The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 3B - October 31, 2011 The ichian aily- mchigndalyco 3B- Ocobe 31,201 GAME STATISTICS Penalty kill counteracts Michigan penalties, Brown gives thumbs up First Dows Rush/Yds, Passing Yards Ofensive Plays Total Offese Kick returns/ Yds Punt returns/ Yds . Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avg Fumbles/lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss PASSING M Player C-A Robinson,D. 9-14 Gardner, D. 1- Totals 10-17 RUSHING Toussaint 20 -U Robinson, D. 15 i Gallon 1 Gardner 3 Totals 53 3_ RECEIVING N.' Gallon 3 7 Roundtree 2 t Moore 1 Jackson 1 Totals 10 1 PUNTING Player N KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Totals 3 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Gallon 1 Totals 1 TACKLES Morgan Gordon Den Roh Van Bergen Woofolk Countess Floyd Hawthorne ' Avery Campbell Robinson, T. Clark Cavanaugh Gordon Totals PASSING CA Marve 8-14 TerBush 9-13 Totals 17-227 RUSHING MICH 25 53/339 196 70 535 3/81 1/H 10/17/2 2/40.5 0/S 5/51 36:25 I C H I G A N Yds TD 170 0 26 0 0 0 PURSUE 222 35 4/98 2/25 17/27/1 6/38.7 0/0 8/86 23:35 int 1 2 TD 2 1 0 0 Yds 175 76 56 28 11 9 2 1 358 Yds 79 61 16 26 9 5 196 Avg 8.5 4.2 11.2 4.7 11 3 2 1 6.4 Avg 26.3 30.5 8 26 9 5 19.6 2 5 4 4 4 Lg s9 28 5 Wolverines shut down Ferris State's seven power-play chances By LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Writer Michigan coach Red Berenson has been pleasantly surprised by many fac- ets of his team's perfor- mance this season, with NOTEBOOK the exception of one thing - the number of penalties Michigan has amassed. In Friday's game against Ferris State the Wolverines took every type of penalty imaginable from elbowing and tripping to face-washing, a call that earned junior forward Lee Moffie a five-minute major. Michigan spent more than a third of the game in the penalty box - plenty of time for the penalty kill to get some practice. "(The penalty kill) was important," Berenson said. "We got some luck, and I thought our penalty killers were better." The defensive corps led by senior defenseman Greg Pateryn, shut down seven Bulldog power-play opportunities. But no one led the penalty kill unit more than than fifth-year senior goalie Shawn Hunwick, who ensured the Michigan shutout. And it wasn't just Hunwick's physical skills that kept the Bulldogs from scoring on Friday - his emotional skills played a big role too. Since his ejection against Northern Michigan, Hunwick has made extra effort to stay away from any scuffles around the net. The teams exchanged shoves around the crease multiple times on Friday, and referees had to separate Michigan and Bulldog players more than once. While his teammates went to the pen- alty box, Hunwick just sat quietly in his net, waiting for the altercations to end. "I learned my lesson from last week," Hunwick said. "It wasn't like Ferris State was coming at me. I didn't get bumped too much, so that was alright." THUMBS UP: Berenson has been care- ful to keep some players off the ice to recover from injuries. Junior forward Kevin Lynch sat out early games because of back problems, and Berenson made sure to keep him away from game action until the spasms stopped. But junior forward Chris Brown's bro- ken thumb hasn't kept him out of games. All season, he has shoved his cast into his glove and skated as if he were as healthy as anyone else. Brown's cast keeps his hand in a thumbs-up position. This optimistic gesture reflects the positive impact that Junior fort Brown has had on the team, despite the the way h injury. ering him Brown tallied four points in the two- KEEPIN game series, and Berenson has been gan playe pleased with the performance from one of nate they his top junior players. The cast is sched- front of ar uled to come off within a week after But on Brown goes through another round of series ma X-rays. happy - t "(Brown) is fine," Berenson said. "(The ed to the' cast) takes a little while to get used to, but weekend. 