Three of Daryll Clark’s four touchdown passes were to Graham Zug, leading the No. 13 ranked Penn State team to a 35-10 victory over Michigan for the Nittany Lion’s first Big House win since 1996.

On Saturday Penn State (7-1, 3-1) shut down Michigan (5-3, 1-3) after the Wolverines opened the game with a drive of 70 yards for a touchdown.

On the next possession Clark connected on a touchdown pass with Zug, tying the game. During the third quarter, Clark threw another two touchdown passes to Zug, giving the Nittany Lions a 32-10 lead, and then took off over 10 minutes from the clock in the fourth quarter before kicking a final field goal.

Michigan struggled on offense and also had four turnovers in the game.

Tate Forcier went 13 for 30 for a total of 140 yards and one interception, while Denard Robinson went 0 for 2 and had one interception and one fumble.

Clark went 16 for 27 for a total of 230 yards and also tied his career record for touchdown passes. Zug had five catches for 59 yards and had more touchdown receptions than all of the prior games of the season combined as well as the entire season last year.

Evan Royster rushed for 100 yard in 20 carries.

Meanwhile Michigan was unable to run or pass effectively versus Penn State and also had trouble holding onto the football.

Tate Forcier threw many bad passes and then when his passes were on target, his receivers would often drop the ball. After the game Forcier declined to comment.

Robinson didn’t have a lot of opportunity to show what he is capable of, but hurt his chance to earn some more playing time with his two turnovers.

Brandon Minor had a one yard rushing touchdown on the first drive of the game, but finished the game with only 48 rushing yards in 12 carries. Carlos Brown rushed for 35 yards in eight carries.

Following the game, Penn State celebrated in a corner of the stadium with hundreds of Nittany Lions fans.

The last win for Penn State in Ann Arbor happened 13 years ago. After that they lost nine games in a row versus Michigan they defeated the Wolverines at home last season 46-17.

A game that started out interesting turned into a matchup that was very lopsided.

During the opening drive of the game, Michigan was able to do what they wanted to and became the first team versus the Nittany Lions to score a touchdown this season during the first half.

The first time Penn State had the ball they were able to move at will, as well as on several other drives.

The Wolverines were unable to offensively keep up and their defense left far too many of the Nittany Lions receivers open for Clark and were also unable to stop the running game of Royster.

On their second drive Penn State took the lead 10-7 and got a safety during the second quarter when a Michigan shotgun snap sailed over Forcier through to the end zone. The Nittany Lions opened up a 12 point lead on the 60 yard touchdown pass from Clark to Andrew Quarless, tight end, two plays later.

Towards the end of the first half, the Wolverines got a field goal and during the second half were shut out. It left the winningest program in college football one win away still from becoming eligible for bowl games. Last season Michigan lost nine games, a school record, and didn’t win a bid in the post season for the very first time in over 30 years.

Penn State was able to keep their hopes alive of appearing in one of the marquee bowls at the end of the season.

Last Saturday the Michigan football team had a chance to prove all the skeptics were wrong.

They had the opportunity to prove their win against Notre Dame was not a fluke. That the team might actually be worthy to play in the Rose Bowl, in case the Hawkeyes win out.

There were expectations this year for the young Michigan team. The expectations were low compared to ones that had been held for previous Michigan teams. Nonetheless there had been expectations.

The predictions showed Michigan winning six or seven games and finishing in fifth place in the Big 10, and accepting humbly a third-tier bowl appearance versus the MAC champion.

However before Michigan could even take the field for their first game this season, the predictions took a big hit amidst the allegations that Rich Rodriguez, head coach, violated the practice rules of the NCAA.

Eyebrows were raised when Michigan got off to a 4-0 start. Tate Forcier, freshman quarterback, was being touted as a candidate for the Heisman with the team being hailed as a contender for the conference title.

Then they lost to Michigan State in overtime and we weren’t sure suddenly what to think of the Wolverines.

Their 4-1 record seemed inflated with their wins over Western and Eastern Michigan. Maybe the win against Notre Dame had been luck.

