The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 15, 1997 - 13 Fry promises to pull out all stops Lobos looking for WAC title IOWA CITY (AP)-- Hayden Fry said yesterday he will pull out all the stops this weekend when No. 15 Iowa visits No. 5 4ichigan, but the Hawkeyes' coach says it will be a "fun" game and not a must- win contest. "We're going to have fun. I pulled out my foot locker during the open week. I've dusted off a lot of my old exotics (trick plays) and so forth," Fry said at his week- ly news conference. "So, we don't have anything to lose" Fry said. "Go up there and have a little fun and see if we cgn't win it." Tie Hawkeyes, who did not play last weekend, need a win against the Wolverines to stay in the running for a Rose Bowl berth. They opened the sea- son with four straight wins before losing to No. 11 Ohio State on Oct. 4, which dropped them to 1-1 in the Big Ten. "Obviously, we see this as a must-win situation," defensive tackle Jared DeVries said. Iowa's other defensive tackle, Jon *Fleur, thinks his team will have to go undefeated the rest of the way to get to Pas4ena on New Year's Day. "It's got to be a must win from here on out for us to go to the Rose Bowl" he said.,"I don't know if any other teams will be defeated more than once, and maybe none of them will get defeated at all, and we'll just be out of it." Wisconsin leads the early conference title chase with a 3-0 mark, followed osely by Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue, which are all 2-0. Ohio State and Iowa are next at 1-1, with Minnesota, Northwestern, Indiana and Illinois all winless in league play. Fry was in a jovial mood yesterday but admitted he was just the opposite after the Ohio State loss in which the Hawkeyes were punchless on offense (106 rushing yards) and anemic on defense. "Hey, I'm a nice guy and I like to be nice to the public and this and that, but I'm madder than hell inside about that last ball game," Fry said. "Ohio State's got a tremendous football team, but I think we do, too. But we didn't show it that day." He credited the Buckeyes' kicking game for keeping the ball away from Tim Dwight, who was second in the nation in punt returns last year, and Tony Collins, who leads the Big Ten this year with a 24- yard average. . "Ohio State killed us with field posi- tion. I mean, every time we had that ball, we had 81 yards or more to go -- twice inside the five - and no punt returns, no kickoff returns," Fry said. "They deserved to win the ball game, but we had our chances. "We block, but we don't stay with our block. We tackle, but we don't tackle hard enough," he said. "How many sacks did we get against Ohio State? Zippo. That's ridiculous." The Hawkeyes have rebounded psy- chologically from the loss, Fry said, and AP PHOTO Running back Tavian Banks will look to run past the Michigan defense on Saturday. Iowa coach Hayden Fry said his team might have some tricks up its sleeve. he thinks they will play well in front of the more than 102,000 people expected to jam Michigan Stadium. "Yeah, I think we have a chance," he said. "I'm very sold on this ball club. They're very mature and solid. "If nothing else from the Ohio State game ... the most important thing from a coaching standpoint that we gained is that our players now know - whether we can do it or not remains to be seen - they now know the intensity level and the execution level required to play with the big guys," he said. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - With every victory in a season that seems destined to be the best in New Mexico's history, the expectations soar higher and coach Dennis Franchione's voice of reason grows louder. New Mexico's 6-0 start is the best in school history and, with the Lobos on the verge of cracking the Top 25 for only the third time ever, Lobos fans are engulfed in talk of a bowl bid and a Western Athletic Conference title. Neither has happened in decades. New Mexico's last bowl appearance was in the now extinct Aviation Bowl in 1961 and the Lobos' last WAC title was in 1964, when they shared it with Arizona and Utah. This week, New Mexico, 3-0 in the WAC, faces its toughest challenge to date, against a Rice (4-2, 2-1) team that last week used its option offense to beat then-No. 21 Brigham Young, 27-14. It was Rice that a year ago literally ran over New Mexico's promising sea- son by rushing for 481 yards in a 38- 21 victory in Houston. All the more reason, says Franchione, to temper the mania that is sweeping through Albuquerque and the rest of New Mexico this fall. "We haven't played ourselves into anything yet and all this game counts is one," Franchione said yesterday. "We're not bowl eligible at this time, and we're only at the top of the con- ference." New Mexico has played itself to the. top of the Mountain Division in the 16-team WAC by playing solid defense in a league where offenses dominate and by Franchione's ability to keep his team from resting on its last victory. "There have been years around here, where we won a damn football game and we acted like we had changed the state of the union," he said. "I understand why. We didn't win very many, so when we did, we were happy and they (players) wanted to cling to that feeling. Sometimes, we hung onto the feeling so long, we lost the next game." New Mexico was 26-80 in the nine seasons before Franchione took over the program in 1992. In the five-plus seasons since then, New Mexico has won 30 games, including 6-5 