9 4 Lg TD 2 0 9 0 9 0 5 0 9 0 Lg gT TD 0 33 0 ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily ward Chris Brown tallied four points in MiChigan's weekend sweep over Ferris State. No. Yds Avg 2 1 4. he shoots the puck, it's not both- NG UP WITH THE KIDS: Michi- rs kept talking about how fortu- were to shutout Ferris State in n enthusiastic home crowd. e other group that attended the ade the Wolverines particularly their parents, who were present- Yost crowd as a part of parents' The families flocked to Ann Arbor from as far away as Maine and Arizona and as close as Bloomfield Hills, Mich. to watch their sons sweep the weekend. Their presence was greatly appreciated by the players who don't often get the chance to showcase their talents for their parents. "I miss home, and every time I get to see (my parents) it's nice," said Brown, a Flower Mound, Texas native. "It gives me that little sense of being home." Y Avg 81 27 Yds Avg Lg TD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Solo Asst 4 5 4 3 2 5 1 4 2 2 2 2 1 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 2 0 2 - 0 1 1 0 2 . 0 2 4 4 4 4 3 23 2 2 1 1 66 0 0 28 0 1 1 38 P UR DU E Yds 66 156 222 TD - 1 1 2 Int 1 0 1 RUNNING GAME From Page 1B safety since 2003. The seventh ended in an interception. Maybe even more impres- sive is that this came without redshirt junior safety Jordan Kovacs, who missed the game due to a knee injury. "I don't think that we played near as physical inside with our offensive line," said Pur- due coach Danny Hope, whose words sounded exactly like Hoke's after his team lost 28-14 against Michigan State. "Michigan has a very big strong defensive front, and we didn't manufacture much run game inside, and I thought that slowed us down some." Sounds like Michigan foot- ball. What about the offense? From the first snap of the game - when Toussaint sprint- ed for 15 yards - it was clear Michigan would be able to run the ball. Meanwhile, Robinson found his groove in the short-to- intermediate passing game, con- sistently finding open receivers. Borges continued to sprinkle in Devin Gardner at quarterback, but he yielded mediocre results. Robinson's lone intercep- tion came on the second drive when he didn't account for Pur- due linebacker Joe Holland, who jumped a short pass. On the day, Robinson completed 9-of-14 passes for 170 yards, but was aided by 91 yards via two deep passes in which both wide receivers, Jeremy Gallon and Roy Roundtree, made great efforts. Ultimately, Robinson took a backseat in the offense because the only sure thing was Tous- saint and the offensive line. After Robinson and Gardner ended back-to-back drives with interceptions, and after Martin rejuvenated the defense with his safety, Borges abandoned the tricks. He abandoned Robinson. He abandoned Gardner. He just fed Toussaint the ball, running the power play down the Boilermakers' throats. The oft-injured tailback looked refreshed and rejuve- nated. After the game, he said he was able to get off his feet and get treatment to "help heal his body" during the bye. Toussaint's 20 carries on the afternoon were the most for a Michigan running back since 2009. His 8.5 yards per carry was Denard Robinson-esque. The offense finally revolved around a power running game, and maybe in particular, a pow- erful offensive line. "Sometimes we're a little - I don't want to say tentative - but it looked like on film we did not get it done," Hugye said. "We needed to go out and play as hard as we could." Martin pointed to the physi- cal practices the Wolverines had during their bye week as a reason for the offensive line's improvement. Despite Lewan being hobbled and Barnum's absence, the line helped fuel 339 rushing yards. The performance was that much more powerful, consider- ing Hoke publicly challenged the unit after the Michigan State game. Taking the pressure off Rob- inson, Toussaint added the exclamation mark on his domi- nant game midway through the third quarter. Gardner faked a handoff to Robinson and pitched the ball to Toussaint. Two linemen had already sealed off a few defenders down- field, allowing Toussaint to run free. The shifty back bounced inside and looked for daylight. He sidestepped another defend- er who over-pursued, then another and finally charged up field, slipping