The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 2, 1998 - 13
THE MATCHUPS
MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. IOWA PASSING DEFENSE
Brady is starting to exhibit confidence in Michigan's
offensive scheme. If the Wolverines find Jerame Tuman,
then expect a big game from the passing offense.
Edge: Michigan
--..-- - - ---.---- -----------.--------------
a MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. IOWA RUSHING DEFENSE
Staff Picks
- all picks made
against the
spread.
1 h6i,
Clarence Williams and Anthony Thomas appear to be
the regulars in the backfield for Michigan. Only Jared
DeVries stands in the way.
Edge: Michigan
...................... -----....... .......-- --- .-- . ------- _- - --
IOWA PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE
Although the Iowa quarterbacks are somewhat shaky,
the wide receivers have propelled the Hawkeyes to
second in the conference in passing.
Edge: Iowa
-----------------------------------------
IOWA RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE
Iowa has the worst running game inathe conference,
bar none. Clint Copenhaver returns at linebacker for
the Wolverines.
Edge: Michigan
----------------------------
------SPECIAL TEAMS
Game (HOME TEAM IN CAPS)
Michigan (-10) vs. IOWA
MICHIGAN STATE (-29) vs. C. Michigan
Florida (-16.5) vs. ALABAMA
Florida State (-28) vs. MARYLAND
LOUISIANA STATE (-8.5) vs. Georgia
UCLA (-23.5) vs. Washington State
NORTHWESTERN (-14.5) vs. Illinois
NOTRE DAME (-18) vs. Stanford
OHIO STATE (-14) vs. Penn State
PURDUE (-10.5) vs. Minnesota
SOUTHERN CAL (-3) vs. Arizona State
Tennessee (-7.5) vs. AUBURN
Best Bet
Last Week (best bet)
Overall (best bet)
SHARAT
RAJU
Michigan
Michigan State
Florida
Maryland
Louisiana State
UCLA
Illinois
Stanford
Ohio State
Purdue
Arizona State
Tennessee
Michigan
6-6 (1-0)
17-19 (2-1)
JIM
ROSE
4
Michigan
Michigan State
Florida
Florida State
Georgia
Washington State
Northwestern
Stanford
Penn State
Purdue
Southern Cal
Tennessee
Florida
6-6 (0-1)
13-23 (0-3)
MARK
SNYDER
Michigan
Michigan State
Florida
Maryland
Georgia
UCLA
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Minnesota
Arizona State
Tennessee
Minnesota
6-6 (1-0)
14-22 (2-1)
Michigan
Michigan State
Florida
Florida State
Louisiana State
UCLA
Illinois
Stanford
Penn State
Purdue
Arizona State
Tennessee
Michigan
8-4 (1-0) *
20-16 (1-1)*
Guest Selector
JIM BRANDSTATTER
We will have a guest selector each week for the staff picks. Most times it will be someone famous, but if you think you deserve to pick, e-mail us at
dailyffootball-@umich.edu and tell us why. Friends and family of Daily staffers are not only not excluded, but are welcome to apply. Good luck.
owa's Kahlil Hill has three special teams touchdowns
in just four games this season. Yeah, he's good.
Edge: Iowa
*Previous guest selectors have been: Professor Ralph WIlliams, Professor
Sidney Fine and former Michigan kicker Remy Hamilton
A note of explanation on Staff Picks:
One quick word about those picks, folks. They're made against the
spread. That means this:
OHIO STATE (-14) vs. Penn State
actually means that ifJim Brandstatter picks the
Nittany Lions to win, they don't actually have to win the game -
they just have to be within 14 points of'Ohio State. So if Ohio State
wins by 13 points or fewer, Brandstatter wins that game - even
though the team he picked actually lost.
V
Who and What is
ZS?
INTANGIBLES
'
_
Michigan is coming off an emotional, in state rivalry
game last week.
Iowa played Illinois.
Edge: Michigan
ZS Associates is a global management consulting
firm providing world-class expertise in sales
force management and marketing issues.
Will 1 Fit in?
ZS will be on campus recruiting:
Business Information Sciences
Software Developers
PREDICTION: MICHIGAN 35, IOWA 17
Michigan offense will be too
much for Iowa to overcome
By Sharat Raju
Daily Sports Editor
Tomorrow, the dam is going to
break.
Someone, someone, is going to do
it. It'll happen tomorrow.
Either Michigan or Iowa is going to
break the illustrious .500 mark.
Now calm down, everyone. Take a
l w deep breaths. People all around
the nation are eagerly anticipating the
emergence of one of these power-
houses of the 1998 season.
Michigan, after doing away with
highly touted Eastern Michigan and
overachieving Michigan State, can
now look ahead and prepare for the
brutal stretch of the season: Iowa, fol-
wed by a bye week, then
orthwestern, Indiana and
Minnesota.
