. ........................ SPORTSMonday Trivia What are the only teams to defeat the Michigan men's basketball team over the past two seasons without losing to the Wolverines? (Answer, page 2) ..'~& ~ ', -~. 4 . ...'.".~ nrn?~ ttiuf 4. lf RkA mw Inside SPORTSMonday AP Top 25 2 'M' Sports Calendar 2 WMEB Hockey Poll 2 Men's and Women's Cross Country 2 Close but no Sugiura 3 Q&A 3 Football 4-5 Hockey 7 Crew 7 Men's and Women's Swimming 8 Volleyball 8 Blue gives Hall of Fame perfor.mance VWolverines look to Tampa while _. .. Bucks' future left in doubt, 28-0 By ADAM MILLER DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER Try again, John Cooper. The Ohio State football coach re- mained winless against the Wolver- ines as coach of the Buckeyes Satur- day as Michigan shocked the then- No. 5 Bucks, 28-0, at Michigan Sta- dium. It was Michigan's first shutout of Ohio State since 1976 and the Buck- eyes' first scoreless game since 1982. "It is quite obvious that the best team won today," Cooper said& "This is one of the most embarrassing losses in my coaching career. We were outplayed in every way." Indeed. The Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 7-4 overall) dominated the con- test from start to finish, and led, 21-0, at halftime. They accumulated more total yards (421-212), more first downs (22-14), maintained posses- sion longer (36:01-23:59) and inter- cepted four Ohio State passes, com- pared to one Buckeye interception. The victory probably landed Michigan a berth in the Hall of Fame Bowl, played New Year's Day at 11:30 a.m. in Tampa, Fla., though bids will not be made official until today at the earliest. "Obviously I am very happy with this team," said Michigan coach Gary Moeller, who rode off the field on his players' shoulders. "We played like we should have all season, with emo- tion. "We wanted our respect. We had our chance at Penn State and got it and he we had another one today." On a cold, windy afternoon in front of an NCAA-record 106,867 specta- tors, and sparked by a Thursday pep talk from former coach Bo Schembechler and former safety Corwin Brown, the Wolverines earned their respect from the game's first series on. The Michigan defense stifled Ohio State's opening drive in five plays, and forced punts in each of the first three Buckeye series. Meanwhile, the Michigan ground game was showing the vulnerability of its opponent's defense. Behind the running of Tyrone Wheatley and Ed Davis, Michigan drove from its own 19 to the Ohio State 25, where it had third and five with just over one minute left in the first quarter. On the ensuing play, Todd Collins threw a deep fade that sophomore receiver Mercury Hayes made a diving, outstretched catch on to open the scoring and pro- vide what proved to be the winning points. "The (catch) by Mercury Hayes was unbelievable," Moeller said. Two series later, Buckeye quar- terback Bret Powers threw the first of his three interceptions, square into the arms of senior cornerback Alfie Burch at the Michigan 45. While the ensuing drive ended in a diving interception of a Collins pass by Mark Williams at the Buckeye 13- yard line, the drive established two of the day's trends, as Michigan held the ball for nearly six minutes and found success converting third and fourth downs. For the day, Michigan converted seven of 16 third downs (43.7 per- cent) compared to 2-for-12 for Ohio State (16.6 percent) and would have been a perfect three of three in fourth- down conversions had sophomore fullback Ch6 Foster not dropped a pass in the flat in the fourth quarter. It looked as though Ohio State (6- 1-1, 9-1-1) would take advantage of the Michigan mistake as it embarked on a 10-play, three-minute drive, but Powers threw his second interception on a 50-yard floater intended for Joey Galloway that sophomore cornerback Ty Law hauled in at the goal line. In the third quarter, Law inter- cepted a similar pass from quarter- back Bobby Hoying, stifling another Buckeye drive that had been smoothly executed. "I had a pretty good read on the receivers because I watched a lot of film," Law said. "I pretty much knew what route they were going to run and I just played the ball when they threw it." See SHUTOUT, Page 2 DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily Defensive back Chuck Winters sacks Ohio State's Bobby Hoying in Saturday's 28-0 Wolverine victory. The win all but clinched a Hall of Fame Bowl berth for Michigan and stopped the Buckeyes from clinching a spot in the Rose Bowl. Burel, secondary finally live B efore Michigan ever mounted its first drive in this surreal 1993 football season, Alfie Burch had thoughts of days like Saturday in Ann Arbor. Only three months earlier Burch dreamed of games where interceptions would come in bunches bigger than any Chiquitas in your local Meijer. And the Wolverines always seem to be on the side of the victors. Burch's goals exemplified the lofty *aspirations that the entire Wolverine squad RYAN HERRINGTON The R.H. Factor collectively held. team goal, as far as the secondary, I want to be recognized probably as the best secondary in the nation." But that was before the madness, before the mental letdowns, missed tackles and blown coverages. That was before a 28-0 victory over Ohio State meant little more than finishing in fourth place in the Big Ten. In between that far-gone time and today the Michigan secondary has possibly been the largest enigma in an extremely mysterious 10-game stretch. With defensive backs like Burch, Ty Law, Shonte Peoples, Chuck Winters, and the rest of the self- proclaimed "Lynch Mob," it seemed that opposing teams would have a tougher time beating the Wolverines in the air than President Clinton had getting NAFTA passed by Congress. Michigan had finally countered what had previously been its most glaring weakness - speed. Move over Big Ten titles. On to the national championship. e uptoloftyp Yet as Michigan fans so painfully realized in 1993, what one sees on paper isn't necessarily what one gets on the field. The much heralded Wolverine