I4vormbe'r 11, 202
T
Je l~albiguu ? ttiI
SOTMNa .
SECTION B
77
r -a
MICHIGAN 41, MINNESOTA 24
oing
for
tee
jugular
Offense clicks as 'M' retains the Little Brown Jug
By J. Brady McCollough
Daily Sports Writer
INNEAPOLIS - The Min-
nes ta football team is learning the
hard way that respect is something
that must be earned.
The Golden Gophers, desperately
yearning for a benchmark victory,
lost to Michigan, 41-24, Saturday
night. The loss was Minnesota's
second in as many weeks against a
traditional Big Ten powerhouse on
national television, as the Gophers
were dominated by Ohio State in
Columbus last weekend, 34-3.
"We played some of the big boys,
and respect is something that we
want to bring to Minnesota," Min-
nesota linebacker Ben West said.
"It's something we've been striving
for for a few years, and we're not
going to get it unless we beat these
top teams."
But Minnesota certainly had its
chances to win against this "big
boy." The Gophers, down 17-3 after
two quarters Saturday, got a mes-
sage from Minnesota linebackers
coach Greg Hudson and took it to
heart.
"He said, 'Our 'M's are the 'M's
that should win this game,' " run-
ning back Terry Jackson III said.
The Minnesota offense - hurt
by a goal-line interception by
Michigan safety Jon Shaw and poor
execution in the first half - took
Hudson's message to heart, scoring
14 unanswered points to tie the
game at 17 and send the
Metrodome crowd into a frenzy
with 6:06 left in the third quarter.
The Golden Gophers struck first
on a six-play, 78-yard drive that
lasted just a minute and 43 sec-
onds. From the 6-yard line, Min-
nesota quarterback Asad
Abdul-Khaliq play-action faked
and hit wide receiver Tony Patter-
son streaking across the field for
the score. After a quick stop by the
Minnesota defense, Abdul-Khaliq
took the Gophers down the field
with his feet, rushing for 26 yards
and two first downs on the drive.
On a crucial third down on the
Michigan 27-yard line, Abdul-
Khaliq rolled out to his right and
found receiver Antoine Burns, who
beat Michigan safety Charles Drake
to tie the score.
"I was feeling so good,
the offense was feeling
so good," Abdul-Khaliq
said. "I felt like we could
do anything. After (we
tied the game), we were
on such a confidence
level that we thought we
could play with just about
anybody right there."
With the Wolverines leading
20-17 and the game's momentum
still up for grabs late in the third
quarter, Michigan defensive end
Pierre Woods blocked a Preston
Gruening punt deep in Min-
nesota territory, giving the
Wolverines the ball at the
Minnesota 10-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Michi-
gan quarterback John
Navarre threw a perfect
fade pass to receiver
Braylon Edwards in
the back right corner
of the end zone.
Edwards skied above
Minnesota corner-
back Ken Williams,
See GOPHERS, Page 4B
Sarantos & Co. become
champions of November
BELL AM
MINNEAPOLIS - There's
an old cliche in college
football that "champions
are made in November." Certainly
it's a mindset that Michigan players
are familiar with; Coach Lloyd Carr
emphasizes it every year. And while
Iowa's victory over Northwestern on
Saturday made the Rose Bowl an
impossibility for
the Wolverines,
Michigan fans
ought to be excit-
ed by what tran-
spired in the.
Metrodome on the
second weekend
of November - a
lot of unlikely DAVID
heroes in maize HORN
and blue made
sure the Wolver- Tooting my
ines' season didn't Own
slip away unneces-
sarily.
Michigan came into Minnesota on
the heels of two dramatic games:
Last weekend's 49-3 thumping of in-
state rival Michigan State and the
34-9 loss to Iowa the previous Satur-
day. And on the road, at night, on
artificial turf and indoors, anything
could have happened. The Wolver-
ines controlled the game early,
establishing a 17-3 lead by
halftime. But the Golden
Gophers responded in the third
quarter, putting up 14 unan-
swered points to tie the game at
17. It looked like a story line
that Michigan fans know well
- blow a big lead against an
inferior opponent.
But if there was one thing that
kept that from happening, it was the
big plays delivered by the unlikeliest
of Wolverines: Linebacker Joey
Sarantos, cornerback Jeremy
LeSueur, lineman Pierre Woods and
safety Jon Shaw.
"I think this is a different team
from what's happened in the past,"
senior strong safety Charles Drake
said. "Guys who weren't making
plays stepped up. Things were
rolling."
