The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 5A
MICHIGAN
From Page 1A
the half winding down, Rob-
inson had Kyle Fuller, Virginia
Tech's best cornerback, reach-
ing for his ankles. But the junior
quarterback reloaded and fired
off his back foot as two more
Hokies crashed into him.
The ball floated. Virginia Tech
safety Eddie Whitley whiffed on
the pick, while his teammate,
Antone Exum, was two steps out
of place. The ball landed neatly in
Hemingway's hands. The fifth-
year senior raced for a 45-yard
touchdown.
For Robinson, it was anoth-
er head-scratching decision
that turned out OK. Borges has
resigned himself to the fact that
his quarterback doesn't always
listen to the advice he gave him
before the season: "Make plays
* and let God do the miracles."
"Sometimes he elbows God
outta the way and decides he
wants to do it anyway," Borges
said.
On that play, Michigan inex-
plicably took its first lead, 7-6.
Virginia Tech quarterback
Logan Thomas had put on an
aerial show, lasering passes in
and around a Michigan second-
ary that lived almost exclusively
by the motto "bend, but don't
break." His favorite target was
receiver Danny Coale, who was
a nuisance for the Michigan sec-
ondary all game.
And Thomas's running back,
ACC Player of the Year David
Wilson, found room on the edges,
where so many teams exploited
Michigan this season.
On defense, the Hokies' front
seven blitzed Robinson, contain-
ing him to modest gains. Tous-
saint's quickness wasn't always
* enough, either.
Virginia Tech had more yards
in the first half than Michigan
did the entire game (185), but
the Hokies were held to just six
points due to an opportunistic
Michigan defense and timely
mistakes.
"This defense made this game
happen," said redshirt sopho-
more tackle Taylor Lewan.
"Because God knows our offense
didn't."
On Virginia Tech's first drive
of the game, facing alfiaat'owa l
and'goal with the ball, on their
own 4-yard line, Wilsonbounced
outside. But he quickly aborted
the original plan, as his offensive
line lie obliterated on the ground.
Thomas Gordon, Craig Roh, Jor-
dan Kovacs, Jibreel Black and
Jake Ryan stared him down like
a pack of foaming dogs. Relent-
less, they chased Wilson as he
retreated.
Briefly, Wilson entertained
the thought of running around
them. But Ryan accelerated,
wrapping Wilson and hurling
him down 22 yards from where
the play started.
Virginia Tech settled for a
field goal.
Then, with a chance to demor-
alize Michigan and build on a
6-0 lead, facing a fourth-and-1
again on the Wolverines' 4-yard
line, Thomas tried to sneak the
ball himself. Fifth-year senior
defensive tackle Ryan Van Ber-
gen stuffed him.
Virginia Tech came away with
no points.
After Hemingway's touch-
down catch - and right on cue
- senior special teamer J.B.
Fitzgerald forced a fumble on the
kickoff and Michigan tacked on a
field goal.
Early in the second half, the
defense complemented "Big
Play" Hemingway again. Fresh-
man defensive end Frank Clark
snatched a screen pass out of the
air, and four plays later Heming-
way was celebrating.
Robinson threw the ball high
and far, where only Hemingway
could reach it. He tiptoed the
sidelines and came down with
the catch. The play was reminis-
cent of his missed opportunity at
Iowa, when Hemingway couldn't
come down in bounds with a
high pass.
In his head, he thought:
"Please, Denard, throw this up.
Please, I want you to so bad."
The 17-6 lead allowed Michi-
gan breathing room, as Thomas
led the Hokies back with two
consecutive scoring drives - a
field goal and a touchdown. A
beautiful pass to the back of the
end zone converted the two-
point conversion, tying the game.
But Michigan no longer need-
ed "BiggPlay" Hemingway's ser-
vices.
Coale, who kicked in high
school, was called upon to punt
earlier in the game for the Hok-
ies. He was no slouch kicking
the ball, but with the game tied
17-17 midway through the fourth
quarter, Virginia Tech coach
Frank Beamer elected to call the
fake.
The Wolverines had trouble
covering the Hokie receivers and
slowigg)eThomas's qnasterbalc1
runs, butthey snuffed Coale's
run out. Then Gibbons nailed a
39-yarder, which was enough to
get Michigan to overtime.
His teammates knew Heming-
way had carried them there.
