The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
S p
November 11, 2013 - 3B
GAME
STATISTICS
'M' splits opening two games
Team, Stab,
Firs Dows
Rush/Yards
PsigYards
Offe~nsv Plays
Total Offee,
Kik en/yds
Pnsetrs/ys.
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fubls/Lst
Paltie/Yards
TimeofPossessio
Michigan
13
36/-21
196
63
17e
2/15
18/27/0
6/48.8
2-:
2-18
32:4
Nebraska
15
43/128
145
273
1/15
3/25
12/23/0
7/43.0
2-2
5-31
27:16
0
PASSING
Toals
RSHING
Green
Toussaint
Gardner
Totals
RECEMVNG
Player
Funchess
Galon
Kerridge
Ch"*"o
M I C H I G A N
C-A Yds TD
18-27 196 1
18-27 196 1
Att
8
4
1
2
16
36
No.
6
S
2
2
2
1
18
Yds
11
6
5
-11
-32
-21
Yds
66
49
33
30
9
9
196
Avg
1.4
07
50
-5
-0.6
Avg
11.0
45
L9
7
4
5
0
7
7
L8
23
16
25
19
10
9
25
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
By MAX COHEN
Daily Sports Writer
With a roster full of inexpe-
rienced players, the Michigan
women's basketball team entered
its season with more questions
than answers. But after the
team's first two games of the sea-
son, it is clear that it can succeed
in late-game situations.
The Wolverines fell to Bowl-
ing Green, 63-52, in the first
game of the Iona Tournament
on Friday, but defeated Arizona
in overtime Saturday, 73-71. Key
late-game plays were the differ-
ence for Michigan in its first win
of the season.
Against Arizona, the Wol-
verines found themselves down
by two with two seconds left in
regulation after squandering a
six-point halftime lead. The Wol-
verines forced a jumpball and set
up to inbound the ball with one
last opportunity to leave New
Rochelle, N.Y. with a win.
Junior guard Shannon Smith
inbounded the ball to junior for-
ward Cyesha Goree, who sank a
turnaround jumper to send the
game to overtime. Goree, who
played limited minutes last sea-
son, was the number one option
on the inbounds play and capi-
talized, proving herself as a valu-
able option in crunch time.
"She wanted the ball, that was
incredible," said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. "She really
wanted the ball. We were excited
she made the shot."
The Wolverines didn't imme-
diately capitalize on the momen-
tum of the bqzzer-beater, falling
behind early in the overtime
PUNTING
Payer No. Y ds4 A v
Totals 6 293 48.8 69
KICKOFF RETURNSo d vg L D
Payr No. TAs Avg 31 TD
Hayes 1 8 8.0 8 0
Totals 1 8 8.0 8 0
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TO
Total 2 15 7.5 16 0
TRACTFwO/Daily
Junior forward Cyesha Goree made her first career start on Friday. She finished with 19 points comhined in two tames against Bowling Green and Arizona.
period until Smith and freshman
guard Paige Rakers hit back-to-
back 3-pointers to give Michigan
a 73-69 lead with 1:40 left in the
extra session. But Arizona cut
the lead to two again, and junior
guard Nicole Elmblad - who
was named the team's captain
the day before - needed to block
a piece of the ball on the Wild-
cats' final attempt to tie the game
to ensure the Wolverine victory.
Friday's game was a different
story for Michigan. The Falcons
jumped out to an 18-5 lead in the
first six minutes of the game,
digging the Wolverines an early
hole.
Though Michigan battled
back throughout the first half, it
never took the lead despite cut-
ting the deficit to two in the first
half. Each Wolverine run was
countered by a Bowling Green
response, and the Falcons took
an eight-point lead into the half.
Michigan kept the game in single
digits for parts of the second half
but could never get much closer
than that.
"If we would've come out with
a little bit more fire, we think it
would've been a different game,"
Elmblad said.
Smith led the Wolverines in
scoring over the weekend, post-
ing team highs with 17 points
Friday and 21 on Saturday in her
first games against Division I
competition in two years. Fresh-
man guard Siera Thompson was
the second-leading scorer for
Michigan, scoring 12 points each
game.
Though the Wolverines ended
the weekend 1-1, they feel as
though the ending of Saturday's
game is something they can
build off of.
"This team is really just ready
to fight, no matter what," Elm-
blad said. "When the going gets
tough, we're going to fight back
and stick together, and hopefully
give ourselves a chance to win
games."
TACKLES
Player
Gordon
Bolden
Ryan
Taylor
Black
Furman
Countess
Beer
Stribling
Washington
wormley
Totals
Solo
6
6
4
3
5
3
3
2
2
0
2
1
t
t
t
t
0
0
0
42
Asst
2
2
3
3
0
0
0
1
1
2
3
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
22
Tot
8
8
7
6
5
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
64,,
FIVE
From Page1B
mines everything the coaching
staff has preached about capital-
izing on turnovers.
