4 16 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 4, 2002 Zook faces first big test against Hurricanes By Paul Feinstein For the Daily No.1 MIAMI (FLA.) AT No. 6 FLORIDA - SAT- URDAY 5 P.M. ABC: The game of the week, if not the game of the year, takes place in Gainesville as No. 1 Miami brings its national championship and the nation's longest winning streak (23 games) into The Swamp to face No. 6 Flordia. This game appears to have all the makings of an instant classic. The teams last met in the 2000 Sugar Bowl ACROSS THFE with Miami walking away AI.TD.N with a 37-20 victory. Both A teams are perennial national championship contenders, and this year is no dif- ferent. Quite a few things have changed since last year, though. The most notable change is the departure of former Florida head coach Steve "ball coach" Spurrier, who made the jump to the NFL after amassing 12 consecutive winning seasons, six SEC championships and one national champi- onship with the Gators. His replacement, Ron Zook, a former NFL assistant specializing in defense and special teams with the Steelers, Saints and Chiefs, did well last week as his Gators cruised to a 51-3 victory over Alabama-Birming- ham, further proving that any school with a dash in its name, well, stinks. The Gators coasted as senior wide receiver Taylor Jacobs set a new school record for receiving yards in a game with 246 and running back Earnest Graham rushed for 182 yards, making it the first time the Gators ever had a 200-yard receiver and 150-yard running back in the same game. All of this, of course, came against sub-par competition to say the least. The No. 1 Miami Hurricanes will provide a more formidable test for Zook and company, despite the fact that the Hurricanes lost five play- ers to the first round of the NFL draft including dominating offensive tackle Bryant "Mount" McKinnie. But the Hurricanes do return Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Ken Dorsey and much of a defense that won them the title a year ago. Dorsey will get a big chance to improve his Heisman hopes, as he goes head to head with last years runner up, Florida quarterback Rex Gross- man. The Hurricanes also got off on the right foot last week with a 63-17 victory over Florida A&M, knocking A&M from the Top 25 in the Florida high school rankings. The victory also somehow lifted the Hurricanes from a tie atop the national rankings, which immediately had coach- es all over the country scheduling A&M for years to come. This is Zook's first big game as coach and unlike Ty Willingham at Notre Dame, things won't turn out so rosy. Miami 34, Florida 20 ALABAMA AT No. 2 OKLAHOMA - SATURDAY 3:30 P.M. ABC: After Alabama's thrilling 39-34 victory last week over Middle Tennessee State, Alabama defensive tackle Jarret Johnson had this to say to ESPN: "It's hard to be special in these parts, but to be on probation, go undefeated, do this and do that - it's something the fans will always remember. They'll always talk about the Alabama team that was unbeaten on probation." The probation he refers to, of course, was levied on the university after recruiting violations were discovered this summer. It's unclear what the "this" and "that" is that he's referring to, but one things for sure, some- one needs to give Mr. Johnson a schedule. It's probably not the smartest move to talk about going undefeated the week before you play at the No. 2 team in America. Maybe a season worth of Middle Tennessee States would do the trick, but a tough SEC schedule and a game at Oklahoma makes any talk of going undefeated seem ludi- crous - not to mention stupid. Oklahoma, just two years removed from a national championship, has arguably the best defense in the country and it showed last week in a 37-0 victory over Tulsa. The score is slightly misleading though, as Oklahoma only lead 3-0 at the half. Nonetheless, with the likes of All-Amer- ica defensive tackle Tommie Harris and an all- around fast secondary, the defense should carry 4 the load this year. Senior tailback Quentin Griffin will also be a significant factor as he builds off of his 237-yard performance against Tulsa. Oklahoma 38, Alabama 6 FRESNo ST. AT No. 13 OREGON - SATURDAY 3:30 P.M.: This game is a classic matchup of two teams that have lost their All-American quar- terbacks. For Fresno State it was David Carr, who went to the Houston Texans with the No. 1 pick. For Oregon it was Joey Harrington, who went No. 3 to the Detroit Lions. Both quarterbacks, particularly Harrington who saw Oregon finish at No. 2 last year, and were responsible for their schools respective revivals. This year, the quar- terback position at each school is somewhat of a question mark. Junior Jason Fife gets the honors of replacing folk hero Harrington at Oregon. In his first game, which was a 36-13 win over a tough Mississippi State team, Fife answered the doubters with three touchdowns. Fife is a very solid replacement for Harrington. Although he doesn't boast quite the pedigree of his predecessor, he may have more talent around him, most of that comes in the form of senior running back Onterrio Smith, who opened the season with a 124-yard performance. Fresno State finished a surprising 11-3 last year including upsets over Wisconsin, Oregon State and Colorado. The Bulldogs lost a close Silicon Valley Classic to Michigan State despite a stellar performance from Carr. Carr is being replaced with junior Jeff Grady. Grady opened the season with three touchdown passes during a 4 close 23-21 loss to Wisconsin, but suffered a bruised hip and was unable to play in his teams 16-14 win over San Diego State. Grady should play in this week's game. If he does, the Bulldogs may keep it close. Oregon 26, Fresno St. 19 Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey will get his first chance to demonstrate that he is a leading Heisman