Then undefeated Iowa, with their win over Penn State, gave Michigan an opportunity for quieting the doubts.

However the road night game was too much for the inexperienced team to overcome. At a critical point in the football game, Tate Forcier got knocked out with a concussion and Robinson, speedy but raw, faded in the final stretch.

The next week, Delaware State, cupcakes from the FCS, gave Michigan a brief reprieve. After shellacking Delaware State 63-6 Michigan still felt pretty good with their 5-2 record.

So here was the real test of Michigan’s measure. Maybe the Notre Dame game was a fluke. The Iowa and Michigan State games had been tough road games. Then there was Penn State, a legitimate team, who would either make or break the season for Michigan.

The game would determine whether Michigan was that fifth place team that so many had predicted or if they were something more than that. To be considered among the best in your conference, you need to defeat ranked teams in your home games.

Michigan, however, got blown out systematically. They got off to a great start with Brandon Minor barreling down field, which punctuated a bruising long drive, to get the touchdown and lead for Michigan at 7-0.

It appeared this could be a real game.

However, for the rest of the game, Michigan scored only three additional points. Meanwhile Daryll Clark, Evan Royster and Penn State cruised, seemingly doing nothing wrong and only had to punt on rare occasions.

We know now.

The Michigan team is who we were thinking they were. With a record of 5-3, unless there is a complete collapse, the Wolverines will be a bowl team. However, they are not much more of a team than that. They could possible win three out of their final four games to finish with an 8-4 record. That could get them a bowl on New Years Day. However, that appears to be this team’s ceiling.

An 8-4 record was what upset the Michigan fans under the coaching of Lloyd Carr. Rodriguez needs to surpass that record consistently.

They need to beat Illinois playing on the road, and defeat Purdue. The rubber games are Ohio State and Wisconsin, but after Penn State dismantled this team, the Ohio State games doesn’t look as winnable now.

The Penn State game was the 20th game for Rich Rodriguez as Michigan’s coach. His record after 20 games is 8-12. Aside from the 2008 season debacle, Michigan is once again showing signs that they can become the dominant team that their new coach envisioned.

However, the Michigan program does demand excellence. The Notre Dame win was nice, however when you coach Michigan it’s expected you will beat Iowa and Michigan State on a consistent basis as well as Penn State.

This year Rodriguez will get another mulligan. However in year three all excuses will be off the table.

Lou Kovacs was a bit skeptical when his son Jordan called from fall camp to tell him he was working on the second team defense for Michigan’s football team.

Privately Lou questioned whether his son was really second on Michigan’s depth chart. Perhaps Jordan was just naive and overstated his rank on the team, or maybe the coaching staff was just experimenting for a few practices. The only way for him to know for sure was if there was injury to a starter and Jordan inserted in his place.

On September 12, with the University of Michigan in a fierce battle during the second half with Notre Dame, Lou was watching the game from Michigan’s Big House. Like his son Jordan, Lou also was a walk on (1980-82) for the Wolverines, and then stayed on to be a graduate assistant. Even if Jordan wasn’t playing he would be at the football game. And no way an unknown freshman is going to play. Right?

Mike Williams, free safety, got cramps while on the field. He needed a rest, providing a moment of truth. So Lou stole a glance at Michigan’s sideline. He saw the defensive coaches giving his son Jordan instructions. He was going into the game.

That was the beginning of a heartwarming story.

The story actually began two years before when Jordan was a thriving senior for Clay High School. By all accounts he was outstanding and earned first team honors for the district team and City League.

Lou said, he was a very good ballplayer.

However, he was going to have to pay his way to college. A few schools from Division II and III pursued Jordan. Interest was expressed by University of Toledo but not enough interest for extending him a scholarship offer. If the University of Toledo or any other Division I programmed offered a scholarship to Jordan, he would definitely have accepted. It would have been a complete no brainer.

Jordan said, I am happy they didn’t. I am happy that I ended up at Michigan.