seasons in 1993 and 1996. The six wins this year assures the Lobos will have back- to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1971. The Lobos haven't won more than six games since they went 10-1 in 1982 under the late coach Joe Morrison. That team was ranked No. 20 for two weeks, but lost the WAC title to BYU and failed to get a bowl bid. This New Mexico team, says BYU coach LaVell Edwards, deserves a bet- ter fate. "I've voted for them (in the USA Today-ESPN poll) the last two or three weeks," Edwards said. "They've been so close to a big year the last couple of seasons, and you could see the improvement all along." "They're aggressive and fly to the ball on defense. Offensively they run the ball well and just don't beat them- selves," said Rice coach Ken Hatfield. Another factor in the winning streak has been the play of junior quarter- back Graham Leigh, who transferred to New Mexico two years ago after Pacific dropped its football program. Leigh was expected to be mostly a role player in a backfield that was rich in running backs when the season started. But injuries have sliced into that depth and Leigh's foot speed and accurate arm have carried the Lobos in recent weeks. He leads the team in rushing with 345 yards and last week accounted for all five New Mexico touchdowns - three, passing and two rushing - in the Lobos' 36-21 win at San Diego State. Leigh, like his teammates, is trying .to keep these good times in perspec- tive. "Everybody has it in the back of their mind how good the season could turn out, but our main focus is Rice," Leigh said. "We're not looking ahead to Utah or BYU or anyone else. We're going to keep doing what we've been doing and improving every week.' Saturday's game against the Owls is sure to be a sellout and school offi- cials are predicting a record crowd i- excess of 35,000 to a stadium that seats just over 31,200. John Reid, the executive director of the Holiday Bowl, will be in the crowd to evaluate both teams. All of that, says Franchione, is a tribute to what the Lobos have accon- plished and what might be. "I continue to remind them that they're special, no mattet what hap- pens the rest of the season," he said. "And I continue to remind them that they need to believe in themselves and that they will find a way to win. They have for six straight weeks?' Robinson to leave Trojans at end of season? LOS ANGELES (AP) - Coach John Robinson, call- ing Southern California a football team in crisis, said yesterday he will quit after the season if the Trojans don'fimprove. I a really good football coach who's not doing ery well right now," Robinson said yesterday. "If I don't do better, then I will step aside. "if we don't turn the program around, I'm not talking about wins, but I'm talking about facing this crisis and having our players respond, then our football team should go in a new direction at the end of the season. "I'm the first to say that.... I'm not going to be part of a situation where I let this team slide into the gutter." Athletic Director Mike Garrett said after the Trojans' 35-7 loss at Arizona State last Saturday that he was cking with Robinson through this season. The coach's ontrat extends through the 2001 season. Robinson said he, Garrett and school president Steven Sample had talked, including on the flight back from Arizona last weekend, and were in concert as far as try- ing tQ get the football team back on track. "Mike Garrett, President Sample and myself will move forward," the coach said. The Trojans' loss to the Sun Devils was their most lopsided defeat by an unranked team in Robinson's 12 years, and dropped them to 2-3, with two of their losses in Pac-10 games. Having lost six of their past nine dating back to last season, they face another team in trouble, Notre Dame, at South Bend this weekend. Late last season, with Garrett unhappy with the way the Trojans had played on their way to a 5-6 record, Robinson may have salvaged his job with a 27-20 over- time win over Notre Dame, USC's first victory against the Fighting Irish in 14 years. This time, however, Notre Dame has a 2-4 record, and a win by the Trojans wouldn't have as much signifi- cance. "I don't think they were playing for me or my job (last season). Everybody has a job and eventually moves on," Robinson said. "Not living up to your potential, that's a crisis." The Trojans' problems have been many and varied: they've had trouble running the ball, sophomore quar- terback John Fox hasn't been able to move the team con- sistently, and even the secondary, considered one of the strong points heading into the season, has been getting shredded. What bothers Robinson most, however, is what he considers a lack of fight by the team. Talking about the Trojans trailing just 13-7 before falling apart in the second half at Arizona State, Robinson said: "The thing that's most disturbing is when it was time to step up and win the game, we stepped back. We were without energy and without confidence and I think it was mind-boggling to everyone involved.... "I've told them (the players), among a lot of other things, that if you can't perform, you've got to step aside. ... Somewhere along the line, they need to stand up and fight. They need to punch the other guy instead of letting him punch them." Robinson shouldered the blame, saying, "One thing that is happening is they're choking or not performing and that's my responsibility, to get them ready." .Asked what the players' mood was, the coach