The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 9, 2002 - 5B "WE HAVE TO STEP IT UP. THIS GAME WAS DEFINITELY NOT GOOD ENOUGH AS A WHOLE. WE HAVE TO BE FOCUSED THIS WHOLE WEEK AND GET RID OF THE MENTAL ERRORS." -SOPHOMORE CORNERBACK MARKUS CURRY WEEKEND'S BEST IT'S REPEAT TIME: Miami put any doubts to rest about its chances to repeat as national champion, dominating its in-state rival Flori- da, 41-16 The Hurricanes' defensive front pulled on every part of Florida quarterback Rex Grossman's body Saturday at "The Swamp," forcing Grossman to throw two interceptions - one that decided the game. With the Gators driving in the Miami red zone down 27-16, Grossman threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Maurice Sikes, who returned it for 98 yards and a touchdown.. Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey was the winner in a duel of early Heisman candidates, throwing for 202 yards and four scores. JOEY WHO?: Joey Harrington was known for his fourth-quarter comebacks. His replacement, Jason Fife; began to mold a simi- lar reputation Saturday. Down 24-15 to Fresno State in the beginning of the fourth quar- ter, Fife went to work with the help of standout tailback Onterrio Smith, who ran 35 times for 124 yards and two fourth-quarter scores to give the Ducks a 28-24 lead. Oregon receiver Samie Parker burst onto the scene for nine catches for 161 yards, making many wonder why Keenan Howry's body is plastered in downtown Manhattan instead of his. HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Associated Press Poll for week of September 2. Games updated through September 7. NEW AP TOP 25 4 Team: 1. Miami (Fla.) 2. Oklahoma 3. Texas 4. Tennessee 5. Florida State 6. Florida 7. Michigan 8. Ohio State 9. Nebraska 10. Georgia 11. Washington State 12. Virginia Tech 13. Oregon 14. Washington 15. Michigan State 16. Marshall 17. Colorado 18. Southern Cal 19. Colorado State 20. Texas A&M 21. North Carolina State 22. South Carolina 23. Notre Dame 24. Louisiana State 25. Wisconsin Last week: beat No. 6 Florida 41-16 beat Alabama 37-27 Bye beat Middle Tennessee 26-3 Bye lost to No.1 Miami 41-16 beat Western Michigan 35-12 beat Kent State 51-17 beat Utah State 44-13 Bye beat Idaho 49-14 Bye beat Fresno State 28-24 beat San Jose State 34-10 beat Rice 27-10 Bye beat San Diego State 3414 beat Auburn 24-17 lost to UCLA 30-19 beat Pittsburgh 14-12 beat Navy 65-19 lost to Virginia 34-21 beat Purdue 24-17 beat The Citadel 35-10 beat West Virginia 34-17 This week: at Temple UTEP at North Carolina Bye at Maryland Ohio at No. 20 Notre Dame No. 10 Washington State at Penn State at South Carolina at No. 6 Ohio State No. 16 Marshall Idaho, Bye California at No. 11 Virginia Tech No. 17 Southern Cal at No. 18 Colorado Bye Bye Wake Forest No. 9 Georgia No. 7 Michigan Miami (Ohio) Northern Illinois (first-place votes in parentheses) TEAM 1. Miami (68) 2. Oklahoma (3) 3. Texas (3) 4. Tennessee 5. Florida State 6. Ohio State 7. Michigan 8. Nebraska 9. Georgia 10. Washington State 11. Virginia Tech 12. Florida 13. Oregon 14. Washington 15. Michigan State 16. Marspall 17. Southern Cal. 18. Colorado 19. N.C. State 20. Notre Dame 21. Texas A&M 22. Wisconsin 23. UCLA 24. Colorado State 25. Louisiana State 2-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 3-0 1-0 2-0 2-0 1-1 2-0 1-1 2-0 1-0 1-0 1-1 3-0 2-0 2-0 3-0 1-0 2-1 1-1 PTS 1,844 1,700 1,667 1,642 1,606 1,341 1,333 1,241 1,211 1,164 1,135 1,027 948 855 700 649 538 415 402 374 368 294 213 173 171 PVS 1 2 3 4 5 8 7 9 10 11 12 6 13 14 15 16 18 17 21 23 20 25 19 24 Dropped Out: No. 22 South Carolina Florida's Rex Grossman GAME PROGRESSION First Quarter: After Western misses a field goal, Michigan gets the ball on its own 20-yard line. John Navarre ends the drive with an eight-yard pass to Benny Joppru for the score. Phil Brabbs kicks the extra point. Michigan 7, Western Michigan O The Wolverines add to their lead with a four-yard run by Dave Underwood on Michigan's next possesion. Brabbs makes the PAT. Michigan 14, Western Michigan O Second Quarter: With 7:37 left in the quarter, Navarre caps a 57-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards. Brabbs converts the extra point. Michigan 21, Western Michigan 0 The Broncos finally get on the board as halftime approaches. From Michigan's six-yard line, Chad Munson finds Jermaine Lewis in the endzone with 0:26 left. Munson's two-point conversion try fails. Michigan 21, Western Michigan 6 Third Quarter: Michigan takes the ball on West- ern's 42-yard line. After Chris Perry gains 28 yards on five car- ries, Navarre hits B.J. Askew for 14 yards and the touchdown. Brabbs kicks the extra point. Michigan 28, Western Michigan 6 Victor Hobson recovers a Western fumble on the Broncos' 43, but Michigan can't convert. On their next drive, the Wolverines take the ball 55 yards in five plays, including Navarre's 39-yard touch- down bomb to Edwards. Brabbs converts the PAT. Michigan 35, Western Michigan 6 The Broncos answer with a scor- ing drive of their own. After Philip Reed runs for 33 yards, Munson throws