The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 27, 2000 - 3B


Rainbow Classic
ends on high note

DAVID
DEN HERDER

By Benjamin Singer
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basketball
team didn't rebound as quickly as it
wanted.
After a disappointing loss to
Washington a week ago, the
Wolverines hoped a trip to the Asahi
Rainbow Wahine Classic in Hawaii
would get them a few nice days on
the beach and some victories, too.
Michigan started its winning
ways, but only after losing to
Arkansas 78-67 in the first round.
The Wolverines finished fifth out of
the eight teams. They followed up a
78-57 victory over Northern Illinois
with a 74-49 beating of Stephen F.
Austin yesterday.
Michigan coach Sue Guevara tin-
kered with the starting lineup after
the loss to Arkansas. Veterans
LeeAnn Bies and Heather Oesterle
opened the next two games on the
bench in favor of freshmen
Stephanie Gandy and Jennifer
Smith.
Gandy's Thanksgiving break
turned into a coming-out party as

Fros h s tart

Thanksgiving trails,
sentimental tales

After two straight
losses, freshmen
Stephanie Gandy
and Jennifer Smith
were put in the
starting lineup to.
help spark the
team. Their stats:

Gandy
Pts
13
17
Smith
Pts
10
7.

Reb (-T)
2-6
5-8
Reb (0-T)
0-4
0-6

A
0
3
A
0
3

Min
33
33
Mi
15
30

BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
Although they weren't at Crisler Arena this weekend, Raina Goodlow (32) and
the Wolverines managed to bounce back from an opening-round loss in Hawaii.

game-high 17 points.
Michigan's wins were nice
breathers after dropping two in a
row. The Wolverines took strangle-
holds early in both. Scoring 78 and
74 in those games marked the first
times in the regular season Michigan
reached 70 points. Holding its oppo-

The victories also got Raina
Goodlow back on track. The junior
led Michigan with 17 points in each
of its first two games. However, she
settled for a 3-for-6 peformance for
a total of eight points in the loss to
Arkansas. She then completed the
tournament going a combined 12-
4 r_ 2 n t n f'~<i tIt" i InVoc tgtl!-

tain Anne Thorius broke Michigan's
all-time assist record at the tourna-
ment in Hawaii. In Michigan's sec-
ond game against Norther Illinois,
Thorius recorded six assists for a
career total of 406, surpassing Lori
Gnatkowski and her 16-year-old
record of 402. Thorius added four
NA-in Mivhin'c nnrnntr-rdnr

she shot 17-for-27 for the tourna- nents to 57 and 49 were the 'irst or-i3 in the naf two games, tay- more in icn gan s game yeselray
ment. In the fifth-place game against times the defense allowed fewer than ing 15 points in both wins. for a total of 17 for the three-day
Stephen F. Austin, Gandy had a 60. DIsHING IT oUT: Senior co-cap- tournament.
No. ahoma slies ps owos

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) - Top-
ranked Oklahoma isn't exactly rolling
into the postseason.
An offense rated at or near the top of
the national scoring charts all year
struggled for the second straight week
Saturday in a 12-7 victory over
klahoma State.
Josh Heupel was 19-of-36 for 154
yards - his lowest
total in 23 games ToP 25
as a Sooner-
with two intercep- Roundup
tions. His 248
yards against Texas Tech a week ear-
lier had been his season low.
The Sooners (8-0 Big 12, 11-0
overall) completed their first perfect
egular season since 1987. They play
ansas State next week in the Big 12
title game, where a victory would
send them to the Orange Bowl to play
for the national championship.
Oklahoma State (1-7, 3-8) put up a
great effort in Bob Simmons' final
game as coach, but came up short in
the closing minutes.
No. 2 MIAMI (FLA.) 52, BosToN
COLLEGE 6: All Miami can do now is
ait.
Ken Dorsey ' threw a career-high
five. touchdown passes and Santana
Moss broke Miami's career all-pur-
pose yardage record, leading the sec-
ond-ranked Hurricanes to a victory
over Boston College on Saturday and
their first Big East championship
since 1996.
More importantly, Miami strength-
ened its chances of claiming a fifth
national championship.
The 'Canes -- third In the Bowl
hampionship Series rankings -still
might need help. Even after the strong
outing against the Eagles (3-4 Big
East, 6-5 overall), it may not be
enough for them to jump Florida
State, which leads Miami by a little
more than half a point in the BCS
rankings.
No. 6 VIRGINIA TECH 42, VIRGINIA
21: Lee Suggs relegated Michael Vick
0 a supporting role in his return to
Virginia Tech's lineup.
Suggs scored four touchdowns and
ran for 116 yards to help the Hokies
close the regular season with a victo-
ry over rival Virginia on Saturday
ight.
Suggs scored on runs of 30, three
and six yards and caught a 23-yard
pass for his first career touchdown
reception as the Hokies (10-l) tried to
prove their credentials for a berth
the Bowl Championship Series.
No. 9 NEBRASKA 34, COLORADO
32: Nobody is doubting Nebraska
kicker Josh Brown this weekend -
not even Brown himself.
Brown kept Nebraska's slim Bowl

