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ByZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor,
1. The secondary has signifi-
cant holes.
For six weeks, Michigan's
defense had bailed it out time
and again. It made a goal-line
stand against Akron, stifled
Connecticut despite turnovers
and stopped Minnesota.
The defense was successful
largely because the second-
ary prevented big plays, even,
if it did so by playing loose
and allowing easy under-
neath routes. But that fell
apart against Penn State in the
fourth quarter, when the Nit-
tany Lions went 80 yards in
less than 30 seconds to tie the
game.
That was nothing compared
to this week against Indiana.
The Hoosiers passed for 410
yards on 43 passes, an average
of 9.5 per attempt. The second-
ary was torched for four touch-
downs.
The defense was caught out
of position, but other times,
the secondary simply got out-
played. On Indiana's first and
second passing touchdowns,
the Hoosiers' quick tempo
led to breakdowns in the
secondary. And on the final
passing touchdown, redshirt
sophomore Blake Countess lost
his man on the goal line, lead-
ing toan easy score.
Indiana's longest play of the
game, though, came when the
secondary was in the correct
alignment. Freshman corner-
back Channing Stribling had
positioning on Indiana receiv-
er Kofi Hughes, but Hughes
jumped over Stribling to steal
the ball away. Poor tackling
after the catch allowed the
67-yard touchdown. Earlier,
junior . cornerback Raymon
Taylor dropped an easy pick
six.
The game was Michigan's
worst defensive performance
of the year - and possibly of
defensive coordinator Greg
Mattison's tenure. Through
seven games, the Wolverines
have defended more passes
than allibut 11 FBS teams. More
than halfway through the sea-
See FIVE, Page 3B
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BIG QUESTIONS
The Legends Division is as wide open
as ever. But can Michigan address enough
of its issues to contend? SportsMonday
Column: Page 2B
RECORD BREAKER
Nkem Ezurike's three goals this week-
end gave her 45 for her career, breaking
the Michigan career scoring record.
Page 4B