10- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 26, 1996 'M' football does 'something special' in Saturday's victory By Barry Sollenberger Daily Sports Editor - Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr was still beaming at yesterday's press conference. And why not'? The passing of two days has not dulled his memory of the Wolverines' shocking 13-9 upset of previously undefeated Ohio State. "Opportunities don't come very tib , . o The Wolverines were able to shut down the Buckeyes even after play- ing arguably their two worst games of the season against Purdue and Penn State. "We went down there expecting to win," Carr said. "We felt that our offense, when we don't turn the ball over, was as good as their offense." Backup quarterback Brian Griese deserves much of the credit for the victory. Griese replaced injured starter Scott Dreisbach late in the first half and directed the Wolverines to 13 second-half points. Griese is now 2- 0 against undefeated Ohio State teams. Last season in Ann Arbor, he orchestrated Michigan's 31-23 upset over the 11-0 and second-ranked Buckeyes. "Brian Griese played superbly," Carr said. "He played flawlessly in spite of the fact that he hadn't played much this year. It's a statement on what type of player he is." Dreisbach, who hyperextended his left elbow against Ohio State, has often to do something special in life," Carr said. "I told our team on Friday that on Saturday afternoon they had a chance to do something special." Michigan held the then-second- ranked Buckeyes well below their season averages in several cate- gories, including scoring offense and rushing offense. Ohio State's nine points and 147 yards rushing were over 30 points and almost 100 yards below its season averages. SCOREKEEPERS COME AND SEE WHA T YOU'VE BEEN i ISSI G $1BOTTLES $1 WELL SCHNAPPS SHOTS $1 BA1 H $lBAAMA' DJ JOHN KING SPINS CLASSIC TUESDAYS 4 TUNES 9-CLOSE 310 MAYNARD.995-0581 been ineffective in recent outings. He threw a total of five interceptions against Purdue and Penn State, and could not put the Wolverines on the board against the Buckeyes. Michigan trailed at the half, 9-0. Dreisbach had his elbow x-rayed yesterday, and Carr said that he is fine. The coach, however, stopped short of naming his starting quarter- back for Michigan's bowl game. "I think his elbow is OK," Carr said. "But I'm not exactly sure where that stands. That left arm has a lot to do with how you throw the ball." BOWLING: The Wolverines won't know their exact postseason destina- tion until Dec. 7 or 8. The Southeastern Conference champi- onship game is on the seventh and alliance-bowl bids are not extended until the following day. Thanks to Michigan's upset of Ohio State, the Wolverines could be headed to Tampa to face the third- place team from the SEC. Bowl berths are now solidified much later than in years' pastand this poses problems for today's coaches. "Certainly, as a coach, you'd want to know where you're going and who you're going to play," Carr said. "You lose some of the anticipation that you normally have." THE BEST: Linebacker Jarrett Irons and placekicker Remy Hamilton earned Big Ten player of the week awards following Michigan's victory Saturday. Irons matched his career high with 16 tackles (12 solo, four assists) and was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. "I think Jarrett Irons played per- haps his best game at Michigan," Carr said. Perhaps Irons' most important tackle came in the first quarter when he stopped Ohio State running back - Pepe Pearson on first-and-goal from the Michigan two-yard line. The Buckeyes were eventually forced to kick a field goal, missing their best chance of the day to score a touchdown. Hamilton was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking two field goals against the Buckeyes, including a twisting, turning 43-yarder that gave Michigan its first lead, 10-9, on the final play of the third quarter. JOSH BIGGS/Daily Despite three Damian Prescott goals, the Wolverines taught Brown a lesson twice at Yost Ice Arena this weekend. Bears learn from Michigan's big black and blue beatings By Andy Knudsen Daily Sports Writer Brown knew what it was getting into. Call the Bears crazy, but they wanted to travel halfway across the country to play the defending national champions in their building. It was supposed to be a learning experience, especially for a team that is 1-6-1 overall. "This is the best team we've ever played," Brown coach Bob Gaudet said of the Michigan hockey team. "When you play against the best, I think you become a better team. You play around championship teams, and you hope some of that rubs off on