"Real big impact," Toussaint
said. "I'm kind of speechless
about that. He was outstanding
tonight."
FLOREK
From Page 1A
place, it was the perfect capper.
The Wolverines probably didn't
"deserve" to have the season
they did. They probably didn't
"deserve" to be in the Sugar
Bowl. They probably didn't
"deserve" to be in this game
after the first quarter.
They willed themselves to
this victory just like they willed
themselves to this season.
It was a year ago tomorrow
that Dave Brandon started his
coaching search. He found a
man in Brady Hoke who willed
himself to live his dream and
become Michigan's head coach.
He took largely the same play-
ers that went 15-22 over the
past three seasons and willed
them to believe in this one.
They showed how far they
came in front of the nation
Tuesday night. Fifth-year
senior center David Molk
was ruled out of the game in
warm-ups after a foot injury.
He missed three plays. Fifth-
year senior Ryan Van Bergen
had his foot bent parallel to
his shin. Then had it bent the
other way. He couldn't make it
around after the game without
the help of crutches. He didn't
miss a snap.
"That's the why we've won 11
games," Hoke said of the team's
resolve.
That's what good teams
do. Teams that go to Rose
Bowls and win national titles
and beat their rivals out-will
evenly matched opponents.
The memories of the Michigan
of yesteryear aren't about great
play-calling. What's remem-
bered are the moments where
battles are won. Tuesday night
was a battle.
And in the end, the entire
team stormed the Sugar Bowl
stage. They wore flat-brimmed
hats and giant T-shirts, there
were no Roses in their mouths.
Adding in the specially made
Sugar Bowl jerseys made it
obvious that this wasn't the
wardrobe of the teams of the
past.
Slowly, the chant started.
"It's great...to be...a Michigan
Wolverine"
But they sure looked and
sounded like them.
CHARLIE RItEL/AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, joined by wife Karen, pauses as he addresses supporters at his lowa caucus victory
party last night in Johnston, Iowa.
Student voters come out In
low nu-mbers for Iowa caucus
U.S. forces start
new special ops
training program
Youth show general
lack of support in
Hawkeye State
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH and
ADAM RUBENFIRE t;,
Daily News Editors
DES MOINES, Iowa -
Despite being held on Drake
University's campus, most cau-
cus-goers in attendance atpre-
cincts 45 and 46 in Polk county
were not students.
About 215 people came out
to caucus at Olmsted Hall on
Drake's campus here yesterday
evening. While many students
helped staff the event, few came
to vote, leaving a majority of the
caucus populated by elderly and
middle-aged adults.
In Polk county, where Drake
is located, former Massachu-
setts Gov. Mitt Romney won
with 28.4 percent of the vote,
followed by Rep. Ron Paul
(R-Texas) with 22.6 percent of
the vote. Former Pennsylvania
Sen. Rick Santorum, who fin-
ished second state-wide after a
late surge in the campaign, fin-
ished third in Polk County with
21.6 percent of the vote.
Aside low student turnout at
Drake, there also was a general
lack of college student support
at many campaign events in
state-wide preceding the cau-
cus. Very few students attended
a campaign event for Romney in
Clive, Iowa Monday night and
Rock the Caucus - an event held
in West Des Moines to garner
youth support yesterday morn-
ing - was restricted solely to
high school students.
Even a downtown Des
Moines whistle-stop for Paul,
the libertarian-leaning candi-
date who particularly boasts
his campaign's youth support,
lacked in student attendance.
In an interview before the
caucus, Drake sophomore Sam
Pritchard, caucus chair for the
two precincts at Drake, said he
expected about 200 people in
total at the event, but was skep-
tical regarding student turnout.
Pritchard said student turn-
out was because many students
are still on Winter Break.
J "That}was rpally damaging
to the kind of influence that we
were able to give students at
Drake," Pritchard said.
John Michael Hall, a 2009
graduate of Drake who caucused
at Olmstead, said he under-
stands why college students
may not vote in droves, noting
he feels differently about politi-
cal issues as a graduate than he
did while still in school.
"When you're in college ...
you don't seem as affected by a
lot of the policy and ... legislation
that's being passed," Hall said.
"... I think more than anything
it's just maturing and getting to
stage in your life where these
things are more important."
Hall attributed his
increased interest in policy
to beginning to experience
political issues firsthand in
the real world.
"I think they were just as
important then, I just wasn't
as aware," he said.
