michigan northwestern

It's fall, and the Northwestern Wildcats are giving every sign of falling -- and there may not be a purple parachute in sight this morning when revitalized Michigan comes knocking.
Two weeks ago, the Cats (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) were up, and the Wolverines (2-2, 1-0) down. Northwestern opened with victories over Northeastern (27-0) and Nevada (36-31) while Michigan stunned the world as Lee Corso and Mark May know it with Big House losses to Appalachian State (34-32) and No. 11 Oregon (39-7).

Since then, both teams have put on their fall flip-flops. The Cats have descended like interest in Charlie Weis football recipes, losing to Duke (20-14) and No. 8 Ohio State (58-7). Michigan has put the ''Go'' back in ''Blue'' with muscular wins over Notre Dame (38-0) and No. 21 Penn State (14-9).

Today in Evanston, host descendants meet empirical ascendants. The slope of deliverance is steep for the Wildcats, who are 17-point underdogs and have not beaten Michigan since 2000. Still, hope on the slope springs internal for NU coach Pat Fitzgerald.

''It's a great blueprint for success when you get knocked down,'' Fitzgerald said. ''The [Michigan] that I watched play [last] Saturday is hungry, and they showed up to play Penn State with an attitude. It's the same way they showed up to play Notre Dame. When you look at their hunger as a football team, it's the same kind of hunger we need to get back to our winning ways.''

The only way the Cats looked like they wished to pursue against Ohio State last Saturday was the fastest way out of Ohio Stadium. Ten minutes after the kickoff, Northwestern trailed 28-0, and it was behind 45-0 at the half. The Wildcats netted zero yards rushing in 33 attempts, and quarterback C.J. Bacher never found a rhythm while being sacked five times. The Buckeyes gained 191 yards on 42 rushes; the NU defense has generated a Big Ten-low four sacks in four games while allowing quarterbacks to pass for 61.6 percent against a secondary fatally susceptible to speed and long balls.

On top of that, Fitzgerald said energizing running back Tyrell Sutton (ankle) is likely to miss his third straight game. Plus, Fitzgerald confirmed in a pregame taping at the Northwestern campus radio station Thursday that strong safety Brendan Smith (shoulder) is probably done for the season.

Into that lakeshore free fall stride the Wolverines. Since shaking its opening fog, Michigan has positioned itself perfectly to remain prominent in a Big Ten championship chase that concludes with a big-game November: at Michigan State (Nov. 3), at No. 9 Wisconsin (Nov. 10) and hosting Ohio State (Nov. 17).

The Wolverines also have played out of their slump without No. 1 quarterback Chad Henne. The ace senior sprained a knee against Oregon. In his place, freshman Ryan Mallett has wavered between developmentally sound and brilliant. He has passed for 309 yards and three touchdowns while running a low-error offense geared to running back Mike Hart (655 yards, 5.2 per carry) and a wildly talented receiving triumvirate of Mario Manningham (19 catches for 279 yards), Adrian Arrington (18-206) and Greg Matthews (11-120).

Henne is reported to be healthy and able to play against Northwestern. Asked whether he will, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said: ''It's to the point now where it will be up to Chad, how he feels. And then, of course, it will depend on what I see, what I think.''

What NU also will see is a Wolverines defense that has not allowed a touchdown in nine quarters and also is in ascent after its rough beginning. Ringleaders include safety Jamar Adams (defensive co-player of the week in the Big Ten), linebacker Shawn Crable (team-leading 27 tackles with three sacks) and defensive end Brandon Graham (five sacks).

Without Sutton, Northwestern once again will hope for a return to passing-spread mastery by Bacher. To have a chance of doing that, he must get reasonable protection from his offensive line. That line -- and all of the Cats -- must be braced for the sort of opening-gong physicality from Michigan that Ohio State used to pretext its romp last weekend.