a 16-yard touchdown to Lewis. Munson's pass on the two-point conversion .try is incomplete. Michigan 35, Western Michigan 12 Fourth Quarter: Michigan turns up its defensive effort and hold Western scoreless in the fourth. The Wolverines force another turnover when Dan Rumishek inter- cepts Munson and runs it back 23 yards. But they can't take advan- tage, punting after four plays. Michigan 35, Western Michigan 12 AP PHUIU Oklahoma quarterback Nate Hybi replaced the injured Jason White at the end of the first quarter Saturday against Alabama. SCOUTINC THE NATION NEWS AND NOTES Colorado quarterback Craig Ochs' playing career is in jeopardy due to his third concussion of the past year. The Buffaloes (1-1) have not fared well early, scoring just 14 points against Colorado State in their season-opening loss. Ochs left the game at halftime Saturday, but the Buffs still rolled to a 34-14 victory. The junior is listed as doubtful for Colorado's matchup this weekend against Southern Cal. Oklahoma starting quarterback Jason White went down late in the first quarter when he tore a ligament in his right knee. He'll miss the rest of the year with an ACL tear, handing the job to Nate Hybl, who started 11 games last season. Hybl threw for 162 yards and a touchdown in the first half but was stymied by Alabama's stingy defense until the Sooners' game- winning drive. Wisconsin has always been known for its automatic running backs and and an inefficient passing attack. But thus far this season, the Bad- gers (3-Q), are doing most of their damage through the air - without All-America receiver Lee Evans. Now that's scary. Running back Anthony Davis ran for just 75 yards in the Badgers' 34-17 win over West Vir- ginia, forcing young wideouts to pick up the slack. Freshman Jonathan Orr caught five passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns and Brandon Williams caught six for 125 yards. UCLA fifth-year senior Cory Paus 'probably thought that he'd be the man to lead the Bruins to victory in the fourth quarter down 13-7 to Col- orado State. But instead, coach Bob Toledo put his trust in highly-touted freshman Drew Olson. Olson entered the game with 3:01 left in the third quarter. Olson completed two pass- es for 24 yards on the go-ahead drive. But after his team had the lead, Toledo elected to go with Paus for the remainder of the game. The Bruins won 30-19. Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willing- ham, in his first year leading the Irish, has been breaking tradition ever since he arrived in South Bend, Ind. and he didn't stop with the West Coast offense. Willingham has decided that he won't meet with reporters on Sundays after games, and also won't meet with them Mon- day after practice because "there's not anything new to say." Lou Holtz and Bob Davie met with the media at those two times, as well as in a teleconference Tuesday, but Willing- ham is holding himself to just the teleconference., Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman was doing it all Saturday. He was a fumble away from scoring offensive, defensive and special teams touchdowns on three consec- utive touches. Newman caught a 51- yard bomb from quarterback Marc Dunn, then returned a punt 40 yards for a touchdown. After an intercep- tion that left him with 17 yards to score a "trifecta," Newman dropped the football after just a few yards. "I was trying to tuck it in and it just fell out," he said. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING Baylor far aren't going to put up with it anymore. An alumnus ordered a plane to fly over the stadium Satur- day night with banners clamoring for the firing of coach Dan Steele, who is 7-28 in his fourth year as coach. Here's what the banner had to say to Athletic Director Tom Stanton: "Tom Stanton - Thou Shalt Not Steele." "B.U. football - 14-53 under Tom Stanton." Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is getting tired of all the criticism about his wide-open passing attack: "One of these days I'm going to throw it every single snap just to see how they like that. After that, I'm going to run it every single snap just to see how the other ones like it." First-year replacement for Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook, is probably feel- ing a little more pressure after the Gators' drubbing at the hands of Miami. At least he's being candid about the state of things: "When you get your tail kicked like that, you don't feel good. And I don't want (my players) to feel good." THE DAILY'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK It isn't always the best players that make the biggest impact in college foot- ball and this section is for recognizing those performers. This week, Miami's Willis McGahee, the defense of Notre Dame and Oklahoma's Mark Clayton had the biggest impact for their respective teams. They may not be the best play- ers, but for one day, for their team, they were the best they could be and for that, The Daily football writers would like to recognize them. WILLIS MCGAHEE, MIAMI Why McGahee?: Not only did McGa- hee's 