1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 3B - October 10, 2011 STATISTICS Third-down conversions key for Blue in win Team Stats First Downs Rush/Yds Passing Yards Ofnsie Plays Total Offense Kickreturns/Yds Puntreturns/Yds Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avgt Fumbles/lost Pnatis/Yrds Tme of Poss MICH 23 50/179 782 541 7/454 0/0 19/28/3 1/38 0/0 5/65 37:57 NU 26 25/107 331 70 438 4-248 1/20 32/45/1 3/140 1/1 5/51 22:03 M I C H I G A N PASSING Payer C-U Yds T0 Int Roison, D. 1726 33 2 Gardner, 0. 2-2 25 0 0 Totals 19-28 362 2 3 RUSHING Player Att Yds Avg Lg TO Robinson,D. 25 117 4.7 25 2 Toussaint 14 25 13 7 0 Smith 3 8 2.7 6 0 Gardner 2 4 2.0 3 1 Totals 50 179 3.6 25 4 RECEVNG Player No. Yds Avg Lg TU Hemigway 1 38 38 38 Roundtree 3 83 27.7 57 0 Koger 2 36 18 19 0 Jackson 1 19 19 19 0 Shaw 1 12 12 12 0 Watson 1 9 9 9 1 Smith 1 6 6 6 0 Totals 19 362 19.0 57 2 PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg Lg Hagena 1 3 38 38 KICKOFF RETURNS Payer No Yds Avg L TO Gallon 1 13 13 13 0 Totals 3 56 18.7 25 0 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg Lg TO Totals 0 0 0 0 0 TACKLES Player Solo Asst Tot Dernens 5 5 10 Hawthorne 4 Gordon 5 1 6 Martin 2 4 6 *"hso 5 0 5 Morgan 3 2 5 Floyd 3 2 5 Van Bergen 2 2 4 Smith 2 0 Campbell 0 1 1 Koger 1 0 1 Avery 1 0 1 Black 1 0 1 Ryan 1 0 1 Furman 0 1 1 Pomarico 0 1 1 N OR TH WE ST E R N By STEPHEN J. NESBITT Daily Sports Editor EVANSTON - As the saying goes, third down's the charm. Maybe not exactly those words, but junior quarterback Denard Rob- inson and the NOTEBOOK Michigan foot- ball team certainly established it as a new mantra against North- western. The offense was nearly untouchable when eyeing the first-down marker in No. 11 Michigan's 42-24 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday, con- verting on 14 of 17 third-down opportunities. "They just made plays," said Northwestern defensive end Tyler Scott. "We didn't exe- cute here and there, which was huge. That's one of our goals as a defense, to get off the field on third down, and we didn't exe- cute." The Wildcats couldn't get the defense off the field, which kept the dangerous Robinson in the backfield and star Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa stuck on the sideline. Michigan burned up time and won the time-of-possession battle in each quarter, finish- ing with 37:57 to the Wildcats' 22:03. "Yeah, that was a big deal," Robinson said. "We were hold- ing the possession of the ball and that's what we focus on every game. We want to win that." And of the three missed third- down conversions for Michigan, only one led to a punt. The Wolverines' second scor- ing drive was punctuated by Michigan coach Brady Hoke's decision to send the offense back on the field after redshirt soph- omore running back Fitzger- ald Toussaint was stopped at the line of scrimmage on third down. Hoke called a timeout and gathered the specials teams unit around him. At the last minute, he motioned the offense back onto the field. "Coach Hoke, he gives us that look and we tell him, 'Hey we can get this,' " Robinson said. "And that's what we do." Robinson took the snap, fol- lowed his blockers and danced for a four-yard gain and a first down. Third down may be the charm, but the fourth-down conversions aren't so bad, either. ONE MAN'S BOO-BOO ... : Michigan fans know the feeling all too well. It's a sinking, empty feeling that settles in anytime Denard Robinson leaves the field injured. Last season, Robinson left 10 of the Wolverines' 12 games with some form of injury, creat- ing a major void at quarterback. Through five games this season, Robinson hadn't been forced out of a single play with an injury. That streak ended midway though the third quar- ter in Evanston. After a 12-yard run to the Northwestern one-yard line, Robinson ran off the field flexing his left hand. "It was nothing, a little boo- boo," Robinson said after the game. Sophomore quarterback Devin Gardner, who has played sparingly this season - and almost exclusively in two-quar- terback sets - came on in Rob- inson's absence. On third down, Gardner ran a bootleg right off a play-action call and beat the defender to the pylon to give Michigan the lead, 28-24. Gardner finished the game by completing his only two passes for a total of 25 yards. "Devin is a great quarter- back," said senior running back Michael Shaw. "It's tough being behind Denard,but ... whenyour number's called you have to be Junior quarterback Denard Robinson helped Michigan overCome a slow start with four total touchdowns S ready to perform, and that's why you come to Michigan. "Everybody on our roster can play. Coach said all the time it's not who's at the position, the expectation is for the position, so if your number is called you gotta go in there and ball. That's why you're