ix4je lCirl igFCtt ]BIClg Ig A i s usual, tJolverrnes win the bik ame LUMBUS - Amidst the stunned silence and dumfounded looks, the two kids from Ohio found each other. One, Charles Woodson, from Freemont, Ohio, had nine tackles on the day, and led the Michigan secondary in its biggest minute of the regular season, the final one. The other, Marcus Ray, play- ing in his home town, had just picked off Ohio State quarterback Joe Germaine's RYAN final desperation heave. Ray fin- WHITE isped with nine White on tackles as well. Target Both had heard screams of traitor all day. "This is my house," Ray shouted at seemingly everyone left in Ohio Stadium. "This is my house." Woodson bounded toward Ray, laugh- ing and bobbing his head. The two embraced and headed toward the Michigan lockerroom. Michigan had beaten Ohio State. Again. Like last year, the Buckeyes were trefeated. Like last year, they were the AP2 team in the country. Like last year, their season was ruined by Michigan. This time the final was 13- 9, and the game was in Columbus. See WHITE, Page 4B M' men's tankers dunk No. 1 Texa y OJ. Luria Sports Writer If the top-ranked Texas men's swim- ming and diving team had been smart, it would have taken the first flight home from Ann Arbor after the thrashing it received in Friday night's exhibition meet. Unfortunately for,the 1996 NCAA champions, they decided to stick around for the real meet Saturday and were d eated by No. 4 Michigan, 129-114. e Wolverines were paced by senior captain and Olympian John Piersma, who won the 200-meter freestyle (1:38.95) and the 500-meter freestyle (4:30.01). Freshman Mike McWha was strong in the long distance events, winning the 1,000-meter freestyle (9:14.03) and placing second in the 500-meter freestyle, one-one hundredth of a second behind Piersma. ike McWha did a super job," Ichigan coach John Urbanchek said. -*He won the 1,650 (Friday night) and the 1,000 and was just touched out by one-one hundredth by Olympian John Piersma, so that was kind of good." Tom Malchow, who won a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly in Atlanta, won that race easily Saturday, with a time of 1:47.71, more than three seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. *ther winners for the Wolverines included Derya Buyukuncu in the 100- meter freestyle (45.42) and Owen Von Richter in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:05.12). In the diving meet, Michigan received a strong performance from sophomore Blue slaps Ohio State with first loss of the season By Barry Sollenberger Daily Sports Editor No one thought it could be done. A Michigan victory over Ohio State? Impossible. After all, the Buckeyes were 17 1/2 point favorites in Columbus over a Michigan team that had the pulse of a mummy in its two most recent games - losses to both Penn State and Purdue. So what happened? The No. 21 Wolverines scored 13 unanswered points to shock the second-ranked and previously unbeaten Buckeyes, 13-9, in front of a stunned crowd of 94,676 at Ohio Stadium. r Michigan 13 Ohio State 9 "No matter what the outside world, other peo- ple and the odds said, we thought we could win," Michigan line- backer Jarrett Irons said. The Buckeyes (7-1 Big Ten, 10-1 overall) had won 14 in a row at home, and were rarely challenged through the first ten games of this season. On the other side, Michigan appeared headed to its third straight loss for the first time since 1979. Most everyone not wearing a Michigan uniform felt this was the year that Ohio State would atone for losses in 1993 and 1995 to Michigan - each time when the Buckeyes were unbeaten and still in the national title hunt - just as they were going into this season finale. But it wasn't going to happen this time, either. Ohio State used three Josh Jackson field goals to lead, 9- 0, at the half. The game was even more lopsided than the score indicated, however, because the Buckeyes had out- gained the Wolverines, 220-62. But on the second play of the third quarter, the stats and odds didn't mean much. Brian Griese, replacing the injured and ineffective Scott Dreisbach at quarterback for the Wolverines (5-3, 8-3), faced a second and nine from the Michigan 31. He whipped a quick pass to his right, where Tai Streets was slanting across the middle. Ohio State's Shawn Springs, called the best cor- nerback in the nation by his coach, lost his footing for an See BUCKEYES, Page 5B JOE WESTRATE/Daily Ohio State's Joe Germaine had a difficult time orchestrating any kind of offense in the second half with Wolverines like James Hall in his face. Herr, 'M' icers sweep Brown By Dan Stillman Daily Sports Writer "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." That was