iJhe £Id)4.gun SUII POT Monday January 6, 2003 SECTION B I MICHIGAN 38, FLORIDA 30 Steak-ing their claim DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily True freshman wide receiver Jason Avant (left) escorts senior safety Julius Curry (right) and senior defensive end Dan Rumishek (back) off the field for the last time in their Michigan uniforms. Michigan gets revenge on the SEC, solidifies the Big Ten's supremacy T AMPA, Fla. - For the Chinese, 2002 was the Year of the Horse. For college football, 2002 was the Year of the Darkhorse. No bowl season in recent memory has seen as many underdogs win in games where they were so outmatched on paper. And in dramatic style - it' rose and fell, only to rise again -- the Big Ten is once again the best conference in college football. JEFF As a conference, PHILLIPS Big Ten teams went 5-2 in bowl games, Ramble including Ohio On State's improbable victory over Miami (Fla.) to win the national title. In those seven games, only Penn State was favored, and in the case of Minnesota, Purdue and Wis- consin, their in-conference perform- ance gave no indication of how they would surprise their opponents. This year in the Big Ten, the buzz- word was parity. Now it's not just a word that stupid coaches use to make them- selves sound smart, it's actually applica- ble, as the bottom-feeders showed themselves capable of defeating the con- ference's top teams. Illinois and Purdue nearly defeated the Buckeyes, and the Wolverines eeked out victories over the Badgers and Boilermakers. Yet in the end, Ohio State and Michigan (and Iowa) were still at the top and everyone else was left scrambling - and there is little reason to believe that next season will be any different. Ending the season with a win always gives fans hope for next season, but for Michigan and Ohio State, their success is secured. The day after defeating the Hurricanes, the Buckeyes were already talking repeat and they have returning talent to do it. They lose six starters, including All-America safety Mike Doss and All-America linebacker Matt Wilhelm, but only one on offense, wide receiver Chris Vance. With the return of running back Maurice Clarett and all-everything performer Chris Gamble, there is little reason to bet against Ohio State. The Wolverines, who nearly defeated said Buckeyes in their own stadium, gave the nation a little taste of what to expect next season. Their offense exploded for 38 points against Florida and played nearly mistake free, anchored by running back Chris Perry and quarterback John Navarre. After B.J. Askew left the game in the first quarter with a broken hand, Perry showed his versatility with six recep- tions for 108 yards. He also rushed for 85 yards and four touchdowns to be the game's most valuable player. It was the kind of game that Perry had been expected to produce ever since his 123-yard, three-touchdown game against Washington. Navarre was poised and efficient in playing perhaps his best game for the Wolverines. He completed 21-of-36 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown and threw no interceptions. He with- stood the pressure of the Florida defensive line and linebackers and showed none of the panic that had plagued him in the past. The offensive line remains intact with Dave Petruziello being the only See PHILLIPS, Page 4B DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan running back Chris Perry (23) - the Outback Bowl Most Valuable Player - jumps into the air and' meets a flying Ronald Bellamy (19) as senior fullback B. J. Askew looks on. Hot hot hot!Cagers continue winning streak against Jaguars Freshmen propel icers to much-needed sweep By Seth Klempner Daily Sports Writer On Dec. 8, a .500 winning percentage seemed about as far away as the, sunny beaches of Los Angeles to the Michigan basketball team. But in the month since their 22-point loss to Duke, the Wolverines have seen both a record above .500 and the cool waters of the Pacific. Michigan started IUPUI 79 the season 0-6 as MH8 poor post defense was MICHIGAN 84 exposed by opposing centers, while the Wolverines were not playing within the system that the coaches had estab- lished for them. But on the last day of the fall semester, Michigan turned the trend around by avenging last year's loss to Bowling Green with an 83-57 win. The Wolverines carried that momentum throughout break, capturing an 81- 76 win at UCLA and finishing their vacation with an 84-79 victory over IUPUI on Saturday. Michigan (7-6) hasn't looked back since the win over Bowling Green, piling up wins like snow on the ground. It has done so by playing unselfishly on the offensive end, leading