The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 29, 2003 - 3B Turpin for four more By Jeremy Antar Daily Sports Writer BOWLING GREEN - As the rain came and left Mickey Cochrane Field yesterday, so did Bowling Green's chances of beating the Michi- gan men's soccer team. In the second half of the Wolverines' 6-1 victory over the Falcons, junior Mychal Turpin put on a show Turpin scored four goals in a 21-minute span, becoming the first player in B.NGG ,ENI Big Ten history to record two four-goal games in a career. Turpin did it in two weeks. Turpin's record-setting day was highlighted by his second goal. Junior Knox Cameron placed the ball at Turpin's feet, and Turpin, in the blink of an eye, stepped over the ball with his left foot and knocked it through the net with the inside of his right foot. It looked like a no-look behind- the-back pass in basketball, only much more sweeter. Turpin's first goal of the game came on a breakaway. For the last few seconds, it was just he and opposing goalkeeper David Degraff. Degraff dove at Turpin's feet in desperation, and Turpin, calmly and cooly, lept over Degraff before giving the ball one last push into the net. When asked if he was happy with his play, Turpin modestly replied: "Mostly, in the first half I didn't play that strong but in the second half I came in and played pretty well." Before the Wolverines second-half outburst, the game was competitive. Senior tri-captain Edwards'lack of playing time a perplexing issue to examine RYAN WEINER/Daily Michigan junior Mychal Turpin scored four goals in 21 minutes of the second half against Bowling Green to lead the Wolverines to a 6-1 victory. Mike White opened the scoring just 19:23 into the first half with a goal assisted by sophomore Adam Bruh. That marked the only goal of an intense first half. Coach Steve Burns noted that the early score may have diminished the Wolver- ines' aggressiveness for the remainder of the half. "After we scored our first goal, there was a huge sense of relief," Burns said. "We thought we were the better team, we stopped playing with urgency." Burns made a point at halftime to let his play- ers know that Bowling Green was a worthy oppo- nent, and that the team needed to stay focused on doing what it needed to do to win the game. "At halftime, we said this game is far from over," Burns said. Burns was pleased with the team's perform- ance in the second half, noting that the players accomplished some of the things they have been working to improve upon. "We wanted to make sure that defensively we stayed very tight, and offensively, we got more movement out of our front three forwards," Burns said. Senior Kevin Taylor blasted a penalty kick into the net to extend the Wolverine lead to 4-1, after Turpin was taken down by a Falcon defender in the penalty box. Turpin followed Taylor with his third goal. This one was spurred by a lead pass from freshman Michael O'Reilly, who sent the ball sailing down the sideline to where only Turpin could get to it. Turpin finished off his incredible game at the 88:13 mark with a goal assisted by White. The Wolverines do not have much time to cel- ebrate. They travel to Oakland University tomor- row to face the 12th -Grizzlies. "We're going to stay real level-headed because Tuesday is the biggest game on our schedule," Burns said. t seems like every time I ask a Michigan football coach what's happening with Bray- lon Edwards, I get the same response: "Next question." OK. Fine. I'll ask another one: Who is Bray- lon Edwards? It's a question that is almost impossible to answer right now for me, for the Michigan coaching staff and likely, for Braylon himself.JBR He talks the talk of . ORADY a star, and if you saw MCCOLLOUGH him strut out of the The SportsMonday Michigan lockerroom column after Saturday's game, you'd say he walks the walk, too. Sporting two shiny studs in his ears and braids styled with precision and care, Edwards would make even R. Kelly proud. He dodges me like a seasoned veteran who's been dealing with the media for years. "Come on Braylon, just two minutes?" I say, just wanting to get inside his head for a few precious moments. "I ... I ... I can't do it today ... can't do it today," he says, walking hot and fresh out the kitchen into a throng of fans. Edwards has created the image of a superstar. He wanted the No. I jersey and the bullseye that comes with it. From signalling a first down after a catch to making a circus out of a simple touchdown grab, it's as if Edwards is scream- ing, "Look at me!" We're looking, but half the time, we can't even find Edwards on the field. Saturday's exhausting, 31-17 win against Indiana was the second time Edwards has spent major parts of a game on the sidelines, the first coming against Central Michigan. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr has admitted he and Edwards aren't "on the same page," but what does that really mean? Let's do a little detective work. April 2003: Carr gives Edwards the No. 1 jer- sey, showing faith in his best receiver to be more than just a great receiver - a leader on and off the field. He jokes that if Edwards can't handle the responsibility, he'll take the No. 1 away. Central Michigan game: Edwards plays mostly in crucial situations - third downs and on the goalline - and scores two touchdowns. After the game, Edwards says there were no . discipline problems keeping him from playing. He gets frustrated when sportswriters ask him about dropped balls: "Why do you always have to be focusing on the negatives?" You asked for it, you got it, No. 1. Oregon game: Without Edwards' 13-catch, 144-yard performance, there's no way the Wolverines make a comeback in the second half. He made catches that defied our imagina- tion, but, as is the custom, dropped some balls he could have caught. Regardless of the drops, Edwards left little doubt his heart was in every play. After the game ended, Edwards turned around, leaned his head against the Autzen Sta- dium