8A - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam 8A Wdnsda, ctber24 212 heMihign aiy -mihiandico The curious case of Denard 'M' defense refuses Robinson and the second half to be complacent By ZACH HELFAND Daily Sports Editor Meet the Denard Robinson few know and fewer can explain, the Robinson who only appears in the second half. This Robinson isn't a reckless playmaker, he's a game manager. This Robinson is more care- ful. He has zero interceptions in the second half this season. First- half Robinson has nine this year. This Robinson is also less dynamic. He has zero touch- downs, rushing or passing, in the fourth quarter. In the other three quarters, Robinson has nine. This Robinson is an enigma. His teammates, even Robinson himself, can't explain what has happened in the second half. Is it by design or is it a fluke? Is Robinson smarter or is Michigan limitinghis opportunities to fail? Is it something else entirely? "I really don't know the answer to that one," Robinson said. "We know we got to fin- ish. And that's what Coach Hoke talks about all the time. Finish- ing strong and trying to win the fourth quarter and trying to win the second half." Michigan coach Brady Hoke said the decline in Robinson' sec- ond-half statistics - both good and bad - can be credited to play calling. "How many opportunities is he going to have?" Hoke said. "(Offensive coordinator Al Borg- es) obviously is putting the ball in other people's hands." That's a novel concept for Michigan, which in years past had relied on the senior quarter- back to win games late. Yes, the memory of four interceptions against Notre Dame still lingers, and Robinson's fourth-quarter cues from Robinson. His faith feeds theirs. Fifth-year senior safety Jor- dan Kovacs said he had no expla- nation for the second-half riddle. And it is a sort of riddle. Yes, Robinson has slightly fewer pass- ing and rushing attempts in the fourth quarter but not enough to explain the precipitous drops in two opposite offensive catego- ries. Kovacs said Robinson has tucked the ball more often late in games - he is forcing it less. But still he has scored no touch- downs. Robinson has passed to win games. Yet he has no inter- ceptions. The statistical quirk could just be a problem of sample size. Michigan hasn't been in many close games. Against Notre Dame, Robinson still powered Michigan's failed comeback attempt, leading the Wolverines to a late field goal. Against Michi- gan State, he did the same to col- lect the win. "He did play pretty smart," Borges said of Robinson's perfor- mance against Michigan State. "It kept us in the game, although it wasn't flashy. That part I liked, which has shown the last three weeksparticularly, is his growth. About being conscious of taking care of the football, making plays where there are plays, and not trying to create something that's not there. That was good." No, this Robinson isn't flashy, but he's safer. He makes fewer mistakes, but he creates less too. And weirder, still, this Robin- son said he hasn't even noticed the second-half enigma, of the absence of interceptions and fourth-quarter touchdowns. "I did not know that at all," Robinson said. By LUKE PASCH able for the game, nursing aleft Daily Sports Editor knee injury - and junior quarter- back Taylor Martinez, are shifty When the Michigan football and all have the ability to get to team walked off the turf at Cow- the sideline quickly, so outside boys Stadium following a 41-14 containment will be an emphasis drubbing from Alabama, the this week. defensive unit was dejected. Star "You can watch any defense, sophomore cornerback Blake you can watch anyone on Sunday, Countess was on crutches, already you can watch anyone on Satur- done for the season. Senior defen- day," Mattison said. "If you let the sive tackle Will Campbell hung ball outside your defense, then his head in disappointment. you don't have a chance." Fast forward nearly two Against Michigan State on Sat- months and you see a defense that urday, the Michigan defense con- has found its mojo. tained star running back Le'Veon The Wolverines haven't given Bell very well. Bell, who leads all up more than 13 points in a game Big Ten running backs with an since playing Air Force week two, average of 123 yards per game, and Michigan suddenly has the was limited to a mere 68 yards third-best scoring defense (16.4 on 26 carries. But Bell is more of points per game) and the second- a downhill runner who prefers besttotal defense (285.3 yards per banging bodies up the gut, rather game) in the Big Ten. than bouncingto the outside. Still, the rhetoric in the locker For Ryan, correcting mistakes room has not