The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 3, 2003 - 5B
X'S
AND (ky e) s
Michigan Daily Sports Editor Kyle O'Neill is not a collegiate athlete, nor is
he a collegiate coach. But he was a starting wide receiver for his winless
team at Garber High School, was third in Bay County in receptions his sen-
ior year and claims to know something about the game of football. So each
game, we'll let him and his 5-foot-10, 158-pound frame break down why
Michigan either succeeded or failed.
3 Observations
1. Chris Perry, Brian Thomp-
son and Kevin Dudley should
all be receiving major thanks
and props from John Navarre
and the offensive line. All
three laid out to make last-
second blocks on Michigan
State defenders.
Defensive end Greg Taplin
talked a good game during
the week, but he was taken
out of plays repeatedly by
Perry, who is 40 pounds
lighter than the Spartans'
trash-talking lineman.
2. It is amazing how much differ-
ence there was between the
Spartans and the Wolverines.
While it was apparent Michigan
State was having a bad case of
the drops, there was little doubt
that the Spartans were hardly
moving the ball at all. Credit the
once-again Marlin Jackson-less
secondary for stepping up huge
in another big game. Jeremy
LeSueur was hardly challenged
during the game, an obvious
show of respect for the senior
cornerback who did produce big
plays anytime Jeff Smoker decid-
ed to go his way.
3. Garrett Rivas missed his first
extra point this weekend. Those
making a big deal out of it
shouldn't. The freshman has
been clutch this season and just
had a bad kick.
Key players: Any offensive Michigan blocker
fv..
01 h d z an Eag
Hype-meter
Ohio State fans
Penn State
game last year
"Tremendous"
- Lloyd's proud
You'll be a fine
_ Michigan alum
Shaking keys
on cell phones
Well, we'ye done so much
ranking of what goes on dur-
ing a game, we felt we
should rank what the fans do
outside of a game, as well.
There aren't many who do
tailgating better than the
Spartans. Surrounding its
outdoor tennis courts, hun-
dreds of cars are parked,
grilling together as a collec-
tive unit.
Being by the tennis courts,
there is hardly any wonder
why an occasional tennis ball
war doesn't erupt. One
occured on Saturday, and
thanks to one Michigan State
student who decided to dump
a shopping cart full of balls
on the ground, there was a
battle of North tailgaters ver-
sus South tailgaters that put
the Hatfield-McCoy battle to
shame.
The only drawback to the
afternoon was to watch a
drunk Michigan fan blindly
throw a glass bottle, hitting
a Michigan State fan sitting
next to her van.
Q
A
Ask the
Football Writers
EDITOR'S NOTE: On page
5B of SportsMonday, the foot-
ball writers will answer your
questions about anything, and
we mean anything. E-mail us
with questions or just to vent at:
askthefootbaUwriters@umich.edu
I saw that Michigan-
Michigan State tickets
were being priced as
high as $400, and that
there was hardly a
ticket available for
under $150. What's
the deal with that, and
were fans wrong to sell
that high?
- Jeff Quast, Engi-
neering senior
Jeff,
We at the Daily do not
condone scalping at any
level, but yeah, it was
wrong for any fan to sell
this game higher than
$200. Also, that $200
should have been just
an asking price. If
someone offered $75 or
$100 up front, it should
have been accepted. In
no way should this
game ever be priced
higher than Ohio State
(which is barely getting
over $250 as a maxi-
mum). A Michigan
State team doing well
is more a novelty than
something to take
advantage of. If you are
looking to rip someone
off, wait until the Buck-
eyes come to town.
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Explanation: It would be pointless to diagram what Michigan did well, as it was straight-up tough-
ness and grit that was the "key play" of its win over Michigan State. This game belonged to
Michigan's offensive linemen. Any time guards David Bass or Matt Lentz pulled through a hole,
Michigan State's linebackers were receiving the hit instead of trying to meet it head on. Tackles
Adam Stenavich and Tony Pape had easily their best games of the season against the best pass
rush in the nation (in terms of sacks). There really isn't any spectacular reason as to why Michi-
gan's offensive line was better than ever, as this line was playing well all season -just not to the
standards they had set for themselves. My hat is off to an outsanding job done.
