Thursday Septe er 26, 2002 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu cieim talPORTS 7A Illini puffig a Northwestern with 1-3 start By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Editor For the second consecutive season, the defend- ing Big Ten champion has suffered an unexpected meltdown. Like Northwestern last season, Illinois has been a tremendous disappointment. After posting a 10-2 record last season, the Fighting Illini went 1-3 in their nonconference season, losing to Mis- souri, Southern Mississippi and even San Jose State - a team that was blown-out by Washing- ton and Stanford by a combined score of 97-3 6. The loss of quarterback Kurt Kittner cannot be overlooked, but Illinois still retained many of last season's players at the skill positions. According to coach Ron Turner, this season's team lacks chemistry. It was this chemistry that won games for the Illini and caused them to play as well as they did last season. "Every year is different," Turner said. "It's a new team, new chemistry, new leadership. Last year, we probably weren't as good as a lot of peo- ple thought. We played some games over our head and won some games on pure character and guts and found a way to win. We're not doing that right now." The Illini have been getting outstanding play out of wide receivers Brandon Lloyd and a now healthy Walter Young as well as quarterback Jon Beutjer, who has established himself as the starter with back-to-back four touchdown per- formances. But the problem for Illinois isn't scoring points, it is keeping the opponent in check. Despite putting up over 600 yards of total offense against San Jose State on Saturday, the Illini lost. The defense failed to force a turnover against the Spartans and have forced just three turnovers (all fumbles) this season, putting them last in the Big Ten in turnover margin. "We just know we want to win the turnover battle and that is one thing we're not doing," Illi- nois linebacker Jon Schumacher said. "Defen- sively we haven't gotten any turnovers and we're -not going to win games doing that." On special teams, Illinois committed two criti- cal roughing the kicker penalties to give the Spartans a first down. The fans have been less than kind to the Illini, JOE SMITH Only 'new 'thing about M'offense is its name AP PHOTO Illinois wide receiver Brandon Lloyd has been one of the lone bright spots for the 1-3 Fighting Illini so far this year. The defending Big Ten champions will try to rediscover their swagger against Michigan on Saturday. booing them several times last Saturday. But the Illinois players and coaching staff know they can't blame the fans for doing it. "Obviously nobody wants that, but it's under- standable," Turner said. "We have to go out and play better." Beutjer knows that the Illini can't let outside influences affect their play. "We have to be positive, that's the main thing. We can't be negative, especially about the last couple games," Beutjer said. "We can't worry about what other people think because that will just affect the team." As cliched as it is, Illinois is happy to be get- ting to the Big Ten season, where it can start with a clean slate and can still earn a Rose Bowl berth. Turner is relying on his captains to make sure his team doesn't give up on the season. "I just emphasized the point: Let's hold every- one together; we are not as bad as it appears right now," Turner said. "I really don't believe we are. I still think we can still be a good football team." Whether the Illini will continue their down- ward spiral like Northwestern or whether they can defend their title will depend on the defense the play of which, Turner believes, depends on its chemistry. "We don't have the best ability in the Big Ten. But we don't have the worst, either," Turner said. "The ability's there, it just has to come together." am ing to Michigan fans entering the Big House on Saturdays: You are victims of fraud. No, it's not the hot dogs - those are, in fact, real. And yes, you are really a part of the largest "crowd to watch a football game anywhere in America." But look closer and you'll find out that it's what's on the field that may be deceiving and you'll come to realize that the only things that never change are death, taxes and the Michigan offense. Ever since coach Lloyd Carr inserted former offensive line coach Terry Mal- one at the helm of the Michigan offense, the word out of the football office was that a "new" scheme was on the rise. But after all, that building is named after Schembechler. Not Spurrier. No one really expected the Wolver- ines offense to go crazy - after all, Carr still coaches this team. But some change was thought to be in store. After four games in the nonconfer- ence season, it appears to be the same old song as far as Michigan offenses go - same players, same efficiency, same results. And the same record as last year. But that's not what the players say. "We are more balanced," quarterback John Navarre said. "We are running the ball better. We are more efficient in the passing game. We are getting the ball to everyone all over the field. I think over- all we are balanced. I am happy with the execution and the coaches are, too." Yeah, and I can run a 4.4 40-yard dash. Let's start dispelling these "mythical" differences one by one. MORE