The feeling is mutual. Through the first seven games for Michigan, Kovacs (5’10″, 194 pounds) is the second ranked player for tackles with 45, including 17 tackles in their Michigan State loss, despite the fact that he didn’t start until the team’s fourth game versus Indiana.

Success stories for walk ons don’t usually start to materialize until the player has been with a team for four to five years. However, Kovacs has only been with Michigan since this spring. However, in many ways he has been a Wolverine for his whole life. He’s attended games with his father Lou, listened to his dad’s stories about appearing in the Rose Bowl and about Lou’s limited playing time. In 2005 Jordan was at the game when Michigan defeated Penn State for their only loss that year. Tomorrow No. 13 ranked Penn State (6-1, 2-1) will visit the Wolverines (5-2, 1-2).

Jordan said that he always believed he would play football for Michigan.

His dream was almost shattered when Jordan honestly answered a question. He was too honest.

After it became obvious that no Division I scholarships were going to be offered to Jordan, Lou made a video with highlights of Jordan and mailed the video to the Michigan coaching staff. Right away they were interested. Jordan was invited to a 2008 tryout at the start of the academic year. He sort of made the team. He was told to return the next day for what he thought was a background check, just a formality before being handed a locker combination and team jersey.

However during the interview Jordan made a fatal mistake. He revealed that his knee that had been surgically repaired the year before was not entirely healed. The coaching staff responded by saying no thanks.

Jordan said he realized he was digging himself into a hole.

Lou, a lawyer in the area and 1978 grad of Clay, said that his son was completely demoralized. He was as high as can be then in the pits the next day.

Jordan did have a plan though. He underwent an additional surgery. It was an operation of twenty minutes for fixing a meniscu tear. Then he planned on making the team during the next season. Jordan received inspiration by watching the movie Rudy. It was the same film he watched the night before trying out for the team the year before. Lou and Jordan were both confident that he would have a different fortune this time around. Jordan showed no lingering affects after the surgery and excelled during his tryout. He got an invitation to spring practice and realized his dream.

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan head coach, said I hope every year we have a story like Jordan Kovacs.’

Rodriguez was himself a walk on for West Virginia before he earned playing time in his second year due to a few guys leaving, getting hurt, moving over to other positions, and a player getting injured during the game.

The rise of Kovacs wasn’t nearly as dramatic. When he has had the chance, Jordan has outplayed Williams. In another obvious sign of him playing well, Jordan was moved over to strong safety prior to the Iowa game, allowing Troy Woolfolk to play cornerback.

His father Lou was nervous, just like everyone else attending the Notre Dame game and the Wolverine’s thrilling victory.

The cell phone for Lou died in the middle of the game from all the calls of congratulations he received. There were later apologies from Jordan’s friends who had tried to convince him that that best move for his career would be at University of Toledo. Stevie Brown, Wolverine linebacker, who kept confusing Kovacs with Matt Cavanaugh, freshman safety, was embracing him now.

Jordan admits he has been surprised at just how fast his career has taken off. He thought he was going to need to be patient and then finally earn a promotion maybe when he was a junior or senior.

I never thought it was not ever going to happen though, Jordan said.

Bill Martin inherited an athletic department at Michigan when the basketball program and finances were in complete shambles and the facilities for the school were outdated.

Now, a decade later, Martin is calling it a career after he fixed the books, restored pride on Michigan’s basketball court, and made almost $300 million worth in improvements to the infrastructure of the basketball and football programs.

In his resignation letter to Mary Sue Coleman, University of Michigan President, the sixty nine year old Martin wrote that being the Athletic Director at Michigan wasn’t just a job, but a way of life. It is one I have fully embraced, Martin said in the letter that was made public on Wednesday.

Martin will be stepping down on September 4, 2010. At that time the Wolverines will be hosting Connecticut and the school rededicating Michigan Stadium once the renovation of $226 million is completed.

Martin was named as the interim Athletic Director for Michigan in 2000. He inherited a $2.8 million deficit along with one of the biggest financial scandals in intercollegiate athletic history, which stemmed from a former ex-booster providing Chris Webber and other Michigan basketball players with a loan of $616,000.