Championship Series hopes alive
Saturday, kicking a 29-yard field goal
as time expired the Cornhuskers a
victory over Colorado.
"This is what you dream about,"
Brown said.
Brown drilled a 29-yard field goal
to give the Huskers a win over
Colorado. Brown's kick capped a
drive that started at the Nebraska 41
with 44 seconds left after Colorado
had taken the lead with a touchdown
and a 2-point conversion.
Brown was just 3-for-7 coming into
the game and had missed an attempt
two weeks before in a one-point loss
at Kansas State. But he was poised on
the final play, driving the ball straight
between the uprights.
No. 11 NOTRE DAME 38,
SOUTHERN CAL 21: A giddy Bob
Davie and his Notre Dame squad
appear headed to a big-time bowl
game, and he's happy to talk about it.
Notre Dame's Matt LoVecchio ran
for two scores and helped the Irish
win their seventh straight under the
freshman's leadership.
Southern Cal coach Paul Hackett is
likely to be fired any minute, and he
figures there's no hurry to discuss it.
By winning for the seventh straight
time since LoVecchio became their
starting quarterback, the Irish (9-2)
are in line for a Bowl Series
Championship game - probably the
Fiesta Bowl -and a S13.5 million
payday.
No. 12 TEXAS 43, No. 22 TExAS
A&M 17: Texas' young guns are all
grown up.
In a game of personal and team
redemption in an up-and-down sea-
son, sophomore Chris Simms reme-
died unfulfilled expectations with his
best game against the Longhorns'
biggest rival.
Hodges Mitchell and Texas rolled
over archrival Texas A&M Saturday.
Simms passed for 383 yards and three
touchdowns, all to freshmen
receivers, as Texas beat the 22nd-
ranked Aggies.
Simms was a perfect 8-for-8 pass-
ing for 234 yards and threw all of his
touchdown passes in an explosive
third quarter in which the teams com-
bined for 37 points.
No. 13 TExAS CHRISTIAN 62,
SOUTHERN METHODIST 7: Although
LaDainian Tomlinson sealed his sec-
ond straight NCAA rushing title,
went over 2,000 yards for the season
and had a 74-yard touchdown run, he
was only a bit player Friday night as
No. 13 Texas Christian - beat rival
Southern Methodist.
The Horned Frogs (7-I WAC, 10-1
overall) hardly needed Tomlinson as
they scored six straight touchdowns

L < , .. , : ., . ... .. . .. ..
,/ ,..

Returning to campus on
Michigan's freeways after
Thanksgiving break is as good
a time as any to get introspective.
From wherever you hail, the final 20
minutes of that drive are nothing
short of scenically numbing.
But somewhere between trying to
decide if my wipers were doing more
harm than good and trying to discern
where the stagnant drizzle stopped
and the low-hanging overcast began, I
realized something.
It came as my Pontiac sloshed its
way onto M-14 and rounded a gentle
curve to reveal the Ann Arbor sky-
line.
I realized that those senior football
players might be telling the truth after
all.
This fall, before the planets aligned
in such a manner that Michigan
ended up sharing the Big Ten title,
talk around the football program
overwhelmingly drummed on the
"home field."
Winning every game at home -
the only goal that still seemed attain-
able heading into the final home
game - had become the primary
focus of the Wolverines. So of
course, the classic Senior Day ques-
tions abounded from the press corps,
perhaps with more fervor than in
recent years.
"Are you excited to play your last
game at the Big House?"
"How do you think it will feel in
the tunnel?"
"What'll it be like touching the
banner one last time?
The answers are predictable.
Thankfully. Because if they weren't, I
wouldn't have known what to say or
how to pretend to feel up to now.
Not that anybody's asking me
about my last game at the Big House.
But anybody who played a high
school sport, or was in a high school
play, or even graduated from high
school has faced similar questioning.
There is apparently supposed to be
something magical about the waning
days of a life's chapter. Even single
events - like taking a bow or "tak-
ing your mark" for the final time are
supposed to evoke special emotion.
At least that's what I had inferred
from everyone asking me if they did.
It is the classic gauntlet that I'm
sure most go through at their gradua-
tion open houses.
"Ohhh, what'd it feel like to swim
your last race? How did it feel to
close your school locker for the last
time'? Aren't you sad that high
school's over?"
Truthfully, I didn't feel weird or
melancholy or really different at all.
But at the risk of offending, I played
along.
And listening to the Wolverines
field those questions before the last
big game here, I more or less figured
they were doing the same thing.
Until yesterday on that dreary
inbound drive.

