Field Hockey
vs. Ball State
Today,noon
Oosterbaan Fieldhouse
S
S
Women's Soccer
vs. Siena Heights
Today, 6 p.m.
Elbel Field
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK:
Penn State rivalry reaches same level
as Michigan State and Ohio State
:: .:. :
v .
By RACHEL BACHMAN
Daily Football Writer
Even though a flake of snow has not fallen, people are
talking about who will represent the Big Ten at the Rose Bowl
on New Year's Day. That might have a little something to do
with who the Michigan football team plays this Saturday.
Penn State (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) will face the
Wolverines (2-0, 4-1) at 3:30 p.m. at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan coach Gary Moeller has declared the rivalry on
par with that of Michigan State or Ohio State.
Why should the Nittany Lions, who have faced the
Wolverines only twice, enjoy the same status as opponents
Michigan has played for nearly a century?
Penn State has one of the most storied coaches in the
country. In his 29th season as head coach, Joe Paterno
ranks No. 1 in victories among active head coaches.
Penn State's football program rivals Michigan's in
stature. The Wolverines' overall record of 743-243-36 is
the winningest in college history; the Nittany Lions' 679-
291-41 record is fifth-best of all time.
This year especially, the Big Ten's newest member has
a banner squad.
"We're going to see one of the finest football teams and
what people are calling Penn State's best offensive team
ever," Moeller said. "It's like one and a quarter (games). It
counts a little more than one."
The implications of Saturday's game should help to
solidify the rivalry. Since Michigan and Penn State stand
atop the conference standings, this game likely will decide
the Big Ten champion.
Said offensive guard Joe Marinaro: "If we get by this
one, we should be in good shape to go to the Rose Bowl."
THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS ... THIS WEEK: The pollsters
sure are fickle.
A few weeks after voting Michigan eighth nation-
ally, they bumped Michigan up to No. 5.
"Two weeks ago, we weren't worth a darn," Moeller
said. "Now somebody's trying to sneak up and whisper
in our ear, 'Hey, you're gettin' good.' And then you
listen to them, and they'll be back there telling you
you're bad."
How will the voting public view Saturday's matchup?
"If you win this game, you're the best thing since peanut
butter," Moeller said. "If you lose it, you're terrible."
BACK TO (BREAKING) THE DRAWING BOARD?: The
evidence was clear that Moeller wanted revenge for last
year's loss to Michigan State.
Before Saturday's 40-20 victory over the Spartans,
Moeller, in his pregame pep talk, punched and broke the
markerboard on which he diagrams plays. Will his
enthusiasm lead him to similarly destructive behavior
before the Penn State game?
"I do not plan on breaking any blackboards this week,"
Moeller said. "I just want to win a football game."
HOT HAMILTON: For the second time this year, Michi-
gan kicker Remy Hamilton made four field goals Sat-
urday. Hamilton also had four field goals against Notre
Dame, one of them the game-winner.
Michigan has struggled with its kicking game for
several years. In fact, since Moeller became coach, he
has not had a reliable kicker. But Hamilton has nailed 13
of 15 field goals this year.
- Daily Football Writer Mike Rosenberg contrib-
uted to this article.
Tyrone Wheatley and the rest of the Wolverines take on Penn State this Saturday at
JONATHAN LURIE/Daity
Michigan Stadium.
Dure penalty kick only goal in Blue win
By JOHN LEROI
For the Daily
There is one sure way to tell just
how well the Michigan men's soccer
team will play on any given day: see
how good its opponents are. The better
the opposition is,
the better the Wol-
verines will play.
But, if the competi-
tion is knocking
headers off their
faces and whiffing
on corner kicks,
Dure chances are there is
a sloppy soccer game in store.
Lucky for the Wolverines, Siena
Heights is not a very tough soccer
team. Michigan (9-4-2) didn't look
particularly brilliant in a 1-0 victory
against the Saints.
"We're playing to the level of our
competition," Michigan coach Steve
Burns said. "We're a good team, but
to become a great team, we need to
play well consistently."
The Wolverines lone goal came
on midfielder Karim Dure's penalty
kick fifteen minutes into the second
half.
"We're not exactly in a scoring
drought, but our forwards aren't scor-
ing like they should," Burns said.
"The halfbacks are putting the ball in
the net, but we're waiting for (the
forwards) to break through."
Michigan doesn't seem to have
any trouble on defense, however, as
they pitched another shutout against
the Saints. Recently, the defense
has been a strong point for the Wol-
verines and has kept them in some
games.
"(The defense) wasn't really tested
at all (against Siena Heights),"
defenseman Josh Leutz said.
"Everyone's wondering what's go-
ing on with the offense. We're con-
centrating on knocking the ball
around, not with scoring.
"It's not that were not finishing
our scoring opportunities, it's just that
were not creating any. We're not con-
cerned; it will all come together."
Even though the Wolverines aren't
scoring at will, they certainly can
control the ball. The midfield and the
defense both played well, keeping the
ball on the ground and pushing play
See SOCCER, Page 13
hese are the new top 20 teams in
he USA Today/CNN coaches poll.
first place votes are in parentheses:
Team Record Prev
1. Florida (43) 5-0-0 1
2. Nebraska (13) 6-0-0 2
3. Penn St. (5) 5-0-0 4
4. Colorado (1) 5-0-0 5
5. Michigan 4-1-0 8
6. Alabama 6-0-0 9
7. Miami 4-1-0 10
8. Florida St. 4-1-0 3
9. Texas 4-1-0 15
10. Arizona 4-1-0 6
11. Kansas St. 4-0-0 13
12. North Carolina 4-1-0 14
13. Colorado St. 6-0-0 18
14. Virginia Tech 5-1-0 17
15. Syracuse 5-1-0 19
16. Notre Dame 4-2-0 7
17. Washington St. 4-1-0 20
18. Utah 5-0-0 21
19. Baylor 5-1-0 23
20. Wisconsin 3-2-0 22
Theirs. Ours.
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