More cause for purple hope: Carr is 3-2 with the Wolverines at Ryan Field, and the game will be the first on the road for Michigan
We're here, finally. Sorry for our loyal readers who check in a few hours early. We've arrived about 45 minutes before kickoff after running into some Chicago traffic. A couple things of immediate note:

-Chad Henne is on the dressed list. He's been throwing some balls in pre-game warm-ups, but there's really no indication that he'll be starting (the depth chart still lists Mallett as the starter, but it's the same chart we were given at Monday's press conference.) We'll let you know once we hear one way or the other.

-Embarassingly enough for Northwestern, the number of Michigan fans far outweigh the number of Wildcat fans. As we drove through campus and walked to the field, I would say it was nearly a 3:1 ratio of Michigan to Northwestern fans. The stadium is pretty bare right now, but we'll give you a fan update once we near kickoff.

-Some other notes on the dress list: LaTerryal Savoy and Jonas Mouton are dressed, but Marques Slocum is not dressed. The biggest non-dresser that comes as a surprise to us, though, is John Thompson. The starting middle linebacker is not on the dress list. Neither of the guards who went down last game, Alex Mitchell or Jeremy Ciulla, are dressed either.
We'll have our (brief) predictions in a little bit.

Probably no detailed predictions today, but it's safe to say all four writers are choosing Michigan to win.

First edit: Henne is taking reps with the first-team offense during warm-ups, so it appears theres a good chance he'll be starting.

Pre-kick: Northwestern wins the toss and elects to receive. It looks like fans will have to wait a couple more minutes to see if Henne will start or not (based on pre-game warm-ups, my guess is that he does.)

14:46 remaining, 1st quarter ― What a start. After a touchback, Northwestern spread out Michigan and got a 10-yard pass out to the slot. Brandon Harrison and Donovan Warren tried tackling the receiver and he appeared to go down, but he spun around and continued running, getting all the way down to the Michigan 16 before Brandent Englemon tackled him. The play was reviewed, but the call on the field stood, and the Wildcats look like they're about to strike early.

12:49 remaining, 1st quarter ― Northwestern is on the board following a 27-yard field goal.

A few other things of note. The fewer-than-50,000 capacity stadium isn't filled, and it's about 50-50 in terms of which school the fans have allegiance to. Tyrell Sutton also isn't playing, which is something I forgot to mention earlier.

Also, Chad Henne is the team's starting quarterback.

8:57 remaining, 1st quarter ― Michigan leads 7-3 after a pretty decent opening drive. It ended with an 11-yard touchdown connection from Henne to Manningham ― the third reception Manningham had on the drive. Mike Hart, who needed 139 yards to break the school's career rushing record entering today's game, had a total of negative two yards on his first three carries, but got it going inside the red zone for a four-yard gain.

Henne was 4-of-6 for 48 yards on the drive, with both of his incompletions being balls that Manningham really should have caught.

8:15 remaining, 1st quarter ― After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Michigan has put Ryan Mallett in at quarterback for the team's second drive.

Mallett's first drive ended up being a three-and-out. Hart ran the first two downs for a combined four yards, then Mallett threw an incompletion on the run when the Wildcats pressured him on a third-and-six pass. Henne is on the sidelines with a headseat on.

2:52 remaining, 1st quarter ― Northwestern jumps back into the lead after a 49-yard touchdown run by Omar Conteh, who made about five Wolverines miss on his run. The impressive 86-yard drive has put Northwestern back into the lead, 10-7.

Mallett is at the helm for Michigan on its third drive of the day.

2:09 remaining, 1st quarter ― Another three-and-out for the Mallett-led Wolverines. After a first down run by Hart, Mallett got his second down pass batted down after he telegraphed the pass from the line, and was sacked on third down.

End of first quarter ― The first play of the second quarter should be big. Northwestern faces a third-and-five on Michigan's 32-yard line. The Wildcats got most of their yards on this drive following a 12-yard run by C.J. Bacher that had 15 yards tacked on following a Brandent Englemon late hit.