answered, "The team pretty much has been told to shut up and listen. The only real significance now is how they perform." Showing his sense of humor is intact, Robinson said: "I would ask all Trojans, or people who care about USC, to join us. We're starting a million man march, and we've only got about 12 guys right now." VOLUE 3 NUBER A v - P S r1 C m s 1997 Does your team have what it takes to be the national champion? Sign up now for the NIKE College Flag Football Regional Tournament November 7-9 at Ohio State University. You could win a free trip to compete in the National Championships at the Superdome in New Orleans during Sugar Bowl week. Call Beau Rugg at 614-292-7671 for details. FLAG FO0TBALL Ambl. A I WON'T FIT ON 17TH... MEN'S TENNISN AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP AUSTIN, TX WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL/V VS. PENN STATE CLIFF KEEN ARENA 700 PM TENNIS/I PALMER FIELD I _____________________ . 15 MEN'S TENNIs/V AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSIP AUSTIN, TX SOCCER PLAYOFFS/I MITCHELL FELD 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/I IMS8 I ----------------------- 16 MEN'S TENNISN AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP AUSTIN, TX CROSS-COUNTRY/I MITCHELL FIELD SOCCER PLAYOFFS/I MITCHELL FIELD 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/ IMSB ---------------------- -- 17 MEN'S HOCKEYN VS. COLGATE YOST ARENA, 7:00 PM WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEYN AT NORTHWESTERN 4:00 PM WOMEN'S SOCCERN VS. ILLINOIS' MICHIGAN SOCCER FIELD 4:00 PM ----------t- 18 MEN'S HOCKEYN VS. COLGATE YOST ARENA, 7:00 PM WOMEN'S ROWINGN AT HEAD OF THE CHARLES BOSTON, MA MEN'S FOOTBALL/V VS. IOWA MICHIGAN STADIUM MEN'S TENNISN AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP AUSTIN, TX WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL/V VS. INDIANA CLIFF KEEN ARENA 7:00 PM TENNIS/1 PALMER FIELD PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD WOMEN'S RUGBY/C ELBEL FIELD, 10:00 AM I Q 5 w 141mv. .MW __________ [ ._ .. - - T- 19 WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEYN AT IOWA NOON WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY/V WOLVERINE INTERREGIONAL MICHIGAN GOLF COURSE 11:00 AM. MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRYN WOLVERINE INTERREGIONAL MICHIGAN GOLF COURSE 11:00 AM ,,E AT 20 MEN'S GOLF/V PERSIMMON RIDGE INVITATIONAL LOUISVILLE, KY 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/I IMSB WON'T FIT ON 19TH... WOMEN'S SOCCER/V AT IOWA 2:00 PM 21 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/I IMSB MEN'S TENNISN AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP, AUSTIN, TX TENNIS/I PALMER FIELD PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD 22 WOMEN'S SOCCERN AT DETROIT 3:00 PM 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/I IMSB -----T_ 23 WOMEN'S TENNIS/V AT ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PACIFIC PALISADES, CA WALLYBALL/I IMSB FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD 3-ON-3 BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS/I IMSB -I 24 WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEYN VS. PENN STATE PHYLLIS OCKER FIELD 4:00 PM MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRYN AT EASTERN MICHIGAN INVITE 4:00 PM WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRYN AT EASTERN MICHIGAN CLASSIC WOMEN'S TENNISN -4 AT ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PACIFIC PALISADES, CA Ale MEN'S FOOTBALL/V AT MICHIGAN STATE 12:30 PM MEN'S HOCKEYN VS. MICHIGAN STATE YOST ARENA, 7:00 PM WON'T FIT ON 24TH... WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL/V AT PURDUE, 7:30 PM FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD WOMEN'S TENNISN AT ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PACIFIC PALISADES, CA MEN'S FRISBEE/C MITCHELL FIELD 8:00 AM ,.. WOMEN'S RUGBY/C ELBEL FIELD, 11:00 AM i :.............................................. ...................................... :.. ... . .. ..... .. .. .. ... .... . .. . ..4... . ... .... .. 1 t__________ , r i i - 26 WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEY/V VS. OHIO STATE PHYLLIS OCKER FIELD, NOON WOMEN'S SOCCERN VS. MICHIGAN STATE MICHIGAN SOCCER FIELD, 2:00 PM WOMEN'S ROWINGN WOLVERINE FALL CLASSIC BELLEVILLE, MI " WOMEN'S TENNISN AT ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PACIFIC PALISADES, CA 27 WALLYBALL/ IMSB FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD WOMEN'S SOCCER/C MITCHELL FIELD 8:00 AM WON'T FIT ON 26TH... WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL/V AT OHIO STATE, 2:00 PM FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD GOLF/I M GOLF COURSE 28 WALLYBALL/ IMSB FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD WOMEN'S SOCCER/C MITCHELL FIELD 9:00 AM T 29 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL/V AT NORTHWESTERN 7:30 PM WALLYBALL/I IMSB FLAG FOOTBALL/l MITCHELL FIELD MEN'S SOCCER/C MITCHELL FIELD 5:00 PM -.T- 30 WALLYBALL/ IMSB FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD WOMEN'S SOCCER/C MITCHELL FIELD 330 PM -"I I'- 31 MEN'S HOCKEYN AT ALASKA-FAIRBANKS 7:00 PM WOMEN'S $OCCERN AT NOTRE DAME 8:30 PM FLAG FOOTBALL/I MITCHELL FIELD i IN CREATING SPORT51/2PAGE, NIKE MAKES EVERY EFFORT TO BE ACCURATE. WE REGRET ANY ERRORS. IF YOUR TEAM WASN'T COVERED, LET YOUR NIKE STUDENT REP KNOW AND WE LL TRY NEXT ISSUE. 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