Krenzel hurt
in comeback
over Lions
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Off-
balance and falling backward in the cor-
ner of the end zone, Michael Jenkins
caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from
Scott McMullen with 1:35 left to lift
Ohio State (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No.
8 AP) to a 21-20 win over Penn State on
Saturday.
Lucky catch?
"We've been working on that in prac-
tice - it's called a fade-jump,"
McMullen said. "Mike kind of makes a
kind of fade, and then a hard jump. Most
of the time the defensive player, he does-
n't really have his eye on me, so Mike
sees the ball.
"Mike's 6-foot-5 he's going to make
those kinds of plays. I just wanted to get
it up to him."
With another close victory, Ohio State
(8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) kept alive its league
title hopes as well as a berth in a Bowl
Championship Series game.
The loss gave the Nittany Lions (2-7,
0-5) their first five-game losing streak
since Joe Paterno came to Penn State as
an assistant coach in 1950; he's in his
38th season as head coach.
Penn State had a chance to win, but
David Kimball's 60-yard field goal try
on the final play of the game was just
short and wide right.
Despite the distance, Ohio State coach
Jim Tressel was worried.
"Did you see his kickoffs? I thought,
for sure, if they had the ball across the
50, we were in trouble," Tressel said.
"Man, I was glad he got under it."
Penn State kicker David Kimball came up wide right in his 60-yard attempt to win the game
against the Buckeyes.
The Nittany Lions held off Ohio State
for most of the game, with Buckeyes'
quarterback Craig Krenzel leaving late
in the second quarter after a hard hit.
But Ohio State, as it has so many
times before, eked out another close
game on its final possession.
McMullen's 20-yard pass to Santonio
Holmes put Ohio State at the Penn State
15. The two hooked up on another com-
pletion, a five-yarder to the 5, before
McMullen turned to Jenkins.
- ------------------ -
STAFF PICKS
Predictions AGAINST THE
SPREAD for 11/1/03
No. 11 Michigan (-4) at No. 10 Michigan State
No. 12 Nebraska at No. 16 TEXAS (-6)
No. 25 Pittsburgh (-1) at Boston College
Illinois at No. 13 IowA (-26.5)
Indiana at No. 24 Minnesota (-28)
Ball State at No. 21 Northern Illinois (-15.5)
No. 5 Rorida State (-12) at NOTRE DAME
No. 14 Oklahoma State at No. 1OKLAHOMA (-16)
No. 4 Georgia (-3) at No. 23 Florida
No. 8 Ohio State (-7.5) at PENN STATE
Nao- 9Miami (Ra.) -4)at No. 11 Vim;a Tech
Courtney
Lewis
J. Brady
McCollough
Kyle
O'Neill
Naweed
Sikora
Ron Barker
Bursley Dining Hall
Michigan
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
Iowa
Minnesota
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Georgia
Ohio State
Miami
Michigan State
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
Illinois
Minnesota
Northern Illinois
Notre Dame
Oklahoma State
Florida
Ohio State
Miami
Michigan
Texas
Pittsburgh
Illinois
Minnesota
Ball State
Florida State
Oklahoma
Florida
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Michigan
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
Iowa
Indiana
Ball State
Notre Dame
Oklahoma State
Florida
Ohio State
Miami
Michigan
Texas
Boston College
Iowa
Minnesota
Northern Illinois
Florida State
Oklahoma
Georgia
Penn State
Miami
Do you believe in
miracles? YES!
Scream it from the mountain
tops, citizens of Ann Arbor: "THE
CELEBRITIES ARE ABOVE .500!"
Ron Barker, the Pedro Martinez
of serving food, did the unthink-
able and posted a 13-5 record to
put the Ann Arbor celebrities two
games above the .500-mark -
something the Detroit Tigers and
Lions have only dreamed of the
past few seasons.
But as the celebrities rise, J.
Brady McCollough continues his
Joe Smith-esque free fall (Smith
visited the Daily this past
Thursday ... coincidence? We
think not).
CoitnmvI, Luis stonned the
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