r -_ i ML : a -W v 0 w v +- w 8F The Michigan Daily - Football Saturday - November 20, 1999 HE ALMOST LEFT. THE SEASON HE WON A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WAS HIS WORST AS A WOLVERINE. BUT HE STAYED, AND NOW HE'S LEADING THE WOLVERINES ON AND OFF THE FIELD. ALL SEASON, MARCUS KNIGHT'S LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN November 20, 1999 -Fi; AS OHIO STATE WRAPS UP AN UNCHARACTERISTICALLY POOR CAPTAIN CHALLENGES HIS TEAMMATES TO STEP UP IN THE FINAL WIN TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A BOWL GAME, THE BUCKEYES LIMP IN ELL- ECEIVED BATTERED AND BR By Rick Freeman . Daily Sports Editor By Andy Latack Q Daily Sports Editor __ _ , A GUY LIKE PLAYING AS HARD AS HE IS, YOU DON'T WANT TO LET HIM DOWN. YOU DON'T WANT TO LET THAT OFFENSE DOWN. - Michigan safely Tommy Hendricks Thank God for Marcus Knight. Go ahead, and thank Him. If you've been a Michigan fan at all this sea- son, or just a fan of success stories, watch him play his final game at Michigan Stadium today, and then thank God. Without Knight's faith, Michigan would be without the senior wide receiv- er's six touchdowns and 21.3 yards per catch this season. Lost among the swagger and the euphoria of Michigan's 1997 national championship season was an unhappy sophomore named Marcus Knight. Knight caught three passes for Michigan's most invisible 30 yards that year - at least, that's according to Michigan's media guide. Knight's two catches against Indiana and one against Minnesota are far down on the list of memories from 1997. While everyone was busy watching Charles Woodson and Brian Griese, Knight was busy being being unhappy. Ann Arbor was a long way from Sylacauga, Ala., where Knight had grown up watching Southeastern. Conference football. Suddenly, playing for Alabama, Tennessee or even Auburn seemed a more attractive prospect. Anywhere but Michigan. "Something told me that this was the place for me," Knight said. "I have a a faith in my religion." So he stayed. lie worked harder, which seems to be the only way the senior wide receiver knows how to work. He has become a leader on a team he once was prepared to leave for good. He even does it on defense. "He comes off the field and the first thing he does is come over to the defen- sive side," said senior safety Tommy Hendricks. "We're getting ready to go out there right before the kickoff, and he'll come over and be like 'Come on, guys '" After Tom Brady scored a touchdown against Penn State last week, Knight was there again, reminding the defense that the offense needed the ball back if they wanted to win.- Twenty-eight seconds later, the Lions were punting. "I just want to be in the defense's ear," Knight said. Apparently, it worked. But Knight wasn't finished. On third-and-10 from Penn State's 35 after two Brady incom- pletions, Knight leapt to catch a pass at the 18 and willed his toe to stay inbounds, giving Michigan a first down. Knight kept the Wolverines alive long enough for Brady to find him in the cor- ner of the end zone for the game winner. Afterward, Knight and cornerback Todd Howard stayed on the field the longest, slapping hands with the fans before they ran up the tunnel together. Knight has always led this way. That's why the Wolverines' success this season is a sweeter feeling than any thing he experienced in that magical 1997 season. He's not one to take a national champi- onship lightly, but born leaders can't be fully happy if they don't feel that they're' pulling their weight. And there seems to be no doubt among Knight'seteammates thatnthat's exactly what he is a born leader. After the Wolverines' almost blew a 17-point lead to Indiana, Knight spoke up. "tie made a comment about refusing to lose," said captain and nose tackle Rob Renes. "It's not so much what he says, it's when he says it. When things are at their toughest for the team, he steps up and says things." "When he comes over, and he gets in my face, it's like I owe it to him to go out there and do the best job I can," said Hendricks, a leader in his own right. "Because I don't want to let him down. A guy like Marcus, playing as hard as he is, you don't want to let him down. You don't want to let that offense down." Leadership is in his blood. lie has to lead by example even when he's provid- ing an example for people he'll never meet. Character is what you do when nobody's looking - but now, everyone's looking at Knight, Michigan's most dan- gerous big-play receiver. And it almost never happened. Erase his catches from this season, and what is Michigan left with? Erase all his blocks (he loves throwing blocks) from the Wisconsin game, and maybe the Wolverines don't start 5-0. Erase him and you erase a big part of the reason for Michigan's success