4 Friday Septemnber 13, 2002 michigandaily. com sportsdesk@umich.edu PORTS 8 4 golden No. 7 Michigan at No. 20 Notre Dame. Blue renews storied rivalory By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor t r: opportuni Tomorrow, 2:30 p.m. m Notre Dame Stadium s NBC 4 Strange things happen after rivalry games - even at Notre Dame. Detroit Lions' cornerback Todd Lyght flashes a wide grin as he recalls his freshman year in the secondary for the Fighting Irish in 1987, when his team traveled home after a hard-fought vic- tory over Michigan in the Big House. And the usually orderly and pristine students in South Bend, Ind. went nuts. Lyght said for the first time in 30 years, a mas- sive food fight ensued in the dorms, as the riled up college kids literally "turned the place upside down." "I thought that was cool that the students would get that riled up that they would cause rukuss on campus," Lyght said. And why wouldn't they? Back then, Michigan vs. Notre Dame was the biggest game of the year. One of the nation's most heated and competitive rivalries was bigger than morning chapel, bigger than "Rudy," bigger than life. For the past two years, it has not been bigger than anything. The two teams haven't played since 1999, and the Irish haven't resembled the dynasty they once were - missing a bowl game in two of the past three years. But they have a new coach in Tyrone Willingham, a new attitude, an undefeated record-and a top-20 ranking. The Irish are saying they're "back." And tomorrow, everyone will find out. After a two-year hiatus, Michigan and Notre Dame plan to rekindle the historic rivalry in South Bend for its 30th matchup. But considering the rivalry's rich past, Willing- ham has a tough act to follow. A big reason Michigan-Notre Dame games were so great was because they were painfully close. For seven straight seasons from 1988-1994, the highly-contested battles were decided by 28 points - that's just four points per game. Many came down to the final seconds - a last-second field goal, a heart-breaking kickoff return by Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. The rivalry had seen them all. "It was huge," said Desmond Howard, former Wolverine and 1991 Heisman Trophy Winner. "The rivalry was as big as Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. I mean, you have two major universities whose ath- letic programs are so highly respected, and you Defenses tomorrow By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Editor Michigan has looked strong in its first two games, while Notre Dame's quick start has college foot- ball fans talking about the return of the Golden Domers. Add to the mix national television, a renewed rival- ry and coach Tyrone Willingham's first game against Michigan, and you get every football fan salivat- ing. MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: Defense is Notre Dame's strength and it showed against Purdue and Maryland as the Fighting Irish allowed fewer than 300 passing yards combined in their two games. Cornerback Vontez Duff has loads of talent and should be a good matchup against Braylon Edwards. Should Michigan falter, it will be in this area. Edge: Notre Dame ~ighl ight s rivalry NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE:'The Wolverines have stopped every rushing offense they have encoun- tered this season and the Fighting Irish's backfield is arguably the least intimidating. The card that Notre Dame may play-is the option attack, which Michigan has not faced yet - but even then, the Wolverines should stop it. Edge: Michigan SPECIAL TEAMS: Special teams is where Notre Dame has shown its talent so far. Kicker Nick Setta is one of the nation's top scorers and Duff is a constant threat on kick returns. Special teams has also accounted for 25 of Notre Dame's 46 points this season. Michigan is still struggling with the kicking game as Philip Brabbs missed another field goal attempt against Western Michigan. The kick return game looks solid with Jeremy LeSueur and Julius Curry showing their game-breaking ability. Still, the Wolverines just don't have the talent that the Fight- ing Irish have in this area. Edge: Notre Dame Courtesy of the Notre Dame University Athletic Department Notre Dame alum Raghib "Rocket" ismail has fond memories of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalries, especially the game played in 1989 when he returned two kicks for touchdowns in the Irish's 24.19 win. have a Bo Schembechler going in there against Lou Holtz - two living legends as far as coaches. That in of itself makes it a helluva rivalry." Holtz, now coach at South Carolina, said he'll never forget that his first game as coach for the Irish was spoiled by the Wolverines. "(Michigan quarterback) Jim Harbaugh hit a fade route to win the game, and then we missed a field goal from the 25 on the last play," Holtz said. "They were always great games. And there was a lot of class by both teams, with no taunting but a ton of respect for each other." But after another instant classic in 1994, when Michigan's Remy Hamilton clinched the Wolver- ines come-from-behind, 26-24 victory with a 42- yard field goal - the rivalry cooled off for a while. The teams didn't play for three years, and when they resumed the rivalry in 1997, Notre Dame was- n't the same powerhouse it once was. Under coach Bob Davie, the Fighting Irish limped to a 7-6 record and an Independence Bowl bid in 1997 - while the Wolverines claimed a national title. "Notre