Hockey vs. Miami (Ohio) Tonight, 7:00 Yost Ice Arena S Football vs. Ohio State Tomorrow, 12:00 (ABC) Columbus Wolverines hold edge in season finale By CHAD A. SAFRAN Daily Football Writer It was once the biggest game of the year in college football. Now tommorow, Michigan-Ohio State, tra- ditionally two of the nation's top teams, strive for second place in the Big Ten. Here are the matchups in the game which determines one of the Citrus Bowl participants: Michigan rushing offense vs. Ohio State rushing defense: Ohio State is one of the few teams that can say it has faced the top running backs in the Big Ten. However, its success, led, by linebacker Lorenzo Styles, at halting the run has been mixed. The Buckeyes stopped Wisconsin's Brent Moss but could not contain Ki-Jana Carter of Penn State. Those two backs don't have the size and speed of Michigan's Tyrone Wheatley. The Wolverines' career scoring leader has gained 1,006 yards in just eight games. If he cannot come through, Ed Davis and Tshimanga Biakabutuka can be relied upon for plenty of support. Ohio State's second-leading tackler is cornerback Marion Kerner, which means running backs must be getting into the defensive secondary a little too often for the Buckeyes. Advantage: Michigan passing offense vs.Ohio State passing defense: With his 352-yard showing against Minnesota, Todd Collins proved once and for all he is one of the top quarterbacks in college foot- ball. Time after time, he has hit the key pass in crunch time. However, his toughness could be his greatest attribute. Collins must be prepared to take some hits tomorrow. The Ohio State defensive front has 32 sacks for 231 yards for the season. Defensive ends Matt Finkes and Mike Vrabel have combined for 18 of those sacks. On the other hand the Wolverines' of- fensive line has allowed just 16 sacks but will be without right tackle Mike Sullivan. Advantage: Ohio State rushing offense vs. Michigan rushing defense. The Wolverines held then-Division I's sixth-best rusher, Chris Darkins, to 93 yards on 24 carries, but in big games were shredded by the opposition (see Rahsaan Salaam and Carter). Now the defense must contend with Eddie George, who has gained 1,282 yards. George is fortunate to run behind right tackle Korey Stringer. The 6- foot-5, 315-pound lineman holds to- gether a young front five, featuring three underclassmen. Wolverine inside linebackers Steve Morrison and Jarrett Irons will have a lot of tackles by the time the game concludes. Advantage: none Ohio State passing offense vs. Michigan passing defense: There may not be a worst pass de- fense in college football than Michigan's, which permits the opposi- tion to throw for an average of 244 yards per game. Minnesota lit up the Wolverines' secondary last week for nearly 400 yards. The defensive back- field has picked off a paltry four passes. The task of shutting down theBuck- eyes passing attack is no easy chore. Chris Sanders is a Big Ten champion sprinter to go along with his football prowess (eight touchdowns) and pre- season Heisman candidate Joey Gal- loway has finally returned to his 1993 level of excellence. Advantage: Ohio State Predition:Michigan 24, Ohio State 20. DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily Chuck Winters and the Michigan defense shut out Ohio State last season. *OHIO STATE Continued from page 1 advantage, and I'mjust hoping we can go down there and pull out a big win. They're trying to squeeze into the Cit- rus Bowl, just like we are." "I told our players this is The Game," Ohio State coach John Coo- per said. "And even though we are not *playing for the Big Ten champion- ship, this game is still about pride." More than a trip to DisneyWorld and pride is on the line, at least in Cooper's case. Cooper, the much-ma- ligned coach of the Buckeyes since 1988, is 0-5-1 against Michigan, and as has been the case for the past couple of years, his unstable position in Colum- bus would be made even rockier should Ohio State fail to come through with a win over Michigan. When asked earlier in the week about the frustration of being unable to knock off the Wolverines, Cooper re- sponded by saying, "I guess you weren't listening before when I told you I was only going to talk about the game." Cooper then proceeded to hang up on his weekly teleconference just mo- ments after it began. While Cooper may be in a foul mood when facing the media, his team's play sincea63-14drubbing at thehands of Penn State ought to bring a smile to his face. The Buckeyes responded with a 24-3 win over Wisconsin and last week tripped up Indiana, 32-17. "The one thing you know when you play Ohio State is they are a team never short on talent," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. Much of that talent comes in the way of an improved Ohio State passing attack. Senior quarterback Bobby Hoying has recovered from early sea- son inconsistency to top 2,000 