The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com j November 1, 2010

RAPPY

Penn State, 41
Michigan, 31

0

wV

Slide continues as
'M' falls to Lions

Blue struggles with
third-down stops

ByJOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE - On Michigan's
first possession of its 41-31 loss to Penn
State in Happy Valley, the Wolverine
offense went three-and-out.
And with the way Michigan's defense
has played this year, that may as well
have been the game. The defense allowed
435 total yards to the Nittany Lions (2-2
Big Ten, 5-3 overall), paving the way for
senior running back Evan Royster to run
for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Mat-
thew McGloin, Penn State's third-string
quarterback who was playing because
of injuries to starting quarterback Rob-
ert Bolden and backup Kevin Newsome,
passed for 250 yards and a touchdown.
McGloin kept it simple, completing
mostly screen passes and short crossing
routes that went for big yardage because
players in Michigan's secondary were
caught out of position.
"I know they executed well," Michi-
gan coach Rich Rodriguez said after the
game. "It didn't seem like we did a real
good job of getting off blocks, we missed
some tackles."
The coaching staff made some chang-
es in the secondary, including playing
freshman Ray Vinopal at safety and
moving redshirt freshman Cam Gordon
to the spur position.

But whatever changes were made
didn't make much difference in the end
result. Michigan's defense was just too
young and too inexperienced.
"We've got a few upperclassmen that
are really trying as hard as they can
defensively, and sometimes our youth
gets picked on somewhat, but our young
guys gotta grow up in a hurry," Rodri-
guez said.
Penn State scored on its first posses-
sion, running Royster straight to the
end zone for the game's first touchdown.
Michigan (1-3, 5-3) answered, capping
a nine-play drive with a 32-yard touch-
down run from sophomore quarterback
Denard Robinson. Robinson looked to
be the healthiest he's been in weeks run-
ning the ball, but the coaches said his
shoulder was still bothering him a bit.
Near the end of the first quarter, Rob-
inson was knocked out of the game brief-
ly when he hurt his hip getting tackled
out-of-bounds. Sophomore quarterback
Tate Forcier entered the game for the
remainder of the drive, which ended in
a pooch punt.
The Nittany Lions made some big
plays and Royster finished with a one-
yard touchdown run to put Penn State up
14-7 at the end of the first quarter. Michi-
gan's defense forced its first punt in the
second quarter and the Wolverines came
See HAPPY VALLEY, Page 3B

By TIM ROHAN
Daily SportsEditor
STATE COLLEGE - On the eve
of Halloween, the Michigan defense
looked like it was cursed on third down.
Penn State, led by a former walk-on at
quarterback in Matt McGloin, convert-
ed 10-of-16 chances on the all-important
down. But the Wolverines had a chance
to jump out to a strong start after forcing
a quick 3rd-and-10 on the Nittany Lions'
first drive.
McGloin dropped back, saw an open-
ing to the left and scrambled away from
sophomore linebacker Kenny Demens
and redshirt junior defensive lineman
Ryan Van Bergen for an 11-yard gain and
a first down.
Penn State converted two more third
downs on that drive before taking a 7-0
lead.
"Obviously as a defense you want to
get stops and get three-and-outs and get
off the field," senior linebacker Jonas
Mouton said after the game. "It's just
mistakes, man. You've got to clean up
the little things, keep working."
The Wolverines' defense ranks 95th
nationally on third-down conversions,
and Michigan is No. 106 in total defense.
Penn State's success on third down
was no fluke, though. Iowa moved the
chains at a 54-percent rate on third
down and Indiana was even higher at 58

percent. But, in contrast, Michigan State
converted just four of its 13 chances
against the Wolverines
Michigan stopped the Nittany Lions
just once in the first half and allowed
28 points, which tied with Youngstown
State for the most allowed to Penn State
in a half all season.
The Wolverines could be kicking
themselves for allowing three third-
down conversions of seven yards of
more on drives that resulted in 17 Penn
State points. And Michigan allowed
a total of 71 yards combined on those
three long plays.
The backbreaker was the touchdown
the Wolverines allowed on the Nittany
Lions' last possession before the half. A
booted kickoff started Michigan inside
its own five-yard line and the Wolver-
ines' ensuing three-and-out gave Penn
State great field position,
At the time, Michigan trailed just
21-10 and needed a stop in the worst
way. After a 17-yard screen pass, the
Wolverines defense answered the call
once again on first and second downs.
But McGloin continued his third-
down heroics and hit senior wide receiv-
er Graham Zug for a 20-yard touchdown
in front of newly minted starting safety
Ray
"We just have to play harder some-
times," Vinopal said. "We can't slip up
See DEFENSE, Page 3B

