- the game has slowed down for him.
Rodriguez agreed.
"He's more comfortable seeing
the field," Rodriguez said. "As (he
and Robinson) go throughout their
careers, they start seeing things as
coaches see them as far as not just
focusing on one thing during the
play, but they see a whole field and
why a play should work."
In addition to Forcier's reads
and comfort in the pocket, he also
showed improvement his passing.
The Wolverines, who mixed their
pass and run games well - 466
rushing yards and 255 passing -
saw very crisp, accurate passes from
Forcier. More passing plays are part
of the game plan when he's under
center.
"We try to gear to each quarter-
back's strength," Smith said. "All of
them can run - Denard's just more
explosive than others. (True fresh-
man Devin Gardner) can run and
Tate can rut, too. We still mix it in,
but maybe not quite as much. We
try to play to their strengths and go
from there."
Robinson tweaked his knee,
according to Rodriguez, in Satur-
day's first quarter and didn't return.
The injury isn't expected to be seri-
ous, so Forcier's and Gardner's play-
ing time will likely decrease in the
coming weeks. Forcier says he'll be
readyto fill whatever role he's need-
ed for.
"You never know when your
number is going to be called. The
Big Ten is a big conference, a rough
conference, and it starts up next
week," Forcier said. "You have to be
prepared.
"Coach Rod is the coach and I'm
going to let him make the decision,
and iftheydecide togowith (Robin-
son) and play with him, I'll be right
there, ready."
Att
12
9
5
1
27
No.
5
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
19
Yds
33
25
-7
-19
32
Yds
64
92
27
25
20
10
7
6
251
Avg
2.8
2.8
-1.4
-19.0
1.2
Avg
128
307
9
12.5
10
5
13.2
Lg
16
8
7
0
16
Lg
24
71
16
19
13
5
71
int
1
1
2
TD
0
2
0
0
2
TD
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
off the ball, and we really take
t pride in not gett ing pushed back-
wards," he said.
RUNNING AWAY WITH IT:
s It may have been hard to keep
track of which runnting back was
on the fiekd by the end of Satur-
day's game.
Nine players carried the ball 56
times. Sophomore Vincent Smith
i and junior :Mike Shaw each lead
f the team with12 carries each.
M ich igan's leadi log rushers,
t however, were sophomore quar-
terback Denard Robinson who
ran for 129 yards on five carries,
t and redshirt freshman running
r back Fitzgerald Toussaint, who
carried the ball six times for 129
t yards.
t The efficient group effort
o resulted in 466 yards on the
ground.
s But the takeaway might be
s that Michigan coach ich Rodri-
guez was finally able to play
more of his running backs. Sat-
urtday marked the season debuts
of Toussaint and redshirt sopho-
t more Mike Cox.
"I think all of my guys are
pretty good," running backs
coach Fred Jackson said. "I
t just got to put them in situa-
tions where they can have some
success so I can examine what
tant considering Minneso-
ta's physical advantage. The
Golden Gophers are a taller
and bigger squad, and they
recorded 17 team blocks to
Michigan's nine.
"One thing we talked
about before the match is
that (Minnesota) is a very
physical team," Rosen said.
"They make their money by
being physical. I kind of liken
them to being bullies... They
will come in here and try to
intimidate our team a little
bit. I told our team that, that's
what they're trying to do."
Thanks to a balanced game
plan, Michigan snuck in an
upset win over its first ranked
opponent of the season.
"This is one of the big-
gest wins ever," Rosen said.
"That's because of how the
match played out. It's big
because of how down we
were. And honestly, I told
them that this team is just
better than us.
"But that doesn't mean
that we can't still win it."
they're doing."I
Freshman Stephen op-
kins was the first to spell usual
starters Smith and Shaw, andt
le began on the right foot. But a
late first quarter fumble had him
benched for quite some time.
When Toussaint got his
chance late midway through
the fourth quarter, he brokeI
through the line of scrimmage'
for a 6-yard run- bfore he was n
caught from behild on the five- i
yard line. Toussaint didn't play a
in the first three games of the<
season because of a knee injury.'
Jackson doesn't think that he's
back to full strength jist yet. 1
"You usually don't catch him
from beh ind, I'll put it that way,"
Jackson said. "Fitz can run."
Cox also broke a long run
of his own. Ite finished aith
56 yards on just six carries-
including a 35yard dash.
It remains to be seen whether r
six different ruining backs wril
receive carries when Big Ten
plao starts next week. But with
a large lead in hand, ichiganI
gave a few of its runners some
valuable experience.
With Robinson out oflthe game
for precautionary reasons due too
a minori jury, the running boclss
shined. 'heir success could help
TEAM EFFORT
From Page lB
You just wanna keep hearing that."
