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Henne, Manningham help Michigan beat Michigan St

Oct 7, 2006 - 11:42 PM ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Chad Henne, Mario Manningham and Michigan did not take reeling Michigan State too lightly.

Henne hooked up with Manningham for two of his three touchdown passes as the sixth-ranked Wolverines continued their mastery of their intrastate foe with a 31-13 Big Ten Conference triumph over the Spartans.

Mike Hart ran 22 times for 122 yards before exiting late in the third quarter with a left ankle injury for the Wolverines (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who have won five straight in the rivalry. Hart had his ankle taped and was spotted running on the sidelines but did not return with the result in hand.

"My ankle just got rolled up underneath me," Hart said. "I was fine after I got it taped up. I could have gone back in the game but there was no point. We were up by 21 points with about eight minutes left."

"This a typical Mike Hart game," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "He's going to bleed you because he's going to turn a two-to-three-yard gain into four or five yards, and a four- or five-yard gain into seven or eight yards. He's got such great vision and such great balance."

Henne, who completed 11-of-17 passes for 140 yards, opened the scoring just over six minutes into the contest with a 13-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Adrian Arrington in the back of the end zone. The score came one play after replay overturned a call on the field that Henne had lost a fumble instead of throwing an incomplete pass.

Michigan opened a 14-0 lead on a 41-yard strike from Henne to Manningham, who had six TDs in his previous three games, with 13:15 to play in the second quarter.

"(Manningham) has tremendous speed and makes great cuts to get separation," Henne said. "He's an outstanding player."

After T.J. Williams dropped what should have been a long touchdown pass from Drew Stanton, Brett Swenson was wide left on a 33-yard field-goal try for the Spartans. Garrett Rivas capped a lengthy drive with a 24-yard kick for a 17-0 lead with 3:35 to go in the half.

Henne again found Manningham for a 27-yard TD and a 24-0 cushion early in the third quarter.

Jehuu Caulcrick scored on a one-yard run - the first rushing TD the Wolverines had allowed all season - before true freshman Brandon Minor broke off a 40-yard run for a 31-7 advantage with 55 seconds to go in the period.

The Wolverines ran for 211 yards and limited the Big Ten's top rushing attack to just 60 on 26 carries.

"Our defense really stood up against a team that runs the ball well," said Carr, whose squad leads the nation in rushing defense. "It's about team. It's not about one phase dominating. The old saying is, 'You either get better or you get worse.' You're never where you want to be. You can always get better."

Stanton went 20-of-35 for 252 yards and two interceptions for the Spartans (3-3, 0-2), who have lost three straight games to put further heat on coach John L. Smith. Stanton did run for a two-yard run with 7:18 to play for Michigan State, which hosts top-ranked Ohio State next week.

"We're 3-3 and the schedule doesn't get any easier," Smith said. "But we're not going to lay down. We're going to come in (Sunday) and we're going to get to work, and these kids are going to come back. Whoever is healthy, we're going to pull together and we're going to go fight."

"We just have to go out and get it out of our system," Stanton said. "We've got to go out and prepare for Ohio State. They're just as good a football team as these guys. They're coming to our place and they're the No. 1 team in the nation. If we don't get prepared to play, it could get ugly."