Later Martin agreed to a commitment of three years and dropped the interim label.

He ended up staying a lot longer.

Martin helped to improve the Athletic Department’s facilities and finances, help their basketball program rebound and hired Rich Rodriguez to be Michigan’s new head football coach. Rodriguez appears to have the winningest college football program headed back into the right direction, following his debut season where the team lost a university record nine games.

Rodriguez, whose Wolverines team is 5-2 as they head into their game on Saturday versus No. 13 ranked Penn State said, we’ve had lots of laughs and a few tough times as well.

Martin and Coleman previously discussed his retirement and Martin agreed to stay until Michigan Stadium renovations were complete.

The renovation is set to be completed in August 2010. Another $23.2 million major project for the practice facility for the basket team adjacent to Crisler Arena, received approval in January. In August the football team of Michigan started to take advantage of the $26.1 million improvements to their practice facility.

Rodriguez told reporters that Martin was always a very big supporter of Michigan’s football program. What he has done fiscally and facility wise for the Athletic Department has really been amazing. It will be sad seeing him leave.

Lloyd Carr, who retired January 1, 2008 as Michigan’s head football coach and is a senior AD, said the facilities at Michigan were far behind those of our peers at the time that Martin was hired.

A statement from Carr said, today we’re on the forefront. All of the monumental changes orchestrated by Bill and his group have given Michigan Athletics an excellent position that will be in place for many decades into the future.

There are, however, two issues at least lingering as Martin prepares for his retirement.

An internal investigation was launched by the school in August regarding allegations that their football program had violated NCCA rules regularly in terms of the limits on how much time that players could spend practicing and training. The Athletic Department need to also find enough well off corporations and fans in a very tough economy in order to fill the Big House luxury boxes which cost up to $85,000 per season.

President Coleman stated that Martin would stay on as Athletic Director until his successor had been selected, and that he would stay as a special adviser for Coleman until he retired.

Some of Martin’s potential replacements might include David Brandon, CEO of Domino’s Pizza, Brad Bates, Athletic Director for Miami of Ohio, and Warde Manuel, Athletic Director for Buffalo. All were members of the Michigan football team when Bo Schembechler was the head coach. Another possibility is Arkansas’ Jeff Long, whom Schembechler hired to start out his career in athletic administration.

Brandon, in an Associated Press interview said, I have worked with Bill as a member of the board of regents for the stadium as well as other projects. But today should be about Bill and the great job that he has done.

When he as asked if he was interested in taking over for Martin Brandon said, I love my jobs as C.E.O. for a public company. I wish all the best for Mary Sue Coleman in her search.

Long, Manuel and Bates did not comment.

Martin made his fortune with real estate and is an ex acting president for the U.S. Olympic Committee as well as president for the U.S. Sailing Association. The wealthy Martin, who is also down to earth, could have just spent his sixties enjoying time on a sailboat. Instead he took on Michigan’s tough challenges.

In an 2003 AP interview Martin said, no I do not need this. But I do thrive on challenges, absolutely. I also do not mind working. There are nights when I do go home burnt out and collapse. I didn’t ever sleep out on the coach before. Now some nights at about 9 o’clock I will watch some TV. Before I know it, the David Letterman show is on, my clothes are out on the couch and my wife’s in bed.

Saturday was the record breaking day for Michigan, as they trounced Delaware State 63-6.

The 5-2 Wolverines set school records for 442 yards during the first half as well as 727 total yards for the game. With their 28 points in the first quarter they tied a school record, and their 49-3 halftime lead was the second most points ever by halftime.

The 1-4 Hornets didn’t even come close to Appalachian State’s 2007 upset at Michigan’s Big House. However the second tier collegiate program was paid $550,000 to provide a tuneup for Michigan and forfeit a game in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference.

Tate Forcier started at quarterback, one week after suffering a concussion. He led Michigan on a drive for a touchdown during his only possession, leaving the game still healthy.

Denard Robins had two touchdown passes on only four attempts and also fumbled. The Wolverines also played their third string quarterback as well as their fourth and fifth.