14:48 remaining, 2nd quarter ― Northwestern's kicker, Amado Villarreal (who from here on out will be refered to as Northwestern's kicker ― just made a 49-yard field goal after the Wildcats didn't convert on their third-and-five. Northwestern now leads 13-7.

12:53 remaining, 2nd quarter ― That's three drives, zero points for Michigan post-Henne. Michigan got its first first down with Mallett at quarterback, but it was due to an 11-yard run by Hart. Another big Hart run was negated by a holding call, and Michigan's drive stalled after that.

9:07 remaining, 2nd quarter ― Michigan finally stopped Northwestern … well, Northwestern kind of stopped itself. Coach Pat Fitzgerald surprisingly elected to punt on fourth-and-three from Michigan's 37-yard line. The punt sailed into the endzone for a touchback, and the Wildcats netted just 17 yards on the punt.

7:46 remaining, 2nd quarter ― Another fruitless drive for the Mallett-led Wolverines. He's really struggling, staring at receivers and telegraphing passes. Michigan's defense is looking very tired, since its offense can't sustain anything resembling a decent drive.

6:01 remaining, 2nd quarter ― Bacher's attempt to Ross Lane was ahead of the receiver and ended up in the hand's of Michigan's Morgan Trent, who intercepted the pass. It stopped a drive where Northwestern looked poised to put more points on the board, as it was inside Michigan's 30-yard line.

2:46 remaining, 2nd quarter ― Finally a good drive for Michigan. Unfortunately for Wolverine fans, they got nothing to show for it.

The Wolverines played off their predictable tendancies twice in a row to gain some big yards in the passing game. First, they shuffled Moundros right before the snap to signify a run, but hit Arrington for a 10-yard gain on a pass.

Then, on the following play, Michigan motioned Manningham across the field like it does when the quarterback hits him with a quick pass. Manningham pulled a double-move, though, and got downfield for a 31-yard gain.

Mallett kept the drive alive by making a really nice running throw on third-and-five to find Arrington along the right sideline.

After two errant passes, Mallett scrambled for seven yards, leaving Michigan with a tough fourth-and-three decision on Northwestern's 9-yard line. Carr called a timeout with 2:49 remaining to think it over, and eventually elected to kick it. Jason Gingell's 26 yard attempt was wide right, and Michigan ended up empty handed.

End of half ― Northwestern's kicker made a 27-yard field goal to end the half, giving Northwestern an improbable 16-7 lead going into halftime.

***Breaking News*** Bill Martin just spoke with the media in the press box, and the reason Artis Chambers isn't dressed is that there's a possible eligibility issue. Chambers, a freshman safety who played primarily on kickoffs and returns, was cleared to play by the NCAA, but apparently there's an issue with the Big Ten. Martin said the team found out on Thursday and immediately decided not to dress him. He couldn't rule out that there may be penalties levied by the Big Ten over this, but said the outcomes of three nonconferences games would remain intact because he was cleared to play by the NCAA. News on whether or not the Big Ten will bring disciplinary action on Michigan should be out within the next week, Martin said.

Start of second half ― Henne is back in the game.

12:01 remaining, 3rd quarter ― What looked like a promising drive stalled for Michigan. Henne hit Manningham with two passes for first downs to startthe half, but the drive eventually stalled around the Northwestern 35. Zoltan Mesko pinned the Wildcats back at the nine after a fair catch.

9:23 remaining, 3rd quarter ― Michigan forced Northwestern to punt, and is taking over on its 23-yard line. Henne looks like he'll be taking the snaps this drive.

5:45 remaining, 3rd quarter ― Michigan cuts the deficit to two following a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a Henne touchdown pass to Carson Butler. The drive took fewer than four minutes. Henne looked extremely impressive, making throws all over the field, including two third-down conversions.

The Michigan fans are being more vocal now, with "Let's Go Blue" chants echoing throughout Ryan Field.

