8A - Thursday, September 20, 2012
. ''z. }.. .- V
- - tn.. ...... ..
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
'U' students pull prank in South Bend
Group affixes 'Beat
the Irish' banner to
stadium, raises 'M'
flag on quadrangle
By BEN ESTES and
ZACH HELFAND
Daily SportsEditors
Rivalries tend to bring the
best out of the opposing teams.
They also bring the best out of
the respective fanbases, Wvhich
was evidenced by events in
South Bend early Wednesday
morning.
According to an e-mail sent to
the Daily from someone with the
e-mail address
gobluebeat-
theirish@
gmail.com,
a group of
University wanted
students trav-
eled to Notre our p:
Dame's cam-
pus and put up M ich
a blue banner
reading "Beat -
the Irish,"
complete with a maize Block 'M'
over one of the gates of Notre
Dame Stadium.
The pranksters insisted
on anonymity, but the Daily
traced the origin of the e-mail
to University servers in Ann
Arbor.
One member said eight stu-
dents made the trip to South
Bend and another two were
involved in planning.
The anonymous Michigan
studnt claimed the group had
little difficulty scaling the gate,
and once inside, they used zip
ties to secure the banner.
"The ironic part is that there
were some Notre Dame students
camped out on the other side
of the stadium to protect it, but
we came through the campus
rather than from the road, so
they didn't see us coming," one
member said ina separate email.
"The hardest part was making
sure there was no one around ...
when we went to put up the ban-
ner, because there was absolute-
ly no cover to hide behind as we
hung it, and it is directly across
from one of the main campus
libraries."
The group
also claimed
they raised
e just a Michigan
flag on a flag-
to show pole in one of
the campus'
ride in quadrangles
and adorned
igan." statues of for-
mer coaches
with Michi-
gan apparel.
"With little lighting we
couldn't get a great picture," the
member continued. "Regard-
less, it was well worth it know-
ing that as kids were walking to
class early this morning across
the pristine lawns and perfect-
ly manicured gardens of South
Bend, there was a maize and
blue 'M' flag flying above their
heads.
"Ultimately, we just wanted
A'Beat the Irish' banner hangs from the Knute Rockne Gate at Notre Dame Stadium in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
to show our pride in Michigan
while encouraging passion for
and loyalty to this great Univer-
sity we call our own."
The Big Ten Network report-
ed that Notre Dame officials the morning of Nov. 19, 2009, student paper The Lantern
removed the banner early when Michigan students trav- published a photo of the flag
Wednesday morning. eled to Columbus and raised accompanied with the head-
A similar situation occurred the 'M' flag outside Orton Hall line, 'A travesty strikes OSU
on the Ohio State campus on and University Hall. Ohio State campus.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@THEBLOCKM
&=-55 PRESENT
IJURSDAY OCT 1i
DADA4.,, .LIFE
Qu.Nr.'E
Hoke no longer surprised
by Robinson's athleticism
By STEPHENJ. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
It really takes something spe-
cial to impress Michigan coach
Brady Hoke these days.
Late in the second quarter
on Saturday, with the Michigan
football team (2-1) leading Mas-
sachusetts 28-10, senior quar-
terback Denard Robinson took a
shotgun snap and stepped back
to survey the coverage downfield.
He pump-faked once, then again
before escapingthe pocket.
Robinson pumped again as he
angled toward the sideline, then
he decided on a different course of
action. On his 12th step, Robinson
planted his right foot and pivoted
90 degrees to his right.
Without missing a stride, Rob-
inson bolted back across the field,
leaving two diving defenders in
his wake, and then outran every-
one to the pylon. The box score
called it a 36-yard touchdown,
though Robinson ran closer to
twice that number.
All told, the play took 15 sec-
onds for Robinson to shake an
entire defense.
It was the 90-degree turn that
had people talkingthis week.
"He checked all his reads, sat
in the pocket as long as he could,
and then when he broke out he
went and made a right-angle cut
- I've never seen anyone make a
right-angle cut directly the oppo-
site way they were going without
falling," said junior wide receiver
Devin Gardner on Monday.
"I told him, 'You're the best
player I've ever seen,' after he
came off. ... There's not much you
can say after you see that."
But it's much harder to sur-
prise Hoke.
"I'm sure there's going to be
something that happens during
a practice or a game that you say,
'Man, I didn't know you could
throw itacross your bodythat far,'
or, 'He stopped on a dime here and
accelerated so fast,' Hoke said.
What about that 90-degree cut
- that was unexpected, right?
"No, not really," Hoke said.
"Because (the Michigan defense)
chasedhimaround the firstspring.
We were chasing him all over and
when I knew we were coming
around a little bit defensively, he
said, 'You know, a year ago I could
run wherever I wanted against our
defense. Now I can't.'
"So I mean, that was a year
ago. That's kind of as good as an
endorsement as anythingthat our
guys are understanding getting to
Senior quarterback Denard Robinson has stunned Notre Dame two years in a
the football."
Though Hoke and offensive
coordinator Al Borges both con-
tend that Robinson needs to have
success through the air in Michi-
gan's hybrid pro-style offense
against No. 11 Notre Dame this
Saturday, there's no question that
Robinson's running ability has
helped Michigan in its two wins
this far this season.
Robinson ran just 10 times in
the season opener against then-
No. 2 Alabama - he ran justtwice
in the first half alone - collecting
just27yards. Since then, he'sbeen
let loose in the ground game. He
had 20 rushing attempts for 218
yards against Air Force a week
later and 10 carries for 106 yards
in three quarters against Massa-
chusetts last week.
There have been more designed
quarterback runs and an empha-
sis on read options, but Robinson
is also tasked with making snap
decisions as the pocket collapses
around him: Hold onto the ball or
take off?
Hoke said Robinson in general
makes the right decision.
"I'm pretty much OK 99 per-
cent of the time, tucking it and
taking it," Hoke said. "He's got
such a gift, you know, that most of
the time when he plants his foot
and decidesto go north and south,
it's going to be pretty productive
with you, so I'm very comfortable
with that."
The ticking clock in the pocket
changes from game to game. Rob-
inson couldn't buy any time for
three quarters against the Fight-
ing Irish last season - "They
boxed him in a couple different
ways with backers and a safety,"
Hoke said - but he exploded in
the fourth quarter of Michigan's
last-second 35-31 victory.
He finished with 338 yards and
four touchdowns on11-of-24 pass-
ing and 108 rushing yards and a
rushing touchdown on16 carries.
Though that game was just
Robinson's second start under
Hoke and in the new offensive
system, the performance didn't
surprise Hoke.
"I've been aroundhimenough,"
Hoke said. "It's not shocking or
surprising."
4
I