Forcier had been listed as questionable, but did play for one drive. His two pass attempts were both completions for a total of 39 yards.

None of Michigan’s quarterbacks threw over nine passes. Instead they handed the ball off frequently, maybe trying to avoid letting the score get even more out of hand versus the clearly over match team from the Football Championship Subdivision.

Michigan rested the top two of their running backs- Brandon Minor (injured ankle) and Carlos Brown (concussion), and some of the more inexperienced players were able to take advantage.

Vincent Smith rushed for 166 yards, his career high, and had one touchdown. Michael Cox rushed for 82 yards and had two scores, while Michael Shaw had 73 rushing yards as well as a touchdown.

In the highest scoring game for Michigan since 1992 when they scored 63 points versus Minnesota, the Wolverines saw two brothers score.

Kevin Grady has a rushing touchdown and brother Kelvin, who originally came to play basketball at Michigan, had a receiving score.

In the first half’s last minute Delaware State was able to avoid being shut out. Larrone Moore had a kickoff return for 51 yards and Riley Flickinger kicked a field goal. Early fourth quarter Flickinger had another field goal to make the score 49-6.

Delaware State did not start their quarterback, Anthony Glaud, one week after suffering a concussion while losing to Bethune-Cookman. They started Nick Elko instead.

On the first four drives Delaware State only had 14 yards gained. After that it didn’t really get a lot better.

The lucrative payday for Delaware State did cost them. They had to forfeit their scheduled conference game versus North Carolina A&T.

Ricky Stanzi, Iowa’s quarterback, always seems to be able to make up for any early mistakes. Tate Forcier, Michigan’s quarterback, didn’t get the opportunity to do that.

Stanzi passed for 284 yards and had two touchdowns after being intercepted on his very first pass as No. 12 ranked Iowa was able to survive another very close call, defeating Michigan on Saturday night 30-28. The win gave Iowa its best start of a season since 1985 and their first wining streak of 10 games in over 80 years.

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan head coach, pulled the ineffective Forcier from the game in the fourth quarter. Denard Robinson, another freshman quarterback, led the Wolverines on a touchdown drive which was capped by his three yard run. With 1:30 left in the game, Michigan got the football back, but Robinson threw an interception that was picked off by Brett Greenwood with just 46 seconds left in the game, leaving the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0) as the only undefeated team remaining in the Big Ten conference.

Iowa has won their three home games by six points total. Then again the Hawkeyes haven’t ever been very interested in getting style points.

Stanzi said, we have to fight off adversity. In our games we have had to do it a lot. That helps to build character. We are excited about our record, but we still have a lot of football to play.

Iowa won for the 10th game in a row, which is the longest winning streak for the Hawkeyes since 1920-1923 when they won 20 games in a row.

Michigan (4-2, 1-2) had five turnovers, a season high. Forcier completed 8 out of 19 passes for a total of 94 yards and one interception. Rodriquez said Forcier, who has a shoulder injury, was not at 100 percent.

Michigan’s head coach tried to squash any ideas that there was a quarterback controversy and also denied that Forcier and he had had words over on the sidelines.

Rodriguez said, Tate did make some plays that he would probably want to have back. We wanted to get a spark so we made a change. Denard did give us that spark toward the end, but we didn’t finish it.

Wolverine Donovan Warren ran the Stanzi interception back for a touchdown in the opening minute of the game, and Brandon Minor had two scores for Michigan.

Iowa’s Tony Moeaki caught two wide open touchdown passes, but those were the only things that cam easy for the Hawkeyes.

Trailing in the game 23-21 early fourth quarter, Michigan stopped Iowa on the one yard line on fourth down and goal, which ended a drive that had been kept alive by a muffed punt by Michigan on their 16 yard line. The play would have had a roughing penalty anyway. Stevie Brown was able to break up the pass from Stanzi on the fourth down and goal play.

The defense of Iowa then was able to force three plays and out. Then Stanzi connected with Moeaki on a touchdown pass of 42 yards on the first play following the punt to make the score 30-21 with 12:56 minutes left to play in the game.

