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Michigan 24, UCo n 21
TOP: Michigan coach Brady Hoke said that he's surprised that Michigan is 4-0 considering how many turnovers the team has had so far this season. BOTTOM LEFT: Junior cornerback Raymon Taylor was one of several Wolverine defensive backs to
get beat deep against Connecticut on Saturday. The Huskies averaged almost 0 yards a completion. BOTTOM RIGHT: Athletic Director Dave Brandon had to sweat out another close victory to a subpar team on the sidelines in East Hartford.
ByZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -
For a long 23 minutes and 17 sec-
onds of game time, the Michigan
sideline had fallen surprisingly
tense for the second week in a
row. By the end of the first half,
Michigan coach Brady Hoke
crossed his arms and looked agi-
tated. Devin Gardner lifted his
helmet atop his head, his chin-
strap obscuring a grimace as
he trotted to the sideline after
another turnover. Michigan
would trail at the half to winless
Connecticut, which had lost ear-
lier this season to FCS Towson.
The Wolverines had come
within yards of being upset by
lowly Akron the week before,
and players and coaches said
they had practiced with extra
intensity this week. But by the
third quarter, Michigan athletic
director Dave Brandon puffed
his cheeks on the sideline and
looked upward, his face show-
ing concern. UConn took the lead
into the fourth quarter.
For 23 minutes and 17 seconds,
the Huskies outplayed Michi-
gan and held the lead, which at
one point extended to 14 points.
Late heroics by junior linebacker
Desmond Morgan, who made a
one-handed interception in the
fourth quarter, allowed Michi-
gan to tie. A field goal by fifth-
year senior Brendan Gibbons
with 4:36 remaining won the
game, 24-21. But for the second
week in a row, Michigan just
barely escaped from ateam at the
bottom of the FBS food chain.
"We'd rather not let it come to
that," said Gardner, the redshirt
junior quarterback. "But if that
what it takes on this day, we're
happy with the win."
The close win over Akron was
a reality check. But Saturday's
performance may have been
closer to reality. UConn exposed
major holes in this team as it
heads into a bye week and Big
Ten play: an offensive line that
has hemorrhaged rushers and
can't control the line of scrim-
mage; a quarterback that leads
the nation in turnovers by a sig-
nificant margin; and a defense
that can be beaten over the top.
"We all are trying to figure out
where we're at as a team," Hoke
said.
Michigan's offense looked lost
against the Huskies, and UConn
wasn't just winless entering the
game. The Huskies lost by double
See MICHIGAN, Page 3B
Bye week rig on ti -
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -
Here's a frightening
proposition for Mich-
igan fans
that isn't so
farfetched:
Akron man-
ages to
punch it in
on one of
four tries
from near MATT
the goal line SLOVIN
last week-
end in the
game's final minute.
Then linebacker Desmond
Morgan can't quite cradle a
Connecticut pass into triple
coverage Saturday night. The
15th-ranked Wolverines don't
get a short field to work with,
allowingthem to tie the game
and eventually win it with a
field goal, 24-21.
Suddenly, 4-0 is 2-2, with
losses to 37- and 18-point
underdogs.
Two improbable defensive
highlights - a fourth-down,
all-out blitz that ended with
junior linebacker Brennen
Beyer hitting Akron quarter-
back Kyle Pohl and Morgan's
Charles Woodson-esque inter-
ception - were needed to keep
Michigan from the ranks of
mediocrity. The perfect record
is still intact. Coach Brady
Hoke has repeatedly said that
goal No. 1each week is, obvi-
ously, to win, and as long as his
team does that, not all is lost.
But style points do matter,
especially for a team that is
struggling to find its confi-
dence agonst opponents that
it should be handling easily. If
the Wolverines had delivered
the blowout that nearly every-
body expected against Akron,
they would have had no reason
See BYE WEEK, Page 38
MEN'S SOCCER
McAtee provides OT heroics
By MAX COHEN pointing result for the Wolverines
Daily Sports Writer into a much-needed win.
"It was the greatest feeling
In the 96th minute of the Mich- ever," McAtee said.
igan men's soccer game at West McAtee's first goal of the sea-
Virginia Saturday, Colin McAtee son provided the timely offense
had possession of the ball, saw Michigan (2-2-2) needed to earn
the open field in front of him and its first victory in five games. In
decided to go for the victory. the win, the Wolverines scored
The redshirt sophomore mid- as many goals as they had in their
fielder - previous four games.
launched a MICHIGAN 2 Against the Mountaineers
shot from WEST VA. __ (3-3-1), the Michigan offense
20 feet out went to work right away. Senior
that lasered its way into the back defender Ezekiel Harris scored
of the net, giving the Wolverines for the Wolverines in the fourth
a2-1 overtime win after Michigan minute off a rebound after a cor-
took an early lead and then lost it ner kick. Michigan continued to
in the waning seconds of regula- apply the offensive pressure for
tion. McAtee's goal turned what the remainder of the first half,
easily could have been a disap- controlling the tempo on its way
to outshooting West Virginia,
11-3. But the Wolverines failed to
capitalize on any oftheir first-half
opportunities after Harris's goal,
allowing the Mountaineers to
stay within striking distance.
West Virginia increased its
offensive intensity to start the
second half after its primar-
ily defensive first half. Michi-
gan managed to stave off the
increased attack for the vast
majority of the half, until Moun-
taineer forward Majed Osman
capitalized on a rebound oppor-
tunity with 18 seconds remaining
in regulationto tie the score.
"The first few seconds (after
the goal), it was pretty rough,"
McAtee said. "But almost five, 10
seconds in we were all on each
othersaying, 'Nowe're not gonna
lose, we're not gonna let this hap-
pen, we're going to find a way to
win this in overtime."'
It was the second last-minute
goal the Wolverines allowed in
eight days after Marquette defeat-
ed Michigan, 1-0, after scoring in
the 89th minute last weekend.
Though the Wolverines wit-
nessed their game-long lead
evaporate, they backed up their
words and showed little sign of
deflation as the game headed into
overtime.
"We've harped on it from the
beginning," said Michigan coach
Chaka Daley. "Don't get too high
by the highs or too low by the
lows throughout the course of the
See SOCCER, Page 38
TRACY KO/Daily
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Colin McAtee scored the game-winner Saturday.
EXPECTATIONS RESET
In a stadium built on an old airport,
the Michigan football team never took off
against UConn. SportsMonday Column:
Page 2B
CROSS WINS MVP
The Michigan volleyball team swept
the Michigan Invitational this weekend,
and Jennifer Cross was the spark.
Page 4B