GENNARO FILICE: Hey kiddies, it's time you make a move to save Football Saturday. PAGE 3B The SportsMonday Column FRESHMAN INITIATION The Daily chats with some of Michigan's newest team additions to find out how they're adjusting to college life. PAGE 8B 4 1 £7 V . Rte ts. .. :, p ,c « £ . - . R ... ..:: ', ': ... ,iL3m ivw. ...:. ..v% +.i.,.swJi D AX +sv pAY i ' ' k September 20, 2004 lB .....Emmmm IIIIIIIIIIIINEIIII Is, I I I i abe I~dgau ?tui~l Luncheon reunites Cagens By Eric Ambinder Daily Sports Writer Even Cazzie Russell, chatting alongside the grassy embankment of his 'house,' waited for Glen Rice to arrive. In an effort to link the past with the pres- ent, the Michigan athletic department hosted current and former Michigan basketball play- ers before the football game on Saturday at a tailgate in the parking lot of Crisler Arena, or "the House that Cazzie Built." "I'm waiting (to meet) Glen Rice," said Michigan's newest member, freshman Ron Coleman. Coleman's teammate, Courtney Sims, want- ed to meet Jalen Rose, a player he watched as a young man. Even Terry Mills, a member of the 1989 National Championship team, anticipated the conversations with former teammates and Michigan legends, that he said are not as com- mon as they should be. "I'm (looking for) some of the players that I actually admired when I was (growing) up, like Phil Hubbard, Butch Wade and some of those types of guys," Mills said "And of course I want to see some of the guys from the (1989) championship team." Rice, a teammate of Mills and a member of the championship team, will have his No. 41 jersey retired during halftime of the Feb. 20 basketball game against Indiana, and those at the event kept waiting - dangerously close to kickoff - to congratulate him. Russell and Phil Hubbard, two former play- ers who had their jerseys retired, spent the morning reminiscing with old teammates and current Michigan players. "It's vitally important to have your past linked with your present and also promote that for the future," Michigan basketball coach Tommy Amaker said. "This is what our pro- gamis abc t . Junior Daniel Horton, Michigan's starting point guard, took full advantage of the event. "It means a lot to us as current players to show that (the former players) still care, that they still love this University," Horton said. "I want to talk to all of them, all those guys were great players. It's definitely good to see that (Rice's jersey) will be retired. They should have done that along time ago. He was a great player and did great things here." Rice averaged 25.6 points-per-game during his senior year in which he led Michigan to the 1989 National Championship. "I was wondering when they were going to retire (Rice's) number because he was one the best players to ever play at Michigan," Sims said. Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin said that Rice's ceremony is part of an effort to honor Michigan basketball greats from each decade It's unclear who may be honored for their contributions during the current decade, but members of this year's team expect to restore the same greatness that Rice brought to Michi- gan basketball. "We're expecting to be No. 1 in the Big Ten, to win the Big Ten conference and win the Big Ten Tournament and then go to the (NCAA Tournament) and make it deep there and win it" Sims said. "We have as much as talent as anybody in college basketball." "I think the sky is the limit for this team," Horton said. "If we work hard and share the basketball and play defense like we've always * done, we'll be fine. There's no limit to what we can achieve." The man who led Michigan to its only National Championship never did show up at the event. Michigan officials said Rice was stuck in traffic on Main Street. But the con- fidence and aura of the 1989 team seemed to arrive. MICHIGAN 24, State Hart Attack Offense still needs togro W W ith a little more than 2:30 remain- ing in Saturday's game, San Diego State head coach Tom Craft had a decision to make. The Aztecs had the ball at their own 46-yard line facing a fourth- and-10 and a three-point deficit, and Craft could have either (a) gone for the first down to keep their drive alive, or (b) punt the ball away, counting on the Michigan offense to go three-and-out. The Aztecs chose option B. And if it wasn't for an 11-yard run by running back Mike Hart on third down, Craft's plan would BOB have worked. HUNT San Diego State would have had Unleashed the ball at mid- field with a chance to win or tie the game. Although the San Diego State defense was one of the top-10 defenses in the nation statistically last season, Craft's choice signifies how much respect oppos- ing coache Piave in the Michigan offense through three games - little to none. The situation may seem bleak for a team that went into the season with such high expectatos. But the problem is not that the offense is not talented enough, or that the coaching staff is not putting the team in the right position to move down the field. The