You can almost hear the
Wolverines' teeth rattling.
The Hawkeyes, on the other hand,
are ecstatic after their monumental
victory over conference heavyweight
Illinois. Along with a stunning victo-
ry over Central Michigan in the sea-
son opener, Iowa is prepared for a
breakthrough game.
Someone is going to be .600 after
s game. The tension mounts.
So here, in week five, are the
matchups:
MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS.
IOWA PASSING DEFENSE
Each game, Tom Brady seems to be
learning more and more about how to
run a Division I offense. Although he
threw one interception last week early
0 the game, coach Lloyd Carr raved
about Brady's mental toughness and
his ability to bounce back.
Brady's 208-yard passing perfor-
mance earned him Big Ten co-player
of the week honors. The biggest
improvement by Brady and the pass-
ing attack was finding tight end
jerame Tuman last week.
If Brady spreads the wealth again,
Michigan should be able to exploit
wa's pass defense - the fourth-
4rst in the conference with only one
interception to its credit.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS.
IOWA RUSHING DEFENSE
The Wolverines are starting to find
heir running legs, it seems. Last
week, Anthony Thomas and Clarence
Williams carried the bulk of the load.
* rr's effort to find consistency in the
"ackfield paid off and both upper-
classmen tailbacks had big games.
That just leaves freshman Justin
Fargas out of the loop. Still, with just
two people rotating in the backfield,
it's easier for each to get into a
rhythm. All indications are that the
IOWA PASSING OFFENSE VS.
MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE
The Michigan secondary showed
signs of life against below-average
quarterback Bill Burke last week.
Safety DeWayne Patmon had the
game of his life.
Well, here's another below-average
quarterback: Kyle McCann. He only
completes 54.4 percent of his passes.
Scott Mullen has also seen playing
time in each of his four games, but he
has even worse numbers.
Still, the Hawkeyes are second in
the conference in passing offense.
Why? Their receivers are extremely
talented and make up for their quar-
terbacks' shortcomings.
Kahlil Hill (12.9 yards per catch),
Ryan Barton (24.8) and Kevin Kasper
(20.8) all have good numbers and
could provide problems for a
Michigan secondary that had its num-
bers inflated thanks to a terrible pass-
ing offense last week.
EDGE: IOwA
IOWA RUSHING OFFENSE VS.
MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE
Iowa's ground game is awful. That's
all that can really be said. They average
just 73.8 yards per game and a measly
2.1 yards per carry. Ladell Betts is their
only threat in the backfield, and he aver-
ages 50.8 yards per game.
There really aren't any bad words
that can be spared in describing the
Hawkeyes' running game. No matter
how injured or depleted Michigan's
linebacking corps is, whoever is in
there should not have a problem stop-
ping the run somewhat.
And with a resurgent defensive line
and the return of linebacker Clint
Copenhaver, the Wolverines will stuff
the run cold.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
SPECIAL TEAMS
Last week Kahlil Hill returned a
kick 88 yards for a touchdown.
That's nothing - he has two other
returns for touchdowns this season.
So that's three touchdowns on special
teams alone.
Yeah, he's good. No, wait - he's
the best offensive weapon Iowa has
and probably the best kick returner in
the country.
Carr admitted that his team has had
it's problems on special teams, saying
that it really isn't "strength against
strength" this week against the
Hawkeyes. And if James Whitley con-
tinues to let punts go through the
wickets, the Wolverines will find
themselves in considerably bad field
position.
Or, worse yet, without a chance to
play offense at all.
Jay Feely did have a breakthrough
performance last week, booting three
fields goals and tying a career-high
51-yarder.
And Hayden Epstein, for the most
part, still kicks the ball well on kick-
offs for the Wolverines.
Nevertheless, Iowa's special teams
nearly won them the game last year
and they might be Iowa's best chance
to win it this year.
EDGE: IOWA
INTANGIBLES
Michigan needed confidence in
itself, and beating the Spartans last
week provided that. Momentum is a
great thing, and the Wolverines have
it on their side.
Iowa has the benefit of playing at
Kinnick Stadium. And when the
Wolverines are in town, the host
almost always play its best tame of
the season.
The Hawkeyes beat the Illini last
week - a team that has been mistak-
en for a high school practice squad.
Michigan is following up an emotion-
al in-state rivalry game. The
Hawkeyes might not be prepared for
playing against a real life college
football team.
EDGE: MICHIGAN
READ ALL ABOUT
THE GAME
STRAIGHT FROM
IOWA CITY IN
SPORTSMONDAY.
U°
/ --..
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October 6
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Menlo Park, California
e-mail: Careers((ZSaSSociateS.COmr Miami, Florida (Fall 1999)
Europe:
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Frankturt, Germany
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IOWA 17
MICHIGAN
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