dv im*. I . 4 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Divsional Playoff Schedule Today Cleveland at New York, 8:13 p.m. (Fox) Houston at Atlanta, 1:07 p.m. (ESPN) San Francisco at Florida, 4:07 p.m. (ESPN) Tomorrow Baltimore at Seattle, 8:07 p.m. (NBC) Houston at Atlanta, 1:07 p.m. (ESPN) San Francisco at Florida, 4:07 p.m. (ESPN) Thursday Cleveland at New York, 8:13 p.m. (Fox) Baltimore at Seattle, 4:07 p.m. (ESPN) Friday Atlanta at Houston, TBA Florida at San Francisco, TBA Saturday Seattle at Baltimore, TBA New York at Cleveland, TBA PRO FOOTBALL San Francisco vs. Carolina, inc. Tuesday September 30, 1997 10. 'M' icers begin practice with new faces in old places By Sharat Raju Daily Sports Writer For the past three seasons, Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson knew what to expect at practice. He knew he had nine players who needed little direction and guidance to succeed. But yesterday at Michigan's first official practice, when Berenson looked out on the ice, he didn't have those famed nine players. Instead, he has nine new ones who need to be broken in. "The upperclassmen have to get used to the fact that there are no Morrisons or Botterills or Luhnings or Leggs or Maddens or Sloans or Schocks (of last year) to lead this team," Berenson said. And what a change that should be. Those departed figures guided the Wolverines to a national title in 1996 and three CCHA championships. So for the first time since 1993, the Wolverines are in somewhat of a rebuilding process. "It's a start, we've got a lot of work to do like every other team;' Berenson said. "Part of it is getting conditioning down and part of it is for the freshmen getting used to the style of play of Michigan." The Wolverines haven't been com-. pletely away from the ice, however. For the past two weeks they have been working out as a team at Yost Ice Arena, participating in 'unofficial' practices. Since no coaches were involved dur- ing those two weeks, the Michigan vet- erans directed the flow of the workouts. "Bill Muckalt and Matt Herr are already taking a serious leadership role on this team," Berenson said. The first day of practice was certain- ly more intense than the unofficial workouts. The coaching staff employed a variety of drills, followed by intense, fast-moving scrimmage situations. The coaching staff also arranged the Wolverines in various lines, none of which are considered final. In fact, a few freshmen had the opportunity to play on lines that consisted of seasoned veterans. For the nine newcomers, the pace and intensity of the first day of practice is much different than what they've bee accustomed to. "Practice went well with a good tempo, but it was a lot faster today," Michigan freshman Josh Langfeld said. "I learned a whole lot of stuff today and it's only the first day of practice.' Although the freshmen might have been overwhelmed by the level at which they were expected to practice. Berenson was pleased with their perfor- mance and preparation overall. "I've been impressed with the leveW of conditioning;" Berenson said. "Our team has come in real good shape. And our younger players are probably in bet- ter shape than our typical freshman class." Better physical shape doesn't always translate into a solid team. In college sports there is constant turnover--play- ers graduate and freshmen arrive. One of the most daunting tasks is to familiarize See PRACTICE, Page:1$ Michigan captain Matt Herr and the rest of the Michigan hockey team preparing for the season that begins Oct. 10 in Minnesota. WARREN ZINN/Daily began official practice yesterday. The Wolverines are Carr still in disbelief after Michigan's near crash against Irish By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Editor Two days after the fact, Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr still seemed to be in shock over his team's ability to avoid football suicide in Saturday's victory over Notre Dame. "I don't ever remember winning a game where we turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter on the short end of the field, or any end of the field," Carr said. "That is something from our vantage point that we have to get corrected." Michigan's first three possessions of the final quarter all ended with fumbles, two coming on hard Notre Dame hits and the last one on a poor exchange on a handoff. But the offense's penchant for but- tery hands gave the defense an opportunity to redeem itself after a lackluster first half, which saw the Wolverines allow their first two touchdowns of the season. "It was inspiring to see the defense go on the short end of the field three consecutive times and play great football after having a very difficult time in the first half stopping (Notre Dame)," Carr said. "I was very con- cerned at the half because I thought if our defense didn't do a better job in the second half, it was going to be very tired late in the game against a big Notre Dame offensive line." The numbers show. Despite being slightly outgained in total offense by the Irish by almost a two-to-one mar- gin in the first half, Michigan's defense buckled down after halftime, holding Notre Dame to just 127 total yards, 100 fewer than the first 30 minutes. Altogether, the Wolverines were outgained by the Irish, but Notre Dame did hold a commanding 35:44- 24:16 advantage in time of posses- sion. Although the latter fact is often looked upon as a key to victory, Carr saw the Michigan silver lining in those figures. "When you consider what we did in 24 minutes, what it took (Notre Dame) 36 minutes to do, offensively, we did alright," Carr said. "Statistically, it wasn't as bad as it seemed." CoMMISSIONER CARR SPEAKS: Carr gave his opinion of what direc- tion the Big Ten should go in order to keep up with the nation's top confer- ences. And it does not differ from the trend that many collegiate and pro- fessional leagues are following. Expansion and playoffs. "When I look at the schedules, I think there are some definite advan- tages that certain teams have and I think the schedule's going to play a role (in determining the conference champion)," Carr said. "That's why, in my view, I'm hopeful that as soon as possible we can add a 12th team. I hope the presidents and athletic directors are looking in that direc- tion." The topic was broached to Carr when he was asked whether he thought Michigan got stuck with a bad schedule this season. According to last year's opponents' records, the Wolverines have the toughest sched- ule in the nation this season. That schedule was made a whole lot tougher when perennial Big Ten door- mats, Illinois and Purdue, were left off Michigan's schedule this season as the two opponents that can't fit into the Wolverines' eight-game Big Ten slate. This decision was made by a com- See CARR, Page 12 SARA STILLMAN/Da Michigan's Chris Howard scampers by with the help of teammate Tai Streets. In Saturday's win over Notre Dame, both the two Wolverines were Instrumental to Michigan's offensive efforts in the second half. Streets scored a 41-yard touchdown on the second play of the half, while Howard ran the game out, collecting 73 yards in the final seven minutes. U El J O3FA 9 Tuesday, October 7, 1997 Michigan Union 1:00pm - 5:00pm . sit I l. ii 1 41 l a ]Ka I 1 -