4-. The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 4, 1996 -13 top.15teams in.thenation,, The matchups: No more surpnses f om Wildcats By Barry Sollenberger Daily Sports Editor The Michigan football team hasn't siarted a season 9-0 since 1986. But if the sixth-ranked Wolverines beat No. 22 Northwestern tomorrow, they will likely ach that mark. But the Wolverines can ardly pencil in a victory over the Wildcats. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. NORTHWESTERN RUSHING DEFENSE: Michigan running back Chris Howard showed what he is capable of against UCLA last week with a four-touchdown, 109-yard rushing performance. But line- backer Pat Fitzgerald had a big game against Michigan last season. EDGE: EVEN MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. NORTHWESTERN PASSING DEFENSE: Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach had his best game of the sea- son last weekend. Through four games, the Wildcats are giving up an average of just 166.8 yards in the air per game. But they haven't played anybody good. EDGE: NORTHWESTERN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE: Get ready for World War 111. Northwestern has one of the nation's best running backs in Darnell Autry. Michigan defense's ranks as one of the nation's best against the run, and it will attempt to keep Autry under the century mark for the first time since 1994. The Wolverines are allowing just 94 yards rushing per game. EDGE: EVEN NORTHWESTERN PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE: Northwestern quarterback Steve Schnur was one of the surprises in the Big Ten last season. This season has not been as kind to Schnur. He has already thrown as many interceptions (six) as he did all of last season. EDGE: SPECIAL TEAMS: Every kick is an adventure for Michigan placekicker Remy Hamilton. In comparison, Northwestern placekick- er Brian Gowins is 4-for-6 in field goals this season. EDGE: Michigan will provide the toughest competition thus far this season for a Northwestern team that has been less than spectacular through four games. No more surprises from WEEKEND Continued from Page 12 New Hampshire is led by senior attack- er Kristen Diamond, who has scored five goals and delivered an assist for 11 points. Michigan is led by junior attacker Julie Flachs, who scored the game-win- ning goal on Wednesday to push her season total to seven. She leads the team in goals and has 14 points this year. The Wildcats lead the series between the two schools, 1-0, having beaten the Wolverines 6-1 in 1991. - Richard Shin Soccer Northwestern. PREDICTION:. Northwestern 21 Michigan 27, The Michigan women's soccer team is going out west this weekend to battle Washington and Portland in Seattle. The Wolverines haven't played since Sunday, Sept. 29, when they beat Indiana for their first Big Ten win of the season. To avoid any incidences ofjet lag, the team took off for the Great Northwest early yesterday morning. The Wolverines arrived Thursday afternoon and had a chance to rest and get ready for this weekend's games. After arriving in Seattle, Michigan met with its coach Debbie Belkin who flew out west earlier in the week to recruit. "Washington is a physical team," sophomore Nicole Savage said. "We will have to play a more offensive game than we have in the last couple games if we want to win." Defeating Washington will not be an easy task, however. The Huskies, as well as Portland, are ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation. -Kevin Goldfein Men's golf Things are starting to come together. for the Michigan men's golf team as it competes in its own Wolverine Invitational this weekend. Michigan coach Jim Carras has rea- son to be upbeat for this weekend. The Wolverines will send their top lineup - this season onto the course. Kyle Dobbs and Brent Idalski, who did not compete last weekend, return for the Michigan Invitational. "I am very optimistic about this tour- nament,' Carras said. "Not only do we have our five strongest players compet- ing, we are on our home course." Top teams such as Texas Tech, Ball State, Kent State, Indiana and Minnesota will bring their squads in to Ann Arbor with victory in mind. - John Friedberg wowmen's tennis The Michigan women's tennis team moves onto its tournament this week- end with high hopes and a lot of confi- dence. The Wolverines will take on top caliber teams in the Eck Classic at Notre Dame. Ball State, Drake, Illinois, Indiana