Sports: Football
UW letdown in Big House
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Also by Derek Zetlin:
- Zetlin: UW molds Clay into better running back (October 5, 2009)
- Zetlin: Tolzien comes out of nowhere to win starting job (September 4, 2009)
- Zetlin: Change in defense could help football recruitment (April 29, 2009)
- Punter Gano sets tone early in rout over Wisconsin (January 20, 2009)
- Football season bust brings scrutiny to UW staff (January 20, 2009)
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan had five turnovers, one first down and 21 total yards in the first half. The home crowd of 109,833 booed the Wolverines (2-2, 1-0) as they trotted off the field down 19-0 to visiting No. 9 Wisconsin at intermission. At that point, the game was all but over.
But the Badgers’ dropped passes and inability to finish drives with touchdowns — which seemed meaningless before halftime — came back to haunt them in the end, as the Wolverines scored 27 straight points to beat Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1) 27-25 in stunning fashion.
“We didn’t finish, we didn’t take advantage of opportunities we had,” cornerback Allen Langford said. “We had them where we wanted them to be, but we didn’t finish. We’ve got to play four quarters, and that’s something we just did not do.”
Down 27-19, the Wisconsin defense forced Michigan to punt, giving the offense one more chance to tie the game with 1:19 left on the clock. Quarterback Allan Evridge orchestrated a drive that ended in a touchdown strike to David Gilreath with 0:13 left to play. And after Evridge completed a two-point conversion pass to tight end Travis Beckum — who didn’t play until late in the fourth quarter because of a lingering hamstring injury — it seemed as if the game was headed for overtime. But an “ineligible receiver downfield” penalty nullified the play, pushing the Badgers back five yards.
“[Travis] lined up over to the right, we got him over to the left, Kyle (Jefferson) tried to adjust him, but he lined up on the line of scrimmage,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “Obviously he should have lined up off it, which would have made the play legal.”
UW was out of timeouts, and Beckum’s confusion at the line proved to be costly.
“It’s stuff like that that we practice all the time and should be second nature,” co-captain Chris Pressley said of the mental mistake.
Moments later, Evridge’s pass sailed over the head of wide receiver Isaac Anderson, sealing the Michigan comeback victory.
“I got hit,” Evridge said of the missed conversion. “[Isaac] was in the back of the end zone, I tried to go high with it; I didn’t even see where it went.”
It was that kind of day for the Badgers, who failed to put the home team away when they had the chance early.
“There were a lot of missed opportunities out there on the field from an offensive standpoint, and we just let that linger,” Bielema said.
The Wisconsin defense was dominant in the first half, as Michigan quarterback Steven Threet headed into the locker room 2-for-10 for negative-7 yards passing. But when the Wolverines finally got on the board in the third quarter after a 26-yard connection from Threet to tight end Kevin Koger, the tides began to turn.
“They definitely came out swinging in the second half,” Langford said. “Once they got that first touchdown, it kind of swung [the momentum] in their favor, and we weren’t able to catch up with it.”
After a pair of Brad Nortman punts, the Wolverines got the ball back on their own 15-yard line. The Wisconsin defense seemed to come up with a big stop, but a “roughing the passer” call on defensive end Matt Shaughnessy kept the Michigan drive — which ended in a 35-yard Brandon Minor touchdown run — alive, bringing the score to 19-14.
“Defensively, after that first touchdown, they had good eyes on the sidelines,” Bielema said. “But when that second one hit, I think their confidence value really went down.”
On the next play — after a Bryan Wright touchback — Evridge’s pass hit wide receiver Kyle Jefferson on the hip and went straight up into the air. Linebacker John Thompson grabbed it and followed a wall of maize and blue into the end zone. The Wolverines missed the ensuing two-point attempt, but the damage was done. Just like that, Michigan took its first lead of the day 20-19, one that it refused to surrender.
“They just wanted it more in the second half,” co-captain DeAndre Levy said. “We didn’t execute, and they took advantage of it. They got the momentum, and we couldn’t get it back.”
