cJb llrbirguu Du tilj SPORTSb>: A. Monday September , 2002 SECTION B - --------- MICHIGAN 35, WESTR:N iCHIGAN 12 e real eal? Hold it: Edwards can be a star if he learns to take care of the ball O ffensive coordinator Terry Mal- one remembers how receiver Braylon Edwards literally jumped off the practice field to catch balls in his freshman year. "Everyone stopped in practice and said, 'This guy could be some- thing special,"' Malone said. The problem:. Edwards con- sidered himselfx too special. He heard the comparisons of his physique, JOE competitiveness SMITH and playmaking The One ability to former and Only Wolverine and first-round NFL Draft pick David Ter- rell. Just like Terrell, Edwards is a legiti- mate deep threat who can soar over defensive backs to make great plays - and let them hear about it afterwards. Hold it. Edwards has a ton of ability. But sometimes last season he thought too much of that ability. Hold it, his parents told him last sea- son. Edwards didn't understand why with all the hype surrounding him, he wasn't getting the ball. He thought he could step right in like his father, Stan Edwards, did. Stan played as a fresh- man Michigan running back in 1977, and Braylon thought he could and should do the same. Braylon got so frustrated he said he cracked under the pressure. He almost decided to leave Michigan. Then his parents gave their tough, yet immature son some words of advice: "Braylon, you're not here to have a self- ish attitude - you're here to listen!" And he took that advice to heart. So instead of listening to the hype and trying to live up to Terrell and his father, he listened to coach Lloyd Carr telling him to "Pick it up! Stop slack- ing! Stop fumbling!" Edwards' cockiness issue is over and done with. There's only one remaining problem. Edwards has to remember something extraordinarily important when he catches the ball. Hold it. While Edwards has three touch- downs this year, he also has three fumbles in just two games. The soph- omore has shown flashes of brilliance in this young season. Whether it was his 45-yard touchdown grab against Washington, when he out-leapt the Huskies' cornerback Terrell-style and celebrated in the end zone, or his two touchdown catches against Western Michigan on Saturday, Edwards is finally reaping the benefits of wait- ing, working and learning. Hold it. Edwards isn't done improv- ing yet. "don't consider myself the go-to- guy," Edwards said on Saturday. "I feel that I'm just a player in a great system doing what I'm supposed to do." What happened to that brash and selfish Braylon from a year ago? "That difference between freshman year and sophomore year is night and day," Malone said. "He learned a lot of lessons his first year, had to go through some tough times, but it will help him in the end." Hold it. Ah yes, the fumbles. That's the one thing Malone feels Edwards must address before he can be considered "the real deal." Edwards fumbled twice last week - once on the goal line, which was not ruled a fumble by the officials, but con- sidered one by Carr. He fumbled again on the critical fourth-and-two in the final minute. After all, if fellow receiver Tyrece Butler didn't hustle over and fall on Edwards' fumble with 27 seconds left - as the sophomore froze up and stood still like a statue - Edwards could have been the goat of the game. If Washing- ton had recovered the ball, the game would have been over and there would be no time for Philip Brabbs' heroic kick. Hold it. Big-play receiver or not, if you cough up the ball, you won't score too often - nor will you win too much praise from coaches and fans. That fumble was "a mistake I never want to make again," Edwards said. Edwards was willing to eat some humble pie and wait his turn, listen to coaches and let his play speak for itself on the field. And if Edwards' can tight- en his grip on the ball and learn from his mistakes much like he did in his rookie campaign - he could be one of Michigan's greats. And that's another thing worth holding on to. Joe Smith can be reached at josephms@umich.edu. BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily Braylon Edwards celebrates his second touchdown in Michigan's 35-12 win over Western Michigan on Saturday. Edwards led the Wolverines with four receptions for 93 yards. No surprise as Varsity crushes MAC opponent By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Editor To the surprise of nobody, Michigan marched over Western Michigan 35-12 last Saturday, led by four John Navarre touchdown passes, two of which were caught by sophomore wide receiver Braylon Edwards. The Wolverines suffered no emotional letdown after their thrilling 31-29 victory over Washing- ton, but they