here." In his typical "Hokespeak," the head coach had a succinct wrap-up of Gardner's perfor- mance. "Good," Hoke said. "It was good to see Devin be very quar- terback-like." SAFETY COMES STANDARD: Redshirt sophomore safety Thomas Gordon entered his recruitment process with every intention of being a quarterback. Redshirt junior safety Jordan Kovacs was walk-on three years ago. Somehow, the misfit second- ary has combined to be one of the more lethal safety duos in the Big Ten. Gordon and Kovacs each have a pick and have combined for four turnovers in six games. Early in the fourth quarter against Northwestern, Gordon stripped Wildcat wide receiver Jeremy Ebert and fell on the loose ball. On the ensuing Northwest- ern possession, Kovacs made his presence felt. Persa lined the Wildcats up on fourth down from the Michigan 37-yard line, tryingto reducethe 11-point def- icit. Persa looked left, then right, but he didn't look over the top. As Persa went through his play call at the line, Kovacs crept up toward the line of scrim- mage. And when Persa took the ball, Kovacs came hard on the blitz. The guard and tackle split. When Persa looked up, Kovacs was three steps away, untouched. As Kovacs lowered his shoulder for another of his devastating hits, Persa ducked. Kovacs blew the helmet right off the quarterback, who stayed up and tried to scramble. But the play was whistled dead. Ten- yard sack, Michigan ball. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was furious that Kovacs wasn't called for grab- bing Persa's facemask - Fitzger- ald received a 15-yard penalty for arguing the call. "You know, I've got to worry about three kids' college funds, so I'm going to leave it at that, how does that sound?" Fitzger- ald said. No more arguing from the coach, but he wasn't pleased. But no penalty was called and Kovacs was credited with the sack, effectively ending the Wildcats' chances. PASSING CA Ys Persa 32-44 331 Team 0-1 0 Totas 345 331 RUSHING Player Att Yds Avg Smith 6 28 4.7 Mark 2 18 9 Totals 25 134 4.3 TD 0 0 0 RECEIVING Player Ebert Dunsmore Schmidt !ones Colter Smith Mark Green Totals Lg 125 23 Lg 15 26 39 16 4 39 TD 0 t t 0 t 0 3 TD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SWEEP From Page 1B skating right then nothing hap- pens." That cuteness is a reference back to Friday's self-proclaimed slump. The Falcons' early first goal on Friday night was unan- swered by the Wolverines until the second stanza, when senior defenseman Greg Pateryn tipped in a shot deflected off Bentley netminder Kyle Rank. And even though Michigan walked away with four more goals after that, it didn't always play like the better team. The Wolverines knew nothing about Bentley going into the week- end's series, but after Friday, they became first-hand witness- es to the Falcons' unexpected speed. When Bentley picked up its pace in the second period, Michigan became sloppy. Over-passing was a prob- lem for the Wolverines, but the over-skating was an even big- ger one. The players aren't sure what exactly its origins are - Di Giuseppe attributed it to feeling too comfortable. Beren- son just calls it laziness. "There's a loose puck and (the players) skate right over it and miss it," Berenson said. "Instead of stopping and No. 17 3 3 1 32 Yds 86 68 37 4 331 Avg 7.8 22.6 12.3 4 9.1 Senior defenseman Gre demanding that p some desperation,I go for a skate. The pt always follow you, y go back and get it." By Saturday, eve gotten the messag Giuseppe especially heart. And though he n ready to take full cr PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg Lg William 991 14 2 06. 21 CoalsI 3 14 6 . 9 7 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg Lg 0chmid 0 20 2 2 Totals 3 48 b 35 TlaCKe Solo Asst Tot Mabin 8 4 12 Nwabuisi 5 6 11 Scott 6 1 7 Peters 2 5 7 Proby 2 0 2 Carmider 2 o 2 B w 1 1 2 Ariguzo 0 2 2 DiNardo 0 1 1 Totals 42 40 82 FOL LOW US ON TWITTER @WmiChd ailysports @mich da ily fba|| i@ICh da ilyhoCkey @miChdaily bba|| _ - ALDEN REISS/Daily g Pateryn scored Michigan's first goal on Friday. uck with goals just yet, Berenson plans (they) just to make him as comfortable as uck doesn't possible with the rest of his line -ou have to in the upcoming first full week of practices. ryone had "He's a strong kid, he's got e, but Di some good puck skills," Beren- took it to son said. "It's a matter of get- ting used to his linemates and nay not be playing off them well, but he's edit for his off to a good start." iing back, the few players who had seen t inside. It them all in his past three years g Michigan at Michigan, redshirt junior ade adjust- safety Jordan Kovacs. time. With Northwestern still man cov- down 11 and lined up on Michi- n you play gan's 37yard line, Kovacs bust- have to be ed through the line untouched. ks," Hoke The man who knocked West- has to be ern Michigan