you, whatever it might be." While Brown hung close to Michigan (6-1-1 CCHA, I1-I-I over- all) for much of Friday's 5-2 Michigan victory, the Bears were bombed Saturday in a 7-2 loss in a game Gaudet described as "an ass-whipping." Although Gaudet was disappointed with his team's effort Saturday, he said the Bears can still learn from the week- end. "We've got a videotape of our team playing against the top team in the country," he said. "(We can see) the pace that they play, the desire that they play with, the physical nature of the team. Those are all things that we real- ly can learn from." As defending national champions, Michigan is an intimidating team to play, especially in Yost Ice Arena. "I think when we first got here, we thought we were playing the (NHUs Boston) Bruins," Brown left wing Damian Prescott said. "I've never seen a place like this - this big." Gaudet said Michigan lived up to its advanced billing. He knew the Wolverines had talent, but was impressed by their work ethic. "They played us harder than any team we've ever played," Gaudet said. "The funny thing is they probably did- n't have to, but they (did). It's a credit to (Michigan coach) Red (Berenson) and his staff. They've put together a real powerhouse. "They don't curl away from people, they play through the body, they shoot the puck like they mean it every time they come down the ice." Gaudet also noted that the Wolverines have a knack for drawing penalties. He said they keep their feet moving against the boards, not allowing themselves to get pinned down. By keeping their feet moving, they draw more holding and interference penal- ties. But the series that seemed to impress Gaudet the most was the play of Michigan left wing Dale Rominski on a penalty-kill Friday night. Standing up by the left point, he felt' to the ice to block a shot and was visi- bly hurt. It took him a few seconds to get back up, but he couldn't come off the ice because the bench was on the other side of the ice, and Brown had kept the puck in Michigan's zone. When the puck came back to the left point, he fought off the pain and dropped to the ice, again blocking the shot and allowing his fellow penalty killers to clear the puck. "There's a lot of desire there,"Gaudet said. "They're not just a team that has the flash and the glitz. They work really hard. That's a good lesson for our guys. Berenson attributes Michigan's readiness to the nature of the CCHA and college hockey in general. If a team isn't ready to play -even Michigan it can get beaten by anyone. Just one weekend after Michiga State beat Michigan in the final minut for example, Alaska-Fairbanks marched into Munn Ice Arena and shocked the Spartans. "It's not just talent - it's work ethic, it's playing together, it's breaks, goal- keeping, refereeing," Berenson said. "You never know. "Just like in football - Michigan could beatOhio State.' CAGERS Continued from Page 9 All three, as well as Thomas, adopted a more assertive style of play against the Owls by attacking the passing lanes. However, despite all the positives this brought Michigan, there were some drawbacks as well in Guevara's eyes. "I was very upset with the defense early in the game," Guevara said. "W were not doing a good job of keepi the person with the ball in front of us. We were letting the person go to the bas- ket. Overall, the defense got better, which was the difference in the game." Rice found itself in the one-and-one early, with more than 10 minutes left in the half. But despite Michigan's foul problems, the Owls still failed to capi- talize. Rice hit only five of its I1 first- half foul shots. _ Despite the changing defensive rolW for Michigan's players, the defense remained relatively solid throughout the game. When Michigan's guards weren't disrupting the passing lanes, its post players were changing shots. Rice shot just 39 percent from the field for the game. Rice (55) FG FT REB MIN M-A MA O-T A F P Cafagna 16 3-6 1-1 0-2 1 2 Smith 30 6-10 1-2 2-6 0 3 13 Williams 15 2-7 01 1-1 1 2 4 Wilson 26 2-5 0-0 0-1 6 2 4 Garcia 15 0-4 Q-0 1-3 0 1 0 Escobedo 13 2-2 1-1 1-2 0 1 0 Ludwig 12 0-2 0-0 0-1 2 0 0 Brumfield 26 5-12 0-3 1-5 1 0 11 Cafferty 11 1-4 0-0 1-1 0 0 3 Jordan 11 0-2 0-1 0-3 0 3 0 Koy 10 1-1 0-0 1-3 0 1 2 Hamilton 15 2-6 2-2 0-2 0 1 6 Totals 200 24-61 5-119-311116 55 FG%: .393. FT%: .455. 3-point FG: 2-9, .22 (Cafferty 1-2, Brumfield 1-3, Garcia 0-2, Cafagna 0-1, Ludwig 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Koy, Williams). Steals: 7 (Garcia 3, Brumfield 2, Escobedo, Jordan). Technical Fouls: none. Michigan (81) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Murray 18 4-9 0-0 2-3 1 0 9 I . m m I