this season. "Everyone's got a tremendous deal of respect for Marcus," said quarterback Tom Brady. "He just works as hard as he possibly can, he never gives in. If you've ever seen one of our summer runs, you know it's a test. We do the (Michigan Stadium) steps as many times as we can, and some guys don't feel too good after that, but Marcus always seems to be ahead of the pack, saying the right things and doing the right things." Knight knows he's in the spotlight. He knows people he has never met and never will meet look up to him. He knows that these people admire him simply because he catches footballs and wears a winged helmet. ."I know how big sports are to America, to kids. You can do so much in this business," Knight said. "It's a repu- tation, it's a responsibility." And responsibility is what makes Knight's engine go. He stayed in Ann Arbor this summer to make sure he can graduate in four years. He felt bad in 1997 because he wasn't helping his team win. He almost left, but he's glad he stayed. "Thank God," Knight said. '".had the faith to stay here." uring his time at Ohio State, fullback Matt Keller has gotten N accustomed to a lot of things in Columbus. The bitter winters. Theadroves of rabid fans who bleed scarlet and gray. Wininrg. The Buckeyes have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success since Kellerand the rest of Ohio State's senior class began playing in 1996. Twice they have finished the season ranked second in the nation. They have also won two Big Ten Championships. But now Keller is having to get used to a new -- and foreign -- feel- ing. Losing. After suffering just five defeats in the last three years, the Buckeyes have now reached that total in one disas- trous season. At 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten, Ohio State visits Ann Arbor needing a victory to even make itself eligible for bowl play. But although his senior season isn't turning out the way he envisioned, that isn't what bothers Keller. Teams get in slumps. Losing streaks happen, even to programs as storied as Ohio State. What rubs Keller the wrong way is the way some of his teammates are dealing with the Buckeyes' hard luck. "It's not everybody, but at times there's this attitude like, 'I'm not going to leave my heart out on the field,"' Keller said. "There are players 'here who would die for Ohio State. I just wish there were more people like that sometimes." Ohio State could've certainly used some of those people last week. The Buckeyes hit the low point of the sea- son, getting routed, 46-20, by Illinois in Columbus. When Illinois comes into Columbus and does that to the Buckeyes - especially in the final home gane for Keller and the rest of the seniors - something's wrong. "To win, you need a total team effort," said Keller, who caught a 38- yard touchdown pass in his final game in Ohio Stadium. "You need 22 guys willing to lay it on the line. Sometimes we have to question that a little bit." Ohio State coach John Cooper feels the same way. "We ought to be frustrated and upset at the way we're playing," Cooper said. "We're not playing well and I would hope we'd want to correct that." Cooper tried to do just that by elim- inating distractions in the week leading up to Ohio State's grudge match with the Wolverines. Senior Tackle - a last-practice tra- dition since 1913 where the outgoing seniors hit the tackling dummy for the IT'S NOT EVE RYBODY, BUT AT TIMES TH E RE'S TH I A T TITU LIKE, 'I'M NOT GOI NG TO LEAVE MY H EAR OUT ON THE FIELD.' THERE ARE PLAYERS HERE WH( WOULD DIE FOR OHIO STATE. I JUST WISH THERE WEI MORE PEOPLE LIKE THAT SOMETIMES. -Oio State fullback Malt Keller last time -- has been moved from Ohio Stadium to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this year. Cooper did so to remove some of the fanfare surround- ing the event. "We aren't making a big deal about it anymore," Cooper said. "It's a tradi- tion and you don't need to be in the stadium with the loudspeaker. We have great respect for the tradition and it will continue." It's fitting that Senior Tackle will not be as it was in years past, because these are not the Buckeyes of years past. But for Keller and those v care, there's no shortage of mo when they come to close out th son in Ann Arbor. "When it comes down to Ohio State-Michigan," Keller $ the game everyone talks about ,. f , ]' LOUIS BROWN/Dady 'Everyone's got a great deal of respect for Marcus,' says Michigan quarterback Tom Brady of the Wolverines' senior leader. Knight has more touchdown catches, six, than any other Wolverine. At a time when most Ohio State players seem to be throwing in the towel, fiery wide receiver Ken-Yon Rambo is one B who continues to impress his teammates and Buckeyes coach John Cooper with his effort.