Michigan 27 Vanderbilt 7 - September 2, 2006 - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Chris Bray's Record (11-3) - Video Highlights
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Michigan was solid early and late in its opener.
In the middle of the matchup against Vanderbilt, Mike Hart acknowledged the Wolverines were sluggish offensively.
The shifty running back ran for 146 yards to lead No. 14 Michigan to a 27-7 victory over the Commodores on Saturday.
``We made a lot of mistakes that were drive-killers,'' Hart said. ``That's one thing we can't have in bigger games. Every time you win, you're going to be happy. But we need to improve a lot to be a championship contender.''
Michigan has another tuneup, against Central Michigan, before visiting No. 2 Notre Dame.
``We have a lot of work to do,'' coach Lloyd Carr said. ``That's for sure.''
The Wolverines are coming off a 7-5 season, their worst since going .500 in 1984. They have their lowest preseason ranking since 1997, when they went on to win a national championship.
Michigan scored on an impressive opening drive and had a chance to build an early cushion, but Vanderbilt blocked a kick and scored on a trick play to pull within three points early in the second quarter.
The Wolverines went ahead 20-7 late in the third on Chad Henne's 14-yard pass to a leaping Tyler Ecker on a third down.
Michigan sealed its eighth straight home opener by forcing quarterback Chris Nickson to fumble for a second time with 4:33 left near midfield, leading to Henne's 27-yard pass to Mario Manningham.
Henne finished 10-of-22 for 135 yards with two TDs.
``It definitely wasn't my best, but we'll see next week how much improvement I make,'' he said after throwing some poor passes and having a few dropped.
In his first start in place of Jay Cutler, who Denver drafted with 11th overall pick, Nickson was 11-of-25 for 99 yards and would've been sacked more than six times if he wasn't so mobile. Nickson ran for 64 yards, including a 22-yard gain, but was hit behind the line so often that he finished with 22 net yards.
``He needs to learn how to manage the game,'' Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. ``I remember Jay Cutler's first couple games. We went down to Auburn and he looked just about exactly the same.
``Young quarterbacks against a veteran defense, that's a tough lesson.''
Nickson said he picked up a lot from the experience.
``I learned to keep my composure through some good things and some bad things,'' said Nickson, who threw just three passes as Cutler's backup last season. ``The main thing is to persevere.''
Cutler helped Vanderbilt win five games last season - after the school had four straight two-win seasons.
Standout receiver Earl Bennett had six catches for 58 yards and threw a 30-yard touchdown to Marlon White to make it 10-7 with 12:26 left in the first half.
Then, Michigan's aggressive defense shut the Commodores down.
``When you put pressure on a quarterback, he throws the ball a little quicker,'' said defensive end LaMarr Woodley, who had two sacks and tackled Nickson for another loss. ``We were bringing the heat.''
The way the Wolverines started, it looked like it might be an easy day.
Michigan drove 81 yards on the opening kickoff - with a nice mix of the run and pass - and scored on a 19-yard run when Kevin Grady went right and sliced across the defense with a cutback.
After forcing Nickson to fumble, the Wolverines had to settle for a 10-0 lead on their third drive after a pass for a first down at the 1 was overturned by review.
Vanderbilt started to make the Wolverines sweat by blocking a field goal and fooling them on a trick play early in the second quarter. Nickson tossed a lateral to Bennett, who found a wide-open White for a 30-yard TD.
Garrett Rivas' career-long 48-yard field goal on the ensuing possession put Michigan ahead 13-7. The Wolverines had a chance to create a bigger cushion on their next drive, but Grady fumbled at Vanderbilt's 19.
``Offensively, we did an excellent job in the first quarter,'' Carr said. ``(Then), I don't pretend to know why we didn't execute.''
Scoring Summary (Final)
Vanderbilt Football
Vanderbilt vs Michigan (Sep 2, 2006 at Ann Arbor, MI)
Vanderbilt (0-1) vs. Michigan (1-0)
Date: Sep 2, 2006 Site: Ann Arbor, MI Stadium: Michigan Stadium
Attendance: 109668
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Vanderbilt.......... 0 7 0 0 - 7
Michigan............ 10 3 7 7 - 27
Scoring Summary:
1st 10:12 MICH - Grady, Kevin 19 yd run (Rivas, Garrett kick)
10 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:48, VU 0 - MICH 7
02:25 MICH - Rivas, Garrett 33 yd field goal
7 plays, 17 yards, TOP 2:51, VU 0 - MICH 10
2nd 12:26 VU - WHITE,Marlon 30 yd pass from BENNETT,Earl (HAHNFELDT,B kick)
5 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:22, VU 7 - MICH 10
07:37 MICH - Rivas, Garrett 48 yd field goal
10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:49, VU 7 - MICH 13
3rd 02:29 MICH - Ecker, Tyler 14 yd pass from Henne, Chad (Rivas, Garrett kick)
10 plays, 41 yards, TOP 4:08, VU 7 - MICH 20
4th 02:11 MICH - Manningham, M. 27 yd pass from Henne, Chad (Rivas, Garrett kick)
6 plays, 41 yards, TOP 2:22, VU 7 - MICH 27
Kickoff time: 12:00 End of Game: 3:03 Total elapsed time: 3:03
Officials: Referee: B. LeMonnier; Umpire: R. Nelson; Linesman: R. Kruger;
Line judge: J. Livas; Back judge: K. Schwarzel; Field judge: G. Hocker Jr.;
Side judge: J. Lucivansky;
Temperature: Mid 60s Wind: NE 10-20 Weather: Mostly cloudy
ID-999999
Team Statistics
Team Statistics (Final)
Vanderbilt Football
Vanderbilt vs Michigan (Sep 2, 2006 at Ann Arbor, MI)
VU MICHFIRST DOWNS................... 9 20
Rushing..................... 1 13
Passing..................... 6 7
Penalty..................... 2 0
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 42 246
Rushing Attempts............ 26 51
Average Per Rush............ 1.6 4.8
Yards Gained Rushing........ 90 263
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 48 17
NET YARDS PASSING............. 129 135
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 12-26-0 10-22-0
Average Per Attempt......... 5.0 6.1
Average Per Completion...... 10.8 13.5
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 171 381
Total offense plays......... 52 73
Average Gain Per Play....... 3.3 5.2
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-2 2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 2-20 6-54
PUNTS-YARDS................... 7-254 4-162
Average Yards Per Punt...... 36.3 40.5
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 35.3 39.2
Inside 20................... 2 1
50+ Yards................... 0 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 2 0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 2-130 6-355
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 65.0 59.2
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 47.5 40.7
Touchbacks.................. 0 1
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 1-5-0 3-7-0
Average Per Return.......... 5.0 2.3
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-91-0 2-35-0
Average Per Return.......... 22.8 17.5
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 1-2-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 -17
Possession Time............... 26:31 33:29
1st Quarter................. 5:30 9:30
2nd Quarter................. 5:51 9:09
3rd Quarter................. 6:54 8:06
4th Quarter................. 8:16 6:44
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 15 10 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-0 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 6-38
PAT Kicks..................... 1-1 3-3
Field Goals................... 0-0 2-3
