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September 12, 2003 - Image 8

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The Michigan Daily, 2003-09-12

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4

Friday
September 12, 2003
www.michigandaily. com/sports
sports@michigandaily.com

SPORTS

8A

Heads up: Soccer not
just about sweet feet

Georgia, Texas to take on
dangerous opponents

By Robert Herrera
For the Daily

By Ellen Mcarrity
Daily Sports Writer
Think your head has had enough of a
workout after a full day of university
lectures? Step inside Ryan Sterba's for
a moment. As a defender on the Michi-
gan men's soccer team, he goes to prac-
tice every night, knowing that his head
is in for another harsh beating - and
one probably worse than any organic
chemistry lecture could give you.
Sterba, like the rest of his team,
understands that soccer is not just
about the ability to kick the ball
with your feet. Using your head -
both mentally and physically - is
just as important.
Look up. Imagine a soccer ball 20
feet in the air falling quickly down to
you. Are you going to run away, or
jump to make contact? Perhaps you
would run, but Sterba takes on the chal-
lenge of the ball many times in practice
and in games. He's known as a player
who likes to keep the ball in the air.
Headers, as they call them in soccer,
are when players opt to hit the ball off
their head instead of just keeping it on
the ground.
Voluntarily offering up their noggin
for such a beating might not be every
guy's dream job, but Sterba says that it
isn't so bad.
"When you go and try to hit the ball
really hard - it doesn't bother you at
all - it doesn't hurt," Sterba said.
"You're making more of an impact on
the ball than the ball is making an
impact on your head."

But players don't just use headers
because they're fun. The technique
is beneficial to both the offense and
defense.
"Kevin Taylor and Chris Glinski are
our two central backs," Michigan
coach Steve Burns said. "We built (the
team) that way, knowing there are a lot
of physical teams in the Big Ten. We
wanted to make sure we had two
strong ball winners in the air anchor-
ing our central defense."
With Taylor's and Glinski's 6-foot-5
and 6-foot-2 frames, heading the ball
is a task both are accustomed to.
"Most of the time I go up in the air
to win the ball, so we're not under
pressure - it puts the ball on the other
side of the field so we can relax a lit-
tle," Taylor said.
And Glinski added that headers
also "shut down the offensive attack
right away."
Offensively, headers can be used to
score goals but are often tricky to pull
off.
"When you're going toward the
goal, you've got a target you've got to
hit," Taylor said. "If you hit it too high,
it's going over, if you go to the left,
you're missing the target."
Burns feels that for a goal to be made
off a header, the key is to head the ball
down under the goalkeeper. Goals are
also used to score off corner kicks.
"Knox Cameron is very strong in
the air especially on corner kicks,"
Burns said. "Probably most goals that
are scored off corner kicks are out of
the air off the head."

As ESPN College Gameday makes
its way to Ann Arbor this weekend for
the Michigan/Notre Dame battle, it
might be hard for fans to focus on
anything other than their beloved
Wolverines.
But week three promises to be
another anxious Saturday across the
country in college football. After offi-
cially losing Mau-
rice Clarrett for the
entire season, Ohio
State welcomes No.
22 North Carolina
State to Columbus.'
After just barely
pulling out a victo-
ry over San Diego State without Clar-
rett last weekend, this could be the
end of the Buckeyes' winning streak.
Check out the other big matchups
this weekend.

NICHOLAS AZZARO/Daily
Michigan sophomore defensive back Chris Glinski sends the ball back in the other
direction. Glinski is one of many Wolverines who utilizes headers.

While Sterba claims that heading
the ball doesn't hurt, it is controversial
whether this technique can do perma-
nent damage. However, Burns is skep-
tical about this claim.
"There are some studies out there

it's not the repetitive heading over
years and years, but all the concus-
sions that a guy takes."
Regardless, headers are still a cru-
cial move to master for any soccer
player. And for right now, Sterba is

ARKANSAS (1-0) AT No. 5 TEXAS
(1-0) - 12 P.M., ABC: This old
rivalry dates back to the days of the
old Southwest Conference, but the
eyes of Texas will instead be watch-
ing another episode of the Young
and the Restless in Austin, as Vin-
cent and Selvin try to push Chance
Mock and Cedric Benson onto ...
the bench.
On Aug. 31, against New Mexico
State, backup quarterback Vincent
Young managed to outgain a
"healthy" starting running back
Cedric Benson in rushing yards, 61 to
40. Meanwhile, backup running back

where people are trying to link head- more concerned about getting a
ing soccer balls with brain damage," headache from a tough lecture than
Burns said. "I think what they find is going down after a header.

