The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 14, 1997 - 11 The Matchups: iadgers on a roll, but 'M' is butter By Danielle Rurmore jily Sports Editor Wisconsin has come a long way since its season-opener debacle against Syracuse in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium. After Syracuse's Kevin Johnson ran back an 89-yard kickoff for a touchdown on the game's opening drive, the Orangemen went on to roll to a 34-0 victory. Barry Alvarez said after the game l at, "we're a young team. We have ne to improve." ,Pow clairvoyant. Since the game, the 23rd-third- ranked Badgers have gone 8-1 over- all and 5-1 in the Big Ten to sit in a three-way tie for second place in the conference. The Badgers' Rose Bowl hopes are still alive, but they will have to get by their biggest test to date when Sy tackle No. 1 Michigan (6-0, 9-0) morrow at Camp Randall Stadium. The Badgers have won two- straight against the Wolverines, but they have won three straight games against Michigan just once in their history (1959, '60, '62), Whether the Badgers can do it for the second time against a Michigan team that dominated Penn State last week in State College remains to be seen. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. WISCONSIN RUSHING DEFENSE: Michigan turned in its best offen- sive effort last week at Penn State, gaining 265 yards on the ground. Running backs Chris Howard and Anthony Thomas and fullback Chris Floyd carried the bulk of the load, rushing for 195 yards and two touch- downs. Howard led the Wolverines' rushing attack for the third straight ek gaining 120 yards. Tailback Clarence Williams missed last week's game with a ham- string pull suffered against Minnesota two weeks ago. It has not been determined whether he will play tomorrow. The Badgers are ranked sixth in the Big Ten in rush defense, surren- dering 143.8 rushing yards a game and 12 touchdowns on the season. Wisconsin padded its stats with a Sellar defensive effort against Iowa's vaunted offense last week, but it shouldn't make much of a difference. If Michigan's offensive line can mirror last week's performance and continue to cut down on turnovers and penalties, and if the three backs can maintain Michigan's 201.6 rush- ing average, the Wolverines should be fine - even without Williams. ADVANTAGE: Michigan MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. WISCONSIN PASSING DEFENSE: Michigan quarterback Brian Griese has been the picture of con- sistencv this season. H[is favorite target - and most reliable-has been tight end Ierame Tuman. Look for Tuman to be used regularly in the last two regular sea- son games and the bowl game, since Michigan's other receivers have been inconsistent. Tai Streets seems to be playing a game of hot potato more often than football, and he hasn't had a recep- tion in either of the last two games. Russell Shaw has played sporadical- ly, so the bulk of the load has fallen on Tuman, Cornerback Charles Woodson has been used more on offense as of late, but only on a few plays per game. The Badgers have only given up 129.6 yards in the air, and last week they held high-flying Iowa to just one passing touchdown. ADVANAGE: Wisconsin Staff jPicks -- all picks made against the spread. Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS) Michigan (-15) vs. WISCONSIN Penn State (-6) vs. PURDUE OHIO STATE (-39 1/2) VS. Illinois MINNESOTA (.7) vs. Indiana Iowa (-9) vs. NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA (-6) vs. Auburn UCLA (-2) VS. Washington NGTON STATE (-16) vs. Stanford LOUISIANA STATE (-11) vs. Notre Dame Carolina (-6 1/2) vs. CLEMSON Best Bet Last week Overall Overall best bet 1 NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA Michigan Penn State Illinois Minnesota Iowa Auburn UCLA Washington State Louisiana State North Carolina Penn State 7-2-1 64-43-1 5-5 ALAN GOLDENBACH Wisconsin Penn State Ohio State Minnesota Northwestern Georgia Washington Washington State Louisiana State North Carolina Penn' State 6.3-1 52-55-1 4-6 JOHN LEROI Wisconsin Purdue Illinois Minnesota Iowa Auburn UCLA Washington State' Louisiana State Clemson Auburn 5-4-1 54-53-1 4-6 DANIELLE RUMORE Michigan Penn State Illinois Minnesota Northwestern Georgia Washington Washington State