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Scores0 e
MAJOR LEAGUE San Francisco 5,
BASEBALL PHILADELPHIA 3
OAKLAND 8, NY METS 9,
Toronto 7 Montreal 5

COLLEGE
FOOTBALL
Alabama 20,
VANDERBILT 0

NY Yan'.ees 14,
BA LTIM'ORE 2
CHI SOX 7.
Cleveland 5
TEXAS 7.
Minnesota 0

Detroit at
SEAT LE, inc.
Kansas City at
ANAHEIM, inc.

Friday
September 12, 1997

13


"There was nobody else around. It was just me
and the football. All I had to do was catch it."
- Colorado wide receiver Michael Westbrook

1996
"I just sat down by myself, hoped it wouldn't
happen again, and just prayed."
- Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach

Mark Campbell (88), Brent Washington (38) and Tate
Schanski (42) celebrate after Colorado's last-chance Hall Mary
fell harmlessly to the turf in Michigan's 20-13 win last year.

Lack of
off ensive
star is big
liabiity
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
made the first big decision of
the 1997 season earlier this
week. Brian Griese will be the
lverines' starting quarterback.
Now it's just a matter of time until
Carr has to make the next big ones:
*hen to pull the fifth-year senior and
who will start in his place.
The Detroit News says third-year
sophomore Tom
Brady is second
on the depth
chart. The
Detroit Free
Press says it's
redshirt fresh-
man Jason
JOHN Kapsner, who's
LEROI being groomed
Out of as the
Bounds Wolverines'
starter for the
'98 season.
And then The Ann Arbor News, and
Griese himself, says junior Scott
reisbach is No. 2. We here at The
Michigan Daily have no idea who is
backing up Griese.
And we have no opinion about who
should. That's because members of the
media are not allowed access to
Michigan practices, save one meaning-
less day of conditioning at the begin-
ning of the season.
So it's difficult to tell who's the back-
up and even harder to say whether
Carr's choice to start is a good one. For
w, I'd like to say that we should give
e Michigan coaches the benefit of the
doubt.
But that may not be so wise on my
part.
What we know for sure is that
Dreisbach is a better athlete with a bet-
ter arm. What Carr tells us is that
Griese makes better decisions and
knows how to get the team into the end
'one.
What I know is this: Griese will
never be a star quarterback. The
Wolverines might not need one - but
they needed something last season.
Ever since Thsimanga Biakabutuka left
for the NFL after the 1995 season,
Michigan has had between little and no
offensive firepower.
I agree with every other football
writer in the country that defense wins
games, but in college football these
ys, you need more to win champi-
onships.
Every team that won the Big Ten title
in the '90s had a solid and effective
quarterback and at least one legitimate
offensive star. Griese is certainly not
the latter, and he hasn't shown yet that
he is the former.
That's not to say he can't be, but
Penn State quarterback Mike McQuery
as shown more in one start than
Uriese did in four seasons. That's why
the Nittany Lions are the odds-on
choice to win the Big Ten: They have a
superior defense, a phenomenal player
in running back Curtis Enis, and what
looks to be one of the best passers in
the Big Ten in McQuery.
Last year Ohio State won the confer-

Buffaloes invade
Ann Arbor for
rubber match

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Daily Sports Editor
The play is still part of the
Colorado arsenal. Rocket Jet Right.
None other has created more exciting
football finishes this decade, and
none other may be able to decide the
game tomorrow, when the eighth-
ranked Buffaloes play the 14th-
ranked Michigan Wolverines at noon
in a nationally televised matchup that
always seems to rest on a prayer.
Rocket Jet Right is what the
Buffaloes (1-0) called the Hail Mary
heave they used at Michigan Stadium
in 1994 to shock the Wolverines (0-0)
with no time left on the clock, 27-26.
It's the same play they tried to use in
a similar situation last year, only to
have that pass fall onto the Folsom
Field turf incomplete to give the
Wolverines a 20-13 victory.
The only question now is whether it
will come down to the last play again.
With the two teams matching up fair-
ly evenly, and a onslaught of hype
surrounding the game, there is an
eerie feeling on both sides.
"I think the media has made it into
a rivalry game, and people have fed
into it as a rivalry game," Colorado's
Phil Savoy said. "This year, I don't
know what is going to happen. After
two years, though, you get it in your
mind that something is going to hap-
pen."
Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel
would prefer it didn't. In a sluggish,
31-21 victory last week over
Colorado State, Neuheisel said the
Buffaloes used Rocket Jet Right and
nearly had their "quarterback decapi-
tated when one of our backs blocked
our tackle and gave someone a free
shot.
"Going back to Ann Arbor brings
back memories of that play. I just

Gameday comes to the Big House:
Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk
Herbstreit will broadcast ESPN's week-
ly College Gameday show from inside
the Southeast gates of Michigan
Stadium at 11 am.
inside: Fifth-year senior Brian Griese
will quarterback the Wolverines tomor-
row, and his father, Bob, will call the
game for ABC.
Page 14.
The Matchups as we see 'em.
Page 15.
hope we don't have to use it again."
To make matters worse for the
Buffaloes, they don't seem to have
the quarterback to make it happen
anyway. Kordell Stewart was one of
the nation's best in 1994, and last
year, so was Koy Detmer.
John Hessler is the man this year,
and he looked nervous throughout the
Colorado State game. He was 18-of-
28 for 223 yards and threw two touch-
down passes and an interception.
Hessler "didn't play as well as he
played in fall camp, and he will be the
first to admit it," Neuheisel said.
"Nerves were a factor. Improvement
will be drastic - or else."
The running game will be the key
for Colorado this time, not an aerial
attack. That said, they gained just 122
yards last week, and their defense
allowed touchdown passes of 61 and
71 yards.
Considering the Wolverines are the
final Division I team to open the sea-
son and are hungrier than ever to play,
the Buffaloes' problems could be
exaggerated, even though the
Wolverines have had far less practice
time.
See BUFFALOES, Page 14

FILE PHOlO
Colorado wide receiver Michael Westbrook hauls In this 64-yard heave from Kordell Stewart on the last play of the game in
1994. The Buffaloes' improbable 27-26 come-from-behind win dashed the then-No. 3 Wolverines' national championship hopes.
Football Saturday.
At every home football game.

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