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1 x ' a xi az"
MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
Detroit 5,
BALTIMORE, 4
N.Y. YANKEES 8,
Toronto, 1
Cleveland at
KANSAS CITY, canc.
MINNESOTA 5,
Milwaukee 2
Seattle at
OAKLAND, inc.
N.Y. Mets 10,
FLORIDA 3
PITTSBURGH 3,
St. Louis 1
Montreal,
ATLANTA. inc.
San Francisco at
SAN DIEGO, inc.
Houston 6
CINCINNAI 3
PRO
FOOTBALL
JACKSONVILLE 29,
Pittsburgh 21
Tuesday 7
September 23, 19979
- w . !e! !!!, I I
Wolverines still cautious
despite Irish troubles
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan co-captain Eric Mayes
spent the bulk of his elementary school
years living in South Bend, Ind. But even
though his brother used to sell programs
during football games at Notre Dame
Stadium, Mayes doesn't remember a
whole lot about the classic matchups
between Michigan and Notre Dame.
Mayes was busy watching cartoons on
Saturdays.
"But my brother used to tell me all
about the games," Mayes said. "It's one
of the best rivalries in college football."
But Mayes' brother could probably
tell him that the games of the '80s were
a bit different than this one. In light of
the events in recent weeks, it just seems
awfully anticlimactic now, doesn't it?
Michigan, at least, has done its part:
The Wolverines are undefeated, ranked
No.6 in the nation and generally looking
very tough.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, has
not exactly lived up to its end of the bar-
gain. The Irish are under .500 (1-2), and
no longer anywhere near the top 25.
Even if Notre Dame had entered this
weekend's supposed showdown with
only one loss, Saturday's game still
might have "game of the year" connota-
tions attached to it.
But as it is, Notre Dame visits Ann
Arbor after suffering its second loss of
the year - to Michigan State.
That just ruins it for everybody.
Now, if Michigan wins, so what? The
Spartans already did it easily - in South
Bend, no less. If the Wolverines lose at
home, not only does the early-season
bandwagon screech to a stop, but the
Spartans go one-up on Michigan.
The Wolverines, of course, are unified
in taking the company line. At yesterday's
press conference, Michigan players
Mayes, Sam Sword, Jon Jansen and coach
Lloyd Carr all professed, at separate
times, that Notre Dame is "a great foot-
ball team," that we in the general public
can "forget about the records" once the
game starts and that Notre Dame's Ron
Powlus is "a great quarterback.'
The first two comments are under-
standable, coming from a team that has
long been plagued by disappointing let-
downs. The third comment, however -
the one about Powlus - did serious
injury to the speakers' believability quo-
tients. Anyone who has followed Notre
Dame football for the past four years
knows that to call the play of the once-
heralded Powlus "great" is to overlook,
well, most of the past four years. This
season, Powlus's last, the suddenly pass-
happy Irish are ranked No. 45 in the
nation in passing offense.
But the truly surprising part of the
press conference was when Sword,
responding to a question about Powlus,
said, "I haven't really seen that much of
him."
There are nuns who have seen too
much of Ron Powlus over the past four.
years.
Nevertheless, the game will take place
on Saturday, at 3:30 p.m., in front of a
national television audience, with Keith
Jackson and Bob Griese doing the play-
by-play. And Carr made it perfectly clear
that nobody in Ann Arbor is feeling
sorry for Notre Dame.
"I don't have time to talk about what
Bob Davie is going through,' Carr said
with a chuckle. "I think anytime you lose
in a (major) program, there's tremendous
disappointment. Those are programs
where you expect to win every game,
your players expect to win every game,
and certainly, your alumni expect to win.
every game."
As for the rivalry aspect of this week-
end's game, Carr was equally articulate.
"At Michigan, we've got about 10
rivalries,' he said. "And we've got about
nine of them left."
SARA STLMAN/Oaily
low that Notre Dame has two losses, the game against Michigan this Saturday loses some of its traditional intensity. But
Michigan tailback Chris Howard and the rest of the Wolverines should get up for the game anyway.
Defensive end Dansby all muscle for Fighting Irish
Bylan Reinfta
Notre DMiie Observer
When the fourth quarter began, some
hope was still alive. Notre Dame, in its
home opener, in its new stadium, with its
new coaching staff, had failed to put
B3orgia Tech away, and the Yellow
3kets had begun to think upset.
IDown 13-10 in fourth quarter, what
ny would consider the least likely of
all Irish units to change the tone of a
pame did just that.
< Following turnovers deep inside Irish
territory on two consecutive Notre Dame
&iOesj the band of the Fighting Irish
responded with the Star Wars "Imperial
March;" and the defense took the field
with one {goal in mind: The squad, with-
out signal caller Bobby Howard, rose to
k occasion and no player was more
Wtrumental in the effort than defensive
end Melvin Dansby.
