Dein erstes Forum » in 2014.The Lynx and the Mercury each have thr

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- No. 4 Michigan was tested for the first time this season, falling behind by two touchdowns twice in the first quarter and by four points in the second half.The Wolverines responded well to the challenge, going ahead on DeVeon Smiths 42-yard run early in the third quarter and pulling away to beat Colorado 45-28 on Saturday.In the first two games, we were never really punched in the face, tight end Jake Butt said after making seven receptions for 87 yards. It wasnt going to be a fairy tale the whole season.Michigan (3-0) had beaten Hawaii and Central Florida by a combined score of 114-17.The Wolverines scored 17 straight points after falling behind 21-7 late in the first quarter. Michigan scored the last 21 points of the game, capped by Jabrill Peppers 54-yard punt return early in the fourth.The best way to deal with adversity is to not have it, said Wilton Speight, who was 16 of 30 for 229 yards and a TD. We were hoping to not have any adversity. Is that realistic? Maybe not. But when you look at yourself as a good team, maybe a great team, you want to avoid it as much as possible.We really couldnt do anything in the beginning, but we saw adversity in the eye and came back at it.The Buffaloes (2-1) got to midfield on the final possession, but they were more than a Hail Mary away by the end of the matchup, which rekindled memories of Kordell Stewarts 64-yard pass to Michael Westbrook in 1994 in the same stadium. Both Stewart and Westbrook attended Saturdays game.It didnt help that Sefo Liufau was hurt after throwing his third TD pass, a 70-yarder to Shay Fields that put Colorado up 28-24 just after halftime.Liufau, who was shaken up in the first half, grabbed his right ankle after Ryan Glasgow hit him on the go-ahead score. He limped through Colorados next series before being replaced by freshman Steven Montez.The senior quarterback said it was devastating, to be relegated to watching the rest of the game.Its a little over-dramatic, I think, but I cant really find another word right now, he said.Punting was also problem for the Buffaloes.Grant Perry returned a blocked punt for a 6-yard score when Michigan was trailing 14-0 late in the first quarter. Colorado punter Alex Kinney booted the ball into a teammates back in the second quarter, setting up the Wolverines for Jehu Chessons 17-yard run that pulled them within a TD.It was a big part of the game of us not coming out on top, Buffaloes coach Mike MacIntyre said.THE TAKEAWAYColorado: The Buffaloes look as if they should have enough talent to win more than four games, the most theyve won in MacIntyres previous three years at the school.We have a good football team, he said. There were a couple of things that happened out there that changed the momentum a little bit, but our guys kept battling hard.Colorado has to hope Liufau is not injured seriously again.I just couldnt plant, and throw with much velocity, Liufau said. It was better for me to come out.Michigan: The Wolverines are giving up big plays, allowing Colorado to go nearly three-fourths of the field on one play a week after letting Central Florida run for 80-plus yards on two runs.We definitely have to get the big plays corrected, Peppers acknowledged.Speight struggled for the first time, barely completing half of his passes and nearly getting picked off several times.It wasnt as clean as a quarterback would have liked it to be, coach Jim Harbaugh said.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Wolverines will likely move up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll because No. 2 Florida State lost 63-20 to Louisville.CATCH WITH THE CAPTAINTom Brady was Michigans honorary captain, accepting the invitation to come back to Michigan while he is suspended for four games from playing for the New England Patriots. Harbaugh, another former Wolverines quarterback, played catch with Brady during pregame warmups.He can whip it, Harbaugh said with a grin. He can throw it well. I wish I wouldnt have given him the wind.UP NEXTColorado: The Buffaloes, who have only one Pac-12 win in two of MacIntyres three years and went 0-9 in 2014, open the conference season with a tough test at Oregon.Michigan: The Wolverines, whose last Big Ten title was in 2004, will play their fourth of five straight games at home against Penn State in their conference opener.---AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org Colin Kaepernick Super Bowl Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Ahkello Witherspoon Super Bowl Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Jerry-Rice-49ers-Jersey/ . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Joe Staley Super Bowl Jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Dre Greenlaw Super Bowl Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Were about to see what we didnt get two years ago, but would have enjoyed: a best-of-five series between Minnesota and Phoenix in the WNBA playoffs.The No. 8 seed Mercury continued their pay-no-attention-to-the-regular-season run with a 101-94 victory over No. 3 seed New York on Saturday. Phoenix ended Tamika Catchings career with an 89-78 win at Indiana on Wednesday, and did the same to Swin Cash by beating the Liberty.This single-elimination stuff seems to agree with the Mercury, whose 16-18 regular-season record currently has little relevance. But the format abruptly changes now to a best-of-five series. There in the semifinals waits the No. 1 seed and defending champion Lynx, who were 28-6 this season and are a bit peevish because they feel like theyve been forgotten in the past week of one-and-dones.That is part of the nature of the new playoff system, though: The top two teams -- Minnesota and Los Angeles -- wait for a week and a half to play. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve took to Twitter on Saturday to express her irritation and disappointment in current media coverage of her team, and you totally can understand her point. This setup takes the focus off the best teams for quite a while to start the postseason.The interesting thing is, the Lynx and the Mercury were likely part of the impetus to change the system, at least in terms of no longer having the playoffs divided by conference. Starting this year, its just the top eight teams.That was not the case in 2014, and it led to an anti-climactic WNBA Finals. Phoenix beat Minnesota 2-1 back then in the best-of-three Western Conference finals, which pitted the top two teams in the league that season by far.The Mercury were 29-5 and played defense as well as they did offense, which made them almost unbeatable. The Lynx, who were 25-9, were the only team that really had a shot to upset them. Just one other team in the league even had a winning record that season: 19-15 Atlanta, which was upset in the Eastern Conference semifinals by 15-19 Chicago.So the West finals felt like the peak of the 2014 playoffs. The Mercury were dominant in the opener in Phoenix, 85-71. The Lynx fought back with an 82-77 win in Minneapolis. In the decisive third game back in Phoenix, the Lynx were in striking distance in the third quarter, but were buried in the fourth, falling 96-78.In the WNBA Finals, Phoenix swept Chicago, taking the first two games by 21 and 29 points, and the last game -- even without an injured Brittney Griner -- by five. The Mercury would have been favored to defeat Minnesota in the WNBA Finals, too, but that matchup would have been a lot more compelling.This year, were not getting a WNBA Finals meetting between the Lynx and Mercury, but we are getting a longer series.dddddddddddd However, Minnesota would like to make it as short as possible, and if it goes the way the regular season did, that will be the case. The Lynx won all three meetings, with those games in the early part of the summer.The teams met in their season opener, May 14 in Minnesota, with the Lynx prevailing 95-76. On May 25 at Phoenix, the Lynx won 85-78. That loss dropped the Mercury to 0-4.Their third meeting was June 7 at Minnesota, and was a little closer -- 89-81 -- but by then we knew that this season was not going to be what was expected from Phoenix. The Mercury didnt even secure their playoff berth until just before their second-to-last game of the regular season on Sept. 15, when Washington lost to Atlanta. Then, knowing they were in the postseason, the Mercury seemed to relax a little and just play. They beat Seattle 86-62 that night in Phoenix as the Mercury fans honored Penny Taylor, who will retire at seasons end, in what might have been her final?home game. Then the Mercury closed out the regular season with an 81-65 victory at San Antonio.Two playoffs wins mean the Phoenix fans will get to see Taylor at least once more at home: Sunday, Oct. 2 in Game 3 of their series with the Lynx. The first two games will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, which will also be the Lynxs home facility all of next season because of refurbishments to Target Center.So while the Mercury might have taken a meandering path to this showdown with the Lynx, they still got there.A star-studded series? You better believe it. Between them, the teams have 11 players who competed in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and six who are former No. 1 draft picks. Two players are past MVPs: Diana Taurasi for Phoenix in 2009, and Maya Moore for Minnesota in 2014.The Lynx and the Mercury each have three WNBA championships, so if either wins this season, they will tie the now-defunct Houston Comets for the most in league history.Of course, winning this series doesnt guarantee that for either, because then theres another five-game series to go. That will be against the winner of Los Angeles vs. Chicago or Atlanta, with the latter two meeting in Rosemont, Illinois, on Sunday (ESPN2, 1 p.m. ET).For the Lynx, this all might be rather irritating: They earned the top seed, so theoretically should have the easiest path to the WNBA Finals. Phoenix is not looking like a No. 8 seed. But thats how this has played out, and for WNBA fans, it should be a whole lot of fun. ' ' '