iiiiiiiiiiii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l l i l l i l l i l l i l l i l l I i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l l i l l i l l i l l i l l i I i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l l i l l i l i l l i l l i lI 2 - The *higan Daily - Footba y- November 1, 199 CoI&NT 0 j. GAME REVIEW i'ember 1, 1997 -Fo - INSIDE FOOTBALL SATURDAY - Little Brown Jug up for grabs foi Blue All Over Last weekend, No. 5 Michigan used its dominating defense to run away with a 23-7 victory over No. 15 Michigan State in East Lansing. The Wolverines picked off six errant passes from Michigan State quarterbacks and continued to hold its opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter this season. -4- Other Sports New Michigan men's basketball coach Brian Ellerbe met the media Thursday. Nothing much new was discussed, as media day turned into a contest of who could spout more cliches. Also. current Michigan football player Jon Jansen and former Wolverine David Bowens have indicated an interest in playing for Ellerbe next semester. -6- Leader of the best Junior safety Marcus Ray is a busy man for the Michigan secondary. Not only is Ray a hard hitter, but he is also the secondary's leader and even part-time coach. ..-. .7- Quick info The depth charts for both teams on offense, defense and special teams, as well as complete Michigan statistics. Plus, the Daily's football writers offer their picks for all the Big Ten games this weekend along with some big non-conference matchups. -8- The Rosters Complete numeric roster information for both teams, including Michigan's retired numbers. The Matchups Daily Sports Editor John Leroi breaks down the matchups on offense, defense and special teams for today's game. game Preview Although Minnesota has not been much of a challenge for Michigan recently, its lonetwo victories over the Wolverines in the past29 years have come with Michigan undefeated for the season. 'Wood' you believe it? WARREN"INN"/"A Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson made like Superman and snared this Todd Schultz pass early in the third quarter of last week's 23-7 victory over the Spartans. COVER PHOTO BY WARREN ZINN/Daiy By Alm Goldenbach Daily Sports Editor So what the heck is this Little Brown Jug thing anyway? The nation's oldest "trophy" will be up for grabs for the 81st time and there's a good deal of history behind this wooden chalice. The story begins in 1903, ironical- ly on Halloween, when and undefeat- ed, unscored-upon Michigan team riding a 28-game winning streak led by coach Fielding Yost went on the road to Minnesota for its first game away from Ann Arbor. Yost was concerned, since it was the team's first road game of the sea- son, whether the host Gophers would provide his team with fresh water during the game, so Yost sent team manager Tommy Roberts to buy a large jug. With less than two minutes to go in the game, Michigan held a shockingly slim 6-0 advantage. Shockingly because the Wolverines averaged over 62 points per game in their seven games that season up to that point. Moments later, Minnesota scored and the Minneapolis faithful turned completely riotous, storming the field and forcing officials to call the game a 6-6 tie. Yost and his Wolverines, were harassed by the mob and forced from the field. In their hurry to catch a train to Chicago, Yost forgot the jug on the sidelines. It was later retrieved by Minnesota custodian Oscar Munson who proclaimed with his thick Scandinavian accent, "Jost left his yug." Yost later asked Minnesota to return the jug, to which the Gophers' athletic director L.J. Cooke replied that if Michigan wanted the jug back, it would have to come back to Minnesota and win it. The teams did not play again until 1909, when Michigan went westward and won, 15-6, and the Gophers unwillingly returned the jug. The dispute spawned the first of what are now 57 "trophy games" across the nation. The Paul Bunyan Trophy, which Michigan and Michigan State play for every year since the spartans entered the Big Ten in 1952, is another one of these games. Fifty-seven seems to be the num- ber of the moment since it also repre- sents the number of times since that Halloween afternoon in 1903 that Michigan has taken the Little (Actually, it's not so little. Its capaci- ty is five gallons) Brown Jug back from Minnesota. Win number 58, on paper should come real easily for Michigan. A 7-0 team with an awesome defense play- ing on Halloween (okay, the day after). Some eerie similarities to what happened over 90 years ago. Alright, so don't expect 20,000 Minnesota fans to make the trek east and storm the field once the Gophers hit paydirt. But what is of particular note is the more recent history of this series. Michigan has turned this grudge match into more of a lopsided affair, winning the last 10 over the Gophers, 18 of the last 19, and 27 of the last 29. But here's the kicker. Those two losses in the last 29 have come at the most inopportune times for Michigan. That is if there's a time that not inopportune for a loss. In 1977, the top-ranked, 6-0 Wolverines, following a 56-0 shel- lacking of Wisconsin, went up to Minneapolis and were promptly smoked by the unranked Gophers, 16-0. Nine years later, this time ranked No. 2 in the country, Michigan's hopes of another perfect season were dashed by Minnesota when the Gophers came into Ann Arbor and beat the Wolverines, 20-17, when Chip Lohmiller kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired. "I remember 1986," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who was an assis- tant for Michigan at the time. "We were 9-0 with Minnesota coming to town and we got beat. "We just have to make sure we don't come out ill-prepared." This year's version of the Gophers comes in with a bonus that was com- pletely not their doing, but still one that they will gladly take. Michigan is coming off is most emotional vic- tory of the season and is ripe for a surprise. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr has addressed this problem, but is still quite wary of the possibility of an upset. "That is something we talked about on Sunday," Carr said. "One of the things this team has exhibited is an attitude to stay focused week in and week out. Thus far we have done that, but as the season goes along, the dis- tractions become greater." Michigan tailback Chris Howard rushed for 110 yards last week against Mi quarter run that set up the Wolverines' second touchdown. BOO HOO. No, WE'RE NOr LATE FOR HALLOWEEN, BUT WE'RE SAD THAT THE LAST FooTBALL SATURDAY WILL BE IN THREE WEEKS AT 71E OHIO STATE GAME. 546 Packard 769-5555 Central 927 Maiden .pus 995-9101 North Since 1948 Campus. .ntt Large 1-Topping : Medium 1-Topping Pizza 99 Pizza 2nd Pizza $60 $plus tax :;& Breadsticks or 2 sodas tax Good only at Packard and Maiden Ln * Good only at Packard and Maiden Ln locations. Not valid with any other offers. S locations .Not valid with any other offers. 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