Louisiana State North Carolina Washington 5-4-1 56-51-1 3-7 WISCONSIN PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE: The Badgers are ranked near the bottom of the pile in passing offense, averaging just 164.7 yards per game. It doesn't need to be said again, but Michigan's defense is the Wolverines' backbone --- especially its passing defense. Charles Woodson and safety Marcus Ray each have five intercep- tions on the season. If Wisconsin quarterback Mike Samuel isn't rattled by the likes of linebackers Sam Sword and Dhani Jones and defensive end Glen Steele, he may have trouble throwing into the secondary. If that's the case, the Badgers may have to rely on the rushing game, which could encounter problems of its own. ADVANTAGE: Michigan ter punt averages than Michigan's Jason Vinson. Stemke and Skrzypchak are averag- ing 38.7 yards per game, third in the conference, while Vinson is averaging 35.2. Wisconsin leads the conference in field goal percentage (.857), while Michigan is third (.750). It's all pretty close, but Michigan does utilize Woodson on punt returns. He's bound to return one sometime. ADVANTAGE: Michigan The Badgers need this game to stay alive in the Rose Bowl hunt, and BADGERS Continued from Page 9 ence's second-rated passer. "We haven't beaten them in four years, and there is still a bad taste in our mouths." Alvarez has the Badgers on a mission to regain the respect they earned after winning the 1994 Rose Bowl, then slowly lost as they vanished from national attention. Wisconsin was trounced, 34-0, in the Kickoff Classic by Syracuse, but then won seven of its next eight games. Yet, Wisconsin hasn't looked that dominant this season. Three of the Badgers' wins have come by one point, and they are outscoring their conference opponents by a margin of only 139-134. Wisconsin's win over Iowa was its first victory over a Big Ten opponent with a winning record since 1995. But that was enough for the Badgers to climb into the AP top 25. "I think a lot of people in the state of Wisconsin and around the country still think we're a joke," senior linebacker and team captain David Lysek said. "I hope that this week we can shut up peo- ple who thought we were pretenders." That should be a tough task. But remember - though most of us don't - the last time the Wolverines marched into Madison with a No. 1 ranking, they were upset 21-14. And while Michigan coach Lloyd Carr isn't using that as a motivational tool, don't be surprised if Alvarez whips some- thing like that out of the closet. "I don't think that letter thing is going to work again, so I've got to try something else," Alvarez said. "Only problem is, I'm all out of tricks."' WIsCONsIN RI SHING OFFENsE VS. MICuItGAN RISHING DEFENSE; Wisconsin's All-America and Heisman Trophy candidate, running back Ron Dayne, missed most of last week's game with an ankle sprain, but he is expected to play tomorrow. Dayne is second in the conference and third in the nation in rushing, averaging 143.9 yards per game. He is tied for first in the Big Ten with Iowa's Tavian Banks in rushing touchdowns (15). The Badgers tend to run their offense around Dayne, but when he went down last Saturday, Eddie Faulkner took over, rushing for 1 19 yards. Dayne and his backfield mates will have to deal with Michigan's rushing defense, which is ranked first in the conference. The Wolverines are allow- ing just 80.9 yards a game and are the only Big Ten team allowing an average under 100 yards per game. ADVANTAGE: Michigan the Wolverines need it to continue leading the race, while keeping their national title hopes alive. Wisconsin has improved tremen- dously since its loss to Syracuse at the start of the season, but its victory over Iowa last week was its first vic- tory over a Big Ten opponent with a winning record since 1995. And facing a very focused and determined Michigan team with the nation's best defense should prove too much to handle. Michigan 35, Wisconsin 13 U U KO University of Michigan Indoor Track Buildin 1997-98 Jogging Memberships SPECIAL TEAMS: Wisconsin and Michigan are not exactly special teams powers. Both rank near the middle to the bottom of the Big Ten in kickoff and punt returns. 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