were still disappointed with their play at times. "We didn't play good enough to win a champi- onship," Defensive lineman Norman Heuer said. "Today we got the job done, but we have to come out next week with an improved effort and con- tinue to do what we have been doing." In winning by 23 points, Michigan increased the defensive line pressure, but still gave up nearly 250 yards and two touchdowns passing. "We had a lot of confidence," Western Michi- gan wide receiver Greg Jennings said. "We knew we would be able to move the ball downfield, especially the first possession." But the Wolverines' defense did more than enough to limit the Broncos' scoring opportuni- ties and the Michigan offense proved too potent for the Broncos. Michigan followed up its offen- sive success against Washington well, both in the running game and the passing game. The Wolver- ines pounded the Broncos on the ground for 220 yards with Chris Perry, David Underwood and Tim Bracken each rushing more than 10 times in the game. This success helped set up play-action passes, leading to Michigan's 226 yards in the air and Navarre's four touchdowns, which tied a Michi- gan record. Western Michigan has a "very difficult defense to run against, and very difficult to run outside. So you have to run north-south," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "You need to sustain some drives and keep their defense on the field." Perhaps the greatest sign of success in the game for the Michigan offense was the fact that Western Michigan knew what was coming but still could not stop it. "I know that we couldn't stop it," Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell said. "I just felt like there were times that we pretty much knew what to expect and there wasn't anything we could get done with it." The Wolverines again utilized their improved offense by spreading the ball around. Nine differ- ent receivers notched a reception, with Edwards and Tyrece Butler leading the way. See BRONCOS, Page 4B Last time, this time Although the end results were similar in Mlchi- gan's past two wins over Western Michigan, some key Michigan stats showed how the Wolverines have improved since the last time they met the Broncos. 2001: MICHIGAN 38, WESTERN MICHIGAN 21 Pass yards allowed: 374 Fumbles forced: One Receivers with catches: Four Navarre touchdown passes: Two 2002: MICHIGAN 35, WESTERN MICHIGAN 12 Pass yards allowed: 249 Fumbles forced: Five Receivers with catches: Nine Navarre touchdown passes: Four ALYSSA WOOD/Daily Michigan linebacker Victor Hobson nails Broncos quarterback Chad Munson from behind in the second quarter. Stickers fall behind, but use Powers to steal weekend By Dan Rosen Daily Sports Writer A tentative start and an early one-goal deficit quickly turned into a blowout for the Michigan field hockey team yesterday afternoon. The Wolverines completed their weekend sweep of Central Michigan and Ball State with a 5-1 win against the Cardinals. Ball State jumped out in front early with a drive by senior Allison Haynes past Michigan goalie Molly Maloney just 10:13 into the first our offensive talent" said senior Molly Powers. "There's no reason why we shouldn't score. We knew it was just a matter of time. We needed to pick up the tempo and the communication." April Fronzoni made sure that Michigan's patience and confidence paid off. The junior forward managed to deflect a ball off of a Ball State defender and passed goalie Susan McDowell to tie the game at one. Powers then added a tally just a minute later to put Michi- gan in front for good. But even with her team leading, Michigan they continued to execute. "She told us that we can't be satisfied with a 2-1 score," Powers said. "We need to continue working hard, to get to the ball first and all of those types of things." It's not the first time Michigan has started slowly during the second game of a two-game weekend. Last week, the Wolverines had trouble with Wake Forest after their 2-0 shutout of North Carolina. Michigan gave up a goal 12 minutes into the game against the Demon Deacons and never recovered. 'The Wnh~-iprin c wre fyi cic. of that fodlow-. mental lapses that occurred against Wake Forest to prevent them from happening in the future. Despite that sentiment though, Pankratz felt that the team wasn't loose enough to start yester- day's game. "(We were) trying to be very safe and to do everything right, instead of just relaxing and playing hard," Pankratz said. "So we kind of got organized and got our feet under ourselves and started to play a little bit tougher as the game went along." Part of the Wolverines slow start could also be ittrihited to, Rall State'sconse~rvative 'stv~le of ICCCIl.A VlIDA CCU /1'1ni1..