1:17 remaining, 3rd quarter ― Michigan will get a chance to take the lead, but it'll have to travel a long way to do it. Northwestern pinned the Wolverines at their 6-yard line after the Wildcat drive stalled at the 35-yard line. Henne is still quarterback.

End of 3rd quarter ― Michigan faces a second-and-11 on its own 25-yard line. The drive began with three straight quick passes, the first two to Manningham and the third to Arrington to get the Wolverines out of their own endzone.

13:19 remaining, game ― Michigan has Northwestern pinned down at its own 1-yard line following a 60-yard punt by Mesko that was mishandled. Northwestern remains ahead 16-14.

12:00 remaining, game ― Facing third-and 10 on its own 1-yard line, Northwestern gained 21 yards on a pass to Ross Lane.

10:42 remaining, game ― There's the momentum swing Michigan fans were looking for. On third-and-eight, Brandon Graham forced a fumble and Shawn Crable recovered it, giving Michigan the ball on the Northwestern 16-yard line.

9:53 remaining, game ― Chad Henne just put Michigan ahead, threading a laser to Adrian Arrington on third-and-10. The 16-yard touchdown pass put Michigan up 20-16. The Wolverines have called timeout, and appear to be going for an extra point, instead of the original two-point conversion attempt they were initially going to try.

The kick is good. Michigan leads 21-16.

7:38 remaining, game ― Huge play by the Michigan defense. Brandon Harrison came around on a blitz, hit Bacher, and the ball lodged out of his hands and into Tim Jamison's, technically making it an interception. Jamison returned it down to Northwestern's 21-yard line before fumbling it out of bounds.

6:14 remaining, game ― Jason Gingell is attempting a 39-yard field goal.

6:08 remaining, game � Shockingly (note the sarcasm), Gingell misses it wide right. Michigan leads 21-16.

5:20 remaining, game ― Obi Ezeh, welcome to the big show. The backup middle linebacker just made the play of his career, picking off a Bacher pass with just his left hand after a deflection on a third-down attempt. Michigan now has the ball inside Northwestern's 25-yard line.

4:34 remaining, game ― Mike Hart just ran it to Northwestern's 1-yard line. It appeared he may have fumbled it through the endzone, but there was no review.

4:31 remaining, game ― On the next play, Hart pounded it in for the score, giving Michigan a 27-16 lead. Gingell's extra point made it 28-16.

4:22 remaining, game ― Northwestern isn't giving up just yet. The Wildcats returned the following kick more than 50 yards to Michigan's 45-yard line.

3:49 remaining, game ― Disregard what I said. Shawn Crable just sacked Bacher, forcing a fumble that Terrance Taylor recovered. This defense has looked hungry and on a mission in the second half.

It was scary for a while, but this one's over, folks.

1:42 remaining, game ― Hart just went over 100 yards for the game. That's the definition of a quiet 100.

1:22 remaining, game ― Hart just lost a yard. Oops.

We're headed to the post-game activities, check back for updates and stories in SportsMonday.

Ticking seconds of the game ― Hart goes back over 100. Michigan wins 28-16.
The Michigan Wolverines and Northwestern Wildcats have both tended to go Under in Big Ten play recently, and we expect more of the same in this spot.


The Under is 11-4 in the last 15 Northwestern conference games, and most of that came when they had a much better offense than they have this year. The Wildcats managed just seven points vs. Ohio State last week, which is certainly forgivable, but the fact that they scored just 14 against Duke the prior week is cause for concern. The Michigan defense has looked much better the last several weeks, and the Wildcats simply do nit have the horses this year to expose the Wolverines the way Oregon and Appalachian State did.

The Under is also 8-1 in the last nine Michigan conference games, and their conference opener was a typical one last week, a hard fought 14-9 struggle over Penn State. Also remember that these teams managed just 20 combined points when they hooked up last season, a 17-3 Michigan victory.

Now we do expect the Wolverines to score more than that here, but we do not expect this year's Northwestern model to muster much offense, so look for a safe Under here.