Michigan right wing Bill Muckalt referring to a hard-working, smaller Brown team that stuck with the talented Michigan hockey team for much of Friday night's game at Yost Ice Arena. But as the weekend unfolded, it was the Wolverines who displayed both hard work and talent in defeating the Bears, 5-2, Friday, and 7-2, Saturday. Michigan (6-1-1 CCHA, 11-1-1 over- all) swept the weekend series thanks in part to gritty performances by left wings Matt Herr, who scored four goals on the weekend, and Dale Rominski. Saturday, Michigan extended its home unbeaten streak to 20 games behind a pair of goals from both Herr and right wing Warren Luhning, and three assists from center Brendan Morrison. The Wolverines, already up, 3-1, late in the second period put the Bears away when freshman center Andrew Merrick scored his first goal as a Wolverine. After fighting off a few Bears and maintaining control of the puck against the boards in the Brown zone, Merrick finally broke free. Once he turned toward the net, there was nothing but daylight between him and the goal. Merrick skated in and slipped the puck past Brown goaltender Jeff Holowaty. "Dale Rominski was yelling, 'Go! Go!'," Merrick said. "I just saw a little opening and just went to the net." Midway through the third period, Michigan extended its lead to 7-1 in a span of 47 seconds. With Brown on the power play, Michigan goaltender Gregg Malicke, making his first start of the season, played a puck off the boards to his left. Rominski picked it up and'angled it off the boards for Herr, who scored as he was being taken down from behind. Fourteen seconds later, Luhning scored Michigan's second shorthanded goal of the night. And 33 seconds after that, Luhning scored again giving Michigan a six-goal lead. "It was an ass-whipping,' Brown coach Bob Gaudet said. Herr started the night's scoring three minutes into the first period. On the first power play of the game, Michigan cen- ter Brendan Morrison, skating in left of the Brown goal, crossed the puck in front of the net to Herr, who put it past Brown goaltender Jeff Holowaty. Meanwhile, Michigan virtually shut down the Brown offensive attack. The Wolverines did not allow a shot on goal for the first 11:38 of the game and out- shot Brown, 47-11, overall. Later in the period, right wing Sean Ritchlin scored on wrap around extend- ing Michigan's lead to 2-0. Friday's game was a little bit more of a struggle for the Wolverines, who took the ice with a different look as Madden and senior Mike Legg did not dress for academic reasons. Madden played See BROWN, Page 6B AM* WARREN ZINN/Dafly Michigan's Matt Herr earned CCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors with four goals in two games against Brown this weekend. Michigan swept the series. oWKR a1 _d ut Every major college basketball program has problems with players transferring to other schools. But why do so many players seem to be jumping off the Michigan ship? By Will McCahIIl Daily Sports Editor f you look through box scores from recent Michigan men's basketball seasons, it's easy to find big names and great achievement. Chris Webber. Juwan Howard. Jalen Rose, Glenn Rice. National title games. And a national championship. But if you take a closer look, those same box scores are peppered with names that flash in, flicker briefly, then disappear. Leon Derricks. Olivier St. Jean. Bobby Crawford. And, most recently, Albert White. For all of Michigan's recent success in the world of college basketball - both in terms of who have left Michigan for other programs. For many of these players, departure simply came down to playing time. "Guys that don't play aren't going to stay," Michigan assistant coach Brian Dutcher says. "They're not going to really stay in many pro- grams."t Indeed, players leaving in search of playing time is not unique to Michigan. Other Big Ten programs have run into similar situations in recent years. For example, Minnesota lost its likely sixth man, guard Mark Jones, just prior to this season, and Purdue lost sophomore forward Luther Clay, who may have seen decent minutes this season on a squad with six freshmen. program year in and year out, the talent starts to pile up, and some- thing has to give. Olivier St. Jean left Michigan almost two years ago for San Jose State, where he is beginning his junior season. His reasons for leaving Michigan had more to do with adjusting to American soci- ety within the context of playing in a big-time basketball program at a large university. He says he was aware of the problems caused by the influx of such skilled g players. "(Michigan does) recruit tremendous tal- e.ntan ~int's hard to make.evervbodv bhinv" Makhtar Ndiaye, for- i I I