4B - September 13, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com THE QUICK BREAKDOWN MAIZE GAUGE The Michigan Daily football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box score. The Spread-o-Meter measures the success of quarterbacks, the Rod-o-Meter judges how emotional (positive or negative) Rich Rodriguez was following the game and the Hype-o-Meter measures the fans' performance. SPREAD-O-METER ROD-O-METER 0 4/4 Denards What's the only way for sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson to top his performance against Con- necticut? Account for 94 percent of the offense, set a Big Ten quarterback record and lead Michigan to a final- minute, come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame. 3/ Rich Rods Obviously, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez must be thrilled his Wolverines are 2-0 and ranked for the first time this season. But after his first signature road win as a Wolverine, Rodriguez was rather sub- dued. Winning is turning into business as usual. HYPE-O-METER 4 All week, this game was hyped up as if it were two of college /4 football's heavyweights -- instead of two unranked teams Big Houses trying to prove their spread systems worked. From kickoff to the final whistle, the game lived up to its expectations. You had injuries, big pass plays and a last-minute drive. 0 LOOKING GOOD FFFI ING RI HF PLAY OF THE GAME MAXcOLLINS/Daily MAXACOLLI/Uaily QUARTERBACK DENARD ROBINSON KICKER BRENDAN GIBBONS Robinson became the first to earn the Walter It must be hard sitting on the sidelines most of the Camp Offensive Player of the Week twice in a row game watching Robinson run all over the Notre after shattering his own Michigan quarterback Dame defense - certainly not good for a field goal single-game records (502 total yards, 258 rushing). kicker's rhythm. In Saturday's second half, Gibbons The rushing yards set a new Big Ten single-game missed a 39-yard field goal and 40-yarder. After record for a quarterback. Two games in, he's Michigan's final drive resulted in a touchdown, out-rushed the entire NCAA, making Michigan's Rodriguez sent Seth Broekhuizen to kick the point QB the best running back in the country. after attempt. Next week's starter is undecided. Michigan called a timeout with 49 seconds left in the game. The Wolverines were facing a third down and five yards to go from the ND 17 yard line. Michigan lined up with a five wide receiver set and ND blitzed six and played one-on-one with the Wolverine receivers. NOTABLE QUOTABLE I'm wearing my shoelaces untied in honor of Denard." - Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez at the beginning of Saturday's postgame press conference. THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL Each week, Daily Sports staffers fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine, and so on. The results are published with first-place votes in parentheses. 1. ALABAMA (10): 6. TEXAS: Everything is Penn State. Freshman bigger in Texas, including its quarterback. 'Nuff said. routingofWyoming. 2. OHIO STATE(2): Terrelle 7. OKLAHOMA: Pryor< Denard Robinson. Dismantling the Seminoles We're all in agreement on moves the Sooners up two that, right? W spots from last week. 3. BOISE STATE: Wouldn't 8. IOWA: Won the state be surprised ifFrank Beamer of Iowawhich means found a horse's head in his something, to someone bed on Sunday. ... I think. 4. OREGON: LaMichael 9. NEBRASKA: Hung 38 on James'sgame-breakingrun- the Vandals. Consider that good, but no Denard. That's cornhusked. for sure. S. TCU: Scored 62 points N * k against Tennessee Tech. That's awhole lotta O for a team known for its D. MAX COLLINS/Daily STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers do their best to predict what happens Nicole Ryan in the 2010 football season. Auerbach Kartje 10. WISCONSIN: They didn't cover the spread,but they do make abadgerlook handsome in ared sweater. At the line of scrimmage, wideout Roy Roundtree, who was lined up in the slot, winked at Denard Robinson under center. As the play unfolded, Roundtree worked his way down the middle of the field. With a defender on his back, Robinson placed the ball right on Roundtree's body and completed the 15-yard pass for a first down. Robinson scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play. Michigan (+4) at Notre Dame No.1 Alabama (-11.5) vs. No.18 Penn State No. 2 Ohio State (-9.5) vs. No.12 Miami (Fla.) No.4 TCU (NS) vs. Tennessee Tech No. 5 Texas (-28.5) vs. Wyoming No.6 Nebraska (-28) vs. Idaho No. 7Oregon 1-12.5) at Tennessee No. 8 Florida (-17) vs. South Florida No.9 Iowa (14) vs. Iowa State No.10 Oklahoma (-8,5) vs. No.17 Florida St. No. 11 Wisconsin (-35) vs. San Jose St. No. 13 Virginia Tech (NS) vs. James Madison No.14 Arkansas (-34) at UL-Monroe No.15 Ga. Tech. (-12) at Kansas No.16 USC (-18.5) vs. Virginia No.19 Louisiana St. (-11) at Vanderbilt No. 20 Utah (-23) vs. UNLV No. 21 Auburn (-3.5) at Mississippi St. No. 22 Georgia (+2.5) at No.24 South Carolina No. 23 West Virginia (-13.5) at Marshall No. 25Stanford (-6) at UCLA Michigan St. (-28) at Florida Atlantic Purdue (NS) vs. Western Illinois This Week Overall Michigan Alabama Miami (Fla.) TCU Wyoming Idaho Oregon Florida Iowa State Oklahoma Wisconsin Virginia Tech Arkansas Ga. Tech Virginia Louisiana St. Utah Auburn Georgia West Virginia Stanford Florida Atlantic Purdue 14-9 14-9 Michigan Alabama Ohio State TCU Texas Idaho Oregon South Florida Iowa Oklahoma Wisconsin Virginia Tech Arkansas Ga. Tech. USC Louisiana St. Utah Auburn Georgia West Virginia Stanford Michigan State Purdue 12-11 12-11 Tim k Rohan Michigan Penn State Miami (Fla.) TCU Texas Idaho Oregon South Florida Iowa Florida State Wisconsin Virginia Tech Arkansas Ga. Tech USC Louisiana St. Utah Auburn South Carolina West Virginia Stanford Florida Atlantic Purdue 11-12 11-12 Joe Stapleton Michigan Alabama Ohio State TCU Wyoming Idaho Oregon Florida Iowa Florida State San Jose State Virginia Tech Arkansas Ga. Tech USC Vanderbilt Utah Auburn Georgia West Virginia UCLA Florida Atlantic Purdue 13-10 13-10 Guest Picker: John Hurlahe Michigan Penn State Miami (Fla.) TCU Wyoming Idaho Oregon Florida Iowa Florida State Wisconsin Virginia Tech Arkansas Ga. Tech USC Louisiana St. UNLV Auburn Georgia West Virginia UCLA Michigan State Purdue 9-14 9-14 _ I I 1 i a To apply to be a guest picker, e-mail naauer@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season.