Freshman running back Sam McGuffie provided the dagger on the Wolverines’ next possession with a 3-yard touchdown run following Threet’s 59-yard scamper up the middle.
“[Our defense was] out there quite a bit [in the second half,]” Bielema said. “[On offense] we went three and out, three and out, three and out and anytime you do that, you’re going to have a lot of fatigue physically and mentally as well. Our inability to convert first downs and move the chains on offense had an adverse effect on our defense big time.”
A confused Levy disagreed.
“I don’t think it was fatigue,” the senior said. “I don’t really know what it was; I’m baffled. I don’t know what just happened.”
His teammate, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as shocked.
“I’m not surprised. This is college football; anything can happen,” Langford said. “That definitely just happened right there. It’s definitely one of the hardest losses I’ve been a part of. But it did just happen. We’ve just got to take advantage of this and not let it beat us twice.”
Wisconsin will look to rebound Saturday when it hosts Ohio State at Camp Randall Stadium at 7 p.m.
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IP hash: bedc69ff
Michigan is not the best team in the B10. They are not better than WI. But they are the best conditioned team in the B10 and WI was tired in the fourth quarter. Michigan was still running full speed at the end.
IP hash: bedc69ff
WI will beat OSU. This is my lock of the week
IP hash: 3fd3be8a
Michigan is still Michigan
Wisconsin is still Wisconsin
Hail to the Victors!
IP hash: 109b88a2
John Clay is our most talented running back.. and his LIMITED PT in each game has proven that. Why the hell does he see only 3 plays per game??
IP hash: 656b3399
this loss sucked. i still want to kill myself.
IP hash: 656b3399
this is what the badger faithful get for embracing football mediocrity…so much for the big ten title.
IP hash: 656b3399
HORRIBLE playcalling by Paul Chyrst cost us this game.
IP hash: 7e8651ff
I agree conditioning had a lot to do with it. Michigan has played better in 4Q all year — and a big part of that is their opponents have worn out at that point.
The Wisconsin D was overwhelming in the first half — UofM got no where.
On the flip though, what if Wisconsin had played Beckum earlier, and conveted some of those trunovers into touchdowns instead of field goals. Michigan has been horrible at defending the short pass — look how Notre Dame and Utah moved the ball.
Clearly there was a move to conserve Beckum for the O State game. In the process Michigan’s defense and conditioning apparently were underestimated.
IP hash: a3c78c80
REALLY? The coaches can’t remember that Rentmeester rumbled for 8 yards at Fresno? How do you run PJ up the middle for 1 yard gains when he wasn’t doing it all day? Who runs plays shorter than the first down marker and expect the player to make up the yardage? What kind of coaching staff doesn’t expect the other staff to adjust and ready the team for those adjustments? And what kind of A-hole wears his sunglasses after the sun has set and looks around in a stupor?
IP hash: 0f761c42
Terrible game all around… Poor play calling by Chryst all day long. Allan Evridge has no awareness in the pocket - I’m convinced that you could drive a truck at him from the left tackle position and he would either not know about it or not do anything about it. Second, can Big John Clay please get some playing time?! Third, receivers need to learn to catch the ball with their hands instead of letting it bounce off their pads and hope it lands in their own hands instead of the opponents’. Turnovers can lead to free points - take them! Secondary - I know you haven’t played on offense since high school, but please catch a pass that hits you in the hands, this can end drives and lead to points for YOUR team. Finally, the only receivers on this team are Garret Graham and Travis Beckum - play them unless they are bleeding or broken. I am truly embarrassed to call myself a Badger this week. How many consecutive years will we be rated in the top 10 and blow our season by losing a game that we should have wrapped up by halftime. I expect to lose to OSU and PSU… After a likely 3-3 start we should still be able to crank out six wins and make a bowl. See you next year BCS!
IP hash: c939e6b0
How do you call an option play on third and short when you’ve been getting decent yardage by going straight up the field!?!?! The Badgers are paying for their traditional soft early schedules.