6 October 21, 2003 www.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 4 a 4 f 12 Four straight title games await Varsity By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Editor ESPN college football analyst Trev Alberts argued Saturday night that it's a shame the Big Ten doesn't have a conference title game to determine its champion. Last season, Iowa and Ohio State both went 8- 0 in conference and weren't able to play for an outright Big Ten title on the field. This season, Purdue (3-0) and Michigan State (4-0) - the only undefeated teams left in the con- U :. ference - are not scheduled to play in the regular season either. But don't tell the Michigan football team there isn't a Big Ten Championship Game. The Wolverines - who now will go to the Rose Bowl if they run the table - say they have four Big Ten championship games, the first com- ing Saturday against No. 10 Purdue at the Big House. "We are going to take it one game at a time and get ready for Purdue this week, because it's going to be a fight," senior cornerback Jeremy LeSueur said. "It's a Big Ten championship game, and we have to come out and be prepared." From believing they were going to win the national championship after beating Notre Dame 38-0 to wondering whether they could even con- tend for the Big Ten title after losing to Iowa Oct. 4, the Wolverines have run the full gamut of emotions this season. "It was hard after the Iowa loss, but we had to just learn from our mistakes and pick up and move on, and that's what we did," LeSueur said. "We were able to come back and win late against Minnesota, and now everything is in our hands once again." Said fifth-year senior center Dave Pearson: "This is definitely where we wanted to be. You want to be able to control your own destiny. Some good things happened for us in the last couple weeks (that have given us) control." STEVIE SETTING RECORDS: Michigan punt returner and wide receiver Steve Breaston's 74- yard punt return helped him set a new Michigan record for punt-return yardage in a season. Breaston, who has returned 28 punts for 476 yards and two touchdowns, passed Tripp Wel- borne (455 yards) on the all-time list. 'M'fans: Come together right now, at Elbel Field NAWEED SIKORA Blowin Smoke f there is one thing I love, it's walk- ing down State Street Saturday mornings during football season. It's like running a gauntlet of parties. The journey has got it all - sights, smells and more stops than you can imagine. What could be better than the smell of hot dogs and burgers, footballs being thrown from every direction and seeing opposing fans getting taunted as they sit in traffic trying to get to the Big House without getting a hot dog in their faces? Well actually, there may be one thing. Imagine having a congregation of all students at one spot as they head down to the stadium? It would be as if every single tailgate at every house moved to one location. It would be a sight to see. Where could this happen? How about Elbel Field? Most students heading down to the game cross through the field as it is. Why not just get there a lit- tle early and get ready for the game with thousands of kids around you? I'm not a fan of using ideas from other schools unless I believe it would make Michigan better. But this idea of tailgat- ing all in one location is something that I saw at Iowa, and it amazed me. Let me set the stage for you. As you. head down to Kinnick Stadium from the campus, you pass a large parking struc- ture before you reach the stadium. Connected to the parking structure is a regular open-air parking lot. This is where the party's at. Hundreds upon hundreds of fans were packed into this square lot. Seri- ously, there wasn't much room to get around. People were laughing, eating, drink- ing and waving their Iowa flags around - all getting ready to head down to the stadium in a few short hours. I didn't feel threatened because I was walking around with Michigan people, but if they wanted to, they could easily have given us a hard time. I don't know exactly what time everyone got there, but when I passed through the lot three hours before the game, it was packed. Of course, it was a 2:30 p.m. start. Still, I couldn't help but think to myself how this would play out if it happened in Ann Arbor. Students do one of two things Satur- day morning: They either wake up a few hours before the game and tailgate at their house or a friend's house, or they take full advantage of the fact that the Big House has assigned seating and wake up 15 minutes before the game and run down there at some point dur- ing the first quarter. But what if everyone assembled on Elbel Field? Wouldn't it be special? If you've ever had a chance to go to the Michigan golf course or the parking lot of Crisler Arena on Saturday morn- ing on gamedays, you would see that the Michigan Alumni have a very mellow version of this massive party. They're all in one place, but just like the game itself, they don't make much noise. Just being together in a huge maize- and-blue blob, though, makes it a spe- cial tradition. So picture this. You wake up. You throw on your Michigan gear, wake up the rest of the people in your house and start walking down to (not the game!) Elbel Field. You arrive an hour-and-a- half to two hours before kickoff, only to see that the field is already crammed with Michigan fans. You squeeze through the gate and make your way out on to the field. There are people everywhere, as far as you can see (assuming you can only see to the end of Elbel Field). You grab a couple hot dogs, talk some Michigan football with your buddies, do the claw -just have a great time. All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, the band strikes up, and everyone starts singing "The Victors." As the song ends, everyone picks up and heads to the stadium. Of course, they would have to jump the fence, because it would take forever to squeeze through that little opening. That would be something to see. Naweed Sikora can be reached at nsikora@umich.edu. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan wide receivers Jason Avant (left) and Steve Breaston (right) celebrate after Breaston's 74-yard punt return for a touchdown. The Wolverines went on to win 56-14 over Illinois. The redshirt freshman is sixth nationally in yards averaged per return (17.0) and is second nationally in total punt return yards, trailing Oklahoma's Antonio Perkins by 16 yards. Perkins has 30 returns for 493 yards and four touch- downs this season. LOOKING GOOD: The Wolverines have beaten the' Boilermakers 14 straight times in the Big House, dating back to 1966 when Purdue quarterback Bob Griese led them to a 22-21 win. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr has compiled an 11-3 career record against top-10 ranked oppo- nents during his career, winning his first nine games against top-10 squads. INJURY UPDATE: Carr said that backup safety Jacob Stewart; who suffered an injury to his left leg covering a kickoff Saturday, will likely not play against Purdue. * I Freshman T.J. Hensick won the crucial faceoff that set up Jeff Tambellini's game-winner on Saturday night. Berenson credits 'M' faceoff prowess for weekend sweep By Brian Schick Daily Sports Writer This weekend's hockey series against Quinnipiac resulted in a pair of one- goal wins for Michigan. The game-win- ning goals came late in the third period of both games - from Brandon Kale- niecki Friday and Jeff Tambellini Satur- day. But coach Red Berenson feels the game was won even before the puck touched either player's stick. "(Quinnipiac) lost the two games because of two faceoffs," Berenson said. "That's what the whole weekend came down to was faceoffs." To the casual observer, the faceoff is a frequent occurrence in the average hockey game and hardly ever has any turned out to be the game-winner and completed his hat trick. "To have a guy battling like T.J. in the middle and Nystrom blocking in front, it's huge to have someone play- ing that role in the middle," Tambellini said. "Coach talks everyday in the dressing room about how important (faceoffs) are, and that won us the game (Saturday)." Berenson's commitment to faceoffs was the difference this weekend, as Kaleniecki's game-winning goal on Friday came off a faceoff taken by Andrew Ebbett. Both Ebbett and Hen- sick were quick to point out it takes more than luck to win the faceoff. The skill involved requires stealing the puck from the opponent and also What makes the faceoff even more difficult to master is that it can't be practiced as well as other drills in hock- ey. Centermen typically practice face- offs after regular practice is over, so the responsibility falls on the individual to hone his skills. Sometimes, groups of players will try to create set plays for faceoffs in hopes they will experience a similar situation during the weekend. "We go over faceoff plays (after practice)," Hensick said. "We have a few different ones we use, but you have to win the faceoff in order for that play to work. "We definitely have a play (similar to Saturday). Tambellini and I have been trying to work on it all year, and it finally worked and it worked at a - m -1