Optioned out

Michigan wanted last year to last just a little longer

The deafening noise of the 8,000 homogeneous students - chanting "Let's go Irish!" in unison after Notre Dame's 36-20 victory - kept swaying the freshman's attention from his conversation. But in the spectrum of worst day of 1998 for the Michigan football team, the roar was but a minor distraction.

Mark Snyder Mark My Words

The downhill spiral of an evil second half of football was the primary concern. But for Fargas, Michigan's freshman tailback, the loss is all he knows as a collegian.

Majority rule, though, remains in effect on this Michigan team, and the bulk of these football players know the pinnacle and the thrill of victory.

In fact, after last season's undefeated national championship, they may have forgotten what a loss feels like.

They remember now.

For eight months, the Michigan family - as they like to call themselves - basked in the nation's brightest spotlight. Parades, trophies and accolades rained on the heroes from the seemingly boundless sky.

That "high ceiling" re-emerged in its most literal form early on Saturday, as the cloud-free sky dominated the northern Indiana landscape.

Maybe Michigan misinterpreted the beauty. After all, too many pats on the back can slant one's focus. Maybe the Wolverines saw the perfect weather as they saw everything else - heaven that belonged to them.

Someone forgot to turn the calendar.

All fall, the Wolverines have paid lip service to this being "a new year" and "last year is in the past," but the complacency was obvious.

WARREN ZINN/Daily Jarious Jackson and the rest of the Notre Dame offense ran away from Michigan in the second half of Saturday's 36-20 loss. Jackson threw two touchdown passes as Notre Dame erased a 13-6 Michigan lead.

As last season progressed, Michigan football became more complex. New wrinkles had to be added to keep opponents on their toes. The media crush doubled, then tripled in a matter of months and individual awards (i.e the Heisman Trophy) complicated the Wolverine daily routine.

Last season, despite the off-the-field challenges, Michigan remembered the task at hand during each contest. Getting back to the basics proved to be Saturday's primary foe. And the most basic elements of the sport proved to be Michigan's undoing.

The bedrock of last season's team was the defense. Opposing tailbacks were smothered for losses consistently. On Saturday, wrapping up the fleet of foot proved impossible.

Notre Dame tailback Autry Denson, stuffed by Michigan a year earlier on the deciding play, stepped around Michigan tackles - for 163 yards - as if walking on hot coals. The Wolverines recognized the problem, but seemed unable to remedy the situation.

"They got us down and we didn't have the edge to go and say, 'Forget about it,'" Rob Renes said.

On offense, despite new quarterback Tom Brady's success, the ballcarriers couldn't score. The simple premise - outscore your opponent - provided a mental block for these Wolverines as the red zone became their stop sign. Four trips inside the zone on their first four possessions resulted in just six points.

Those successful kicks could be chalked up as a positive - if not for the four misses by Kraig Baker and Jay Feely. With highly touted freshman Hayden Epstein waiting in the wings, the heat is on Feely and Baker to find bionic legs quickly.

So that's what it boils down to: Simple plays and execution were overcome by the complexity and memories of the title season.

Right now, Michigan is a good team. But the possibility for greatness exists. The Wolverines' lack of effectiveness on Saturday was as much their own fault as Notre Dame's achievement. The Fighting Irish are a good team, but nowhere near the world-beaters they appeared to be on their home field.

An early season loss damages little except expectations, placing Michigan in the polls about where they began last season's record-setting run.

"There isn't a doubt in my mind that they'll respond to a tough loss," Lloyd Carr said.

The talent on this Michigan team is as good as last season, if not better. This group of Wolverines just needs to find its comfort zone. One game does not make a season, but the deficiencies are there. The players and coaches admitted it: The game, the effort and the execution were pitiful against Notre Dame.

Maybe the possibility of losing needed to return.

If so, the game plan is working.

- Mark Snyder can be reached via e-mail at msnyder@umich.edu.

09-08-98