q 4 S e Ricbigau atiI PORTS michigandaily. com/sports TUESDAY OCTOBER 16, 2001 8 Two-minute drill, Walker give 'M' early Big Ten lead JON SCHWARTZ By Jon Schwartz Daily Sports Editor With strong play that would make Kenny Mayne proud, Michigan's two-minute drill has been leaving opponents in the dust all season long. With Saturday's game providing the one failed attempt, Michigan has scored six touch- downs in the seven chances it has made in the two-minute offense. In each of its first five FOOTBALL games, Michigan went into Noebok halftime directly after a Noebo touchdown, and in three of those cases, the game's face was changed from that point on. "It's always really good to go in (for half- time) after you score," wide receiver Calvin Bell said. "Our two-minute offense is going real well. And that goes back to (quarterback) John (Navarre)." Against Washington, Michigan ran a touch- down drive in the game's waning minutes. Tak- ing just under two minutes, the drive brought the Wolverines within five points before failing to convert on the onside kick. "We've done a good job with under two min- utes on the clock in setting up good drives when the pressure is on," defensive tackle Jake Frysinger said. "It just changes the whole atti- tude and it definitely helps us out." Saturday, it looked like Michigan was going to stay perfect on the drill, but wide receiver Marquise Walker threw an interception to Pur- due's Stuart Schweigert. Indiana still i1 By B1n4amin Singer Daily Sports Editor After the Bobby Knight saga, Mike Davis put together the best season of any first-year coach in Indiana's history with a 21-13 record. Now, Davis' challenge is how to repeat the Hoosiers' success without last season's leading scorer and rebounder Kirk Haston. Certainly the Hoosiers are not lacking talent. The team returns four regulars from the start- ALONE AT THE TOP: With Michigan's win and Ohio State's loss to Purdue, the Wolverines are now the only unbeaten team in Big Ten confer- ence play. With five games to go, the Wolver- ines control their own destiny in the hunt for the conference title. "Wesalways had confidence that it was going to be something that was in our hands," Frysinger said, but added, "there's a lot of foot- ball left to be played this season." Last year, Michigan tied Purdue and North- western for the title, but since the Wolverines lost to both teams, they had to spend their time watching scoreboards, hoping that either team would lose. This year, Michigan's fate is in its own hands. "That's a huge thing for us," senior line- backer Eric Brackins said. "We know we just have to go out every week and work." Also, since Michigan is now teetering around the top 10, Rose Bowl hopes are pop- ping up for the first time since the loss to Wash- ington. "At Michigan we set high goals and that's always in the back of our mind," Frysinger said. BYE WOES: Michigan is off this weekend before heading to Iowa City for its next game. Coach Lloyd Carr said after the game that his team could use a week off to nurse injuries and his players agreed with him. "This bye week's going to be huge in terms of getting people healed up," Frysinger said. But in the last two years, Michigan has lost its first game back from the bye week - last year to Northwestern, and the year before to Illinois. Red Wings are the only game in town with poor Detroit sports DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily John Navarre and Michigan have converted six of their seven two-minute drills. "We'd like to keep this momentum going," Frysinger said, "and I think we can still do that with a bye week." HAND HIM THE HEISMAN?: For the first time this season, people have started talking about Walker's chances at taking home the Heisman Trophy. With several preseason favorites falling on hard times, Walker's consistent play has earned him national recognition. Last year, David Terrell was a preseason can- didate for the award. Through six games, he had caught 33 balls for 554 yards and six touchdowns. This season, Walker has 43 catch- es for 587 yards and six touchdowns. Walker also has thrown two passes, one com- plete to quarterback Jermaine Gonzales on a trans-continental play, and the other, an inter- ception. "Marquise is just one of those guys who runs really great routes," safety Charles Drake said. 