to an increase in confidence for a team that is not used to prolonged success. Over this stretch, Michigan also learned how to deal with adver- sity and overcome problems - things that it had previously failed to do. The Wolverines had to do both on Saturday against IUPUI to bring their winning streak to seven - giving them a perfect record over winter break and their longest winning streak since the 1997-98 season. The Jaguars gave up an early nine-point lead to the Wolverines but would come back and pester a lackluster Michigan team all day. IUPUI led by four with less than 10 minutes remaining and tied the game with less than four minutes to go before a baseline dunk by Michigan forward Lester Abram put the game out of reach. "This is the time of year that you look around college basketball and you see a lot of teams slip up. We were fortunate that we weren't one of those teams (Saturday)," Michi- gan coach Tommy Amaker said. "This very well could have been a game that last year or a couple of years ago that maybe we would not have been able to pull out." Michigan was dealt a blow before the game when junior Bernard .Robinson was scratched due to a knee injury suffered during practice. Compounding this problem was foul trouble for Abram that kept him on the bench for a six- minute stretch late in the second half. Abram finished the game with five rebounds and a career-high 20 points, but his absence clearly affected Michigan's offense. "I liked seeing the good offensive perform- ance (from him), but he was picking up silly and immature fouls that put him on the bench," Amaker said. "Especially in a game like this where 'we didn't have Robinson - we really need Abram." Missing the duo also weakened Michigan's perimeter defense, allowing the Jaguars to pen- etrate the Wolverines' frail zone defense. Michigan also had problems rotating on By Dan Rosen Daily Sports Writer All season long the Michigan hock- ey team has been forced to play with- out some of its best players - MIAMI 2 and all season long the fresh- MICHIGAN 5 man class has responded with big contributions. Last night's 5-2 win over Miami was no different. Three freshmen scored goals for the Wolverines. And 17-year-old freshman goalie Al Montoya made 34 saves, including a number of big stops to protect Michigan's 3-2 lead in the third period. "Things hadn't been going my way but it clicked tonight," Montoya said. "I was in the right place at the right time and things were going my way. I was seeing the puck real well tonight." Michigan freshman Andrew Ebbett opened the game's scoring off of a crisp series of passes by the Wolver- ines on the powerplay. Defenseman Nick Martens fired the puck through the Miami zone to center David Moss' down low. The Dearborn native quick- ly redirected the play across the crease to Ebbett, who jammed it past Miami goalie David Burleigh for the score. Miami fought back twice in the sec- ond period to keep the game close. With the Redhawks trailing 2-1, for- ward Taylor Hustead skated around a Michigan defender and fired a pic- ture-perfect wristshot from the right faceoff circle into the top right.corner of the net. But the Wolverines got the last laugh. Three third-period goals, including an empty-netter by Jason Ryznar, pushed the game out of Miami's reach. On the weekend, the freshman class scored six of the team's eight goals. Forward Jeff Tambellini had apair of game-winners, including a slapshot from the blueline last night to make it 3-2. Saturday he scored the winning goal in the 3-2 overtime win. "We had our freshman class lead (the team in 'The Victors' after the game) and that was a statement to their contribution this weekend," coach Red Berenson said. "It was a big weekend for (them)." The freshmen's output was especial- ly important because the Wolverines were without three of their top scor- ers. Sophomores Dwight Helminen and Eric Nystrom missed the series to represent the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship - the two will come home without a medal unfortunately, as the United States lost 3-2 to Finland in the bronze medal game yesterday. Forward Michael See REDHAWKS, Page 8B AP PHOTO Michigan swingman Lester Abram scored 20 points in Michigan's 84-79 victory over IUPUI. defense and getting to the weak side to help teammates take players off the dribble, allow- ing IUPUI to easily slash to the basket. The Wolverines gave up 36 points in the paint as the Jaguars went 18-of-24 inside. "I was disappointed in our ability to guard their perimeter players off the dribble," Amaker said. "They exploited us in the post and off the See JAGUARS, Page 6B I I