Selvin Young had a very impressive
kickoff return touchdown and man-
aged to gain 154 all-purpose yards.
While starting quarterback Chance
Mock threw for 156 yards and two
touchdowns through the air, he was
just 7-for-15. Whoever gets to throw
the ball will have potential Heisman
candidate Roy Williams to throw to.
After a 100-yard receiving per-
formance to begin the season, he's
ready to do it again on national televi-
sion. Defensively, Texas has looked
suspect defending the run, and that's
exactly what Arkansas will be attack-
ing with. Look for Arkansas to two-
time Texas with running backs
De'Arrius Howard and Cedric Cobbs
along with quarterback Matt Jones,
who is also a receiver.
All three combined for 264 yards
and four touchdowns on the ground
last week against Tulsa.
Texas 35, Arkansas 21
No. 25 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0) AT
No. 8 GEORGIA (2-0) - 3:30 P.M.,
CBS: Lou Holtz used reverse psy-
chology to pull off a win against Vir-
ginia last week, but he'll need more
than that to win in between the
hedges.
Last year, Georgia All-American
defensive end David Pollack single-
handedly won the game when he
recorded a sack, a forced fumble, a
fumble recovery and a touchdown in
the same play to give Georgia the win
13-7.
He's back this year, and so is the
starting secondary, which is ready to
double-team Gamecocks' wide receiv-
er Troy Williamson, who is coming
off a 99-yard touchdown against Vir-
ginia.
With wide receiver Fred Gibson
questionable for Saturday's game,
Georgia quarterback David Greene
might have to find new targets to
throw to, which will be enough for
Georgia to beat the Gamecocks.
Georgia 31, South Carolina 7
GEORGIA TECH (1-1) AT No. 10
FLORIDA STATE (2-0) - 8 P.M., ABC:
Georgia Tech is coming off a victory
against former rival Auburn in which
a true-freshman quarterback guided
the win.
This week that inexperience will be
seen as Reggie Ball will face a much
tougher Florida State defense that has
many saying the Seminoles have that
"swagger" back. They've given up 10
points to two ACC opponents and
have forced three turnovers a game.
The Seminoles' only concern is the
lack of depth at running back due to
injury. Backup running backs Leon
Washington and Lorenzo Booker are
out for the game, which leaves inex-
perienced Willie Reid to backup vet-
eran Greg Jones. Still, this one might
be over by halftime.
Florida State 42, Georgia Tech 10
WASHINGTON STATE (1-1) AT No. 17
COLORADO (2-0) - 3:30 P.M.: The
Cougars are ready to prove their near-
upset of Notre Dame was no fluke.
Colorado, which has done two
things coach Gary Barnett never
seems to do - pass the ball and start
2-0 - is also out to prove it is no
fluke. Quarterback Joel Klatt has
thrown for over 550 yards while the
rushing game has produced just 95
yards per game.
Meanwhile, Washington State is
trying the opposite with new coach
Bill Doba. After gaining 339 yards
on the ground the week before, the
Cougars were held to just 55 yards
and a 1.8 average against the Irish.
But quarterback Matt Kegel per-
formed well, throwing for 274
yards, two touchdowns and one
interception. With new starting

quarterbacks, both teams were not
highly regarded coming into the sea-
son. Colorado has a head start in
proving it's not on a "down" year
and, with a win, could set up a mar-
quee matchup at Florida State next
week. Washington State needs to
win this one on the ground to show
that it will be able to compete using
a balanced attack. This might be the
best game of the weekend.
Colorado 24, Washington State 21

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