iortMonday *The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I November TO, 2014 ALLISON FARRAND/Daily The Michigan football team's defense recorded six sacks, and senior defensive end Frank Clark jumped the snap on a two-point conversion to help seal the win. 'M' tops 'Cats in ugly game Quarterback Devin Gardner had an off afternoon, throwing two interceptions. When winning isn't what it should be Wolverines stop Northwestern on 2-point conversion to clinch win By MAX COHEN Daily Sports Editor The Michigan football team was able to ride a strong defen- sive performance to a win over Northwestern on Saturday, combining for six turnovers in a game that was scoreless at the half. But the Wolverines were able to muster enough scoring to pull out the last-second, 10-9 victory. The win marked the first time Michigan has won consecutive games in more than a year. The Daily looks at the good, bad and ugly from the Wolver- ines' narrow win. The Good: Michigan's defense seemed to will the team to victory. The unit bottled up the Wildcat offense for most of the after- noon, particularly in the first three quarters. Fifth-year senior linebacker Jake Ryan and senior defensive end Frank Clark were seemingly all over the field throughout the game. Ryan had 11 tackles and an interception, consistently anchoring the Wolverine line- backer corps. Clark helped make the game's defining play, pursuing North- western quarterback Trevor Siemian on his two-point con- version attempt until he slipped. Clark spent much of the after- noon in the Wildcats' backfield, recording 2.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks. Michigan's defense had been hoping for an increase in big, game-altering plays after mak- ing just a handfull of them in previous weeks, and it came through with six sacks and two interceptions. The Bad: The Wolverine offense strug- gled mightily throughout most of the game. Because of the work of the defense, the offense was gifted tremendous field position multiple times throughout the game, but was frequently unable to convert. See UGLY, Page 2B et me paint you a picture. Ryan Field is so empty at - kickoff that when North- western comes out of the tunnel you're almost unaware of the small ALEXA crowd - half DETTELBACH of which is rooting for Michigan - that doesn't make much noise. An incred- ible rendition of the National Anthem from Jim Cornelison opens up, and is one of the few highlights on the afternoon. And the crowd spends the next three hours doing more laugh- ing and groaning from missed opportunities than cheering, as the game ends with two touchdowns and six combined turnovers. But most glaring of all, in Michigan's ugly, ugly, ugly 10-9 See NOT PRETTY, Page 2B LET'S BALL The Michigan football team isn't the attraction it once was. That role has been taken over by the basketball team. SportsMonday Column, Page 2B BREAKING EVEN The Michigan football team's win brought it back to .500 and within a victory of reaching bowl eligibility. Page 4B