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Bucks stopped
1
here
{- Blue bowls
past Ohio
State 24-17
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Editor
Everyone was right. When Ohio State
showed up at Michigan Stadium on Saturday,
these Buckeyes weren't the same ones xho
had struggled to a 6-5 record. Their trash
cans were packed with records. This bunch
played aggressively, showed heart, even
showed skill.
But they were still Buckeyes. And, as
usual, since they were playing Michigan,
they lost, this time 24-17. The Buckeyes have
won just two of the last 12 meetings in this
storied rivalry.
Ohio State outplayed No. 10 Michigan in
most facets of the game. The Buckeyes had
116 more yards than Michigan. They out-
y rushed the Wolverines, 296 yards to 137. For
most of the game, they had the better quar-
terback (although Steve Bellisari ran better
than he threw).
But three turnovers and 13 penalties by
isl rOhio State kept Michigan in the game, and
- the last turnover, a Kevin Houser fumble, set
up a stellar Michigan fourth-quarter drive to
put Michigan ahead for good.
And on that drive, Michigan quarterback
Tom Brady, who struggled through most of
the game, starred. After hitting just 12 of his
first 21 passes, Brady connected on five of
six, including a crucial third-down conver-
sion and a nine-yard pass to Marquise
Walker, who caught the ball at the three yard
line and shimmied around a would-be tackler
and into the end zone.
"You don't always play your best football,"
Brady said. "Last week we didn't play our
best football, either."
But Michigan won the game, which
means the Wolverines all but clinched a
berth to a Bowl Championship Series
SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily Bowl, either the Orange Bowl in Miami or
Rob Renes had Michael Wiley and the Ohio State offense for lunch during Saturday's game. Michigan ended up feasting on the Buckeyes at See BUCKEYES, Page 5B
the end, beating Ohio State, 2417. The loss leaves the Buckeyes with a 6-6 record and an awful taste In their mouths.
Mici6an vidory over Bucks one or the ages
the bar for a second and watching mute
highlights on the TV behind the bar-
tender. Remember when Brady found
Shawn Thompson and you just knew he
was about to tie the score as long as he
didn't drop the pass - and he didn't.
Remember that moment at breakfast,
when all conversation - and even the
world it seemed - stopped, just before
one of your companions said softly, "So
are we out of here?"
And you were up and moving again, on
your way to a day you'knew you'd
remember.
Remember it all, because this game
happens every year, but it will never
again be like this. It might be a bigger.
game next year; the Rose Bowl - or
more - could be on the line. It could be
worse.
But it will never again be the way it
was yesterday.
Two years from now, when the
Buckeyes come back to the Big House,
you'll be older. You'll have different
friends. You'll have laughed more and
you'll have cried more. When you watch
it again, you'll be different, and so will
the game. Two years from now, when
Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor again it
won't be like this.
You might be fatter. You might have
different priorities. Things will have hap-
pened to you that be conceived of right
now.
Maybe you won't even be here. You
could very well be out in the real world,
where people don't wake up at 9 a.m. to
grill meat and drink beer. You, like all
but a lucky 111,000*or so, w'ill.have to
watch it on TV You, like all but the luck-
iest, won't be able to go to bars on South
U. or Main Street afterward.
If you live on the West Coast, the
game will end just after lunch. It will be
weird, not at all how it was meant to be.
Saturday was how it was meant to be.
That's why you should remember as
much as you possible can. So you can
tell other people what it was like to be
there as Michigan scored on Ohio State.
You'll try to capture the way it feels to
teeter on the bleachers and the way the
red numbers look when the sun is
obscured by clouds.
If you're a decent storyteller, you'll be
able to explain how the stands look dif-
ferent in November, when everyone is
wearing coats instead of T-shirts, and
See FREEMAN, Page 4B
* denied by Lake Superior State this weekend.
, Men run today
Lakers sweep a for NCAA title
slapn to the face'D o Shat
ofBlue icers
The clock on the Yost Ice Arena scoreboard read all
zeroes, and as if to add insult to injury, Lake Superior
State goalie Jayme Platt took a bow. In fact he took sev-
eral - a mocking salute to the fans at Yost, and a per-
sonal acknowledgement of his team's effort this past
weekend. His Lakers swept the Wolverines, winning 3-0
o riday and 4-2 on Saturday.
was just one final smack to the Wolverines. You
could see it in their faces after the game. Frustrated,
dejected and battered, the Michigan hockey team looked
for reasons to explain this weekend's performance. The
sting left by the Lakers' sweep of the Wolverine icers is
one that will eventually subside, but the mark that it has
left will not be forgotten.
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Writer
Today, the Michigan men's cross-country team will join a
pack of about 250 runners in Bloomington to vie for the oppor-
tunity to be named NCAA Champions.
Cross-country meets, even championship meets, may not
match the thrill of watching the grueling football match-up
between Ohio State and Michigan.
It is unlikely that there will be a crowd of maniacal
Michigan fans shouting "Sieve" at the other runners, and the
football band won't be bussing down.
But for the Wolverines, today represents 30 minutes to show
the world that the Michigan men's cross country team is still a
national threat.
To the runners, today is the end of a season where expecta-
tions were few, and surprises were almost an everyday occur-
rence. Runners came from nowhere to almost single-handedly
win a race, as sophomore Tom Caughlan did at the Big Ten
Championships, and senior co-captain Jay Cantin coming
down the home-stretch at the Wolverine Interregional with an
unfathomably large lead over the rest of the field.
But today, at about 11:40 a.m., the team can judge its season
McGire hopes
for top 15 finish
By Arun Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
After a long season that included more peaks and valleys
than the Himalayas, the Michigan women's cross-country
team has finally reached the summit: the NCAA
Championships.
The Wolverines will be running against the cream of the
crop this Monday in Bloomington, Ind. for the right to call
themselves "national champions." While the national tile
may be unattainable for this season's young Michigan squad,
a strong finish is certainly not out of the question.
"I think that a Top-15 finish is a reasonable goal for us,"
Michigan coach Mike McGuire said. "We're going to have to
run like we did the last two meets, but we're capable of it"
A big key for Michigan will be the health of junior all-con-
ference honoree Lisa Ouellet. At the NCAA Regional
Championships last weekend, Ouellet was bothered by the
residual effects of the flu and ended up as Michigan's third
finisher.
"Ouellet's much better now," McGuire said. "She wasn't
really sick, but it affected her performance. She's had a good
week of practice; the nine days off between regionals and
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