The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 27, 1996 - 15 The Matchups: Bruins look to steal close game By Ryan White ')P ly Sports Writer Michigan doesn't enter this week- end's game against UCLA in the best of positions. Sure, the Wolverines are ranked sev- enth while the Bruins are unranked. Michigan is 3-0 and UCLA is 1-1. But the Bruins have had a week to prepare for the Wolverines, and Michigan doesn't know what to expect from UCLA. First-year UCLA coach Bob Toledo brought with him a fancy for trick- plays and innovative offense, and since UCLA's last game was a 44-0 romp over Northeast Louisiana, Toledo did- ni't have to show a whole lot of any- thing in terms of schemes and strate- gies. As a result, this edition of matchups comes with a warning: If the Michigan coaching staff isn't exactly sure what expect from the Bruins, how should e? On with the show: MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. UCLA RUSHING DEFENSE: The Bruins are allowing a scant 57- yards per game on the ground. Of course their two opponents have been Northeast Louisiana and Tennessee, and can anyone name Tennessee's run- ning back? Then again, UCLA does throw an *teresting defense at its opponents. According to Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, the Bruins line up in what is basically a 3-3-5 formation with three down linemen, three linebackers directly behind them and five defen- sive backs. The point is to be able to bring four players from the right, the left or straight up the middle at any time. Tennessee quarterback Peyton anning admitted to being kept off guard by UCLA's defense, Michigan's offense could face the same problems, but not on the ground. Tailback Clarence Williams had his best rushing game of the season last week with 133 yards on the ground. Fellow tailback Chris Howard missed last week's game with a rib injury suffered against Colorado. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr hopes to cave Howard back and split the work load between the two backs. It could be double trouble for the Bruins. ADVANTAGE: MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. UCLA PASSING DEFENSE: It's against the pass that UCLA's defense presents the most problems. Carr called the Bruins' secondary the most talented he's seen, and that's not good news for the Wolverines. Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach had his best game of the young season against the Eagles, but e offense still isn't producing the ay anyone would like. Against the Bruins, Dreisbach will have to face a secondary led by senior strong safety Abdul McCullough. McCullough was UCLA's Most Valuable Player on defense last year as a linebacker. He returned an intercep- tion 51 yards for a touchdown in the Bruins' season-opening loss to the Vols. 9 Michigan's receivers have improved every game, but the passing game may not have improved enough. ADVANTAGE: College, and linebacker Jarrett Irons was upset about it. The Wolverines are holding then- selves to high standards, and they're capable of achieving them. Skip Hicks leads the Bruins rushing attack, averaging 73-yards a game, but that's after 101 yards against Northeastern Louisiana. Michigan has allowed just over 89- yards a game rushing. Irons leads the team with 31 tackles, and nose tackle Will Carr leads the linemen with 25 take downs Skip may want to do just that with this game ADVANTAGE: UCLA PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE: This is where things get interesting. Toledo has promised at least one trick play a game, and it will most like- ly involve a pass somewhere along the line. Bruins quarterback Cade MNown is as athletic as they come. He started nine games as a true freshman last year. He threw for 1,698 yards, and was UCLA's second leading rusher with 311 yards. Michigan, however, has been caus- ing a lot of problems for opposing teams offenses, and the main agitator has been defensive end David Bowens. Through three games, Bowens has six sacks and 18 tackles. When quar- terbacks have gotten the pass off, Michigan's secondary has been there to tee-off on the receivers. None the less, UCLA, with a week to prepare, will keep the Wolverines on their toes and possibly even off bal- ance. ADVANTAGE EVEN SPECIAL TEAMS: Well, Remy Hamilton is Michigan's leading scorer with 18 points on the season. That's the good news. The bad news is that he's made only 4-of-9 field goal attempts and missed an extra point. All of the misses have come in Michigan Stadium, including three field goal misses and the extra point miscue last weekend against the Eagles. Punter Paul Peristeris didn't exactly have a career day against Boston College either, but it's easy to excuse both performances due to the weather. UCLA posses a special teams secret weapon, however, and his name is Bjorn Merten. He's attempted four field goals this