' 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