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 Michigan at Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Missouri at Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Illinois Miami (Ohio) at Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana Iowa State at Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Michigan State at Kansas Kansas Michigan State Michigan State Kansas Pacific at Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota Stanford at Northwestern Northwestern Stanford Stanford Stanford Ohio State at Washington Washington Washington Ohio State Washington Southern Cal at Penn State Penn State Penn State Penn State Penn State Toledo at Purdue Purdue Purdue Purdue Purdue Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin LAST WEEK 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 OVERALL 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 p - - UM students,faculty, and staff 0 must show valid University of Michigan I.D. may bring two escorted guests your guests will each be required to show a valid picture I.D. and sign the guest register Michigan Union 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 I I mu J'mu u iu a Ixwubca uun Eu c«r .