It seems like an awful long time ago that the Michigan Wolverines opened their season with a loss to a I-AA team and a whupping by Oregon, but it sure looked yesterday like they were intent on spending their day reminiscing.

Michigan had won eight in a row, and they were playing a Wisconsin team that had hoped to be in the title hunt this year, only to stumble badly early on (much like the Wolverines).

Things looked bad early on for the Wolverines. They started by playing the game without featured RB Mike Hart, who was probably healthy enough to play, but coach Lloyd Carr made the decision to rest him for next weekend instead (a move that was more lucky than wise considering OSU's loss). Then QB Chad Henne threw an interception on Michigan's third possession that Wisconsin turned into a touchdown drive, after which Henne was benched for the rest of the game. A quarter and a half into the game, Michigan had managed a measly 70 yards of offense and trailed 17-0.

Backup QB Ryan Mallett then led his team on an 80-yard touchdown drive on which he completed four of his five pass attempts for 73 yards and a score to future NFLer Mario Manningham. Wisconsin drove right back down the field for another field goal, and the Wolverines were on the short end of a 20-7 halftime score.

The third quarter didn't get any better. Michigan started by going three-and-out and punting. Wisconsin fumbled the punt, and Michigan got the ball back at the Badger 38-yard line, but they couldn't even muster a first down to get into field goal range. Wisconsin then turned around and put together a 15-play, 8-minute drive that wound up in a chip shot field goal, and it was 23-7 Wisconsin heading into the fourth quarter.

Then the tide began to turn. On Michigan's third offensive play of the fourth quarter, Mallett hit Mannigham for a 97-yard touchdown drive. Mallett then went oh for his next seven pass attempts, including an interception on Michigan's first play after the touchdown bomb, but one more completion for a 26-yard touchdown was all he needed to cut the score to 23-21 with 7:31 left on the clock.

Michigan had the ball, first-and-10 at their own 30-yard line with five minutes left, when things started to unravel. on the next two plays, Mallett was sacked for a 19-yard loss and then intercepted, then he stood on the sideline as Wisconsin ran the ball four straight plays to put the lead back to nine. After going for it on fourth-and-19 from their own two and failing, Wisconsin tacked on one more score for a 37-21 final.