' The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I October 20,2010
BLACK
Mi s cues
abound
Iowa loss
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Writer
"We're not good enough to make
mistakes and beat anybody," Mich-
igan football coach Rich Rodriguez
r4said after the Wolverines' 38-28
loss to Iowa on Saturday afternoon.
That favorite refrain of Rodri-
guez's was as evident as ever on the
Michigan Stadium field against the
Hawkeyes.
Sophomore quarterbacks
Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier
combined for three interceptions,
1 0and sophomore running back Vin-
cent Smith fumbled to bring the
team's turnover total to four.
The Wolverines were penalized
eight times for 66 yards, includ-
ing a couple that stalled Michigan
drives.
Michigan's special teams
weren't much better - a field goal
was blocked and two late crucial
kickoffs went out of bounds.
Though Michigan attempted a
fourth-quarter comeback on the
shoulders of Forcier, it was ulti-
mately too little, too late. The defi-
cit was too large to overcome, the
mistakes too glaring.
"It was turnovers and penal-
ties - things you talk about all the
time that you can't have and win
games," senior offensive lineman
Steve Schilling said after the game.
"We had four turnovers and some
big penalties that killed drives. We
still had 500-something yards of
offense and were able to move the
ball pretty much when we wanted,
but you can't turn the ball over
ARIEL BOND/Daily have those drive-killing penalties."
day. See TURNOVERS, Page 3B
Rodriguez: There is
no controversy at QB
lowa sophomore running back Adam Robinson runs for a touchdown as sophomore linebacker Kenny Demens chases him in the Hawkeyes' 38-28 win over Michigan on Saturc
Michigan won't be beating
good Big Ten teams very soon
The worst kind of wake-
up calls are the ones you
don't see coming.
The Michigan football team
saw this coming. It happened
last week
against
Michigan
State, when
the Spartans"
handed the
Wolverines
their first
loss of the TIM
season by 17 ROHAN
points.
Michigan
State is a good team, and some
thought then-No. 18 Michigan
was, too. The Wolverines were
5-0 and featured an explosive
offense that looked unstop-
pable against the likes of Notre
Dame, Indiana and Bowling
Green. So when the Spartans
slowed down sophomore quar-
terback Denard Robinson and
dominated all three aspects of
the game, the bandwagon got a
little lighter.
That game exposed a lot of
the Wolverines' weaknesses:
Michigan's defense isn't very
good and the offense can be
bottled up and forced to make
mistakes, and the team can get
sloppy at times with its penal-
ties.
Flash forward to Saturday,
when the fourth quarter rolled
around. The scoreboard read
bucket of ice water was sitting
nearby.
It didn't matter that the Wol-
verines had outgained Iowa on
offense by nearly 90 yards at
that point. The formula was the
same as it had been in the loss
to the Spartans.
This Michigan team can't
beat good Big Ten teams, and
it's as simple as that.
Sure, the Wolverines gen-
erated 522 yards of offense
against one of the best defenses
in the conference. And when
sophomore quarterback Denard
Robinson left the game with
a shoulder injury in the third
quarter, sophomore quarter-
back Tate Forcier led a three-
the fourth quarter to restore
some hope. That's fine and
dandy, but Michigan still lost
the game by 10 points.
There's a reason Iowa forced
four turnovers and made
Michigan play from behind the
whole game - the Hawkeyes
are a quality football team.
Good defenses are obvious,
even to the untrained eye.
They're faster, stronger and in
the right place at the right time.
The Wolverines did rip off
chunks of yards here and there
against them, and Michigan's
first drive of the game was
impressive, but from then
on, Robinson and the offense
couldn't score until Forcier
See ROHAN, Page 3B
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily SportsEditor
Yes, sophomore quarterback
Tate Forcier replaced sophomore
quarterback Denard Robinson
when Robinson was knocked out
of Saturday's game with about 11
minutes left in the third quar-
ter. Yes, it appeared Robinson
was fine on the sidelines while
watching Forcier finish out the
game.