Although Robinson was able to lead Michigan on a 59 yard drive for a score, his interception sent Michigan down to defeat for the second week in a row. Both losses have come on the after after Michigan got off to a 4-0 start.

Jeremiah Hunter, Iowa linebacker said, we knew that Robinson isn’t that good of a passer and was coming in so he could run. When he threw we got the pick.

The offense for Michigan, which had stalled since their score late first quarter, was able to put a 57 yard scoring drive together mid third quarter. Minor scored on a one yard play to make the score 23-21. He finished the game with 95 yards rushing and had the first two rushing touchdowns scored against Iowa for the year.

Iowa, despite only rushing for a total of three yards during the first half, lead at the break 20-14.

Mid second quarter the Hawkeyes took the lead behind Stanzi’s play. On third down and 24 Stanzi connected on a 47 yard pass with Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, setting up a one yard leaping touchdown score from Brandon Wegher.

The first pass from Stanzi went right to Warren, who was able to take the gift interception for 40 yards and score a touchdown just 46 seconds into the game.

The Stanzi interception was the third this season that has been returned for a score. However, on the next Iowa possession he made up for his error.

Sensing that a blitz was coming, Stanzi changed the original play, sending Moeaki into the flat. Stanzi found a wide open Moeaki for a touchdown pass of 34 yards to tie the game at 7-7.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa coach, said it is hard to rattle him. I am very proud of how he has led our team.

Then on Forcier’s first pass, he threw an interception, setting up a field goal of 28 yards from Daniel Murray.

Michigan was able to immediately answering, taking the lead back 14-10 on a three yard run for a touchdown from Minor. It was the first running touchdown that Iowa had allowed in 33 quarters.

It was the first time the Wolverines and Hawkeyes had met since 2006, and only the seventh game at Kinnick Stadium that has been played under the lights. The stadium does not have permanent lighting. At kickoff the temperature was mid thirties. For Forcier, who is from San Diego, it was his coldest college game.

The game was also the first since 1985 that Iowa was facing Michigan as the team with the higher ranking. In the 1985 contest, the number one ranked Hawkeyes defeated number two ranked Michigan 12-10.

The Hawkeyes have won 10 games in a row including last season, with their victory over Michigan solidifying them as legitimate contenders for the Big Ten title, despite the fact that Iowa has had a habit lately of ekeing out their wins.

Stanzi said, we are staying together, and that is what it really comes down to. You cannot focus too much on every little play. If we all stick together, that is when we are at our best.

After Michigan was able to eke out a 36-33 ugly victory last week versus Indiana Martavious Odoms, wide receiver for the Wolverines said, we are the only team who can beat us. With their passing game stifled, a running game that was nonexistent and gaping holes in the defense, Michigan succeeded in doing just that on Saturday. However in the loss the Wolverines did have a last minute comeback attempt which seems to becoming their trademark.

The Wolverines made a valiant attempt to avoid their first loss this season. In the final five minutes of the fourth quarter they scored 14 points and sent the game to overtime. However, the Spartans then picked off a third down pass from Tate Forcier, Michigan quarterback, during the first possession in overtime. On Michigan State’s ensuing drive, Larry Caper, Michigan State running back, rushed for a 23 yard touchdown to give the Spartans a 26-20 victory.

It took the Wolverines 55 minutes to finally get a big play. Darryl Stonum, sophomore wide receiver, caught a 60 yard pass for a touchdown which brought Michigan to within seven points. In a heavy rain, the defense for the Wolverines force a three plays and out. Forcier and the Michigan offense took over again with a little under three minutes left to play in the game. They strung together a scoring drive of 92 yards, capped off by a touchdown pass of 9 yards on third down and eight with just two seconds left to Roy Roundtree.

Rich Rodriguez said he was very proud of how Tate battled. The whole game we didn’t get into a rhythm, but we at least were are able to hang in enough to at least have a chance.