State, Iowa, Kentucky, Marquette, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue and Western Michigan will par- ticipate in the tournament. The tournament format allows each player three singles matches. Seven of the eight Wolverines will compete, with the exception ofjunior Jen Boylan, who is still recovering from a knee injury and is taking two to three weeks off. Six Wolverines will play doubles as well, excluding freshman Tenley Hardin. "This is a great opportunity to play a lot of matches, and to see how our com- petitors have changed since last sea- son," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. -Nita Srivastava Crew Twenty years after it was created, Michigan's women's crew team will be competing under varsity status. Coach Mark Rothstein leads the Michigan's women's crew team again this year. Rothstein came to the pro- gram as a novice coach in 1991 and has been the head coach of the club team since 1992. "We are driven to develop the pro- gram to the highest level," Rothstein' said. "We're really looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead of us" In its last year as a club sport, the Wolverines took the gold medal at the well-respected Women's Henley Regatta in Henley, England. Rothstein, along with assistant coach Emily Ford, will be leading some experienced rowers in competi- tion. Juniors Jeannette Stawasi, Kate MacKenzie and Lisa Labadie are joined by transfer students Emily Green and Laurel Lacour. This sum- mer, Lacour and Stawaski were invited to the U.S. National Team Pre-Elite camp. The Wolverines have high expecta- tions going into their first regatta in Pittsburgh on Saturday. "We expect to make an impact imme' diately"said Rothstein. - David Eklund 'WI LDCATS Continued from Page 12 per play, and they're gaining 60 more yards per contest. According to Carr, Northwestern has opened its offense up more this season than last, and that is because of the added turnovers, not Schnur. Steele knows the Michigan defense will be facing a good quarterback tomor- row. "He's very mobile and he moves around a lot," Steele said. "For us to be successful we're going to have to keep him in the pocket." Success has been the name of the game for the Michigan defense. Last week, the Wolverines held UCLA to just two first downs in the sec- ond half and only 170 yards of total offense. And with the offense emerging as it did against the Bruins, Gary Barnett sounds a little like Lou Holtz when it comes to talking about Michigan. "They're offense reminds me of the way ours played (last year)," Barnett said. "Everyone is trying to make the team, do the job. There are no egos. "They're working the ball so well right now, we just hope we can make them punt." Staff Picks - all picks made against the spread. Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) NORTHWESTERN (+6 1/2) vs. Mich. i OWA (-8 1/2) vs. Michigan State ILLINOIS (-5 1/2) vs. Indiana OHIO STATE (-10) vs. Penn State PURDUE (-3 1/2) vs. Minnesota OHIO (-2 1/2) vs. Eastern Michigan FLORIDA (-31) vs. Arkansas FLA. STATE (-30 1/2) vs. Clemson NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA Michigan Iowa Indiana Penn State Minnesota Ohio Florida Florida State UARRY SOLLENBERGER Northwestern Iowa Illinois PenrnState Purdue Ohio Florida Florida State RYAN WHITE Michigan Iowa Illinois Ohio State Minnesota Eastern Michigan Florida Florida State Arizona State Southern Cal Iowa ARIZONA STATE (-38) vs. Boise State Boise State Southern Cal (-16) vs. Cal Best Bet Last Week Overall OveraIl Best Bet Southern Cal Southern Cal 5-5: 20-19-1 3-1 Boise State Southern Cal Florida 46 18-21-1 2-2 17-22-1 2-2 ,. ...1 Join eSOiTSENSE- an Inc. 500 Company! (2 years running) Located in North Atlanta, Softsense specializes in developing advanced Retail Software Solutions on both open systems and custom hardware platforms, focusing on user interface and transaction processing. We are looking for all positions to expand as we enter new markets and capitalize on revenue opportunities. All positions offer equity in a rapidly growing private company with IPO plans in next 1-2 years. We seek aggressive, committed candidates. Send fax to: ATTN-HR (770) 772-3052. On campus October 7,1996 i - -* ./." Homecoming 1996 Parade Application PARTY 'tI the VICTORS comec home! Applications must be submitted in writing to Homecoming 1996, Alumni Association ASAP. Name of Sponsoring Organization: Is your organization registered with Michigan Student Assembly?