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October 27,2003
SECTION B
11111 Jill
Purdue-in'
it well
MICHIGAN 31, P .
SETH LOWER/Daily
Sophomore Brandon Kaleniecki celebrates with teammates
during yesterday's 5-2 win over Northern Michigan.
Despite pre-game
scare, Wolvennes
complete sweep
By Brian Schick
Daly Sports Writer
After blasting 57 shots on Northern Michigan goaltender
Craig Kowalski on Friday night, the Michigan hockey team
looked to storm into yesterday's rematch and picked up
where it left off. But a scary moment kept the Wolverines
distracted for much of the first period.
Assistant coach Billy Powers collapsed shortly before the
game and had to be taken to the hospital. Powers turned out
to be fine and was released from the
hospital last night.
The players had trouble staying
focused on the game, registering just NORTHERN MICH.
two shots on goal in the first period.
"I think it upset our team tremen-
dously at the start of the game," Michigan head coach Red
Berenson said. "We're trying to get our team prepared and
focused and all of a sudden something like that happens and
everyone's (wondering), 'What happened? What's going on?'
and we couldn't tell them anything until the game was over."
During the first intermission, the team regained its compo-
sure and took control of the game and the weekend. Michi-
gan (3-1 CCHA, 6-1 overall) swept Northern Michigan (2-2,
3-3) 5-3 yesterday and 2-0 Friday night.
The struggling Michigan powerplay managed to notch a
goal in each period yesterday. It had been desperate to take
advantage of the extra man in this young season. The differ-
ence yesterday was the team's ability to work the puck
around the offensive zone for long periods of time, wearing
down the Northern Michigan penalty kill.
See WILDCATS, Page 3B
POWERPLAY BACK ON TRACK?
Michigan coach Red Berenson has to be happy with his
team's powerplay yesterday after a brutal five game stretch.
Since going 3-for-6 on the powerplay to start the season,
the Wolverines have struggled mightily with the man-
advantage.
Here's a rundown of Michigan's powerplay success (or lack of):
Oct. 4 vs. Mercyhurst: 3-for-6
Oct. 10 vs. Miami: 1-for-10
Oct. 11 vs. Miami: 1-for-9
Oct. 17 vs. Quinnipiac: 1-for-4
Oct. 18 vs. Quinnipiac: 1-for-10
Friday vs. Northern Michigan: 1-for-6
5-game totals: 5-for-39 (12.8%)
Yesterday vs. Northern Michigan: 3-for-7
Edwards turns
image and Blue's
season around
ou can't catch. You guys can't stop the run. You are
vulnerable to letting short passes become big
gains. You have no concept of special teams. You
make horrible play calls and don't have your team fired up.
You ... well, you are not very good.
Somewhere during this 2003 Michigan football season,
we forgot exactly how much this team actually can do.
After two heart-breaking losses to Iowa and Oregon
and three quarters from hell against Minnesota, there
weren't many sane supporters of the Maize and Blue
who wanted to believe that this was still the national
championship-caliber team that many media and fans
made it out to be in August
and pre-Eugene September.
The conquering heroes had
taken a valiant fall, and there
was much wondering of how
San Antonio or Nashvillea-
would look during late
December.
A weird thing happened on KYLE
the way down the road of OhNEILL
mediocrity, though.ThDalJnio
Michigan got its flat ire he as aner
fixed.
And it all started with the man wearing No. 1.
Braylon Edwards - the carjack, if you will - hauled in a
bomb for a touchdown from John Navarre in that heavenly
fourth quarter against Minnesota, changing the entire sea-
son in one play. Then the junior went in front of the media
three days later to not only address himself as a person -
which he was very open in doing - but to announce he
would be back for his senior season. An 11-2 record
wouldn't be good enough for him.
In those two moves - in addition to the two touchdowns
against Purdue - Edwards sent a message. One, he was the
go-to-guy; and two, he is concerned with winning, not just
himself - which many had perceived him to be.
In fact, he'll be the last one to ever talk about himself
before his own teammates, but because he doesn't have the
same modest quietness that a Steve Breaston has, he'll
never be viewed that way.
He was asked on Saturday whether he was more respon-
sible for getting Jason Avant open or whether it was Avant
getting Edwards open, thanks to double coverage on one of
the two. Instead of the self-promoting answer, Edwards
See O'NEILL, Page 5B
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Cornerback Jeremy LeSueur wraps up Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton in the fourth quarter Saturday. LeSueur, a fifth-year
senior, sacked Orton for a 7-yard loss. The Wolverines' defensive schemes were too much for the Boliermakers to handle.