changed. Coaches has become a bit more enjoyable are looking for improvements this than it was earlier in the season. week leading up to a primetime He admitted Tuesday that some- matchup at Nebraska. times Mattison, who coaches the "We won't get complacent, outside linebackers personally, believe me. That won't happen," would get in his face whenever he said defensive coordinator Greg does something wrong. Mattison. But for the past few weeks, "We've got so far to go, you Ryan and the rest of the defense know. I mean, again, I'm proud has been doing much more right of the way they have played hard. than wrong. ... But there's so many things we "Watching film has become have to get better at, and they see more fun, and knowing what that on the film, and they believe they're doing before the snap is it just as much as we as coaches great," Ryan said. "I think with do." Coach Mattison, he's just taught A major focus this week will be me where the back is (before the outside contain and funneling the snap), like he's going to go there. run toward the middle of the field. It's ridiculous how much he When playing against teams that knows about football." run the football well, it's critical Next week, we'll see if Ryan that the offense can't get to the still finds film study fun after edge and turn upfield. defending against a Nebraska The Cornhusker backs, sopho- offense that ranks first in the con- more Ameer Abdullah and senior ference in both scoring and total Rex Burkhead - who is question- yards. ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily Senior quarterback Denard Robinson has Michigan at 5-2 this fall. pass attempts are low - his 30 fourth-quarter attempts trail the nearest per-quarter total by seven. Yet that figure is deflated by situation factors: Michigan has held big leads against Illinois, Purdue and Massachusetts, and the game was out of reach by the fourth quarter against Alabama. Robinson has sat out two fourth quarters entirely, bringing his average fourth-quarter attempts closer to the norm. And, remem- ber, Robinson won the game with his arm against Michigan State on Saturday with a completion to junior receiver Drew Dileo that enabled the game-winning field goal. Against Michigan State, win- ning the second half meant rip- ping out part of the playbook. Borges said his play calling was purposefully conservative. The game and the personnel neces- sitated that. "You can't have what hap- pened at Notre Dame and put (the defense) in predicament after predicament," Borges said. "So there's got to be a balance there somewhere." Robinson's teammates said they haven't noticed a change since the Notre Dame game. Fifth-year senior center Elliott Mealer said Robinson is still calm and confident late in games. The players, he said, take their Wolverines get crossed up by Bowling Green 0 By JEREMY SUMMITT Daily Sports Writer For the Michigan men's soc- cer team, it felt good to be home, or at least it should have. The Wolverines (2-2-1 Big Ten, 5-7-1 overall) have grown accustomed to the rowdy Michigan Ultras, family support and winning at the U-M Soccer Complex. Michigan returned to Ann Arbor Tuesday to host Bowl- ing Green (2-2-1 Mid- BGSU 2 American MICHIGAN 0 Confer- ence, 5-7-3) after a three-game road stretch that included a vic- tory against No. 11 Indiana. The energy was recognizably high from both the players and supporters, as Michigan head coach Chaka Daley made his return to the sideline after suf- fering a knee injury two weeks ago. Much to his dismay, the return was nothing like Daley had hoped for, as the Wolverines fell to the Falcons 2-0. "I was excited for the oppor- tunity tonight because we had a lot of belief that if we could put things together right here at home, we could potentially be above .500 going into the Big Ten Tournament," Daley said. "That would have given us a lot of hope heading forward." But the Wolverines' early excitement was not as appar- ent on the field in the first half. Though Michigan controlled much of the possession, it failed to record a shot on goal in the initial frame for the first time all season. Despite clear offensive woes, the Wolverines' evident control of the midfield and a couple of key stops by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Adam Grinwis kept the score at 0-0 as a dull first half came to a close. "I thought we did not control the final third (of the field)," Daley said. "I told them (at half- time) we needed to probe a little bit more and attack more. We had the ball a lot, but we were never really dangerous." -Michigan must not have been too intent on Daley's lecture, though. Bowling Green came out firing as