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 \I II L Ii - -