between two defenders. Fifty-nine yards later, Michigan led 29-7. After the game, Toussaint praised the offensive line and Hoke praised the receivers blocking down field. That was Michigan football. Together, Martin said, the offense and defense are starting to "complement" one another. "Offensively, them holding onto the ball, time of possession, putting points of the board," he said. "And then us, getting the ball back to the offense." Leading up to this game, unsolicited, Hoke kept repeating that the Wolverines had to "get back to playing Michigan foot- ball." His words must've been echoing between their ears, like their cheers in the tunnel after the game. The defense was on its way. Finally, the runninggame looked the part too. "Gosh I wish - I wish it looked like that every week," Hoke said. Player Att Yds Avg Lg TD ti Ter uh 3 43 12. 41 0 Crank 4 18 4.5 14 0 Edison 2 11 5,5 7 0 Gravesande 1 I Totals 2 1 S 3.1 41 RECEIVING Player 'No. Yds Avg Lg TD Siller 5 58 M1.6 28 0U Edison 2 2 5.5 4 0 Bush 4 1 H 1 WrCHhtR 1 1 U5 1 Gravesande 1 4 4 4 0 Totals 17 22 13 48 2 PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg Lg Webster 4 151 37.8 42 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg L Hunt 2 54 27 30 Totals 4 98 24.5 48 TACKLES Player Solo Asst Tot Holland 3 7 10 Becktord 2 7 Johnson 3 5 8 Allen 3 4 7 acas 1 5 e Short 3 2 5 Gaston 1 2 3 Gooden 1 1 2 tCottomn 1 0 1 Feichter 1 0 1 Totals 34 52 86 FOL LOW US ON TWIT TE R mChdailyf ball @cmichdailyhoCkey mC h d ail y bba ll NOTEBOOK coordinator Al Borges continued From Page 1B to use junior quarterback Denard Robinson in several ways. Robinson lined up at wide Kovacs has been a valuable receiver and running back multi- piece to the defense's puzzle this ple times, with sophomore quar- year - without him, Michigan terback Devin Gardner under would be in bigtrouble. Or not. center. Against the Boilermakers, Oftentimes, Gardner faked the senior cornerback Troy Woolfolk pitch to Robinson, then pitched movedto safety in place ofKovacs it to the running back or ran it and freshman Blake Countess himself. Other times, Gardner started at left cornerback. handed it off to Robinson, who Woolfolk has played safety would run or hand it to the run- before - he made six starts at ningback. the position as a junior in 2009. With both quarterbacks in Regardless, Hoke didn't want the game, the possibilities were Kovacs's injuryto be an excuse. endless. According to Purdue "The expectations are for the linebacker Joe Holland, it's not a position so if you're in there, pleasant sight seeing both Robin- there's a way we expect you to son and Gardner on the field. play," Hoke said. "I hate seeing Denard at wide On the first drive of the game, receiver," he said. "You know the defense looked shaky, allow- he's gonna move, you know he's ing Purdue to score on a 48-yard gonna motion one way or the pass from Caleb TerBush to soph- other. It just gives you that extra omore receiver Gary Bush. weapon to worry about. Bush beat Countess to the "He makes defense difficult inside, then sprinted past Wool- because he's such a valuable folk and into the endzone. weapon for their offense. You can Kovacs's absence was obvious. putchim anywhere on the field." But from there, Countess and ROCKET MAN: Before the Woolfolk played a big part in game started, there was a man putting the Purdue offense in flying above Michigan Stadium. lockdown - the Boilermakers Literally, flying. finished with just 311 yards of Attached to a jet pack, the total offense - 48 of which came Superman-wannabe flew into the on the final drive of the game stadium. At first, it appeared that against the Michigan backup he was out of control and about players. to take a dangerous spill into the "Troy's got some make-up student section. speed that other guys don't have, But he knew what he was and that's good," Hoke said. doing all along. He calmly jetted "They tried to tempo us a little away from the stands and toward bit, so he did a good job of getting the field, landing rightcin the mid- us in and out of what we need to dle of the block 'M'. be looking like back there." And it's a good thing he