've never played on a well-organized football team. Sure, I love throwing the ball around with friends and watching my opponents fly by me, but I've never put on pads, I don't own cleats and I've yet to have a number grace my back. But I'm not the least experienced football player in the world - I have extensive experi- ence on both the college and professional levels. Of course I'm talking about video games, but I still know my way around the game enough to watch, enjoy and criticize poor play. So here's what I know for sure - if I'm Ger- mane Crowell, and I just caught a ball with about 10 seconds left in a game my team is losing by 5 points, I'm getting out of bounds. Sure, in my case it would have a lot to do with fear of crumbling at the hands of a Minnesota cornerback, but I'd still stop the clock. Unfortunately for the Lions, Crowell cannot be blamed for the team's 0-4 record. No, that mark of futility is entirely related to the fact that the team plays in or around Detroit. It's no coincidence that the Motor City likes to call itself "Hockeytown." In my opinion, it's not because of any success that the Red Wings have found, it's simply a result of the fact that hockey is really the only game in town. No, Detroit politicians and businessmen spend nights in rooms painted with Red Wings wallpa- per. They kneel beside their bed, praying to the Little Caesar in the sky that nothing ever happens to that team. Because if it does, I am certain that the city will cease to exist. As far as I can tell, there has never been a more amusing city in terms of its sports teams. It's not just because they're awful - which the Lions, Tigers and Pistons most certainly are. It's because I've never seen a city so convinced that "this is the year things turn around," even though last year wasn't and the decade before that cer- tainly saw no such changes either. I'm convinced that the old-English "D" on the Tigers' hats actually stands for "Doh!" It comes in handy every time the team opens camp, looks great and then wins just eight games in April. I've only been in the metro Detroit area for a little more than two years now, but I have already seen enough to know that the city is so undeserv- ing of participating in athletic competition, it's amusing. I've seen Tiger Stadium, rotting from asbestos, close down. In its place, I've seen Comerica Park, rotting from the Tigers. I've seen the fans in the Silverdome so drunk by the second half, they have no idea what's going on in the game. Which is a good thing, because a sober fan would probably be in tears. I've seen The Palace - no wait, I haven't. Auburn Hills is too far away. But I've definitely seen it on television, enough to know that the Pis- tons fit in perfectly. Red Wings' coach Scotty Bowman could run for mayor of Detroit and win in a landslide. Why? Because he's actually created something respectable that the city can brag about. If the Wings fall below .500 this year I plan on going to Windsor so I can watch the city go up in flames. So what do I suggest? It's hard to tell at this point. There's nothing that can save these teams. But here's something to think about. The Lions are about to get a new stadium to suck in. It's being constructed right next to Com- erica Park. I suggest a new arena for the Pistons in the same locale. It would be perfect. All three of Detroit's mis- erable sons will be hanging out in the same neighborhood, causing trouble and public drunk- enness. And then, they can all be taken out in one fell swoop. Until that point, coach Mornhinweg, sign me up. Jon Schwartz can be reached atjlsz@umich.edu. Sgood shape tmnus Haston BIG TEN PREVIEWS As the college basketball season approaches, the Daily basketball writers will give you the inside scoop on every mliiim Big Ten team as they count down the days until they CONFERENCE release their special section "Tipoff" in November. ing lineup. "I expect Jared (Jeffries) to have a good sea- son," Davis said. "You want him to be a leader." The 6-foot-9 forward won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award and was a Sport- ing News Freshman All-American after scor- ing 14 points and tallying seven boards a game. Jeffries is a part of a frontcourt made up of mostly forwards. "We don't have a true center," Davis said. "The issue is just finding points." 0 4 BOO KS *MUS I C-MOVI E S *CA FE Jack. Straight from the Gut Jack Welch with John A. Byrne Warner Books F ~*hardcover list price: $29.95 Borders price: $20.96 Come to Borders - Downtown on Wednesday, October 17, from 1:00 - 2:00 PM, for a special book signing with Jack Welch. ra R~lT F OM THE GUT; C K WE L C H In1981, at the age of 45, Jack Welch became the youngest person ever to be named chairman and CEO of