Trophy candidate against No. 6 Florida this Saturday. Yankees promote Henson to 40-man roster I NEW YORK (AP) - Drew Hen- son could have been studying film and preparing for his first start as an NFL quarterback this week. Instead, the only studying Henson is doing is watching how his New York Yankees' teammates prepare for pennant-race baseball. "You get to see how major league baseball players go about their busi- ness," Henson said yesterday after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. "This is the highlight of my professional career so far. This is why I left school." Henson, one of the top quarter- backs in the nation at Michigan, gave up football to sign a $17 mil- lion, six-year contract with the Yan- kees in March 2001. Despite some struggles at the plate and in the field, Henson does- n't regret his decision - even as the football season is about to open. "I'll always miss playing football to some respect because I was good at it and had fun playing it," he said. "It's an exciting time for me to be able to do all this and watch my old teammates." Henson batted .240 with 18 homers and 65 RBIs in his first full season at Columbus. But he showed he has a long way to go to make the majors, striking out 151 times in 471 at-bats and committing 35 errors at third base. "Nobody ever said it was going to be easy," he said: "I never said it was going to be easy. All I can do is stay positive and it will all come together for me." Yankees manager Joe Torre said there's no pressure on Henson this month. The Yankees had hoped he would be ready to replace Robin Ventura next season, but Torre insists this is not a tryout. "He's not here for us to find out anything about him," Torre said. "We just want him to enjoy the i i lifestyle here and the ambiance of Yankee Stadium." The one thing Torre hopes Hen- son can learn is the differences between the daily grind of baseball and the weekly pace on football. "It's a matter of conditioning mentally for him," Torre said. "You're allowed to lose 60 games in baseball. In football, it's not a good year if you lose more than a few games. It's a different mentality." Derek Jeter knows how valuable this experience can be for Henson. Jeter spent the final month of the 1995 season watching players like Don Mattingly and Paul O'Neill. That experience paid off when Jeter won the Rookie of the Year award the next season. "Just being here and seeing what the postseason was like helped me the following season," he said. JOBS!!! Fall Term Apply now at the Law Library- non-Law Students " Law Students " S.I. Students Minimum pay is $8.50 per hour! Apply at the hiring table outside room S-180 in the Law Library's underground addition. AA/EOE Drew Henson, who left the Wolverines in 2001, was called up by the Yankees to join their 40-man roster as the Bronx Bombers begin their playoff push. Gophers still in shock after teammate's death school & work is es ...when you work at the We offer: * Flexible hours to fit your class schedule * Com petitive wages * A 20% discount on your textbooks and up to a 35% discount on other store merchandise! * Career opportunities for juniors and seniors through our Bestseller Management Training Program y To find out more about our job opportunities, call today or pick up an application in the store! Michigan Union Bookstore Student Union - Lower Level (734) 995-8877 Pierpont Commons Bookstore Pierpont Commons (North Campus) (734) 668-6022 www.bkstore/umichigan MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minneso- ta's football players took the field yes- terday afternoon after attending their first classes of the fall semester, but their minds were far from the books or on blocking schemes. The Golden Gophers, still stunned by the shooting of teammate Brandon Hall, practiced for the first time since his death early Sunday. "It's been a tough few days around here," coach Glen Mason said. The Gophers, who beat Southwest Texas State 42-0 in their season opener just a few hours before Hall was shot outside a downtown dance club, will practice again today and tomorrow before traveling south on Friday, They play Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, but nobody will be worrying about the Ragin' Cajuns much this "I haven't even thought about it all weekend," tight end Ben Utecht said. "The game disappeared. Everything disappeared." A memorial service, open to the pub- lic, will be held tonight night for Hall at Williams Arena, and Mason plans to attend Monday's funeral in Detroit. The Gophers will wear a No. 71 patch on their jerseys for the rest of the season and retire Hall's number until 2005, when he would've been sched- uled to graduate. As a redshirt freshman and reserve defensive lineman, Hall didn't have a significant role on the team. But that doesn't mean he won't be missed. "I've never seen a defensive lineman who smiled so much," said quarterback and co-captain Asad Abdul-Khaliq. "Most all of those guys are mean and tough, but 95 percent of the time he was the most hilarious guy. You never saw him sad or upset. "His future was limitless, man. He had some of the rawest talent I'd ever seen." Police said Hall was with a group of players who went looking for three men who allegedly assaulted and robbed defensive end Damian Haye earlier that night. A spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney's office said charges against the three suspects are likely to be filed by noon today. Space Available Now! ICC STUDENT HOUSING CO-OPS Our 19 houses have from 12-53 students. What we alt have is common is a desire to work together to create an affordable community where we can live, work, eat and play. Fall/Winter Contracts Approx. $425/month Includes utilities, laundry, parkig, social activities and all the food you can eat. 662-4414 Student Owned - Democratically Run www.icc.umich.org