made Countess, who has replaced a safe landing inside the stadium. Woolfolk at cornerback several He had a present for the referees times this season, now may have - the game ball. his chance to permanently claim INJURY UPDATE: After Satur- the starting position with Kovacs day's game, Kovacs isn't the only out. Hoke also said he was plan- player nursing an injury. ning on moving Woolfolk to safe- Redshirt junior offensive line- ty anyway, which seemed to be man Ricky Barnum, who has a move motivated by Countess's already missed time this season play. because of an ankle injury, had to "With the emergence of how leave the game because of what Blake's been playing it's worth - appeared to be another ankle I always believe you put your best injury. players on the field and Troy's His status remains unclear. probably in the top 11, 12, 13 guys Redshirt sophomore offensive on defense," Hoke said. lineman Taylor Lewan injured Hoke said Kovacs will return his leg during the game, and his at some point this season, but his status is unclear as well. status for next weekend's match- "Taylor, his leg hurts," Hoke up against Iowa is uncertain. said. "That's what I know right One thing is certain though: If now." Cavanaugh needed a Halloween Hoke also revealed that junior costume, he's got one now. running back Vincent Smith had A SCARY SIGHT: Throughout been playing with an ankle inju- the game, Michigan offensive ry. JOIN DAILY SPORTS It's a good time at 420 Maynard. MEETINGS AT 1 PM. ON SUNDAY MARTIN From Page 1B 23 Michigan State. In that game, the Spartans exposed gaping holes at the line of scrimmage and rushed for 213 rushing yards. Against the Boilermakers, the Wolverines collected four sacks and held the running backs to 89 yards. And three Michigan linemen finished in the top five for tack- les. It was a game won up front. "They're real big, and they're real strong and they do a great job of penetrating the line of scrimmage," said Purdue coach Danny Hope. "We knew coming into the game they were a big strong defensive front. There's no question about that. You can look at them and see." After allowing the opening- drive touchdown, the defense held Purdue scoreless for the next 58 minutes. According to Hoke and his players, it was all about get- ting back to good old-fashioned Michigan football. "Michigan football as I know it is playing defense," Hoke said. Holding Purdue scoreless for nine consecutive drives certain- ly looked like textbook Michi- gan defense, but what exactly does that look like? "Michigan defense is domi- nating in every aspect of life," Roh said with a smile. "That's a rough definition." Speaking a little less tongue- in-cheek, Martin pointed to stopping the run as the staple of a Michigan defense he expects to see every Saturday. Hoke holds the belief that there are between six and eight individual plays that determine the outcome of each game. The safety was one. Sophomore cor- nerback Courtney Avery's red- zone interception was another. But another crucial play occurred late in the game, when Purdue quarterback Robert Marve hit a short screen pass. Martin was on the pass rush, but instead of stopping his pursuit of the play when Marve let the pass fly, Martin went on the hunt. Martin caught his man 16 yards downfield. Did that play determine the outcome of the game? Maybe not. But the effort was all that mattered. "I think it sets the tone for the defense," Hoke said. "When you see a guy who's lining up over the football and rushing the passer ... and 16 yards down the field he's making the tackle - that means somethig'." Martin ended the game with a season-high seven tackles. Even with the win and a 7-1 record firmly in check, Mattison and Hoke won't let up. "I don't know if the defense is getting better," Hoke said. From 110th-best defense in the nation a year ago to a top-25 spottoday? It's clearthis defense is improving. The players just use Hoke's words as motivation. "There's always going to be people saying different things about our defense, but the most important things are the guys in the locker room," Martin said. "Every week's going to be a test for us." 4