No. 9 Michigan Overwhelms Northwestern

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Posted 4:12PM on Saturday, November 13, 2004

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michael Hart ran for 151 yards and a season-high three touchdowns and No. 9 Michigan scored TDs the first five times it touched the ball in the second half to beat Northwestern 42-20 on Saturday. The Wolverines (9-1, 7-0 Big Ten) led the Wildcats by only one point at halftime before turning the game into a rout with scores on the ground, through the air and on a punt return. They have won 15 straight games at home and 13 conference games in a row. If Michigan wins next week at Ohio State, the defending Big Ten champions will earn at least a share of the conference championship. Northwestern (5-5, 4-3) has to beat Illinois and win at Hawaii for a second straight bowl bid and fifth in 10 years. Michigan's Chad Henne was 19-of-26 for 187 yards with two TDs. Hart has run for 975 yards in his last five games and 1,311 this season. Steve Breaston scored twice in 35 seconds, catching a 10-yard TD pass and returning a punt 67 yards for another TD, to give Michigan a 42-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Hart's second TD came on a 4-yard run to put Michigan ahead 14-6 on the first drive of the second half. Hart surpassed the 100-yard mark during the possession and moved past Ohio State's Maurice Clarett (1,237 yards) into third place on the Big Ten list for single-season rushing by a freshman. With 1,311 yards rushing, only Wisconsin's Ron Dayne (2,109) and Minnesota's Darrell Thompson (1,376) ran for more yards than Hart as freshmen in the conference. Northwestern's Noah Herron ran for 156 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Brett Basanez was 23-of-43 for 211 yards and a score. Brandon Horn caught a 9-yard pass late in the game to make it 42-20. Mark Philmore, Northwestern's leading receiver and punt returner, missed his second straight game with a sprained right knee. The Wildcats drove deep into Michigan territory three times in the first half, but had just two field goals and a blocked field goal attempt to show for it. Joel Howells kicked for the first time this season in place of Brian Huffman, who has missed 10 of 17 field goals. The Wildcats trailed just 14-13 early in the third quarter after Herron ran through a hole in the middle of the line and scored on a 68-yard run. But Michigan then broke the game open. The Wolverines set an NCAA record this season by averaging 111,025 fans per game at Michigan Stadium.