i
Robinson's redemption leads Blue
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Editor
It wasn't a perfect spiral, but in a
way, that made it a perfect pass. And
it was the perfect way to complete
Denard Robinson's redemption.
Down by three with eight seconds
left, Robinson, Michigan's junior
quarterback, took the huddle for the
final time in the drive that would give
Michigan the 35-31 victory.
Robinson was leading his sec-
ond final drive. Coming back from a
17-point deficit entering the fourth
quarter, he had gone 3-for-4 and
taken the Wolverines 58 yards for
Michigan's first lead of the game with
1:12 remaining.
Now he had to do it again. Notre
Dame (0-2) used just four plays to
retake the lead with 30 seconds left.
This time, Robinson deferred to
redshirt junior wide receiver Roy
Roundtree.
"He told me in the huddle," Robin-
son said," 'Denard, I got to getit. I got
to getit."'
The play call was a fade route.
Roundtree beat Notre Dame corner-
back Gary Gray. The spiral was a little
loose. The ball floated.
"I threw it up," Robinson said.
"And I knew he was goingto get it."
Roundtree had to readjust his body
and open his back shoulder up.
The ball glistened in the lights,
which were the focal point of a pre-
game focused on Michigan Stadium's
first night game, but that didn't mat-
ter.
In terms of the game, nothing else
mattered.
It didn't matter that Roundtree
hadn't made a catch the entire game,
that Gray was holding Roundtree, or
that the Fighting Irish had left just
half a minute on the clock and 80
yards in front of the Wolverines.
Roundtree jumped and caught
the ball just above Gray's helmet. He
planted his foot. Touchdown.
"Once I saw the ball come off, it
was high," Roundtree said. "Denard
put it up high so I can adjust to it.
Once I came back towards it, he was
still up on me, so I just jumped up in
the air and focused on it and when I
came down, I made sure I my one foot
was in."
The officials reviewed it, but the
114,804 in attendance knew what
they saw: the conclusion to a game
that would seemingly never end.
Robinson had already drove Mich-
igan into Notre Dame territory and
dumped off a screen pass to junior
running back Vincent Smith for a
touchdown.
Then Rees came back and gave the
Fighting Irish the lead with 30 sec-
onds left and Robinson reverted back
to his old self, over-throwingredshirt
sophomore Jeremy Gallon. But the
next play he didn't miss a wide-open
Gallon running a wheel route, bring-
ing the ball to the 16-yard line.
While Robinson finished the day
with 338 yards passing and five total
See ROBINSON, Page 3B
How it ended:
The Last 5 Minutes
4:57 Robinson to Hemingway,
jum p-ballfor 45 yards.
4: 2 Robinson throws inter-
ception in the endzone.
A Jake Ryan stops Cierre
* Wood on third down
forcing a punt.
1 2 Vincent Smith takes
screen pass 21 yards for
go-ahead touchdown.
UM 28-24
1:05 J.T. Floyd called for pass
interference on Michael
Floyd.
036 Rees hits Theo Riddick for
a 29-yard touchdown.
ND 31-28
2 Robinson finds Gallon
wide open on wheel route
for 64 yards.
0: 8 Robinson hits Roundtree
for a 16-yard touchdown.
UM 35-31
Defense forces turnovers when needed most
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Editor
At the end of the first quarter dur-
ing the Michigan football team's
thrilling 35-31 win over Notre Dame
Saturday, the Michigan Stadium
loudspeakers gave Wolverine fans
virtually their only hope for victory.
Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'
" - a song almost always reserved
for late-game desperation come-
backs - boomed throughout the
stadium, almost apologetically. In
reality, Michigan fans had little rea-
son to believe. The Fighting Irish
were leading the Wolverines, 14-0,
and had just intercepted another
poorly thrown pass by Michigan
junior quarterback Denard Robinson,
who finished the quarter 1-for-4 for
five yards.
And if the offense was bad, the
defense was worse. Notre Dame soph-
omore quarterback Tommy Rees, who
had started just four career games
prior to Saturday, went a perfect
8-for-8 for 94 yards and two touch-
downs on the Fighting Irish's first
two drives. The Notre Dame running
backs also piled up a quick 51 yards
on nine rushes in the first quarter,
bursting through holes the size of the
Grand Canyon. With the exception of
a couple critical mistakes, the Fight-
ing Irish's offensive surge continued
through the third quarter. And after
Rees connected with junior Theo Rid-
dick for a 15-yard touchdown to give
Notre Dame a 24-7 edge with just
over a quarter to play, it was over -
at least for the few hundred fans that
decided they'd seen enough and exit-
ed the stadium.
But it wasn't over for the Wolver-
ines.
"Whatever the situation, we're
gonna keep playing as hard as we
can," senior defensive tackle Mike
Martin said after the game. "We
never quit and we never gave up."
And while it was Robinson and the
Michigan offense that have received
the most credit for the miraculous
comeback, it never would have hap-
pened without several key plays by
the defense.
The defensive turnaround started
in the second quarter. With Notre
See TURNOVERS, Page 3B