ICE HOCKEY
Icers rebound after shootout defeat

By CASANDRA PAGNI
DailySports Writer
In a home-and-home series
with CCHA opponent Ferris
State, Michigan continued its
trend of
getting MICHIGAN 2
out-hus- FERRIS STATE 2
tled in
the first FERRIS STATE 2
game MICHIGAN 3
of the
series before tightening up its
mechanics, cranking up its inten-
sity, and flat-out finding ways to
score in game two.
The Wolverines' past four
games have been a rollercoaster
- and thanks to junior forward

David Wohlberg, they didn't
spare any dramatics this week-
end.
Michigan earned a 2-2 tie with
a shootout loss in Big Rapids Fri-
day before returning to Yost to
win Saturday, 3-2. But through-
out the Wolverines' recent iden-
tity crisis, Wohlberg has emerged
as a consistent, end-to-end player
this season.
He followed up his goal just
eight seconds into the first period
last weekend - the fastest goal in
recorded Michigan history - by
this time scoring the tying goal
with just 13 seconds left in regu-
lation against Ferris State to force
overtime.
The Bulldogs were ready to

defend their home ice Friday
night and dominated the Wol-
verines from the get-go. While
Ferris State didn't score its first
goal until eight minutes into the
second period, Michigan (3-0-1-
0 CCHA, 4-1-3 overall) couldn't
get anything going offensively
and was out-shot 11-3 in the first
period.
Ferris State led by two half-
way through the third period
due to the Wolverines' comsbina-
tion of sloppy passing and dif-
ficulty keeping the puck in the
Ferris State zone. After seven
unsuccessful power plays, during
which Michigan managed to get
just five shots, the pressure was
on for senior netminder Shawn

Hunwick.
But when freshman forward
Jacob Fallon netted the firstlamp-
lighter of his career to get Michi-
gan on the board, the Wolverines
woke up. The goal wasn't pretty
by any means - his shot from the
left side barely slid underneath
Ferris State's senior netminder
Pat Nagle - but it went in, cutting
the Bulldog lead in half.
With Hunwick pulled from
the net, Wohlberg's goal with 13
seconds left in the third period
forced overtime -- and finally
gave the Wolverines a pulse.
"(The puck) was bouncing
around a ton," Wohlberg said
after Friday's game. "I went in
See SHOOTOUT, Page 3B

MEN'S SOCCER
Michigan beats Spartans,
takes back Big Bear Trophy
By JAMES BLUM Big Ten, 11-5-0 overall) is just Mich-
Daily Sports Writer igan's second win in the trophy's
10-year history (2-7-1) and the first
The Big Bear Trophy, which has in seven years.
gone to the winner of the Michigan- The Wolverines (3-2-0 Big Ten,
Michigan 10-4-3 overall) entered Senior Day
State rival- MICHIGAN STATE 2 after coming off an offensive explo-
ry in men's MICHIGAN 3 sion against the Falcons, which
soccer carried into their final home game
since Michigan coach Steve Burns against Michigan State on Satur-
introduced it 10 years ago, epito- day. With their NCAA Tournament
mizes the physical play between hopes on the bubble, the Wolverines
these two in-state foes. But it was a needed a win against the Spartans,
little finesse that led the Wolverines who rank fifth in RPL The Wolver-
to claim the honor on Saturday in ines came into this contest at 42nd,
Ann Arbor. and the top-48 teams get into the
The 3-2 overtime victory against tournament, making the game a
the 23rd-ranked Spartans (2-4-0 See BIG BEAR, Page 3B


THIRD-STRING HERO
There were plenty of doubts about Penn
State walk-on quarterback Matt McGloin,
who promptly destroyed the Michigan
defense in Happy Valley. Page 3B

GLASS HALF FULL
In his SportsMonday Column, Daily Sports
Editor Ryan Kartje looks at the rest of the
Michigan sports year and tells fans to keep
their heads up. Kind of. Page 2B

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