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Sports desk: 763-2459
sportsdesk@umich.edu

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lwww.michigandally.com/sports An o Arb+a , .Nt ic41 an Monday January 7, 2002''

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Perfect

Tenn

Vols

speed

too much for
Michigan
Orlando, Fla. - bowl season of
embarrassing blowouts and horren-
dous mismatches, the 2002 Florida
Citrus Bowl was one of the worst. While
the difference in the rankings of Michigan
and Tennessee was just eight spots, the
play on the field indicated a much greater
difference.
And if you thought that the Wolverines
had a chance to win this game, you were
kidding yourself.
I was just as surprised by the Volun-
teers' 45-17 rout as anybody else. Michi-
gan hasn't been run off_
the field like that since
Donovan McNabb and
Syracuse did it to them
in 1998. But if you take
a closer look at the two
teams and that score
isn't so shocking.
Michigan lost two
conference games fin- JEFF
ished second in a very PHILLIPS
mediocre year for the Ramble
Big Ten - which ends On
the season with just two
(two!?!) teams in the
Top 25. At no point was there a team from
the conference that was even dreaming of
the national title.
In the SEC, both Tennessee and Florida
were California dreamin'. The Volunteers
ended the Gators' hopes by defeating them
in The Swamp, but then flopped against
Louisiana State in the SEC title game.
That flop cost Tennessee not only a nation-
al title shot, but also a place in a BOS
bowl game.
In the end, the SEC had two blowout
BCS winners and five teams ranked in the
top 25 - No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Tennessee,
No. 8 Louisiana State, No. 13 South Car-
olina and No. 25 Georgia.
Michigan had not faced a team of this
caliber in its previous Citrus Bowl games.
The Wolverines' opponents, Arkansas and
Auburn, were at best the third-best team in
the conference and maybe even the fourth
or fifth best. But this year, in a stacked
- SEC, the Wolverines had to face the sec-
ond-best team in the conference and one
of the top teams in the nation.
In short, Michigan was completely out-
matched.
The Wolverines succeeded in its defen-
sive plan to make Tennessee one-dimen-
sional, holding Tennessee under 100 yards
and All-American Travis Stephens to just
38 yards. But Michigan had no answer for
the Volunteers' powerful passing attack.
Quarterback Casey Clausen passed for 393
yards three scores in the rout.
The size and speed of Tennessee's
receivers separated it from Michigan and
See PHILLIPS, Page 4B

DAVID KATZ/Daily

Michigan's Julius Curry and the Wolverines could not handle the speed of Tennessee's Kelley Washington and his teammates.
Varsity e-mbarrassed in Citruis, 45-17

By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. - In recent
years, the Florida Citrus Bowl has
b e e n
friendly to MICHIGAN 17
Michigan
- so TENNESSEE 45
friendly,
in fact, that Michigan kept on going
back.
But on New Year's Day, the
Wolverines saw what happens when
you overstay your welcome. Saw it
to the tune of a 45-17 thrashing at
the hand of Tennessee.
Quarterback Casey Clausen
found Tennessee receivers for 26
completions and 393 yards to lead
his team to victory in the first ever
meeting between the two schools.
Clausen was named the game's
MVP, throwing for three touch-
downs and running for two more.
"Tennessee is a great football
team," said Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr. "We all saw that today. My
hat's off to them."
The loss marked the end to a dis-
appointing season for the Wolver-
ines, a year that saw them fall to

both Michigan State and Ohio State
en route to an 8-4 record.
Tennessee's victory was also bit-
tersweet. The Volunteers came
painfully close to the Rose Bowl,
but for a loss to Louisiana State, and
despite finishing fourth in both
major polls, a win in the Citrus
Bowl was not the culmination that
they were hoping for to this season.
"We probably should have been in
a BCS bowl this year, but this
should send a big message that we
might be able to do something spe-
cial next year," Clausen said. "With
the team we have, we should have
been playing on the third in Pasade-
na."
The Volunteers controlled the
pace early and never let up. With
speed - the likes of which Michi-
gan hasn't seen in a long time -
Tennessee ran over and above the
Wolverines. On one play, Tennessee
tight end Jason Witten out-ran the
entire Michigan secondary for a 64-
yard touchdown - all 265 pounds
of him.
But despite looking shell-
shocked and flat, Michigan was
able to keep the game close, going
See VOLUNTEERS, Page 4B

DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Michigan's Bernard Robinson well-rounded
effort helped Michigan defeat Purdue 79-75.
'M' outlascts
Purdue: Still
in first place
By David Horn
Daily Sports Writer
Don't blink, Michigan fans.
Believe what you see: Michigan is tied with
Indiana and Ohio State for first place in the
Big Ten. After defeating Purdue at Crisler on
Saturday 79-75, the
Wolverines improved PURDUE 75
to 2-0 in the confer-
ence, the first time MICHIGAN 79
they have boasted
that record in four years. The Boilermakers
provided an entertaining match in the home
opener, battling in what Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker described as "a fight to the
finish."
Trailing by 10 with 3:34 remaining, Purdue
forward Darmetreis Kilgore sank back-to-back
3-pointers. What followed was a magnificent
end to a career day for Michigan's go-to guy,
Bernard Robinson. The sophomore responded
immediately to the Kilgoreian-led push by
scoring eight of the Wolverines' final 10
points, en route to a 20-point afternoon. The
highlight of his performance was a one-hand-
ed runner in the lane that put Michigan up by
five with 22 seconds remaining.
He rounded out the game by snagging seven
rebounds, dishing a career-high six assists and
notching his first blocked shot of the season.
"His overall performance was outstanding,"
Amaker said of Robinson's game. "It's nice to
see him be aggressive and attacking."
That aggressiveness was most useful in the
first half, as Michigan rallied to overcome an
early Purdue lead. The Boilermakers jumped
up 7-0 on the strength of easy fast break
points and post scoring. But Michigan
responded with a balanced offensive attack,
which benefited from smart ball movement
and sharp perimeter shooting.
See BOILERMAKERS, Page 8B

BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Michigan tight ends Shawn Thompson and Bill Seymour end their
career with a painful loss in their third Citrus Bowl appearance.


'M' perseveres, pulls
into first with Spartans

By J. Brady McCollougli
Daily Sports Writer

NOTRE DAME - Halfway through the
conference slate, there are many reasons that
the Michigan hockey team should be buried
in the middle of the
rat race that has MICHIGAN 2
become the CCHA
standings. NOTRE DAME 1
With 12 fresh-
men on their 27-man roster, the Wolverines
should have been paralyzed by their inexperi-
ence early in the season. Playing 11 of their
first 15 conference games in opposing arenas
should have been too much for this young
team to overcome. And this weekend against
the Fighting Irish (5-5-4 CCHA, 7-8-5 over-
all), when Michigan took the ice without four
of its top players, it should not have left Notre
Dame with three points.
But with the odds against them, the
Wolverines persevered as they have all sea-
son, skating to a 3-3 stalemate in Friday
night's game and squeaking by Notre Dame
2-1 Saturday night.
Virtue of its gutsy performance, Michigan
will welcome back Mike Cammalleri, Mike

World Junior Championships - to a first-
place team.
The eighth-ranked Wolverines (9-3-3, 12-
6-4) moved into a first-place tie with Michi-
gan State, which swept a nonconference
series with Quinnipiac this weekend.
"In the fall, when I looked at our schedule
and our team, I would have been hard pressed
to say we'd be tied for first place after Christ-
mas," Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
"When you look at it, (Saturday) was our 1lth
game on the road, and we only have three
games left away from home, so this team has
done a tremendous job of finding a way to
win on the road."
Said junior forward John Shouneyia: "It's
huge. We had a rough start, and it shows a lot
of character to fight back and actually be tied
for first. Now we have to do something with
it."
Saturday night's game was a defensive
struggle, characterized by missed opportuni-
ties on the offensive end for both teams.
Michigan took a 2-1 lead with just 52 seconds
left in the second period on a strong shift
from its first line. Freshman walk-on Charlie
Henderson, who has established himself as a
threat over the past five games, skated in with

Undefeated? None
left after Dukies
fall to Seminoles
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - That Florida State was
the first team to beat Duke this season was a big surprise.
That the top-ranked Blue Devils did themselves in with
poor free-throw shooting was a shock.
Monte Cummings scored with 7.4 seconds left as the
Seminoles rallied from a four-point deficit in the final
minute to beat Duke 77-76 yesterday, snapping the defend-
ing national champion's 22-game winning streak and leav-
ing Division I without an unbeaten team.
"It took every bit of the 40 minutes to get the win," said
Florida State coach Steve Robinson, whose team had a 13-
point lead with eight minutes to play. "Once we got behind
I told them we've just got to make some shots."
Duke (1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, 12-1 overall)
missed a chance for the victory when Mike Dunleavy's tip
of a miss by Jason Williams rimmed out at the buzzer. But
the Blue Devils had hurt themselves with the uncharacter-
istically poor free-throw shooting, going 2-for-8 over the
final 1:30 and only 7-for-19 in the game.
Williams entered the game shooting 69.1 percent from
the line and Duke was shooting 69.3 percent as a team.
Florida State, which had closed to 76-75 on Antwuan
Dixon's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, went to Cummings
- a 25-year-old Army veteran - for its final play.
"I was knocking them down in the second half, so I felt
good about it," said the 6-foot-4 Cummings, who got past
-.b_ , --A +- n +,o""+ho

DAVID KATZ/Daiy
John Shouneyla was a force against Notre Dame on Saturday night. He had a hand in both of
Michigan's goals in the Wolverines' 2-1 win over the Fighting Irish.

couldn't corral the rebound, allowing
Shouneyia another attempt to score. Cey
managed to stop his shot, but the puck squirt-
ed out of his grasp and junior Mark Mink
took advantage, putting the Wolverines ahead
for good.
Shouneyia also contributed to Michigan's
first goal of the game as the Wolverines were

man Andy Burnes sent an outlet pass to
Shouneyia, who found himself in a two-on-
one opportunity with forward Michael Wood-
ford. Shouneyia skated down the right side
and, as the defender committed to him, fired a
pass to Woodford who scored a shorthanded
goal - his fifth goal in his last three games.
"Coming back from break, I think I've

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