'D' beats up Orton; Blue stays in the Big Ten race
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Editor
Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton's actions in the
fourth quarter really summed up Michigan's 31-3
thrashing of the Boilermakers.
After getting clocked by Michigan corner Jeremy
LeSueur and throwing his second interception of the
game to Michigan's Leon Hall, Orton picked himself
up, stumbled over to the Purdue sideline and leaned
on one of his linemen. Having been sacked six times
and facing relentless pressure all game, Orton could-
n't even support himself.
The Wolverines physically beat up the Boilermakers on
their way to the blowout win. Purdue coach Joe Tiller felt
that the physical dominance of Michigan's defense was
something his spread offense couldn't compete with.
"I thought physically we got tired," Tiller said. "There
were some real mismatches that we never recovered from."
But Michigan's win was more than just a big kid
bullying a little kid all over the field.
It's dominant win came as a result of near-perfect
execution of the defensive game plan, flawless special
teams play and several big-time plays from Michi-
gan's receiving corps.
The defensive game plan kept Purdue's offense guessing
all game - and the Boilermakers never guessed right.
"They did a hell of a job disguising their cover-
ages," Purdue receiver Taylor Stubblefield said. "We
didn't see a pattern at all in their defensive scheme. It
was hard to see when the blitzes were coming.
"I give their defense a lot of credit. It was very hard
for the offensive line and the quarterback to pick up."
With the way Michigan's defense was dancing
around all game, Orton could have used about 15
timeouts per half. Effective mixing of defensive sets
- moving defensive backs to the line and dropping
them back - left him helpless on several occasions.
Safety Ernest Shazor was the main beneficiary of
this, as he came in untouched twice on safety blitzes
and sacked Orton, forcing one fumble.
"Our kids played inspired football, and defensively
we set the tempo early," Carr said. "We had a great
game plan, and it was tremendous execution. We had
a group of guys who played hard and stuck together
and just refused to give in."
Michigan's special teams also deserved credit after
the game for winning the field position battle and giv-
ing the defense room to work with.
Steve Breaston didn't have any video-game punt
returns for a touchdown this time, but he still aver-
aged more than 10 yards per return and made good
decisions with the ball. Punter Adam Finley might
have had his best game of the season, punting seven
times for an average of 43 yards per punt.
"The kicking game was outstanding," John Navarre
said. "They gave us great opportunities and field
position, and we were able to take advantage of it."
Finally, Michigan's receivers used all their tools to
See BOILERMAKERS, Page 5B
------------ A
Michigan-Michigan State rivalry revived
By Daniel Bremmer
Daily Sports Writer
CHICAGO - Rivalries are what
sports are made of, and it doesn't get
any better than Duke versus North
Carolina.
If it wasn't for this heated rivalry,
students at the two schools wouldn't
camp out overnight for a chance to
see these storied basketball pro-
grams square off against each other
each year.
As one of the best rivalries in sports
- let alone basketball - the Duke-
North Carolina
rivalry was at its
strongest when two
legendary coaches
- Duke's Mike
Kryzewski and
North Carolina's
t $oog
day in Chicago. "I said that when we
were bad. I said that when they were
bad. And now that we're both pretty
good, I'll say it again."
Over the past five years, the Spar-
tans have ruled the state of Michigan
with an iron fist. Michigan State has
gone 8-2 against the Wolverines since
1998, with its last five wins coming
by 20 or more points - including a
51-point massacre of Michigan in
2000.
But last year in Ann Arbor, Michi-
gan showed that it wouldn't back
down without a fight in its 60-58 win
over the Spartans on Jan. 26.
"I think the sky's the limit as far as
that rivalry," Michigan senior Bernard
Robinson said. "Michigan State will
always be a great team, and coach
Amaker is doing the things to make us
become a great team."
time they step on the court, either
team could walk away with a 'W.'
"It's one of the best rivalries in the
country," Torbert said. "It's a big-time
rivalry every year coming in. You have
to give it your all or you're gonna
lose."
DAN THE MAN: Michigan sophomore
Daniel Horton was named to the Pre-
season All-Big Ten team by both the
coaches and media yesterday. Horton
averaged 15.2 points per game along
with 4.5 assists last year.
"I would've been surprised if he
wasn't (named to the team), given
what he's accomplished in his first
year," Amaker said. "I think it's a nice
thing. It's always nice to be recognized
as one of the best in your league, but
he knows as well as anyone that
you've gotta go and prove that.
"People predicted that he'd have a
Dean Smith - were at the helms of
their respective programs.
Now, with coach Tommy Amaker
securely holding onto the reigns at
Michigan and Tom Izzo leading
Michigan State, the Wolverines and
Spartans may be poised to have an in-
state rivalry similar to the legendary
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