season, and made them all. While not that impressive, his name is Bjorn, and that's cool. ADVANTAGE: EVEN Once again this game will most likely come down to the Michigan defense. The Wolverines will have to concentrate for a full 60 minutes or UCLA is liable to turn a little chi- canery into six points. The Bruins proved that were a better team than people thought when they walked into Neyland Stadium and gave Tennessee everything it could handle. Michigan wants to prove that its a much better team than it showed last week against the Eagles; a team wor- thy of its No. 7 ranking. It won't be an easy one, but Michigan will move to 4-0 for the sec- ond season in a row, and they'll score more than 20 points for the first time since last season's win over Ohio State. PREDICTION: Michigan 21, UCLA 17 UCLA Quick Facts N The Bruins' all-time record against Michigan is 2-7-0. The Wolverines won the last meeting, 38-15, on Sept. 22, 1990, in Ann Arbor. * UCLA's two victories against Michigan both came during the 1982 -83 season. The Bruins rallied from a 21-0 second quarter deficit on Sept. 25, 1982, to win, 31- 27. The teams met in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1983 with UCLA winning, 2444. * UCLA's impressive secondary fea. tures brothers Javelin and Paul Guidry. Paul, a senior, is a returning starter at left cornerback. Javelin, a junior, starts at right cornerback. 0 Tomorrow will be the Bruins' third consecutive game in a stadium with a capacity over 100,000. UCLA opened the season at Tennessee, whose Neyland Stadium is the largest in the country. Two weeks ago, the Bruins hosted Northeastern Louisiana in the Rose Bowl. UCLA has niot given up any points in the third quarter this year. * The Bruins have scored nine times out of 10 inside their opponents' 20. Staff Picks - all picks made against the spread NICH COT Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) MICHIGAN (-8) vs. UCLA MICHIGAN ST. (-20) vs. E. Michigan M INDIANA (+3 1/2)vs. Northwestern No NOTRE DAME (+3) vs. ONo State. N WISCONSIN (+8 1/2) vs. Penn State P PURDUE (-4 1/2) vs. N.C. State N TEXAS A&M (+3 1/2) vs. Colorado t ARIZONA STATE (-12) vs. Oregon Ar SYRACUSE (- 1) vs. Virginia Tech Vi FLORIDA (-36) vs. Kentucky Best Bet N HOLAS J. SONIKA Michigan ichigan St. Orthwestern otre flame' Penn State N.C. State Colorado izona State rginia Tech Florida orthwestern BARRY SOLLENBERGER Michigan Michigan St. Northwestern Notre Dame Penn State N.C. State Texas A&M Oregon Virginia Tech Florida Northwestern 5-5 14-15-1 1-2 RYAN WHITE UCLA E. Michigan Northwestern Notre Dame Penn State N.C. State Colorado Oregon Virginia Tech Florida Virginia Tech 3-7 14-15-1 Last Weelk Overall 15-14-1 Overall Best Bet 241 r.. ,.C. Maine hockey releases appeas on NCAA sanctions .. .. ORONO, Maine (AP) - The University of Maine reiterated yesterday its claim of unfair treatment as it released a copy of its appeal of two of the sanctions imposed for violating NCAA rules. The 38-page appeal concludes that the NCAA's ban on postseason play for the hockey team and the loss of 13 football scholarships was inappro- priate and excessive. "These two appeals are being filed to protect the interests of our students," said athletic director Suzanne Tyler. "President (Frederick) Hutchinson and I feel strongly that students and programs are being unfairly treated in these two areas, and that the NCAA's own findings did not justify such harsh penalties." Tyler said the university agreed with virtually all of the NCAA's findings, including the lack of sufficient institutional control at Orono from the mid-1980s until 1994. The NCAA Committee on Infractions found that Maine violated NCAA rules in such areas as extra benefits, recruiting, eligibility, financial aid and personnel. Among the instances cited were those in which players improperly received free meals, lodging, use of a car and skybox seats at a Boston Red Sox game. The university imposed several penalties on itself in December, when it suspended hockey coach Shawn Walsh for a year, reduced the num- ber of athletic scholarships and barred the hockey team from competing in the 1996 NCAA tourna- ment. Tyler said Thursday that the committee's sanctions last June failed to reflect the university's cooperation, self-investigation and corrective measures. UCLA RUSHING OFFENSE VS. ICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE: No question here. The Michigan defense gave up 110- yards rushing last week against Boston Georgia seeks second jnvestigation extension ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Georgia has asked for a second extension of its deadline for responding to 10 NCAA allegations of wrongdoing in its football program. Green said Wednesday. "Our bylaws say an institution should have 90 days (to respond) ... but sometimes things happen as a case develops." If the extension is granted,