passing yards including 17 touchdowns. How- ever, he has thrown 11 interceptions. So will the air be filled with foot- balls, especially after Todd Collins' record passing day last Saturday? Don't count on it with two of the Big Ten's top runners - the Buckeyes' Eddie George and the Wolverines' Tyrone Wheatley - in the game. Despite the contest not having any classic implications as in the past, at least those longing for the good ol' days will be able to see something traditional in the game - a lot of rush- ing the football. Top-ranked leers want revenge against iiami By DARREN EVERSON Daily Hockey Writer Heading into this weekend's series against Miami (Ohio), the Michigan hockey team holds the No. 1 ranking in the nation. The Wolverines feature a powerful offense, a steady corps of blueliners and a stingy goalie. They had all that stuff last year, too - but that didn't keep Miami from sweeping them the last time they met. "If anyone remembers last year, they were one of the few teams that had a winning record against us," Michi- gan coach Red Berenson said. "Miami might be as tough as any team we've seen yet." It sure didn't look like that would be the case at the start of the season. Back then, first-yearMiami coach Mike Mazzoleni was busy searching for a replacement for departed goalie Rich- See MIAMI, Page 12 arm *Men tankers to square off against Texas By NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA Daily Sports Writer It's time to find out who the best NCAA men's swimming team is. And it's time to find out who the best indi- vidual swimmers are, in the NCAA, and in the world. ,Cr When No. 1 Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-0 overall) meets No.3 Texas (1- 0) at Canham Natatorium today and tomorrow, the lineups will read as a "who's who" in amateur swimming, and they promise to provide a plethora of world-class battles, according to Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek. "(Tomorrow's) meet is going to be exciting," Urbanchek said. "There are oing to be so many big names in here. ou'll see world record holders. You'll see American record holders. And you'll see numerous NCAA champions. "It's going to be great races down the line. Bang, bang, bang." Arguably, the meet pits the two best teams in the nation. Texas de- feated No. 2 Stanford last weekend and is eying Michigan's No. 1 rank- "You're going to see the top two teams in the country," Urbanchek said. "After (Texas) beat Stanford, they really became the No. 2 team in the country. So we have to be ready if we want to stay No. 1." The Wolverines and Longhorns have been here before. They have been battling for the top spot for de- cades and they have flip-flopped final rankings in the last two years. In 1993 Michigan finished second while Texas ended up third, and in 1992 the Long- horns claimed the No. 2 slot while the Wolverines settled for third. But second and third are not enough. Both schools want the na- tional championship. Texas has won recent national titles, but Michigan hasn't won one since 1961, despite winning nine-straight Big Ten cham- pionships. Urbanchek sees Saturday's meet as a good indicator as to whether the Wolverines are on track to hang their 18th national title banner over the Canham pool this year. "We have the tools. We have the making of a NCAA champion team," Urbanchek said. "This is the best year for Michigan swimming in 32 years. Having a tough dual meet like this against Texas will bring us closer as a team. It will be a step, the next step, to a NCAA championship." The medley relay will be crucial to taking that step and winning the meet, according to Urbanchek. "The medley relay is critical," Urbanchek said. "Whoever wins it has a good chance of winning the meet. I think we have a pretty good lineup." See MEN'S SWIM, Page 12 If you only take one course in Physics.. this should be the one. PHYSICS AND IDEAS / Learn about gravity, energy, the big bang and the universe. / Find out how the sun works, why things are the size they are, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. / Discover why science emerged and survived in some cultures, and not others, and much more! Winter Semester 1995 MWF 12-1 Offered by Professor Gordon Kane, author of "The Particle Garden", "Modern Elementary Particle Physics", and "The Higgs Hunter's Guide". Physics 201, Physics and Ideas, satisfies the natural science (NS) and quantitative reasoning (QR2) requirements. v. }:f.v'. ,. $4:Y, :: :i:r:{?.. ..:t:::::ii: "r':~:'::" r t. .. Y ::" . ........ ....vv:;:?$::"'}?{}rF.y.. . x::...y; "'..:v.:f}: :r; I I eive:i},:?es I:~:$tt{:?$y : '~ '.}:.. r':%{': f::. rf '<-I. " . :r ;}r 1.: $ "2r:::$rr}:: r. F . .: Y . $' S a v e n p i t u r e 'i:rrC L C 4::a " Don't get left in the cold! Come to fAIardon 'S tica1 Warm up with hot deals on top brand eye wear. We have all your vision care needs. 320 S. State St. (Below Decker Drugs) R kkb h m