"Downtown Ann Arbor - Exit 3,"
I read silently as my car slowed onto
the damp spiral off-ramp.
That sign spoke to me in the same
way that the Go Blue banner must
speak to the players.
As a freshman it seemed to say
"Welcome to college - welcome to
your new life."
Now I feel like it says "Welcome
home."
But ready or not, this home - this
life - is coming to a close. Yesterday
was the last time I will return from
Thanksgiving to come upon the Ann
Arbor skyline.
The reality of Ann Arbor autumns
- something I can still feel and
smell and taste - is no longer real in
any sense. Each is just a story now, a
memory triggered by the scent of
soggy oak leaves or the taste of cheap
draft beer.
That hit me rather hard.
Why I haven't developed this senti-
ment sooner - say, after my last high
school race or during that last end-of-
summer high school party - I can't
fully explain. But in the short time
since exiting that Michigan freeway,
I've attempted to understand.
Perhaps, for the first time in my
life, I am faced with the uncertain. As
high school drew to a close, I knew
exactly what was on the horizon and I
was looking eagerly forward to it.
By this time next year, I have no
idea where I'll be. Or who I'll be.
But maybe it's even deeper than
that. Maybe I know that Michigan is
the best thing that's ever happened to
me.
Sitting on the beach in my home
town a week before high school grad-
uation, staring through a camp fire
into the black of Lake Michigan, I
knew things could only get better.
Yesterday, I wasn't so sure things
could get any better. But I was sure
they were coming to a close all the
same.
That's a bizarre feeling.
It might explain the tears I've seen
when others realize the same thing.
Four years ago I thought they were
just for show. But last year in the
Michigan Stadium tunnel, as they
streamed from the cheeks of a 200-
pound trombone player, I knew the
tears were painfully genuine.
I was moved, but until yesterday I
could not empathize.
Before Michigan's last home game
this season, Anthony Thomas was
faced with the standard line of ques-
tioning. And his response was no less
standard.
"We're going to play hard because
no other time in our lives are we
going to be able to run out and touch
the banner," Thomas said. "It's going
to be an emotional game for a lot of
us."
Today, I am inclined to believe
him.
- David Den Herder can be reached
at dden@umichlted u.

Oklahoma running back Quentin Griffin (22) is stopped during the second half of of
the top-ranked Sooners' victory over Oklahoma State, 12-7.


in the second and third quarters.
No. 18 GEORGIA TECH 27, No. 19
GEORGIA 15: Georgia Tech wasn't in
the mood for another heart-stopping
finish. The Yellow Jackets didn't have
to endure one, either.
After three straight games in the
series were decided in the final sec-
onds or overtime, Georgia Tech built a
24-point halftime lead and cruised to
a victory over the Bulldogs in Athens
on Saturday.
Georgia Tech quarterback George
Godsey reached the end zone run-
ning and throwing, Darryl Smith
came up with a big defensive play
and the Yellow Jackets (9-2) won
their third straight over Georgia (7-
4), which hasn't suffered that
ignominy since 1961-63.

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(first-place votes in parentheses)


Team
Oklahoma (64)
2. Miami (Fla.) (6)
3. Florida State (1)
4. Washington
5. Oregon State
6. Virginia Tech
7. Florida
8. Kansas State
9. Oregon

Record
11-0
10-1
11-1
10-1
10-1
10-1
9-2
10-2
9-2

Pts
1,765
1,696
1,640
1,569
1.472
1,407
1,277
1,230
1,183

Pvs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10

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A
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