3. The defense looks like the lone
bright spot.
Cam Gordon and Courtney
Avery were asked an interesting
question after the game. As fifth-
year seniors, they weathered the
Rich Rodriguez era that, among
other things, was criticized for
its porous defense. So, how does
it feel to be on the other side of
things this season?
They,of course, responded that
football is a team game, so their
performance doesn't count for
much. But when Hoke was asked
about any bright spots he saw in
the game, he cited the defense -
specifically, how it held the Husk-
ers to 6-for-16 on third downs.
Sure, that's ignoring the fact
that the Wolverines gave up
a critical 4th-and-two late in
the fourth quarter, but overall,
things are alot less iffy when the
defense is on the field. It just begs
the question of how long it will
take Michigan to have an electric
offense and a stout defense at the
same time.
4. Michigan needs to stick with
short passing routs.
Could it be just three weeks
ago that fifth-year senior wide
receiver Jeremy Gallon dazzled
everyone with his record-break-
ing day in receiving yards against
Indiana?
Gallon's been something of a
ghostly figure for the Wolverines
as of late. And that may continue,
as Michigan seemed to be more
effective short routs on Satur-
day compared to the long ones to
Gallon - fifth-year senior run-
ning back Fitzgerald Toussaint
and sophomore tight end Devin
Funchess thrived most on short
screen passes.
With Gardner facing a sack
each time he steps back into the
pocket to throw, these kind of
passes just make more sense.
Since the run game is in a rut and
these are the kind of passing plays
that Michigan can successfully
execute, it's not unreasonable to
expect to see more of them going
forward.
5. Bold Prediction: Michigan will
lose out.
Even if the Wolverines were
playing up to their full potential,
Ohio State was always going to
be the toughest team they faced
all season. At this point, a victory
over the Buckeyes would be noth-
ing short of miraculous.
But Michigan still has two
weekstogobefore OhioStaterolls
into town, and there is very little
to suggest that it will come out of
those two weeks unscathed.
The Wolverines are three-
point underdogs against North-
western next week, and just for a
frame of reference, the Wildcats
are winless in the Big Ten this
season. Northwestern has never-
been favored over Michigan. But
that day has finally arrived.
Iowa, too, has been a medio-
cre team this season. But never
underestimate the Wolverines'
poor road performances. In a sea-
son labeled as Big Ten title or bust
by Michigan, it has become the
latter.
N eb ra sk a
PASSING
Player C-A Yds
Astrsng 11-19 138
Kellog 111 1-4 6
TO
1
Kellogg III
Newby
Att
27
12
1z
33
Yds
105
13
8
5
-3
162
Yds
69
44
27
5
145
Avg
39
1.1
-3.0
49
Ls
18
13
0
128
in4
0
0
0
TD
1
0
0
0
0
1
RECEIVING
Player No.
Enuna 7
Wsterkarmp 1
Abdullah 1
Totals 12
PUNTING
Player s
Foltz
Totals
Avg Lg
9.86 23
.0 5
12.08 27
TD
0
1
1
No Yds Avg lg
7 301 43.0 64
7 301 43.0 64
KICKOFF RETURNS
Payer No Y4 Asg Lg
Cell 1 5 0 5. 5
Totals 1 10 1. 1s
TlaCe Solo Asst Tot
Rose 4 4 8
Anderson 5 1 6
Cooper s 0 s5
Sanos ~ 0 1 5
Gregory 3 1 4
Evans 3 1 4
00 3
McMullen 2 0 2
Moss 2 0 2
mR chdge nda0l2
Ankrah 1 1 2
Jackson 1 0 1
Sesay 1 0 1
Curry 0 1 1
Toa 47 12 69
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NEGATIVE
From Page 1B
of the drive, rushes from
freshman running back Der-
rick Green, were swarmed by
defenders. The two plays lost a
yard, and now Michigan faced a
situation that has become all too
familiar: 3rd and long.
Redshirt junior quarterback
Devin Gardner could only mus-
ter a four-yard scramble. The
Michigan.Stadium crowd booed
loudly. The field-goal attempt
by fifth-year senior Brendan
Gibbons squeaked off the right
upright and in.
Michigan led, but by three
instead of seven. Once again,
negative plays tanked Michigan
in a key situation. The Huskers
would win the game on the next
drive.
The good news for the Wol-
verines in their 17-13 loss to
Nebraska is that they improved
on their record-setting nega-
tive 48 rushing yards from last
weekend. The bad news is that
all 112,204 fans in attendance
had zero rushing yards, still
more than Michigan for the sec-
ond week in a row.
And those in attendance
knew it. After Michigan's first
first down, with 2:45 remaining
in the first quarter, the stadium
erupted in sarcastic cheering.
For the second straight week,
the Wolverines were running
backward more often than not.
They finished with negative 21
rushing yards this time. And
once again, Michigan couldn't
find an offensive rhythm.
