In looking back at Saturday's 26-20 loss at Michigan State, Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez said today at his weekly press conference that there were too many breakdowns.

Michigan had the ball just three times in the first half, settling for a field goal after a Stevie Brown interception and going three and out in the second quarter and getting a second Jason Olesnavage field goal before the half.

Rodriguez said Saturday's game was one in which the Wolverines couldn't afford to make mistakes.

"We just didn't have the ball and when we did, we had a mistake here or there that would kill drives.

"It was a game we had to be sharp."

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Center David Molk is out of his protective boot and is saying he is feeling better. Rodriguez said he will evaluate Molk's progress later this week.

"Obviously, he's very good at what he does, but what he brings is a certain attitude, an aggressiveness," Rodriguez said. "He has that type of mentality you want up front."

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Rodriguez said the Michigan defense played pretty well for a couple of downs on most possessions, but then had breakdowns on third down.

He said he needs to see more consistency from this defense, which he said would "go a long, long way for us."

"Our defensive front has been pretty consistent all year," Rodriguez said.

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Rodriguez said quarterback Tate Forcier took a shot in the ribs on Saturday, which may have had an impact on his conditioning.

Forcier, who threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final 4:03, appeared winded by the end of the fourth quarter. Rodriguez said by limiting Forcier in practice last week may have played a hand in his stamina.

Forcier, who is still sore today, is expected to practice all week heading into the Iowa game.

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Rodriguez said the dropped passes were all on the receivers, not on the throws. The drops were a bit more magnified given the situations they came in, but Rodriguez doesn't worry about it to be an issue that continues to hamper the Wolverines.

"Everyone makes mistakes," he said.

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Rodriguez said he will not award an offensive or defensive Player of the Game as he normally does.

"That's not just because we lost," he said. "We just didn't think we had anyone that deserved it."

Jason Olesnavage was named the special teams Player of the Week.

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Rodriguez expects Michigan to bounce back following its first loss of the season. He said his team is resilient, and he doesn't expect there to be any letdown going into Iowa, which Rodriguez called "a top 10 team when they're playing at home."

Rodriguez said he will talk to his players about responding to the overtime loss and will stress the need for more aggressive play.

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Rodriguez said he uses a roll-out punt to throw opponents off. A roll punt drives through the wind more and can roll as much as 20 yards.

He said the call from the sideline on the fake punt was a read, giving Zoltan Mesko the green light to take an opening if he saw it.

But on a fourth-and-one play with Michigan trailing 10-6 in the third quarter, Mesko chose to run. He failed to pick up the first down, which led to a Michigan State field goal.

"We should have kicked it," Rodriguez said. "But Zoltan is a very intelligent guy and he's made the right read every time - except for once."

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Rodriguez said part of establishing consistency on defense is tougher with a first-year defensive coordinator like he has in Greg Robinson. He said the important thing is making sure the Wolverines have the best 11 players out there and making sure the scheme links up with the talent on the field.

"I don't want us to panic and try and reinvent the wheel scheme wise," Rodriguez said.

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Continuing with the defensive theme, sophomore defensive Mike Martin is at the podium.

He said there's nothing that no single issue has kept the Wolverines from kept Michigan State from converting consistently on third down.

Martin said the problem wasn't more evident than on Michigan State's second drive when the Spartans kept the ball for more than 10 minutes.

"I think that's the longest drive we've endured this year," Martin said. "But we held our own and we just got to buckle down when it comes down to third and down."

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Sophomore wide receiver Darryl Stonum said he said he owed something to his team after fumbling twice early against Michigan State.

Stonum's 60-yard touchdown catch with 4:03 remaining in the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 20-13 before Forcier hit Roy Roundtree with 2 seconds left to tie the game.

"It was a great feeling when you get out there and you know all you have to do is make one man miss," he said. "All you see is the end zone and you know you're home free - it's a great feeling."

Rather than trying to go for a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, Stonum said he and his teammates felt like they had the momentum going into overtime. -------------

Offensive lineman Mark Ortmann said he watched the game film from Saturday's game Sunday trying to figure out why the Wolverines couldn't get their run game going. He said he will typically watch a game once or twice, but with Saturday's game, he said he needed to see it again to try and figure out why Michigan's offense couldn't establish any rhythm.

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Kicker Jason Olesnavage tries to look at every field goal or extra point as just another kick. But he admits after Michigan got to within 20-19 on Forcier's touchdown pass, he had difficulty looking at the subsequent extra point as just another trip out onto the field. "Oh, there were definitely butterfiles," he said. "You want to look at it as just another kick but then you see it on TV and you think, 'Wow - that was a pretty big deal.' "