The Wolverine Now

SEPT. 23, 2012 TURN FOR THE WORSE D Giveaways Doom Wolverines At Notre Dame In 13-6 Defeat BY JOHN BORTON enard Robinson turned 22 the day the Wolverines invaded South Bend to take on the Irish. Unfortunately for him and his team, celebrating wasn't an option. Robinson fired four of Michigan's five interceptions, fumbled the ball away in the red zone, and experienced what he called the worst game of his career in the Wolver- ines' 13-6 loss at Notre Dame. "I wasn't accountable," Robinson in- sisted. "We didn't make plays when we needed to, and I threw a lot of intercep- tions." Those game-changing changes of pos- session torpedoed a U-M effort that saw the Wolverines out-gain the Irish, 299-239 yards, and out-rush them, 161-94, while controlling the football for 33:19 of the game's 60 minutes. Michigan squandered chances early and simply ran out of time late, seeing their senior quarterback struggle to a 13-of-24 throwing effort for 138 yards and the quar- tet of quick changes. "We all need to do a better job, and it starts with me," U-M head coach Brady Hoke insisted. "I need to do a better job of coaching the game of football, and as a staff we will do that." They'll start by going through videotape his five tournovers, out of U-M's six overall, were too much for the Wolverines to overcome. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Senior quarterback Denard Robinson threw for 138 yards, and he rushed for 90 yards on 26 carries, but revealing more squandered chances than a wolf starving to death in a packed hen- house. The Irish took full advantage, with junior quarterback Tommy Rees (8-of-11, 115 yards) providing a steady hand after sophomore starter Everett Golson (3-of-8, 30 yards, two interceptions) faltered. The Wolverines whiffed on a huge op- portunity early, after sophomore defensive back Raymon Taylor picked off Golson's first throw of the game. Taylor's return and a facemask call on Notre Dame set U-M up on the ND 10, but the Wolverines had it in reverse thereafter. 6 13 The Irish buried Robinson twice on sacks, and redshirt junior Brendan Gib- bons' 43-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. "We had some opportunities in the red zone in the first half to put some points on the board," Hoke said. Michigan's next foray to the Notre Dame 10 proved even more excruciating. Robin- son drove the Wolverines 78 yards, com- pleting five passes along the way. But on first-and-goal, a trick play blew up on the Wolverines. Robinson pitched to senior running back Vincent Smith, who tried to throw to the end zone for junior wideout Drew Dileo. The toss appeared to slip out of Smith's hand, floated behind Dileo and into the hands of ND freshman safety Nicki Baratti. The Wolverines' 0-for-2 start in the red zone threw up some serious red flags, but

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