"The negative plays are what
kill you on third down," said
Michigan coach Brady Hoke.
Michigan ran the ball 36
times (including sacks, which
count as a rushing attempt in the
statistics). Of those 36, five went
for no gain. Eight lost yards.
Seven were sacks. In all, more
than half of Michigan's attempts
on the ground went backward,
or at least failed to go forward.
This wasn't three yards and
a cloud of dust, because Michi-
gan rarely even advanced the
ball that far on the ground. The
ball carrier picked up at least
three yards on just 22 percent
of the team's rushes. More often
than not, the cloud of dust was
behind the line of scrimmage.
Not surprisingly, Michigan
went just 3-of-15 on third down.
That's probably because Michi-
gan's average distance was 3rd
and nine. For the second week
in a row, the coaching staff was
left searching for answers for a
rushing game that has combined
for negative 69 yards in the past
two weeks.
"Well that's hard to explain,
isn't it?" Hoke said. He then
repeated a line he used often
in his post-game press confer-
ence. "I've got to do a better job
coaching those guys."
Running was futile. Fittingly,
the game started where Michi-
gan had left off against Michi-
gan State: with a rush up the
middle to fifth-year senior run-
ning back Fitzgerald Toussaint
for a loss of one.
Toussaint finished with six
yards on nine carries. Green had
11 yards on eight. The longest
rush of the day was seven yards.
Gardner threw for 196 yards
and a touchdown, without any
turnovers, but passing was also
a gamble. Gardner was sacked
on 20 percent of his drop backs,
seven times in all for the second
week in a row.
He was sacked twice on his
second drive, setting up 4th and
30. He was sacked on fourth
down in the second quarter. A
third-down sack of Gardner set
up the punt that Westerkamp
would muff. And another sack
on third down on Michigan's
last possession helped end the
game.
"I think maybe a few plays
I did hold onto it a little long,"
Gardner said.
In all, Michigan failed to gain
any yardage on slightly less than
half of its plays.
Norfleet, the would-be hero,
lingered on the bench after
the game. As time expired, his
teammates quickly made for the
tunnel. But Norfleet stayed for a
moment, alone on the bench.
He had the game's momen-
tum-changing play in his grasp,
but the rules prevented him
from scoring. Instead, the game
was in the hands of the Michi-
gan offense - in this case, the
running game specifically. And
in this game, again, that meant it
was more likely to go the wrong
way.
BROKEN
From Page 1B
having lost at home.
The team's levelheadedness
is broken.
Hoke looked defeated and
exhausted after Saturday's
game. The players were exas-
perated when asked the same
questions about where Michi-
gan's fundamental problems
are stemming from. Anger
flashed in Devin Gardner's eyes
as he defend-
when Michigan got its first first
down inthe game, the boos
were replaced with sarcastic
cheers.
There are always going to
be critics. But the fact that
some of the loudest cheers in
the stadium on Saturday came
when Michigan successfully
completed a pass? That says
something.
The Wolverines have looked
so disheveled and inconsistent
in their past four games that
maybe it's surprising things
didn't start to
ed the state
of his team's
"toughness."
The
team's pur-
pose is bro-
ken.
Fifth-year
senior line-
backer Cam
Gordon was
break down
sooner. With
Itzggggg g g every turn-
It's surprising over, botched
things didn't assignment
and sack, so
start to break much of the
Wolverines'
down sooner strength
has slowly
dwindled over
-21
Michigan rushing yards, including yards
lost on sacks.
asked about
what remains forthe team now
that locker-room morale has to
be at an all-time low.
"Things are still out there to
be won," Gordon said.
Things. There are "things"
to be won.
For the first time, Michigan
has had to lose its rhetoric that
a Big Ten championship is still
possible - that pipe dream,
though a long shot considering
the Wolverines' performance
the past two weeks, was finally
mathematically eliminated on
Saturday.
That was the goal Michigan
never believed was too far out
of reach. Now, what it has to
play for is something as won-
derfully vague as "things."
The fans' optimism is bro-
ken, too.
Boos echoed around the Big
House early in the first quarter
when Michigan wasn't mov-
ing the ball. Ten minutes later,
time.
No one would argue Michi-
gan looks lost and confused.
Worrying about something as
trivial as a home streak seems
so petty now, especially as the
Wolverines have just three
more games to fix the problems
in their machine, find an iden-
tity and maybe salvage a little
bit of their pride that's slipped
further and further out of their
grasp.
Hoke is already talking about
getting back to practice, as if
the start of another week will
be enough of a Band-Aid to help
Michigan recover from this
loss.
But when something is as
broken as this team looks,
maybe a Band-Aid as small as
another week to work things
out isn't big enough,
Vukelich can be reached
at elizavuk@umich.edu or
on Twitter @LizVukelich
z0
Percent of Michigan's rushes that went
for three yards or more