But no, according to Michigan
coach Rich Rodriguez, there is
no quarterback controversy.
"Denard Robinson's our start-
ing quarterback," Rodriguez said
after the game. "Tate Forcier's a
pretty good quarterback too, and
so is Devin Gardner. But, they
can play better."
Apparently, Robinson had
been nursing a shoulder injury
all week in practice, and Rodri-
guez said he aggravated it when
he was tackled on a 12-yard run
to start the drive.
The trainers wouldn't let Rob-
inson back in the game because
of the shoulder injury.
"He wasn't able to go," Rodri-
guez said.
For the second time this sea-
son, Forcier came in to replace an
injured Robinson. Against Bowl-
ing Green on Sept. 25, Forcier
completed all of his 12 passes and
threw for a score. The 12-for-
12 day for the sophomore set a
Michigan record for pass effi-
ciency.
On his opening drive on Satur-
day, he led the Wolverines down
the field to the Iowa 15-yard line,
See CONTROVERSY, Page 3B
Iowa 28, Michigan 7, and a cold touchdown scoring outburst in
ICE HOC. Y
Special teams excel in
3-3 draw with Wildcats
Blue trounced by top-ranked Zips
By STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Writer
DURHAM, N.H. - The No. 4
Michigan hockey team's power
play unit
hasn't MICHIGAN 3
seen NEW HAMPSHIRE 3
much ice
time in comparison to the penalty
kill this season, but when it's been
given the spotlight, the power play
has been among the best in the
nation.
When the Wolverines (2-0-0
CCHA, 2-0-2 overall) faced off
against No. 9 New Hampshire on
Saturday, it was three power play
goals on just three opportunities
that salvaged a 3-3 tie.
The trio of goals with the man
advantage puts the season power
play tally at 7-for-17 - a CCHA-
leading 41-percent efficiency.
"You can't get better than three-
for-three on the power play," senior
forward Carl Hagelin, who was on
the ice for every Michigan goal, said
after the game. "That's something
we knew that we needed to play
better. Our power play had played
okay so far, but that's where you
win games - on the power play or
on the penalty kill."
The scoring started just over
See UNH, Page 3B
By MAX HEILBRUNN
For the Daily
After handing the Michigan
men's soccer team its second
straight defeat in 7-1 fashion, it
was pretty clear why Akron is
ranked first in the country.
The Zips have yet to lose a
game this season and the lopsid-
ed victory over the Wolverines
(2-2-0 Big Ten, 8-4-3 overall) at
Lee R. Jackson Field yesterday
was a good testimony as to why.
"Akron is a very talented
team," Michigan coach Steve
Burns said after the game.
"They are deservingof their No.
1 ranking. I think we looked at
this as an opportunity to play
and not try to fit in, absorb the
entire game or try to catch them
in a quick counterattack. That's
not howtour team is built. We
looked to go toe-to-toe with .:
them and play a wide-open
game."
Unfortunately for Burns, his
strategy proved ineffective.
Akron (12-0-1) didn't hesi-
tate, jumping on Michigan early
and often. Defender Kofi Sar-
kodie scored the first goal of the
game in the l0th minute, added
another eight minutes later, and
completed his hat-trick late in
the second half.
After Sarkodie's first two
strikes, Burns's team found
itself with a 2-0 deficit in the
first half - it wasn't looking to
good for the Wolverines early
on. sALAM RIDA/Daily
See ZIPS, Page 3D Freshman Soony Saad accounted for the first goal scored against Akron at home.
* BYE, BYE, BYE MACK ATTACK
* In his SportsWednesday Column, Daily U British freshman sensation Rachael Mack
Sports Editor Ryan Kartje praises the NCAA f lit up the scoreboard against Northwestern
for the bye and tells Michigan fans to take a as the Michigan field hockey team won in an
breath this week. Page 2B overtime thriller. Page 2B