wall and stood motionless. He was crushed. Carr would not answer questions about Edwards in the post-game press conference. Could he have been disappointed with Edwards' performance? It has to be something deeper than just dropped balls. Last Monday, Carr finally weighed in on Edwards, saying "the only issue" is that Edwards has trouble being on time. On time, as in, Edwards shows up late to practice? Or, on time, as in, Edwards makes catches that he shouldn't make and drops balls he shouldn't drop? Some- body help me with all of this Football-speak. Carr continued with more coded speech. "He has a challenge, and he'll meet that chal- lenge," Carr said. "He knows the expectations and he's working hard to meet them. If you're working as hard as you can, then you're suc- cessful." So ... the fact that Edwards didn't play until six minutes were left in the second quarter should tell us that he's not working as hard as he can? Edwards caught three passes for 42 yards in limited action, including a touchdown on a pris- tine route. After the game, wide receivers coach Erik Campbell wouldn't talk about Edwards. Carr said Edwards, who is nursing a dislocated finger, had a "rough" week of practice, and there is a lot of competition at his position. So ... Tyrece Butler, Calvin Bell, Carl Tabb and Jermaine Gonzales were above Edwards on the depth chart because they'd outplayed him at practice? Somehow, I find that hard to believe. Stan Edwards, Braylon's father and a former Michigan running back, is as perplexed as I am. Stan Edwards said that when his son wasn't playing in the first quarter, he thought the coaches had decided not to play Braylon against Indiana because of his finger. But "if (the finger is) hurting in the first quarter, it's hurting in the second quarter, too," Stan said. Stan wasn't tiptoeing around his son's issue. "(He has to) learn what the coaches want him to do," Stan explained. "Learn how to mas- ter the mental part off the football field. He asked for the focus to be on him when he asked for the number one, and there are responsibili- ties on him that aren't on other people. He's learning that. This is valuable. "It's his time at U of M. He has to work it out." Stan Edwards is right. It is Braylon's time, but how much patience will the Michigan coaches and fans have if this continues? Students are turning on him. They are fed up with his inconsistency. The great catches show what he could be every down. A friend of mine took out his frustration in Playstation2's NCAA 2004. He changed Edwards' jersey back to No. 80 and gave Steve Breaston the No. 1. If Edwards' "maturation process" keeps plodding along at its current rate, Carr just might do the same. J Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich edu. Mackovic out at Arizona after 1-4 start TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona fired coach John Mackovic yester- day, five games into the third sea- son of his tumultuous tenure in Tucson. Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz will take over as interim coach for the rest of the season. Athletic director Jim Livengood offered no specific reason for the firing when he announced it Sun- day at a news conference. "There's no one single event, no one happening, that all of a sudden had a weight to it," he said. Mackovic, who turns 60 on Wednesday, survived a player mutiny last season after tearfully promising to do a better job of com- municating. But this year's team lost to LSU, Oregon and Purdue by a combined score of 166-30. The Wildcats (1-4) played their best game of the season in a 13-10 overtime home loss to TCU (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 Associ- ated Press) on Saturday night, but pressure from boosters and unrest among the players led Livengood to let the coach go. Livengood had insisted that Mackovic's status would not be evaluated until the end of the season but changed his mind. The athletic director met with Arizona's players for about an hour on Sunday morning, then spoke with Mackovic. "I felt that at this particular point in time it warranted making a deci- sion right now," Livengood said. "That's going away from what I've normally done." Mackovic was 10-18 at Arizona. The Wildcats currently have lost 12 consecutive Pac-10 home games. Mackovic signed a five-year, $4 million contract in December 2000, and the buyout of his deal will cost $909,000. He had been out of coaching since 1998, serving as an ESPN commentator. Last November, more than 40 players asked for and were granted a meeting with university president Peter Likins to air their complaints about the coach. For some 90 minutes, the play- ers told Likins of what they believed was Mackovic's unwar- ranted verbal abuse, and the mis- ery that was Arizona football. The team was 0-6 in the Pac-10, and 3-7 overall at the time. Mackovic held a lengthy team meeting, then apologized at a news conference. "I'm terribly sorry for my part in this turmoil and unrest," he said at the time. "I accept full responsibili- ty for my actions and pledge to work tirelessly to mend any fences." Later, Mackovic indicated that "outside forces," apparently boost- ers and players' parents, had insti- gated the unrest. Livengood stood by his side then, but the pressure got too intense, as problems between the players and coach continued this season. He coached at Texas, Illinois and Wake Forest, and has a 95-82-3 col- legiate record. He also coached the Kansas City Chiefs from 1983 to 1986. Mackovic hired Hankwitz just before the start of spring prac- tice this year. Seeking candidates with a Bachelor's and/or Master's degree in: Electrical Engineering a Computer Engineering Computer Science Mechanical Engineering Interested candidates, please visit us at the SWE/TBP Career Fair September 30, 2003, so:ooam-4:oopm, Pierpont Commons or apply online at: careers.harris.com US Citizenship is required for most positions. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.