205 yards rushing help lead Miami (Fla.) to a 41-16 rout of in-state rival Florida, but he solidified the Hurri- . canes' starting tailback position and quelled his own doubters by showing a promise and dedication that he had up until now had never shown. Before last Saturday's game, many critics believed that the Hurricanes' success would be based on whether Frank Gore could make a successful return from injury this season. But with McGahee's emer- gence, Miami (Fla.) becomes the strong favorite to win the national title, despite what may be the most difficult schedule Miami's Willis McGahee in the nation. NOTRE DAME DEFENSE Why Notre Dame's defense?: Somen people say the best offense is a good defense. In Notre Dame's case, the only offense is a good defense. In the +1 Fighting Irish's 2417 victory over Purdue, all three of their touchdowns came on Purdue turnovers - a 54- yard fumble return by Gerome Sapp, a 4-yard fumble return by Lionel Bolen and a 33-yard interception return by Vontez Duff. This is the same defense that shutout then-No. 20 Maryland last week to put the Fighting Irish back on the college football radar. But Notre Dame still has yet to score an offensive touch- down and will have to rely on the ath- leticism of its defense if it expects to continue to win. Carlyle Holiday and company are not getting the job done yet. Notre Dame's Vontez Duff MARK CLAYFON, OKIAHOMA Why Clayton?: Versus Alabama, wide receiver Mark Clayton was the offense ® for Oklahoma. The Sooners' rushing e offense was shut down, leaving Clayton as the only viable option. As such, he stepped up nicely by catching a 32-yard pass from Jason White (who later suf- fered a season ending ACL injury) and a 51-yard pass from White's replacement, Nate Hybl. Against Tulsa, Clayton had just one catch for one yard, but he stepped up when Sooners needed him. And oh did they need him. Oklahoma netted just 257 yards of offense and Clayton scored two of the Sooners' four offensive touchdowns. On a team with so many athletes, it is difficult to tell who will have a great game. But Satur- day was Clayton's day and he should give Oklahoma fans a reason to not fear Oklahoma's Mark Clayton the absence of White and the return of AP PHOTOS much-maligned Hybl. Notre Dame's Carlyle Holiday (7). WHO'S NEXT: NOTRE DAME Michigan meets a Notre Dame team brimming with confidence next week in South Bend, Ind. New coach Tyrone Willingham replaced the Irish's option offense with his West Coast style, but it has been defense and special teams leading the way so far. Notre Damebeat Purdue 34-17 on Sat- urday, with all three Irish touchdowns coming off turnovers. Vontez Duff has been the big-play man for Notre Dame, scoring on an intercep- tion against Purdue and returning a punt 76 yards for a touchdown against Maryland last week. The Irish blanked the Terps 22-0 in Will- ingham's debut. Notre Dame displayed its efficient, but hardly prolific offense, controlling possesion for more than 41 minutes. Quarterback Carlyle Holiday completed 17 of 27 passes for 226 yards, but no touchdowns. Notre Dame has gone 2-0 without scor- ing an offensive touchdown, and will need more production from Holiday and Co. against the Wolverines. I. BIG TEN STANDINGS Horn makes an early statement Daily Sports Editor Horn threw the gauntlet down with an impressive 11 correct picks in week 1. Some say he got lucky in his picks, but only time will tell. What we do know is that his first week has earned Horn early bragging rights around the Daily, which he has taken advantage of to the highest degree possible. McCollough, Phillips and Smith were all middle of the road, which means Koko the monkey could have picked just as well as they did. Nevertheless, the football staff will continue to. STAFF PICK WEEK ISELECTIONS ALL PICKS MADE AGAINST THE SPR CORRECT SELECTION IN BOLD. M1CHiGAN (-23) vs. Western Michiga SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPi (-4.5) vs. Illinol WlseoNsi (-11) vs, West Virgirnia MICHIGAN STATE (-25) vs. Rice NotRE DAME (-6) vs. Purdue. Texas Christian (-6) at NORTHWESTER UTAH (-13.5) vs, Indiana OHIO STATE (-29) vs. Kent Sate r ar AIu MHA0 EAD. David Horn Team Wisconsin Iowa Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Penn State Indiana Purdue Illinois Northwestern Big Ten 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Overall 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 1 1 0-2 0 2 J. Brady Jeff McCollough Phillips Joe Smith n Western M..higan, -M.hIgn Western Mt higa WesMlchig Is Southern Mississippi Illinois Southern Mississippi Southern Mississippi WIscons - West-Vfrglnia Wcni Wsosn Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Notre Dame Purdue P 4rue Ntr N Texas Christian Texas Christian Texas Christian Northwestern Uta - Utah,. U hio State Ohio State Ohio State Kent State lawa towa lwa '-W: THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS MICHIGAN 35, Western Michigan 12 MICHIGAN STATE 27, Rice 10 NOTRE DAME 24, Purdue 17 WISCONSIN 34, West Virginia 17 OHIO STATE 51, Kent State 17 I img cruT~flTTT F