problem is that the offense is just going to take time to develop. If it wasn't for Mike Hart's breakout per- formance yesterday (which was very nice to see) and Braylon Edwards's big-play ability, the Michigan offense would have come into the Big Ten season next week with little for opposing defenses to fear. Although Michi- gan has one of the more heralded receiving corps in college football, its extended drives this season can be counted on one hand. On Saturday, the Wolverines basically had three offensive weapons: (1) The deep fade down the sideline to Edwards, (2) the Hart run up the middle or (3) the turnover. All 24 of Michigan's points on Saturday See HUNT, Page 5B JASON COOPER/Daily Freshman running back Mike Hart blasts through two San Diego State defenders en route to a career-high 121-yard performance. Blue finds ground game in narrow win By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Editor With its conference schedule set to begin, Michigan knows it will need to improve. Against three-touchdown underdogs San Diego State, the Wolverines completed just half of their pass- es, turned the ball over four times, missed a pair of field goals and struggled initially to defend the Aztecs' passing offense. But No. 18 Michigan (2-1) may have redis- covered its running game and, for that, is happy with its 24-21 win. Held to just 171 rushing yards in its first two games, the Wolverines ran for 148 yards on Sat- urday. It pales in comparison to the 176 rushing yards they averaged last year, but still is a sig- nificant improvement. "It's embarrassing when you don't run the ball like Michigan is supposed to," offensive lineman David Baas said. "We just got it in our heads - the running backs, the offensive line, everybody - that we need to run the ball." True freshman Mike Hart ran for 121 of those yards, and may have claimed the starting role in the process. Of Hart's 25 carries, his final one was the most important. On third-and-nine from Michigan's 11-yard line with less than two minutes left in the game, Hart ran to his right for 11 yards. Had he not run for the first down, the Aztecs would have had good field position and one last chance to tie or win the game. "I just knew we needed it," Hart said. "The team knew we needed it. I knew I was going to get the ball and had to do something about it. "The hole was right there. The line did a great job opening it up and (fullback Kevin) Dudley picked up the safety." Though Hart wouldn't allow it, Michigan was content to put the game in the defense's hands, as Michigan coach Lloyd Carr called a run on third down. The defense's play in the second half was some of the best so far this season. After giving up 28 points in the second half in last week's loss to Notre Dame and 21 in the first half Saturday, the Wolverines rose to the chal- lenge, forcing San Diego State into three punts and two missed field goals. The Aztecs' best chance to put up points in the second half came midway through the fourth quar- ter. On third-and-five from Michigan's 25-yard line, defensive end Pat Massey caught San Diego State quarterback Matt Dlugolecki and pulled him to the ground for a six-yard loss. On the next play, the Aztecs missed a 49-yard field goal. Even though Michigan allowed three touch- downs in the first half, coach Lloyd Carr was happy with the defense's play in the entire game. Two of the Aztecs' scoring drives came off of Michigan turnovers, and on the third they relied on a pair of trick plays, a 61-yard shovel pass and a 12-yard halfback pass. See AZTECS, Page 5B Soccer off to best start in team history By Anne Uible Daily Sports Writer After scoring his first of two goals on Friday night, sophomore Bobby Try- bula ran to the sidelines and triumphantly pointed to his friend Zach Abbott. Abbott was sitting in the bleachers and met Try- bula on the field with a hug. "He's one of my buddies I used to play ner kick from the right side of the field. Junior Chris Glinski got to the ball and headed it across the net to sophomore Kevin Savitskie. Unable to get complete control of the ball, Savitskie strategi- cally passed it onto Trybula, who found the right side of the goal with a header to make the score 1-0. "The ball kind of bounced around and came to where I was supposed to be," -r4 1,.; number of opportunities that his team had, but felt that his players should have put more balls in the net. Specifically, Burns pointed to Michigan's central mid- fielders' inability to pick up second-ball opportunities off Bowling Green's mid- fielders in the first half of the game. "That is a difference-maker in a game because that means (we) are picking up more possession of those second balls shot on Bowling Green's net marked his first goal wearing a Michigan jersey. Although the Falcons entered the game with a 0-6 record, including four games in which they didn't score, Burns was quick to renounce the game as a blowoff match. "There are no easy games on our schedule until we make them easy," Burns said. K IV!