The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I October22,2012
I
Gibbons's field goal Dileo became the unlikely hero knew how it worked either.
and four years after the loss that None had ever beaten the Spar-
with five seconds started it all, a puffy-eyed Tay- tans. But Saturday, for the first
for Lewan finally went search- time since 2007 - tied for the
remaining breaks ing for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Spartans' longest streak in
At long last, Michigan had series history - the Paul Bun-
four-year streak beaten Michigan State, 12-10. yan Trophy was safe in Michi-
But Lewan couldn't find the gan's lockerfoom.
By ZACH HELFAND prize on the sideline. "Paul's back," said fifth-year
DailySportsEditor "I ran over there," Lewan senior safety Jordan Kovacs.
said. "This is my first time beat- "Where he needs to be at,"
Four minutes after the Bren- ing Michigan State, so I don't added senior quarterback
dan Gibbons kick that ended the know how that works." Denard Robinson.
misery, six minutes after Drew None of Lewan's teammates Four years of hurt and
humiliation, futility and frus-
tration, came to a head on Sat-
urday. There were no iconic
Denard Robinson dashes, no
flashy touchdowns. Michigan
beat Michigan State with a late
fourth quarter field goal, one
of four on the game. The Wol-
verines failed to score a single
touchdown, but won the way it
is supposed to in these games:
with a suffocating defense
sharpened with a physical edge
four years in the making.
For four years, Michigan had
relied on flash. It started with
an exciting spread offense and
culminated in a team that relied
on Robinson's magic. Each time,
the magic failed against the
Spartans' might.
Not this year. This year, the
Wolverines won with defense.
This year, Michigan protected
the ball. It wasn't pretty this
year, it wasn't showy, but it
worked in a grinding struggle of
a game.
Finally.
"We got the job done," said
Lewan, the redshirt.junior tack-
le. "It wasn't always beautiful."
Brothers know each other
well enough to eliminate the
other's strengths, and for four
years, the Spartans had taken
away Michigan's strengths.
They dared the Wolverines to
win with someone other than
Robinson. In the first half Satur-
day, both teams dared the other
See MICHIGAN, Page 1B
Dileo propels Michigan
offense with career day
J
ma
for
Vic
Thr
goals
Satura
receiv
plays
withir
Ant
played
Michi
"Dr
gest g
fastes
one th
footba
unior receiver pretty important today, onea
the end. That's a skill set.
kes four catches "He's just a tough, undersizei
not fast enough, but he's a foo
94 yards in tight ball player. That's what he is."
Indeed, Michigan Stat
tory over MSU learned the hard way today the
Dileo is a legitimate footba
By LUKE PASCH player who could critically affec
Daily SportsEditor the outcome of games. Comin
into Saturday's rivalry show
ee of Michigan's four field down, Dileo had just six recep
had a common setup on tions on the season, but he wa
day afternoon: junior wide the only receiver on Michigan
er Drew Dileo made big roster averaging over 20 yards
to bring the Wolverines catch.
n field goal range. On Saturday, Dileo led Mich
d for each score, Dileo also gan's receiving corps with fou
d another integral role as receptions and 92 yards - bot
igan's holder. career highs. He ala,
ew, he's not the big- / accountedfor the receiv
uy, he's not the ing end of more than ha
t guy, but the of senior quarter-
hing is he's a back Denard
ill slaver," Robin-
Senior defensive end Craig Roh and the defense held the Spartan offense in check late in the fourth quarter,
'Defense shines when
*needed most vs. MS
at son's passingyards.
"When I went through my
d, reads, he came open, and that's
t- why I got him the ball," Robinson
said. "He kept getting open. He's
:e a tough guy."
at On the first Michigan drive
11 of the second quarter, the Wol-
ct verines were in desperate need
ig of momentum. Aside from one
v- 20-plus yard toss to redshirt
a- junior wide receiver Jeremy
is Gallon, Michigan's offense was
's totally stagnant, and the Spartan
a defense was shutting"down the
run.
I- On third down from Michi-
tr gan's own 20-yard line, Robin-
h son stood in the pocket, waited
v patiently with his
v- protection and
lf found Dileo
cutting across
the middle of
the field for
a 22-yard
tion.
, Three
plays later,
on the follow-
ing third down,
Robinson
found Dileo
again, this
time good for
15 yards and
another first
down.
"I think
he's a very
good play-
er," said
Michi-
gan State
See DILEO,
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily Page 3B
By BEN ESTES the affirmative, Roundtree
Daily Sports Editor turned to senior defensive
end Craig Roh and patted him
Amidst the back-slapping, lightly on the shoulder, just
high-fiving and wild cheering above Roh's back.
that could be seen all over the Roundtree's action was
Michigan Stadium field after simple enough, but it carried
Michigan's 12-10 win over plenty of symbolic weight, for
Michigan State on Saturday it stands to reason that in any
evening, one gesture in partic- game where an offense can't
ular stood out. score a touchdown, the defense
It happened in the post- bears the brunt of the burden.
game interview room, about That was the case on Satur-
an hour after all the commo- day, and the defense more than
'ton and bodies had cleared the came through.
turf. Perched before reporters, While the ever-improving
fifth-year senior wide receiver unit was solid almost all after-
Roy Roundtree was asked how noon in holding the Spartans to
confident he was in his team's 10 points and star running back
defense. While answering in Le'Veon Bell to just 68 yards on
26 attempts, it was even better
when it most needed to be.
In the most critical situation
of them all, with time dwin-
dling in the fourth quarter
and Michigan needing a stop
to give its offense one final
chance to win the game, the
defense responded by forcing
a three-and-out deep in Michi-
gan State territory - it did give
the offense that chance, and
the offense turned it into a vic-
tory.
Junior wide receiver Drew
Dileo had all the confidence in
the world that his teammates
on the other side of the ball
would answer the bell.
See DEFENSE, Page 3B
said Michigan
coach Brady
Hoke. "What he
does for our foot-
ball team in alot of
different areas,
from return-
ing kickoffs to
holding on
PAT's and
field goals -
I think you
all would
agree
there
were
two
field
goals
that
were 4
1ONE FOR THE GIBBER
U Michigan placekicker Brendan Gibbons
is a rather free spirit. But how free? Flip
one page ahead to find out. Page 2B
BESTING BENTLEY
After splitting a weekend series with
RIT, the Wolverines made a quick come-
back to top Bentley, 6-3. Page 4B
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