BALANCED: Yes, Michigan seems to be running the ball better - at times. Chris Perry has already had more long runs (over 20 yards) than the Wolverines have had in the past three seasons, but Michigan was averaging an identical 159 yards per game on the ground at this point last season. More importantly, the Wolverines are still hav- ing trouble creating a push in short yardage and goalline situations. And balanced offenses force oppo- nents to be on their toes - respecting the run while at the same time expecting pass. Either Michigan isn't utilizing its balance by changing up play calls or something, because not many teams are exactly biting on Navarre's play-fakes. MORE EFFiCIENT: Efficiency is defined in Webster's dictionary as "acting or producing effectively with a minimum of waste, expense or unnecessary effort; exhibiting a high ratio of input to out- put."' Sound like the mantra of the Michigan offense to you? Didn't think so. At least not the one displayed in the Utah game, in which the Wolverines barely mustered more points (10) than the field hockey team did (8) in its vic- tory last Saturday. Michigan was hor- rendous on third down, going 5-of-19, and holds a 40-percent conversion rate, identical to last year. The new offense composed of short passes, easy gainers and big plays was supposed to improve this category by not putting Navarre and Co. in numerous third-and-forever situa- tions. That hasn't changed much either. A crowning example of offensive futility came against Utah, when Michi- gan saw 10 drives that crossed midfield end in zip, zilch, nada. Efficiency is making the most of opportunities, and while Michigan can move the ball, it's letting its scoring chances waste away like Pauley Shore's acting career. SPREADING THE BALL AROUND: What happened to sharing the wealth? Navarre spread the ball around against Washington by utilizing six receivers, but ever since then that silver lining of "everyone's involved" has slowly disap- peared. As for Navarre not locking in on a, receiver like he did a year ago with Marquise Walker, Navarre threw 18 of his 36 passes last Saturday in the direc- tion of his new favorite target - Bray- lon Edwards. Edwards has nearly identical numbers to Walker after three games-except for the three fumbles. Is Edwards the only one getting open? r"All the guys are getting open," Navarre said. "I have confidence in all of them, but Braylon is the primary receiver most of thetime." Yes, other receivers like Tyrece Butler have suffered from the dropsies, which has to bother Navarre, but the junior sig- nal caller says that most of the plays are designed for Edwards - and in many cases, the other three receivers on the field at the time run routes "specifically to get Braylon open." If that doesn't sound like locking-in, I don't know what does. And I'm sure it won't take very long for other teams to notice Navarre's ten- dency to throw to Edwards and double- team him. It also won't take long for opponents to size up and diagram the idiosyncrasies of the "new" offense. If they can tell the difference. Joe Smith can be reached at . Blue hopes to delay Schmalz's run at 300 wins By Gennaro Fice Daily Sports Writer On Friday, Fred Schmalz will enter Black Beauty Field on Youth Night in search of his 300th victory as head coach of men's soccer at Evansville. Schmalz, who is in his 24th year as head honcho for Evansville, already has 400 career wins, and has been sitting on 299 with the Purple Aces for three games. So, tomorrow Schmalz plans to obtain number 300, sign some auto- graphs for the kids, and close the night with some Cristal and cake in celebration. There's only one thing standing between Schmalz and his tercentennial - the Michigan Wolverines. After losing the Big Ten opener to Penn State, 1-0, the Maize and Blue have dropped to 2-3-1 on the season. Although Michigan has struggled recently, coach Steve Burns likes the steady improvements his team has made, and believes that this weekend on the road could be a defining mark on the season. "What I like is that our team contin- ues to get better," Burns said. "We're playing with a lot more confidence. "As the pieces of the puzzle are coming together, I think that we will be a team that can play a strong sea- son. We have to get on a little roll. I think that this upcoming weekend swing against Evansville and Dayton is very important to us." Evansville comes first for the Wolverines, and the Purple Aces have amassed a 4-2-2 record on a simple game plan: great defense and timely scoring. In eight games this season, Evans- EVANSVILLE AND DAYTON Who: Michigan (2-3-1) at Evansville (4-2-1) and at Dayton (3-3-1) When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, 1 p.m. Sunday Latest: Evansville coach Fred Schmalz can cap- ture his 300th win as the Purple Aces' head coach with a victory over the Wolverines. ville has produced just 14 goals. The Aces' biggest offensive threat is freshman Marc Burch, who has compiled 10 points off two goals and six assists. See PURPLE ACES, Page 8A Tons of results with little effort: josephms@umich.edu. the michigan daily HANDYPERSON NEEDED... UOFM STU- DENTS ONLY! Light Repairs; installations, assembling, cleaning, lifting, clerical, mainte- nance work and some errands. 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