secondary did not live up to the advanced billing, allowing many a wide out to pick through the field to the dismay of all who followed the Maize and Blue. On more than a few occasions, the exploits of Burch and Co., made one wonder where all the talent went. But Saturday against arch-rival Ohio State, something happened. Something missing from every other game this season appeared as if to say, "Remember me? I'm your potential." The numbers speak for themselves. Four interceptions. Four break-ups. Zero points. In the process, the Wolverines held Buckeye All-American candidate Joey Galloway to just three catches, covering the receiver like the Wall Street Journal details the stock market. By the middle of the second quarter, one half-expected that every I reseason expectations Ohio State play-action pass would fall into against Notre Dame? C Wolverine hands. The four interceptions Or Wisconsin? Or Illin were almost half as many as Michigan had Moeller, these are ques all season. in him for quite some t For Burch it was vindication. After a "We played those d season of struggles, headaches and second- defensive secondary th guessing, he wanted to prove to all that he Moeller, with the emot still had the talent to be the best. The had shed a great deal o challenge of going up against Galloway minutes of shut out foo helped set the stage for Burch's farewell. That's what we wanted "I said that today I was going to have defensive secondary pl one of my best games ever because, one, But this is not the ti it's my last game in the Big House,' and "what if's," nor the tim two, just to show John Cooper that he let what might have been. two gems (Buster Stanley and he) get done. away," Burch said in the postgame press In actuality, it's tim conference. and the rest of the seni "The final couple minutes were really the field in Michigan S emotional for me. I got a little teary-eyed time to cherish the mon out there and I'm trying to hold it back right that feeling of invincibi now." a while. r Michigan State? ois? For coach Gary stions that will burn time. eep balls with a at played," said ion of a coach who f torment with 60- )tball. "They played. I all year. That ayed." ime to wonder about e ,to contemplate What's done is e for Alfie Burch ors who walked off tadium for the final ment, to hold on to ility and enjoy it for at you were the best at least for one day. i. "Personally, by the end of the season I want to be recognized as one of the premier corners to come out this year," said Burch prior to the season opener. "Speaking of a After seeing the fantastic play of a unit working in sync, one has to wonder. What if Michigan had played up to this potential It's time to know th corner in the country, a And oh, what a day Icers squeak by Ohio State, stay unbeaten Oh capt-,.lnVmy captain By ANTOINE PITTS DAILY HOCKEY WRITER Coming into this weekend's games the Michigan hockey team had reason to be wary about playing Ohio State. The first home game in three weeks, along with the fact that it was parents weekend for the players, made for a lot of distractions. The Buckeyes nearly capitalized on that Friday night. Michigan (7-0-1 CCHA, 9-0-1 overall) came from be- hind to prevail, 4-3, over Ohio State (1- 6-1, 2-6-1) . The Wolverines had less trouble Saturday, handing the Buck- eyes a 5-1 loss. However, Saturday's game turned out to be a test for Michigan, as the Wolverines struggled for two periods before winning Friday, and captain Brian Wiseman did not play due to a knee injury he sustained Friday. "We were really concerned going into the game without Wiseman," Stone's contribution to the team will be expanded depending on how long Wiseman sits out. "I'll be expected to play a more offensive role than I've played in the past," Stone said. "I'm going to have to pick up my offensive abilities so Oliver and Botterill don't lose a step. That's my biggest concern." That wasn't a problem Saturday. Oliver notched his sixth goal of the year on the power-play in the second period on a slapshot from the blue line. Itwas Michigan's lone power-play goal in seven attempts. Botterill also tallied his tenth of the year on assists from Stone and Harold Schock to make the score, 3-0, going into the third period. Botterill may be leading the team in goals, but he is also high on penalty minutes. That is attributed to the fact that the other teams try to go after him and Botterill will not take it. "He's a marked man already," By KEN SUGIURA DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER Theodora Stanley remembers how her sister Charlotte complained. Their boys played football together, and Charlotte did not like the way Theodora's only son, Buster, tackled other players. The Adams Junior High team in Youngstown, Ohio, represented his first experience with organized football. Previously, Buster's only opportunity to play was with Pee- Wee league teams, but he had always exceeded the weight limit. It wasn't until seventh grade on the Adams team that the parents of this northeastern Ohio town felt comfortable with the notion of allowing Buster to block and tackle their children. Or, perhaps more accurately, it was the first time they were legally bound to it. Unlike Pee-Wee fnt1o1 OA nnt- Ir -I'Ma A , Buster Stanley laughs off the field, leads 'M' on it 'You tackle the player and then you step on him. You don't help him up. Nine years later, Damon Denson was one of the most hotly-recruited high school prospects in the country. As are all players of his size and talent, Denson was bombarded with letters and phone calls from coaches begging him to play for their school. On his visit to Ann Arbor, Denson was introduced to the same Buster Stanley, by then a prominent member of the reigning Big Ten champion Wolverines. "I was like, 'This dude's supposed to be one of the best players on the team, and he's all smiling and laughing and joking?" Denson said. Denson later decided to enroll at Michigan and now understands why this dude was all smiling and laughing and ioking - and one of e e