it maintained persistent pressure on the the Wolverines' outside defenders. In both the 47th and 50th minute, Bowling Green headed beautiful crosses past Grinwis to put them up 2-0 for good. "For five to 10 minutes, we kind of had a half-hearted per- formance and they got two goals," Daley said. "They scored on their chances and we didn't. That's soccer sometimes." Much like Michigan did in the first half, Bowling Green won the battle in the midfield early on in the second. The difference was simply converted opportuni- ties. The Wolverines managed a few late chances in the final 15 minutes that included a missed penalty kick, but the Falcons remained too much for the typi- cally defensive-minded Michi- gan squad. The Wolverines will stay at home for the rest of the month, which will include their final three regular-season matches before the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan will look to get back on its feet before then, and there's no better place to do so than inside the U-M Soccer Complex. "Playing at home is fantastic," Daley said. "I don't think we've always taken advantage of the support we have here though. Our support with the Ultras is superb, and they show up rain or shine. They are a fantastic organization, and when they're in full force they act as our 12th man." PATRICK BARRON/Daily Sophomore forward Alex Guptill was Michigan's leading scorer last fall. He's expected to bea big contributer for the Wolverines again this fall. Offense has blue-collar focus By LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Writer.,a Out of all the numbers to show up on the Michigan hockey team's box score following its 6-3 win over Bentley last Friday night, the largest one is perhaps the least impressive for coach Red Berenson. Falcon netminder Branden Komm faced 56 Wolverine shots over the course of the game, and let in six goals. And according to Berenson, the team's problem lies in the math of it all. The majority of Michigan's shots last weekend came in a flurry in the third period as it looked to solidify its lead over the Falcons. Though it did pay off for the Wolverines - Michi- gan scored half of its goals in that final frame - Berenson doesn't think the shot chart effectively reflects the team's effort. "Part of our game is getting shots through," Berenson said. "If you look at our shot chart, you'll see half our shots never get to the net. Why is that? They're either blocked or they miss the net. It's hard to get shots through." Aside from puck luck decid- ing which shots make it past the goalie, the most important part of turning shots into goals comes less from play on the perimeter and more con- centrated activ- ity around the "IT d on crease. I uolT Berenson is known for tooI preaching a p blue-collar pretty work ethic to his players. Its tenants are sim- ple - get the puck to the net any- way you can. It doesn't have to be fancy, and it certainly shouldn't try to be "too cute." Berenson starts drumming that message in as early as possi- ble, and it's likely the Wolverines will get that message every day of practice for the son. For as much team hears, it's sti them to keep it inY ly on the eve of co "Getting pucks getting the puck t always the best said sophomore Guptill. "When I t score many goals." It's a particul message for the fr considering that y have a tendency t excited any time t es their tape. This kind of offense is partly rest of the sea- mostly learned through experi- rhetoric as the ence. Though the team regularly ll important for practices how to handle the puck mind, especial- in the opponent's zone, there's nference play. only so much that can teach deep and them them. o the net, that's It's lucky, then, that there's a way to score," captain who exemplifies the kind forward Alex of grind-it-out work ethic that score, I don't translates shots into goals. score too Senior forward A.J. Treais is many pretty perhaps an ideal prototype of goals. You a Berenson blue-collar worker, have to get as a player who usually has luck in your mind finding twine. He already leads as a player the team in shots on goal (18) and when you go though that doesn't hold much outthere (you stock consideringthe Wolverines shouldn't) have only played three games, try to do too he's expected to hold steady as much." the season progresses. arly important "You've already seen him eshmen to hear, twice this season where the younger players other team has scored and A.J. o become over- comes back the next shift and :he puck touch- scored to kind of take away the momentum of that goal," Beren- hard-working son said. "He's going to be a go-to coachable, but player and he already is."