'The fifth-year senior tri-captain proved
why he was chosen to be one of this
year's team leaders. Despite knee injuries
that sidelined him last spring and forced
him to rotate with backup Brad Williams
on' Saturday, Dansby was all over the
field throughout the afternoon.
'I was feeling really good," said the
defensive anchor. "That six-play rotation
fallypaid dividends in the end, especial-
in the fourth quarter. I had a full tank
in there going into the second half, so it
Worked for me."
It was in that fourth quarter that
Dansby made one of the plays of the
game, On the second Jacket play from
simmage, following Notre Dame's go-
ahead touchdown, quarterback Joe
Hamilton dropped back, looking for a
receiver to throw to for a first down. But
&milton never got the chance to release
the ball.
Charging through the offensive line,
'Dansby got a grasp of the quarter-
back's jersey and flung him to the
ground on his own seven yard line for
a 13-yard loss, virtually ending Tech's
popesof becoming the second heavy
'underdog in three years to walk out of
a, Notre Dame Stadium opener with a
win., -
"He did have an outstanding game,"
Iid defensive line coach Charlie Strong.
"He's aleader and that's what we expect
Dl'him."
When'all was said and done, Dansby
1l the team with two sacks and 12 tack-
les. More important though, he served as
an inspirational force in an Irish time of
ieed, despite not being 100 percent at
game time.
"Earlier (last) week, somebody asked
that (if Dansby was 100 percent), and
said upper 90s, so it's about the same
(now)," explained Dansby. "I felt like
iipper 90s the day of the game, so hope-
fully I can feel that well throughout the
season.'
The'six-play rotation that the defensive
coaching staff employed with Dansby
Ulmd wifHf..w may av, ac hee a it
rehabilitate his knees over the summer.
That was also partially due to new coach
Bob Davie's pre-season philosophy.
"I think everything's a lot better
tempo" Dansby said in comparing the
practice schedules of Davie and ex-
coach Lou Holtz. "It's real physical, but
at least you didn't come out feeling all
beat up and bruised as far as pre-season
is concerned. I'm not trying to bad
mouth coach Holtz or anything, but if
Holtz was still here, with his type of
practice, I don't think I would have made
it through two-a-days."
Anyone who has seen Melvin around
the Notre Dame campus in the past few
years cannot be able to help but grin at
the thought of Dansby improving his
upper body strength. They certainly do
not call him "the Beast" for nothing.
Dansby, who now stands 6-foot-4 and
weighs around 280 pounds, maxed out on
the bench press this summer at 505
pounds.
Hopefully for the Irish, Dansby can
spread some of his strength and expe-
rience around the defensive unit in
Ann Arbor this weekend, because the
Irish will be without Bobbie Howard,
who sustained ligament damage to his
left knee against Georgia Tech, and
Corey Bennett, who reinjured his knee
last week versus Michigan State.
When asked what the defense will
have to do to respond to the changes,
Dansby displayed nothing but confi-
dence.
"Close ranks, march, and try to play
with the soldiers that we do have" said
the captain. "Everybody just has to gel
together and try to make up for it. I think
they'll do a great job."
Strong also seemed comfortable with
the troops who will hold down the Irish
fort on Saturday.
"(Melvin's) just got to keep going and
not try to over do it," Strong said,
"because even though,.Bennett's not
going to be there, we're going to use
Lance Legree and play enough guys and
hopefully Melvin can have another good
game."
Dansby has had quite a few good
games in his career at Notre Dame,
and with any luck, he probably has
plenty more to come. But great per-
formances on the field are not the only
thing the mild-mannered end has
brought with him from his hometown
of Birmingham, Ala.
Back in February, Davie made
Melvin's younger brother Kevin one of
the first signees in his tenure as head
football coach. The 6-foot-2, 210 pound
linebacker was a USA Today honorable
mention All-America pick, and more
importantly, was receiving offers from
many other schools.
The elder Dansby explained his part in
his brother's decision.
"I was just that little birdie sitting on
his shoulder, saying 'come on, make the
right choice,"' recalled Melvin. "I think
he did, and I think he'd say the same."
The Dansby brothers now have the
opportunity of working together and
playing with one another for an entire
football season.
And though he plays a different
position, there is no one better for
Kevin to watch than Melvin.
There can be no doubt for Notre
Dame, that with all of his contributions to
the school, on the field and off, Melvin
"the Beast" Dansby was a beauty of a
find.
I
SoM
Yo u'll0e okd
Introducing
Gillette Series
TISCH
HUMANITIES SEMINAR
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Thursday 2S September 1997
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