Pritchard said Drake Uni-
versity hosted its first straw
poll this election season, and
according to the University's
research, it was the largest
college straw poll in the coun-
try during the current elec-
tion cycle, with over 1,200
students participating.
According to poll results,
Pritchard said the university's
student body is "mirrored"
in terms of party affiliation,
with 40 percent identifying
as "some type of Democrat,"
41 percent identifying as
"some type of Republican,"
and 16 percent identifying "in
the middle."
"It surprised me how
perfectly balanced it is,"
Pritchard said.
Pritchard argued that stu-
dents stand to benefit more from
caucuses than ballot-style pri-
mary elections.
"(In) a primary you're act-
ing as an individual, in a caucus
you're acting as something big-
ger than that," Pritchard said.
} Drake sophomore Lucas Osh-
man, a non-voting observer at
the caucus, said he thinks the
caucus structure is particularly
conducive to college students.
"If you're looking at the way
a university works, a caucus
would be more in line with
what a Uuniversity would want
to do rather than a private pri-
mary because it allows people
to speak their minds, which is
what a lot of people do at a uni-
versity," Oshman said.
Drake senior Zach Seeman
said he finds the caucus atmo-
sphere refreshingly social,
allowing caucus-goers to min-
gle and discuss their political
beliefs.
"The nice thing about cau-
cuses is that you get to function
as more of a group, and its nice
because you get to meet fellow
supporters," Seeman said, add-
ing that he spent much of the
night debating with a fellow
Drake student who came to the
caucus in support of Santorum.
Seeman donned a bright red
Ron Paul shirt throughout the
caucus, and even helped staffers
pass out pencils. He said he was
happy that Paul supporters at
Drake coordinated over e-mail
to garner support for the cau-
cus, especially since Paul won in
student-heavy precinct 45.
Though student turnout
at Drake was not incredibly
high, he said young people are
important to the Paul campaign
throughout Iowa.
"Elsewhere in the state, defi-
nitely the youth vote for Ron
Paul has an effect in the cau-
cus," Seeman said.
Military learning
CIA intelligence
* tactics
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - A
scene of stomach-clenching gore
confronted the special operations
troops: The shredded remains of a
suicide bomber, scattered around
the checkpoint.
But the blood and body are
fake, like the Hollywood-style
explosion that began a classroom
exercise designed to teach these
students to look past the grisly
mess for the evidence that could
lead to those who built the bomb.
Ft. Bragg's Special Warfare
Center shows how the U.S. has
turned hunting terror networks
into half-science, half-art-form
since the al-Qaida attacks of Sept.
11th. Forging lessons painfully
learned in the decade since into a
formal curriculum, the training
is intended to help elite military
units track militants across inter-
national boundaries and work
alongside sometimes competing
U.S. agencies.
The coursework is similar to the
CIA's legendary spycraft training
center called The Farm, and is at
the brainchild of Green Beret Maj.
Gen. Bennet Sacolick, a veteran of
elite special operations units, and
a long stint on loan to the CIA.
Among the students at the
CIA-approved Ft. Bragg course
are U.S. Army Green Berets, Navy
SEALs and Marine Corps special
operators. As in the Navy SEAL
raid that killed Osama bin Laden,
everything from computers to fin-
gerprints can be retrieved from a
raid site and quickly analyzed. In
some cases the analysis is so fast it
can lead to several newtargets in a
single night.
The school is also an illustra-
tion of how special operations and
intelligence forces have reached
an easier coexistence, after
early clashes where CIA officers
accused the military operators of
ineptly trying to run their own
spy rings overseas without State
Department or CIAknowledge.
"As my guys go to Afghanistan,
and interface with CIA base and
station chiefs, they can do it with
more credibility than in the past,"
Sacolick told The Associated Press
in a rare interview.
While many in the public may
not be aware that the military is
allowed to gather information,
and even run its own spy net-
works, special operations forces
have been authorized to do just
that since the disastrous Desert
One raid meant to rescue the U.S.
hostages held in Iran in 1979. The
raid went awry because of a heli-
copter crash, not an intelligence
foul-up. But before the raid, mili-
tary planners had been frustrat-
ed that CIA employees working
inside the country were unable to
provide them the tactical intel-
ligence needed to insert a covert
force - even basic information
like which way the streets ran out-
side the embassy.
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