A Vaunted Attack Ends Up Vulnerable

By David Wharton

Jan. 2, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Among Michigan players and coaches, there wasn’t much mystery about what went wrong against USC in the Rose Bowl.

It wasn’t the secondary that was beaten for four touchdown passes. It wasn’t the special teams that faulted early.

Almost to a man, they pointed to the same thing.

“Nine sacks,” offensive tackle Tony Pape said. “That’s just a terrible statistic.”

Nine times quarterback John Navarre went down under the Trojan rush.

“It was really my greatest fear ... an extremely quick, athletic front four,” Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said. “We just could not handle their pressure up front and I think that was probably the difference in the game.”

Nine sacks for minus-69 yards.

It was especially galling to a Michigan line that had surrendered only 1.25 sacks a game, perhaps the greatest insult in a 28-14 loss that felt more lopsided than the score suggested.

As is often the case when Big Ten Conference teams face West Coast opponents, the Wolverines came to Southern California figuring to have a bigger, tougher line.

And on the opening drive, Michigan lived up to its Midwestern reputation with a a mix of runs and passes that featured solid blocking.

But during that possession, the Wolverines were befuddled on plays when USC cornerbacks Will Poole and Marcell Allmond blitzed.

“They had showed that before,” Navarre said. “But they brought it a little more than we expected.”

Michigan attempted a long field goal that was blocked. Problems continued into the second quarter when Poole recorded another sack.

“Now their linemen have to worry ‘Who’s coming? Who’s coming?’ ” defensive tackle Shaun Cody said. “They forget about us.”

Navarre looked to dump the ball off quickly but found his hot reads covered by Trojan safeties and linebackers.

A pattern was developing. The Wolverines would get a couple of first downs, then surrender a sack and find themselves facing third and long.

By halftime, Michigan trailed, 14-0, and was wondering where its offense, supposedly the strength of its team, had gone.

No doubt there were other factors -- such as the early field-goal block -- that contributed to USC’s victory.

A Michigan secondary that had given up only five touchdowns this season was torched for 327 yards and three touchdowns by USC quarterback and Rose Bowl most valuable player Matt Leinart.

A defensive line that had sacked the opposing quarterback 28 times got to Leinart once.

“It’s kind of frustrating because you’re trying to get to the quarterback and it seemed like he was getting rid of the ball a step before we got there,” defensive tackle Grant Bowman said.

That allowed USC receivers Keary Colbert and Mike Williams to have the kind of day that left Michigan’s cornerbacks mumbling and shaking their heads at reporters as they ran off the field afterward.

Adding insult to injury, the Trojans’ final score came on a trick play, a 15-yard reverse pass from Williams to Leinart.

“I thought it was a sweep, then I thought it was a reverse, then I couldn’t believe it when he threw the ball,” Bowman said. “So they had me three times.”

With postgame perspective Michigan players suspected the only way they might have defeated USC was to play their best game of the season.

“We certainly did not do that,” Carr said.

Still, that statistic kept popping up, irritating, nearly inconceivable. “I cannot really tell you why we gave up nine sacks,” Pape said.