Friday November 14, 2003 www.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily. corn eRi TSigan ailp 9 Varsity looks to avoid repeating history By Courtney Lewis Daily Sports Writer The last time the Wolverines played at Ryan Field, they came into the game with one road loss against a Pac-10 team (UCLA) and one Big Ten road loss (against Purdue), and were knocked off by the Wild- cats in 2000, 54-51. That ultimately cost them the outright Big Ten title. Michigan should avoid repeat- ing history this weekend, when it plays a Northwest- ern team that's just .500 in conference play. MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE vS. NORTHWESTERN PASSING DEFENSE: John Navarre and his terrific receivers should have their way with the Wildcats, who give up an average of 233 passing yards per game. But Navarre will have to watch out for defen- sive end Loren Howard, who leads the Wildcats with seven sacks. Advantage: Michigan MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE vs. NORTHWESTERN RUSHING DEFENSE: Thanks to Michigan's bye last weekend, running back Chris Perry should have had plenty of time to recover after carrying the ball a ridiculous 51 times against Michigan State. He'll face a rushing defense that has improved significant- ly since last year. Northwestern gives up 170.6 yards on the ground this season, after surrendering more than 300 in 2002. Advantage: Michigan NORTHWESTERN PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE: Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez has thrown more than twice as many inter- ceptions (10) than touchdowns (4) this season. But a big part of the problem may be on the receiving end - three of the Wildcats' receivers have suffered injuries during the season. Advantage: Michigan NORTHWESTERN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE: The Wildcats boast one of the con- ference's best backs in Jason Wright. The senior is fourth in the Big Ten with 866 rushing yards, and his 16 touchdowns rank third nationally. But Wright was hurt in the Oct. 25 game against Wisconsin and has just 13 carries in Northwestern's last two games. Michigan has held its opponents under 100 rush- ing yards in half of its games this season. Advantage: Michigan SPECIAL TEAMS: Northwestern has blocked three kicks in 10 games this season, and opponents have returned kickoffs just 17 times in 39 attempts. Michi- gan's special teams can be summed up in one word: inconsistent. The Wolverines had another shaky game against Michigan State, missing an extra point and giving up some big kick returns. Advantage: Push INTANGIBLES: There's always a danger of coming out sluggish following a week off, and Michigan could get caught looking ahead to Ohio State next weekend. But with two road losses already, the Wolverines should know not to take any team for granted. . Advantage: Push d i Prediction: Michigan 35, Northwestern 17 TONY DING/Daily Michigan guard Daniel Horton makes a pass against Michigan Tech last week. The Wolverines host the Fayetteville Patriots tonight in their exhi6ition finale. Cagers set for final tuneup efreseason By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Writer Surprise! Buckeyes atop CCHA forward to that type of experience." A few of the Patriots have made a name for themselves recently on the college stage. Forward Sam Clancy is the third-highest scorer in Southern Cal. history. Guard Kueth Duany start- By Michael Nisson Daily Sports Writer One might expect that any college hockey team that loses its top two scor- ers to the NHL and three defensemen to graduation will have adjustment prob- lems the next season. No one would expect that team to be leading the CCHA eight games into conference play. Ohio State - Michigan's opponent this weekend - has done just that. The Buckeyes (6-2 CCHA, 7-4 overall) have utilized the experience of nine seniors this season to jump to the top of the con- ference standings. With eight goals, sen- ior forward Paul Caponigri has helped ease the loss of wingers R.J. Umberger and Ryan Kesler, who departed to the professional ranks. The Buckeyes also return senior goalie Mike Betz, who is among the conference leaders with a 1.90 goals against average. "They're a good team, and this will be a good test for us," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We'll be focused on Friday's game. That'll be the game that sets the tone." Last year, the Friday night game set the tone for the two games that Michi- gan played against the Buckeyes. Michigan forward Abdrew Ebbett sent the game into overtime when he scored a goal with one second remaining in regulation. The game ended in a 4-4 tie. The teams also tied in another overtime game on Saturday, 3-3. This year, the intensity will be high once again as the Wolverines will look to unseat the Buckeyes from their posi- tion atop the CCHA standings. To add fuel to the fire, Michigan has struggled when it has had to play outside of Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines have dropped two of their three road contests this year and have been outscored 17-12 in those games. Last week's 6-5 loss at Ferris State was particularly costly