Scoreb oard-- e oo MAJOR LEAGUE Cincinnati 5, BASEBALL CHiCAGO CUBS 3 TAMPA BAY 5, SAN DIEGO 10, Detroit 3 Montreal 3 Baltimore 6, N-v. Mets 3, MINNESOTA 5 LOS ANGELES ? Houston 3, PHILADELPHIA 1 MILWAUKEE 9, Arizona 8 Ulbe Ski jgm 1ailg Tracking 'M' tournaments After wolfing down the Outback Steakhouse tourney title, the Michigan volleyball team will try to wash it down with another championship as it hosts the All- Sport Challenge this weekend at Cliff Keen Arena. Friday 10, 1999 14 September Stickers gear up for 'historic' weekend By Ryan C. Moloney Daily Sports Writer When you hear the names Virginia and James Madison, what comes to mind? Chances are, the first state of the union and an ex-president are the extent of your knowl- edge and/or interest. But if you are a fan of field hockey, Virginia and James Madison are synonymous with speed, aggressiveness, talent, winning seasons and above all, top 10 rankings. Did James Madison play a mean game of field hockey? No, but James Madison University does and, along with Virginia, both teams will provide the Michigan field hockey team with their stiffest challenge of the season this weekend as the Wolverines travel to Charlottesville, Va. In terms of the national rankings, the sev- enth-ranked Wolverines can ill afford to bring anything less than the effort used in demolish- ing Northeastern this past weekend. The Dukes are ranked fifth in the nation, the Cavaliers eighth. Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz doesn't put as much stock in the nonconference schedule as she does against the Big Ten slate, but good performances against James Madison and Virginia could ensure a positive reputation come tournament selection time. "Those are two really, really difficult teams to play," said Pankratz. "The level of play will need to be high because both schools are top 10 teams" Though Michigan brings offensive firepow- er with players such as Jessica Rose, Kelli Gannon, and Courtney Reid, the defense could be the deciding factor in the upcoming match- es. Team captains Ashley Reichenbach and Erica Widder will need to maintain their expert play and voracious intensity at the defensive positions in order to stop two of the quickest offensive attacks they've faced. "Both teams (Virginia and James Madison) arc very fast and aggressive," said Pankratz, citing in particular James Madison which "has always been known to be aggressive and emo- tional." Nobody doubts the ability of the Wolverines to match Virginia and James Madison in those areas. The question is, can the Wolverines maintain that type of all-out attitude through the 35-minute halves in both games ? "In practice we're working on staying relent- less," forward Jocelyn LaFace said. "We're doing really well in maintaining that attitude" Pankratz hopes the week of focus will pay off in the form of two great performances. "That's always the battle - to bring the A' game," Pankratz said. "We have the talent and the team cohesion . .. we're up there in the rankings and this should be a great weekend of hockey." Ideally, the Wolverines would not be enter- ing into such an intense weekend of matches on the heels of the first week of the semester. But Pankratz is not concerned. "Everybody is busy," she said. "The fresh- men are the only ones who haven't been through it before, but they can handle it - that's why they are Division I athletes." I LOUIS BROWN/Da The Michigan field hockey team's top 10 ranking will be challenged this weekend when it travels to Virginia to take one powerhouses James Madison and Virginia. eel 19 I He Triple option won't baffle Blue By Josh Kleinbaum Daily Sports Editor Wipe the thought from your mind right now. Don't lie, it's there, somewhere deep in your brain, mixed in with random names from the Name Game on the first day of section, room numbers in the MLB and when - gasp! - you're final exam Is. You're worried Michigan is going to have a let-down. Don't. No, this isn't Notre Dame. No, the Wolverines won't be as emotional as they were a week ago. But they don't need to be. Lloyd Carr knows it, the Wolverines know it and you should too. Y This isn't the Irish, this is the Owls, the one cupcake on Michigan's schedule. The Owls, who lost last week to The Houston School of the Football Challenged, 28-3. Let down? Short of The Great Michigan Football Collapse of 1999, which would go down in history as the greatest blun- dors of all-time next to Napoleon invading Asian Russia, Michigan won't lose this game. A letdown means Michigan only wins by 20. Onto the riatchups. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. RICE RUSHING DEFENSE: Last week, Anthony Thomas rushed for 138 yards against an Irish defense that prides itself on stopping the run. So he should rush for 200 easy against Rice, which was ranked 88th in the nation in that category last year, right? Wrong. It's not that Thomas can't, because he can, especially with the offensive line opening holes. He just won't get the oppor- tunity. After carrying the ball a career-high 32 times last week, most of this game should be a breather for Thomas, a chance to rest his tired legs and gear up for Syracuse next week. So expect sophomore Walter Cross and freshman B.J. Askew to get plenty of playing time. It won't matter, though. Cross and Askew will get the job done. :Linebacker Don Dawson leads the Rice front seven - he had 15 tackles against Houston -- but the Owls will all be doing plenty of chasing throughout the game. Advantage: Michigan MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. RICE PASSING DEFENSE: To placate Carr and his alternate quarterback system, here is a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of this matchup. First quarter: After an impressive game last week, Tom Brady is looking to keep the starting quarterback job, for good, fpr the whole game. Against Rice, Brady shouldn't have too much of a problem. The Owls were regularly beat in the sec- ondary, allowing over 170 passing yards against a weak Houston team. Second quarter: After an impressive game last week, Drew Henson is looking to wrestle the starting quarterback job from Brady. Against Rice, Brady shouldn't have too much of a problem. The Owls were regularly beat in the secondary, allowing over 170 passing yards against a weak Houston team. See MATCHUPS, Page 18 Rice not anothet bland opponent By Rick Freeman Daily Sports Editor Quick, name one player from Rice? Didja know they call themselves the Owls? Rice? Who? Rice (which is in Houston, by the way) used to play in the old Southwest conference, back before Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor bolted for the Big Bland Twelve. Their offense still looks like it belongs in the SWC of the '70s and '80s. "It's one of the few pure triple options left," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.'0 Michigan's defense is the kind of defense that option-lov- ing offense coordinators salivate over. They blitz, they pursue. The option is an offense that takes those qualities in a defense. and neutralizes them. It turns agressiveness back on itself. That said, Rice - no matter what kind offense the Owls use - is the kind of oppponent most programs salivate over. The Owls coughed up the ball eight times last week against,' Houston - and they weren't even playing the Phi Slamma Jamma Cougars. The Wolverines were careful not to say anything to inflame ' the Owls this week. Why? Well, they are an option team. They're also a sub-par opponent. And those have given Michigan more trouble than" top-ten opponents in the past four years. As long as Lloyd Carr has been coach, the Wolverines have gone 9-1 against top-five teams and 13-2 in September. But they've also lost to Northwestern twice. Although Northwestern went to Pasadena that year, the Wildcats were still finding their form at that point in the season, and the game had been within Michigan's grasp. There was no such excuse for the loss to Purdue in 1996, which cost the Wolverines a shot at the Big Ten title. All those' losses came in game like tomorrow's. Games Michigan should have won. Even last season, Michigan struggled with some subpar opponents. At Iowa, the Wolverines needed a safety on a kick- off following the field goal that put them ahead 10-9 in the fourth quarter to secure a victory. The very next week, anoth- er safety secured a soggy 12-6 win at Northwestern. The Hawkeyes and the Wildcats went a combined 2-14 in the Big Ten last year. Two years ago, Michigan had no problems with subpar opponents. Tomato cans such as Baylor and Indiana were appropriately made into marinara sauce. Subpar opponents might show what a team is made of far better than big games do. Even the California kids on Michigan's and Ohio State's teams get up for the yearly November grudge}match. But Rice? Even the Wolverines who originally hail from the Lone Star state seem to have no different feelings toward Rice the football team than they do toward rice, the starchy, bland side dish. That's what makes tomorrow's game such a test. The See RICE, Page 19 DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Freshman B.J. Askew, seen here making a tackle on special teams last week against Notre Dame, may get a chance to play his usual position at running back tomorrow, assuming Michigan avoids a letdown of colossal proportions. ............................~.\.* .*..... 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