Forcier looked like he hadn't
missed a beat from his 4-0 start
last season. On his first drive, the
quarterback marched the Wolver-
ines 69 yards in 10 plays to score on
a two-yard run by junior Michael
Shaw. The touchdown gave Michi-
gan a 14-point lead at halftime.
"At halftime, we weren't real
happy," Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez said after the game.
"We were happy with what we
could do, but we weren't happy
with the score."
One thing Michigan had no
trouble doingwas runningthe ball.
Rodriguez played six different
running backs and got significant
contributions from five of them.
On Michigan's first offensive
drive of the second half, Shaw and
sophomore Vincent Smith com-
bined to run the ball eight out of
Michigan's 10 plays on the drive,
which culminated in a play-action
pass from Forcier to redshirt
junior fullback John McColgan.
And after an interception by
senior linebacker Jonas Mouton
on the next drive, the Wolverines
scored easily on an eight-yard run
by Smith, the first of his two touch-
downs on the day.
In the fourth quarter, Michi-
gan fans got their first glimpse of
redshirt freshman running back
Fitzgerald Toussaint, and he didn't
disappoint. On his very first carry
as a Wolverine, the Youngstown,
Ohio native burst through the
Bowling Green defense for 61
yards before being brought downo
from behind. He ran the next play
in for the touchdown.
That long run put Toussaint
ahead of Michigan's two premiere
backs - Smith and Shaw had 62
and 59 yards, respectively, while
Toussaint ended up with 66. Red-
shirt sophomore Mike Cox had 56
Robinson down the road.
"'When you can line 03 and
run the football, y0 oLoo 11up
the passing lanes for throwing
and you open up so much more,"
quarterbacks coach Rod Smith
said.
INJURY UPDATE: With
another game came another
Robinson injury scare.
Near the end of a 46-yard
roun doWnl the left sideline, Rob-
inson was cauglot from beh ind
and tackled out of bounds. He
came down hard on h is left knee.
When Robinson came out of the
locker room to start the second
half, loe had the knee heavily
wrapped and was seen jogging
ol thesidelines.
"Ie's fine," Smith said. "Ile
just banged himself up a little
bit oo bthat last run. IIe actually
could've went back in. But We
decided not to, let hin rest the
rest of the half and then if we
needed to come back with him
we cooold."
Shaw also injured himself
blocking down field for Vincent
Smith. .fter the game, Rodri-
golez soeaid lie was fine.
Aod sophomIore quarterback
Tate Forcier, who injured his
knee, sa id he was looe after the
gamooe.
No. Yds Avg lg
5 237 47.4 55
5 237 47.4 55
No.
7
1
1
9
Solo
7
9
4
4
3
4
4
2
2
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
i
Yds
126
16
3
145
Asst
6
3
3
2
3
1
0
2
2
0
0
1
1
1
1
2
1
0
0
1
1
1
Avg
18
161
12
7
5
4
4
34
3
3
3
1
Lg TD
27 0
27 0
Junior running back Michael Shaw had 12 carries for the team lead on Satuday.
0
0
WAN NA WRITE
FOR SPORTS?
Come to our Sunday
meeting at 1 p.m.,
420 Maynard St.
BE THERE OR
BE SQUARE.
yards of his own, as well.
"All the guys just have their own
skill set," redshirt freshman left
tackle Taylor Lewan said after the
game. "Shaw's really quick, Fitz
just has a hard edge, it's all good.
These guys are playing really well,
and I'm excited to see what they'll
do the rest of the season."
Lewan, who was made a starter
this week after backingup redshirt
junior Mark Huyge the first three
games of the season, played every
offensive snap until seven minutes
remained in the fourth quarter.
The win makes Michigan 4-0
for the second straight year. But
Rodriguez said this team feels dif-
ferent from last year, when it fol-
lowed its hot start by losing seven
of its last eightgames.
"We're deeper on offense, for
sure," Rodriguez said. "We're
deeper at just about every position
offensively. Last year was last year
and this is a completely different
year."
Seeing Forcier at the podium
after the game was a throwback
to last year. The sophomore was
great, finishing a record 12-for-12
through the air for 110 yards and a
touchdown.
The game showcased all three
of Michigan's quarterbacks and
all three played very well. Overall,
Rodriguez was happy with what
he saw.
"Against Bowling Green and
what we were doing today, I
thought all three quarterbacks
were very efficient," Rodriguez
said. "The neat part for us is that
all three of those guys have not
hit their ceiling yet. Not even
close."
JED MOCH/Dai
Senior setter Lexi Zimmerman set the program's all-time assists record
on Friday night against Iowa in Michigan's 3-0 victory.