UThe Michigan DailyI michigandailycomI October 10, 2011
tED MOCH/itly
Michigan hounds Wildcats, overcomes halftime deficit
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON - It's fitting
that football is played in four
quarters, because the Michigan
football team's defense had an
identity for each in Saturday's
game against Northwestern.
The defensive unit didn't dis-
play its dominant form until the
third quarter of the 12th-ranked
Wolverines' 42-24 win at Ryan
Field.
During the first quarter, the
Michigan defense was porous,
being gashed by the option and
giving up 14 points.
In the second quarter the
defense was inconsistent, mak-
ing a huge stop on 4th-and-1 but
also givingup 132 yards passing.
Behind the porous and incon-
sistent defense, the Wolverines
(2-0 Big Ten, 6-0 overall) went
into halftime down 10 points,
24-14.
As the Wolverines mounted
the comeback, the fourth quar-
ter was when the corps provided
the killer instinct - finishing
the second-half shutout.
But the tone was set in the
third.
Early in the third quarter,
when Michigan pulled within
three at 24-21, Wildcat quarter-
back Dan Persa was stopped for
no gain. A sack followed on the
next play. And on 3rd-and-16,
senior defensive lineman Ryan
Van Bergen broke free, crush-
ing Persa and forcing an early,
incomplete throw.
Persa stayed in the grass a
split second longer. Van Bergen
got up and strutted off the field.
This was the defense that they
were supposed to be playing -
the third-quarter defense.
"We knew as a front four, it
would come down to us," Mar-
tin said. "We knew we had to get
to the quarterback."
The Wolverines ended the
day with four sacks, three in the
second half.
The third quarter also pro-
duced the calling card for the
Michigan defense - turnovers.
While the Wolverines lost the
turnover battle, 3-2, the turn-
overs they did force had a bigger
impact. Michigan junior quar-
terback Denard Robinson threw
three interceptions, setting up
10 'of Northwestern's 24 total
points.
It would have been 14 had
Wildcat receiver Christian
Jones not dropped a pass in the
endzone with seven seconds left
in the first half.
But the Northwestern inter-
ceptions were all in the first
half.
Junior linebacker Brandin
Hawthorne's diving intercep-
tion late in the third quarter
sparked a drive that put Michi-
gan up 35-24. Sophomore safe-
ty Thomas Gordon's strip and
fumble recovery came on North-
western's next drive, with the
Wildcats in Michigan territory.
"We're very confident in our
abilities to get turnovers," Mar-
tin said. "If you get a lot of guys
to the ball, good things are going
See COMEBACK, Page 3B
Roundtree, Hemingway and receiving corps step upin dutch
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON - Entering
Saturday night's game against
Northwestern, Michigan red-
shirt junior wide receiver Roy
Roundtree had as many recep-
tions this season as he did games
started - five.
After one half against the
Wildcats (0-2 Big Ten, 2-3 over-
all), Roundtree was nonexis-
tent on the stat sheet yet again.
The Wolverines trailed 24-14
and were in desperate need of
a spark heading into the second
half.
Roundtree, Michigan's recep-
tions leader last season, was
the catalyst of an eight-play,
80-yard drive out of the break
that helped spark the Wolver-
ines' 42-24 victory.
On the opening drive of the
second half, No. 11 Michigan
(2-0, 6-0) was faced with a 3rd-
and-11 from its own 19-yard
line. Junior quarterback Denard
Robinson dropped back in the
pocket, looking for a receiver.
He found Roundtree cut-
ting left down the middle for a
17-yard gain to keep the drive
alive and keep the dynamic
Wildcat offense off the field.
Just two plays later, Robinson
found Roundtree again - this
time for a 57-yard bomb. On play
action, Robinson rolled right
and noticed Roundtree streak-
ing down the field in single
coverage. Robinson lofted the
ball up, and Roundtree beat the
Wildcat defender on the jump
ball at the Northwestern three-
yard line.
"We were working all sum-
mer on stuff like that," Robinson
said. "That's what he does. Our
wide receivers can get big like
that."
The catch set up the Wolver-
See RECEIVERS, Page 3B
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Redshirt junior wide receiver Roy Roundtree had three catches for 83 yards
against Northwestern after going two games without a reception.
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Junior Hemingway had a game-high
ing yards on five catches in Evanston.
Freshman Di Giuseppe scores twice in 'M' weekend sweep of Bentley
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
Sunday marked freshman
Phil Di Giuseppe's first birthday
as a Wolverine.
And he kicked off the celebra-
tions a day early with a pair of
goals in the BENTLEY 1
series fina- MICHIGAN 5
le of the
the Michi~ BENTLEY 1
gan hockey MICHIGAN 4
team's
weekend sweep of Bentley Uni-
versity.
Di Giuseppe's goals on Satur-
day night were just two of the
nine that No. 6 Michigan (3-0)
scored over the course of two
days. And though there were
moments during both games
when Bentley seemed to give
the Wolverines a little more
than they bargained for, the 5-1
and 4-1 outcomes silenced the
Falcons.
"It was a good weekend over-
all," said Michigan coach Red
Berenson. "Bentley played real-
ly well, they played hard and
they gave us everything that we
could handle."
But Di Giuseppe had no dif-
ficulty taming the Falcons on
Saturday.
He tipped a loose puck in the
net for his first career goal a
little more than 10 minutes into
the first period to give Michigan
its first lead of the night. And
after Bentley responded with a
goal of its own midway through
the second stanza, Di Giuseppe
received a feed in the crease
from sophomore forward Luke
Moffatt on a power play to beat
the goaltender and give Michi-
gan a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The puck found itself in the
back of the Bentley net two more
times after that - junior for-
ward A.J. Treais capitalized on
another Michigan power play in
the third period and freshman
forward Alex Guptill added an
empty-netter.
It was Di Giuseppe, though,
who set Michigan's tone for
the night. A Bentley goal that
appeared to put the Falcons in
the lead in the second period
was waved off due to goalten-
der interference. That was the
wake-up call the Wolverines
needed in order to get their act
together, and that was when Di
Giuseppe answered with his
second goal.
Di Giuseppe claims it was all
a matter of being in the right
place at the right time and gives
full credit to his linemates.
Whether it was opportunistic
or not, Berenson recognized the
improvement in DiGiuseppe's
play over the course of the
weekend.
"I think (Di Giuseppe) played
simpler and not as cute," Beren-
son said. "We're after him to
use his speed, and then (we) can
make our moves. If you're not
See SWEEP, Page 3B
ALDEN REISS/Daily
Freshman forward Phil Di Giuseppe scored his first two career goals in Michi-
gan's 4-1 victory over Bentley at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday.
BENT-LEY NOT BROKEN
Michigan relied on late scoring to put
away Bentley, who hung with the Wolver-
ines much of the weekend. Page 2B
LITTLE BIG HOUSE
Northwestern may be Chicago's Big
Ten team, but Michigan fans ruled the
stands at Ryan Field on Saturday. Page 2B