Dame fell off a little bit," Lyght said of his alma mater. "I know they had a problem with the academic standard being too high so they couldn't have gone out and recruited as good of athletes as they would have liked to. So they had to settle on a lesser athlete who was a better student." Now, Lyght says Notre Dame has a better coach,' Willingham, who can bring in the best of both worlds - solid athletes and students - without compromising the undying expectations of national championship contending teams. But some former players from both teams say a few things need to happen before the rivalry can be fully rekindled. "To get back to that point, both programs are going to have to regain a lot of that respect, coach- es have to earn their stripes and they're going to have some close calls," said Howard. "When games come down to final minutes or final sec- onds, those are the grudge matches that fans remember and they can't wait till next year to revenge that loss." They may not have the marquee stars like Howard, Ismail, Tim Brown or Anthony Carter, but Michigan and Notre Dame still are the two win- ningest college football programs in Division I-A. And Michigan players say the "mystique" is still there lingering in South Bend. The gold helmets, "Touchdown Jesus," the ghosts of the rivalry's past remain lodged in their minds. And the game is still going to be on NBC. "Everybody that loves college football will watch, want to watch or want to know what the score is," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: Run- ning back Chris Perry continued to impress against Western Michigan and with the play of Tim Bracken and David Underwood, he should have plenty of help. The powerful Notre Dame defense is weak against the rush and Michigan should take advantage. Edge: Michigan, NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE: While Michigan has struggled a bit at stop- ping the pass, the Fighting Irish have yet to show offensive prowess in any area. Notre Dame will have to find a second receiving option, as Wolverines' cornerback Marlin Jackson should shut down quarterback-turned-wide receiver Arnaz Battle. Mobile quarterback Car- lyle Holiday could give Michigan fits, but he has yet to give any team much trouble this season. Edge: Michigan INTANGIBLES: Coach Tyrone Will- ingham is at-home for his first big game at Notre Dame and his team appears outmatched. But Notre Dame has found a way to win in each of its first two games, so there is no reason to doubt them now. Also, the fact Michigan is playing its first road game this season shouldn't be underestimated. Edge: Notre Dame 4 ::k r >:! ..?h : Willingham and Notre Dame will give Michigan a good game, as is the case in most good rivalries, but in the end, the Fighting Irish will still need to find an offense in order to beat the Wolverines tomorrow. Michigan 24, Notre Dame 10 4 Depth key to Blue's early season success who sai there re no gd00 bon campus? The best bars on campus don't serve drinks, they serve their country You see, when you complete Army ROTC and graduate, youT be ar officer and get a set of gold bars. (The kmd you wear on your shoulder) In the process, you.tf have learned how to think on your feet. Be part of a team. Even be a leader. And an Army ROTC scholarship might have helped pay your way. Register for an Army ROTC iass today Because there's no better buzz than the sense of accomplishment. By Dan Rosen Daily Sports Writer In her tenure as coach of the Michi- gan women's soccer team, Debbie Rademacher has never had as much depth as she does this season. When the ninth-ranked Wolverines travel to the Nike Classic this weekend for games against Massachusetts and Georgia, they will bring 17 players with them who have played in each of the team's first four games. Of those 17, seven different Michigan players have already netted a goal this season and 10 have tallied at least an assist. BIRMINGHI Who: Michigan Massachusett Georgia (1-3) When: 5 p.m. t noon Sunday Latest: Michig start the seas the first time e bench that are definitely going to learn a lot and be huge contributors, if not in the near future than in the future," Rademacher said. Rademacher attributes much of the freshmen's early development to the team's more experienced players. She is also quick to point out that the newcom- ers still have plenty of room to grow. AM, ALA. "It certainly helps when you have this kind n (4-0) vs. of leadership and a lot of s (4-3), upperclassmen to kind of onight, show them the way," Rademacher said. "But an looks to it's still early. I don't on 6.0 for think the freshmen are ver where they're going to be at the end of the season. I think they're going to be even further." So far this season, the Wolverines' extra talent has translated into an unde- feated record and a top-10 ranking. With a pair of wins this weekend, Michigan can eclipse the team record of five straight victories to open a sea- son, set back in 1998. To accomplish that, the Wolverines will have to win one of their most diffi- cult games of the season. ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can t k "We can use a lot of players and we feel pretty comfortable with that," Rademacher said. "We have players on the bench who have played before in big games." One reason for the team's added depth this season has been the early contributions from the freshman class. Last weekend, newcomers Stephanie Boyles and Therese Heaton each recorded their first ad