The Michigan Daily - Friday, September9, 1994 -13
Insh's better talent should best Blue
*Taylor, Be
Notre Dam
By CHAD A. SAFRAN
Daily Football Writer
Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz talks
about this year's No.6 Michigan team
as being the best Wolverine squad he
as faced since becoming coach of the
tighting Irish in 1986.
Whether or not "The Master of Hy-
perbole" is correct will be known
tomorrow. No one knows how Holtz,
or Michigan coach Gary Moeller for
that matter, really sees the matchup
deep inside their consciences.
Moeller must be well aware of the
fact that No. 3 Notre Dame lost 14
Agjarters from last season, but he refuses
o publicly acknowledge the inexperi-
ence of the Irish, particularly on de-
fense (seven starters lost). He talks
about Notre Dame's talent rather than
its lack of depth.
Neither coach will be able to chat
much about the other for a while after
this game, since the two schools do not
meet again until 1997. Since those ros-
ters are not currently available, here is
w the Wolverines and Fighting Irish
match up in 1994:
Michigan running game vs.
Notre Dame running defense:
The Irish defensive front is the
weakest part of their team. All-Ameri-
can defensive tackle Bryant Young is
no longer around to stuff the opposi-
tion, and neither is Sports Illustrated
cover boy Jim Flanigan. Brian
Hamilton is now forced to become a
Tominant presence on the front line.
Against Northwestern last Satur-
day, theNotreDame's run defense was
anything but overpowering, allowing
Wildcat tailback Dennis Lundy to romp
for over 100 yards. Only twice last
season did an individual runner pass
the century mark against the Irish.
Michigan's blockers have a size
advantage of almost 40 pounds per
*ayer, giving the Wolverines a huge
edge. However, it remains to be seen if
the Wolverines can simply wear down
the Irish as they did Boston College.
Tyrone Wheatley will miss his
second consecutive game with a shoul-
der separation, leaving the running
chores to Ed Davis and Tshimanga
Biakabatuka.
Advantage:
Michigan running defense vs.
Notre Dame running game:
The Wolverines allowed 159 yards
last Saturday on 32 carries, an astound-
ing 5.0 yards per attempt. With Matt
son out indefinitely (broken foot),
defensive holes get bigger. Trevor
Pryce and Kerwin Waldroup will
replace Dyson, but the pair cannot
match his leadership.
NotreDame'sdepthatrunning back
provides additional problems for the
Michigan defense. The Irish have the
best backfield corps in college football.
Tailback Lee Becton is one of the
top five backs in the nation and Randy
der would be starting in any other
program.
However, a lack of experience on
the offensive line hurts the usually po-
tent ground attack. The absence of All-
Americans Aaron Taylor and Tim
Ruddy, as well as two-year starterTodd
Norman, leaves some big shoes to fill.
Offensive tackle Ryan Leahy is still
recovering from arthroscopic knee sur-
ery in April.
Advantage:
ton give
te big edge
Michigan passing game vs. Notre
Dame passing defense:
The combination of quarterback
Todd Collins and wide receiverAmani
Toomer proved dangerous against
Boston College, connecting for 179
yards. But junior Bobby Taylor was
not wandering in the secondary.
Taylor moves from cornerback,
where he was a first-team All-America
performer as a sophomore, to free
safety, his natural position. He was one
of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe
Award last year. While he is the only
returning memberof the secondary, his
mere presence is enough to change
Michigan's passing attack. Watch for
him blitzing.
If Notre Dame defensive coordina-
tor Bob Davie decides to double team
Toomer, Collins will look for Mer-
cury Hayes - Michigan's best deep
threat.
The Wolverines pass protection
must improve tomorrow if Collins
wants to have the same success he
enjoyed against Boston College. He
took way too many hits after releasing
the ball, and the Irish provide a better
pass rush than the Eagles. Linebacker
Justin Goheen is troublesome.
Advantage:
14
m
Michigan passing defense vs.
Notre Dame passing game:
Everyone has heard about Irish quar-
terback Ron Powlus. The redshirt fresh-
man threw four touchdowns in his first
game Saturday. He is the most hyped
collegiate player in any sport since
Patrick Ewing arrived at Georgetown.
He produced against the weak Wild-
cats, but how will he fare against a
stronger Michigan?
Supposedly one of the top second-
aries around, the Wolverines were
abominable. Mark Hartsell shredded
the defensive backfield for over 300
yards, but only threw at Ty Law's side
once.
Law can cover anyone one-on-one,
but can only take one receiver at a time,
leaving either speedster Mike Miller
or sure-handed Oscar McBride to be
handled by Deon Johnson or Woody
Hankins.
Maybe this week the Wolverines
will actually pressure the quarterback.
Unless they decide to become more
aggressive, don't bet on it.
Advantage:
Special Teams:
Michigan's punting game was ane-
mic last week with Nate DeLong per-
forming the duties. Kraig Baker, who
averaged 44 yards on his two efforts,
replaces DeLong. He can only be an
improvement.
Remy Hamilton takes over for Erik
Lovell, becoming the full-time kicker.
Last week Hamilton just booted kick-
offs- most of them falling shortof the
10-yard line.
Brian Ford averaged over 40 yards
on his three punts against Northwest-
ern. Stephen Schroffner was 6-for-6
on PATs Saturday and handles field
goal attempts from inside 35 yards.
Scott Cengia is responsible for the
longer efforts.
Either of these two is better than
Michigan's pair.
Advantage:
JONATHAN LURIE/Daily
Michigan tailback Tshimanga Biakabatuka gained 128 yards on 12 carries last week against Boston College. Biakabatuka needs to equal that
performance tomorrow if the Wolverines want to defeat Notre Dame for the first time since 1991.
GAME RACHEL BACHMAN BRETT FORREST MICHAEL ROSENBERG CHAD A. SAFRAN
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Identification:
TAYLOR
ontinued from page 9
lighted this year when Holtz gave Tay-
lor his choice of assignments. Notre
Dame's coach had Taylor penciled in
at free safety. but then asked the defen-
'A lot of people have
been putting down
our secondary, but I
think we have a good
group.'
- Bobby Taylor
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