to the Wolver- ines. Andy Burnes, the Wolverines' cap- tain and top defender, separated his col- larbone from his sternum during the overtime period and will not travel with the team this weekend. Burnes' absence, combined with the return of forward Jason Ryznar (who had been out for much of the season because of injury), has caused Beren- son to shift the lines around on the team. Ryznar will now team with soph- omore winger Jeff Tambellini and freshman forward T.J. Hensick. Nys- trom will now team up with junior for- ward Dwight Helminen. "This isn't a wholesale change," Berenson noted. "It's so we can have two (playmakers) on each line." Regardless of who wins this week- end, Berenson noted that Ohio State has his respect. "They weren't a strong hockey rival 10 years ago, but in the last five years they've had much better teams;' Beren- son said. Michigan is getting ready for life in the D-League. The Fayetteville Patriots of the National Development Basketball League - the NBA's minor league - will be coming into s Crisler Arena tonight as " n < part of the league's y "Going Back to School" 'Thn Tour. The exhibition Criskt will be the last tune up for the Wolverines before their season opener next Friday against Oakland. The game will give Michigan a rare opportunity to go against players that have starred in college and/or have played professionally. "It's something new," sophomore guard Daniel Horton said. "It's different than going to the rec, or going to a local high school and go against all the pro players from your area." After watching the Harlem Globe- trotters take on Syracuse on Tuesday night, coach Tommy Amaker realized that playing professional players will be a challenge. "They're older guys;' Amaker said. "They're crafty, they're stronger, they're savvy basketball players. We're looking ...T Ro~nBD . tyo ed every game on Syra- cuse's national championship team last season. Former Georgia Tech star center Jason Col- lier has played for the Houston Rockets the last three seasons. Guard Omar Cook was a McDonalds All-American and played for St. John's. "We can't come out slow like we did against Michigan Tech," sophomore forward Lester Abram said. "We know they aren't going to lay down for us." Senior forward Bernard Robinson should return to the lineup, and high-fly- ing freshman Brent Petway should make his Michigan debut after dressing but not playing against Michigan Tech. Both sat out last weekend with nagging injuries. One player who still hasn't gotten back to practice is center Graham Brown. The sophomore sprained his ankle in practice early last week. "We're just taking it day by day," Brown said. "It's not progressing very fast, so we're just working really hard to get it ready." RYAN WEINER/Daily MichIgan forward Brandon Kaleniecki gets checked last year against Ohio State. Jackson guarantees Big Ten tennis title for Blue By Gabriela D'Jaen Daily Sports Writer The Wolverines are hoping to capitalize on their home court advantage this weekend during the Big Ten Singles Championships (Nov. 15-17). As the Michigan nen's tennis team heads into the final to'irnament of the season, players are also already focusing on how they can dominate the Big Ten n the outdoor season next semester. "Since we are playing on our own ground, we are going to put the hurt on the other Big Ten teams this weekend," senior co-captain Antho- ny Jackson predicted. "Michigan is going to win the Big Ten this year." The feat to win the Big Ten will require persistence, devotion and optimism. The lofty expecta- tions and idealism of Michigan at ~Tie.All :a UCLA (Tobias Clemens, currently ranked No. 3 nationally) combined with the addition of three freshmen players. EKEND However, last year gTeu Michigan finished 9-13 pionship in conference, while Big Saturay Ten champion Illinois yay, .}finished 23-0. Other players are awed by the difficulty of their con- ference. "Last year, Illinois was the NCAA champion, so the Big Ten will be tough," freshman Brian Hung said. "One of our goals is to be one of the top 25 teams in the NCAA." Both Jackson and Hung played doubles in the ITA tournament this past weekend. Rubin, a co-captain, also played in the singles bracket. The event featured the top 32 sin- gles players and the top 16 doubles teams in the United States. "There were absolutely no free matches played," said coach Mark Mees of the competition. "It was good for our guys to be exposed on See BIG TENS, Page 10 Jackson can be attributed to Michael Rubin's win in mid-Octo- ber over the No. 1 player from I - - MMMM*% The new Line Chinese Cuisine SpeCaISIz\ S.... *.,.Hunoin (313) 995-1786 Open 7 Days s 116 S.Main St. MnyV~n (Between W. Huron and Mon-Thur 11-10 Washtenaw) Carryout Fri & Sat 11-11 ; i and reservations accepted. Sun 12-10 «: l I ROsUatste i Interested in . getting ahead of your peers? Gain marketing and advertising experience at one of the best student papers in the country!!! Most important of all: Earn some dough in between classes! The Michigan Daily Classified Department is hiring Account Executives for Winter 2004 - Fall 2005. Drop by: The Michigan Daily at 420 MnvnrrA IrndRnnr t nici tin I m