The last minute effort by Michigan was not enough to overcome all of their bad play during most of the game. The Wolverines ended up losing by just six points, however in reality it should have been a much wider gap. At halftime Michigan State had 223 offensive yards and 12 first downs. Michigan, on the other hand, had just a 50 percent rate of completion and minus three yards rushing. The Wolverines appeared to be intimidated and disjointed and weren’t able to get into any kind of groove until the Stonum touchdown catch.

Michigan (4-1) was able to make an early statement before allowing Michigan State (2-3) to take the game over. On the third play for Michigan State of the game, Ryan Van Bergen, sophomore defensive tackle for Michigan, tipped a Kirk Cousin pass and Stevie Brown, Wolverines senior linebacker, picked off the ball, running it back 18 yards to Michigan State’s 14 yard line. On the drive the Spartans defense was able to the Wolverines to minus five yards. Michigan got a field goal from 36 yards.

On the second drive for Michigan State the pass defense for Michigan was nonexistent. The Spartans drive went for a total of 130 offensive yards and was over 10 minutes in duration. The Spartans were able to easily move the ball against the Wolverines secondary, however their progress was hindered by four penalties for a total of 50 yards, with three of the penalties being for personal fouls.

On the drive Keshawn Martin, wide receiver had a run of 18 yards nullified by a personal foul 15 yard penalty by Obi Ezeh, junior linebacker, for a late hit. On the Spartans next play another personal foul was called after an 8 yard pass completion. This one went against Donovan Warren, junior cornerback, for another late hit. However, the Spartans were eventually able to move the ball to inside the one, making it fourth down with inches to go. Michigan was unable to stop them, and Caper scored on the play to give Michigan State a 7-3 lead.

Forcier, in his first road college game, looked a bit rattled from the hostile atmosphere. During their two drives in the first quarter Michigan’s offense had minus five and then 5 yards. The Michigan State offense, meanwhile, continued to beat Michigan’s defense on long pass plays, including an early second quarter third down and 18 conversion when Cousins connected with B.J. Cunningham for 27 yards and first down. For the game Michigan State went 8 for 18 on their attempts on third down.

Rodriguez said the third downs killed us. I don’t even know the number of times their quarterback was able to scramble and get first downs. That is very frustrating after playing great for two snaps and they get the big first down on the third snap.

The cornerbacks for Michigan continued giving the Wolverines receivers plenty of room, which easily allowed them to catch the throws from Cousins and drive down field. They scored a field goal and went into halftime with a 10-6 lead.

In the first half, Cousins went 13 for 16 and had 140 passing yards as he tore up the Wolverines defense.

Michigan has claimed to be a second half team all season. But coming out after halftime they didn’t look any better. On their first possession, with the opportunity to start fresh, they went three plays and out with minus eight yards for the drive. Michigan State received the ball near midfield and drove the ball steadily down field. However on third down Cousins, facing pressure, threw an interception which was picked off by Warren.

However, once again the offense for Michigan was unable to string a drive together to capitalize on the turnover. The offense and Forcier were unable to make a first down. On fourth down and inches from the 16 yard line of Michigan, Zoltan Mesko, senior punter, ran on a fake punt attempt, but was stopped short of making a first down. The Spartans took over on the 13 yard line of Michigan. After a few plays they scored a field goal, which extended their lead up to 7 points. Early in the first quarter they scored again and took a 20-6 lead.

The Wolverine got a perfect opportunity for building momentum when Ezeh was able to recover a fumble from Michigan State with 11 minutes to play. Forcier then made a 10 yard pass completion. Following the play Michigan State received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a late hit. The penalty moved Michigan down another 16 yards to the 27 yard line of Michigan State. However Stonum, on the very next play, fumbled and Michigan State recovered the football. At that point in the game, Michigan was negative twenty yards in rushing.

After Michigan State failed to score, Michigan got the ball back and Forcier rallied the Wolverines to score two touchdowns. However, when it came down to the end, the Spartans needed just three plays on their drive in overtime to score and finish out the game.

In 42 years it is the only time Michigan has lost to Michigan State two times in a row.

Brandon Graham, senior defensive end said, it hurts to lose period, and especially to State. They won and that’s all I can really say.