The defensive player of the game
was Sarantos, a redshirt freshman
from Portage who came very close to
quitting the team before the season
had even begun. Sarantos, whose
brother Paul is a true freshman for
Michigan, considered leaving the
Wolverines in August, when his
father Peter was diagnosed with can-
cer. Peter Sarantos played football at
I
ALYSSAWOOD/Daily \ a
Michigan in the late '60s.
"It hit me really hard," Joey Saran-
tos said. "I had to do a lot of soul
searching, a lot of thinking. I didn't
really consult my parents or any-
thing, I just decided to go home and
talk with them. And I went home in
the middle of two-a-days, but my
mom talked me out of it, and I know
I made the best decision; it's helping
my father out, and it's helping my
family out, and I'm loving it."
Sarantos, playing significant min-
utes for an injured Zach Kaufman,
ended the game with seven tackles
and an interception, which came on
an Asad Abdul-Khaliq pass that was
tipped at the line by Patrick Massey.
The ball bounced high in the air and
found its way to an open-armed
Sarantos. It was the icing on the cake
See HORN, Page 4B
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Top tight: Michigan's Braylon Edwards leaps for a touchdown catch late in the third quarter. Above: Michigan receiver
Ronald Bellamy celebrates with his teammates following his touchdown in the first quarter.
Fight night: Icers and
Falcons duel to a draw
Blue stickers
shut out of
championship
FIELD HOCKEY lITN COLUMBUS
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
By Kyle O'Neill
Daily Sports Writer
BOWLING GREEN -- Physical only
begins to describe Michigan's 1-1 tie with
Bowling Green Saturday night.-
The Falcons' only goal scorer was given a
concussion as he scored, and at one point
in the second peri-
od Michigan had to
cram four guys into 3 MICHIGAN 1
the penalty box. BOWL N( GREEN 1 (OT
With 22 penal-
ties in just the first - ----
two periods - the two teams average 14 a
game between them - it is safe to say that
both the Wolverines and Falcons were satis-
fied with their brute strength on the night.
"It's always a physical game with Bowl-
ing Green," Michigan alternate captain John
Shouneyia said. "They're a big team and a
tough team, so we knew we were going to
have to come out banging and match them
at least."
Bowling Green (0-7-1 CCHA, 2-8-1 over-
Friday night's game 6-4 in another physical
contest that saw Michigan's captain leave
the game halfway through with a torn MCL
in his left knee.
"It was great to come out with one point,"
Sigalet said. "I think (Saturday) night is
going to be a big turning point in the sea-
son. We've come close in a lot of games, so
it's nice to get a point - especially against
the sixth-rated team in the country."
Saturday's contest began simply enough
) with Michigan's Danny Richmond, Dwight
Helminen and Eric Werner all getting early
chances to put one by Sigalet.
All were unsuccessful. Bowling Green's
Tyler Knight and Chris Pedota had a two-
on-one chance in the first few minutes, but
it was broken up by Richmond at the last
second.
The pace of the game changed after the
first 40 minutes brought a great deal of hit-
ting and powerplays that kept the two
offenses off balance. Even Michigan
defenseman Andy Burnes, who was absent
for the past five games with mononucleosis,
-"" -
JASON COOPER/Daily
The referee can only watch as Bowling Green's D'Arcy McConvey (center) puts a headlock on Michigan
senior John Shouneyia (left). Sophomore Eric Werner gives McConvey a taste of his own medicine.
COLUMBUS - After beating Ohio State 3-2
Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament
championship game, Michigan field hockey for-
ward Molly Powers wasn't concerned about which
team she faced in the championship game (Penn
State or Michigan State), but she knew if the
Wolverines faced the Spartans, it would be a hard-
fought contest.
"Michigan State games sometimes don't
have pretty hockey," Powers said after the Ohio
State game.
In a game in which both teams struggled to find
quality scoring chances, No: 5 Michigan State (5-
1 Big Ten, 21-2 overall) shut out No. 2 Michigan
(6-0, 18-3) 3-0 yesterday to win the Tournament
title, its first in program history. This was the first
time an opponent blanked Michigan since Sept. 1
Bowling Green broke, the stalemate at the
18:30 mark of the first period, when Fal-
cons' defenseman Kevin Bieksa hit a slap-
shot from the blue line off a heads-up pass
sent the Bowling Green junior directly to
the ice and out of the game with a concus-
sion.
"I thought it was a harmless play at first,
I