quarterback Alex . We over- Carder's helmet off in the sea- arly in the son opener lined Persa up and d, and you knocked his helmet off - but sometimes the result was different. you think, Kovacs - and Persa's hel- killing us, met - fell over the top of Persa, as he stayed on his feet and made some scramble. But, by rule, when t." a player's helmet comes off, d just five the ball is dead. Turnover on he second downs. "I guess you could say I which the made the play," Kovacs said. e personal- "I've never really seen any- ngful play thing like that. I didn't know pleted the that was a rule, but we'll take ation into it." om one of They'll take 6-0 too. ines' first touchdown of the half, but maybe more importantly, it immediately deflated the Wild- cats' confidence. In the first half, Northwestern intercepted Rob- inson three times and held the potent Michigan offense in check. "When you're working so hard to stop an offense and you do it consistently on a play-by-play basis, and then they hit a big one on you, it really hits you hard," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "It kills you." Roundtree wasn't the only Michigan receiver who had suc- cess on the jump ball. On just his second pass attempt of the game, Robinson spotted fifth-year senior wide receiver Junior Hemingway streaking down the middle of the field and launched the ball high into the seasonably warm autumn air, allowing Hemingway justenough time to adjust his body and come down with the 48-yard reception. "I looked back, I saw (Robin- son) moving up in the pocket," Hemingway said. "I was wonder- ing, 'I wonder if he's gonna run?' He threw it and I thought, 'Oh man, yes!' "I just went up and made aplay on it, because I knew we needed it." Robinson wasn't surprised. Hemingway came down with the ball. "I mean, Junior's always going to make big plays," Robinson said. "I think he's one of the best receivers in the country." Hemingway and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Gallon led the Wolverines with five receptions year. Michigan was a season-best 14-of-17 on third downs - a huge part of that success came from the receivers' ability to make plays when the Wolverines need- ed them most. And that ability was a big rea- son Michigan was able to come out of Evanston with its first road victory of the year. "Just doing what we're sup- posed to do," Hemingway said. "Executing our plays, making the blocks when we're supposed to make them." But it's what doesn't show up on the stat sheet that keeps receivers like Roundtree on the field when they're struggling to make receptions. "Football's notjust, as a receiv- er, 'I'm gonna catch the ball, and if I'm not catching the ball I'm unhappy,' " said senior running back Michael Shaw. "(Roundtree) blocks his butt off every play. Catching is what he does well, but blocking is also what he does great." It's always nice to get recep- tions, but for Roundtree and this Michigan team, they don't care about who does what - and that may be the biggest reason for the Wolverines success so far this season. "(Roundtree) keeps working the same way in practice no mat- ter what, and that's why I think we win, because we've got a lot of unselfish guys," Shaw said. "Things might not go their way, but they keep grinding it out because you never know when your number's gonna be called. "And when it's called, you have to perform." each, and Roundtree was third on RECEIVERS the team with three for 83 yards. From Page lB erines' 1 tta cep- the most ina gam this COMEBACK From Page 1B to happen and that's what coach has been preaching since day one." The turnovers were neces- sary only because of North- western's level of play in the first half. Outside of a first- drive three and out, North- western bent the Wolverines defense to its will. The Wild- cats scored on four of their seven first-half drives. Michi- gan's players admitted the upbeat tempo caused some confusion early on. Persa used the opportunity to beat them through the air, and the option run beat them on the ground. Northwestern's first two touchdowns came through the option. on the second touchdown, sophomore safety Carvin Johnson over-pursued the Northwestern runn allowing him to cut was the type of thing coach Brady Hoke m ments to during half "We were playing erage a lot and whe man-coverage, youl able to get off bloc said. "Your safety able to run the alley ran two of them ea game, the safety di( know you overact as coaches because 'They're killing us, killing us.' "But I think wen nice adjustments to i The Wildcats hal rushing yards in t half. And in a game in defense had multipla ities, its final meani - the one that com defense's transform finishers - came fr WANT TO JOIN DAILY SPORTS? COME TO OUR SPORTS MEETINGS EVERY SUNDAY AT 1 P.M. AT 420 MAYNARD STREET Your mother would be proud.