0 Thursday October 14, 2004 sports. michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily. com SPORTS 12A 12A 4 Dudley satisfied in role as blocker Illinois treats Michigan as prime football rival By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor While preparing for the upcoming season during fall practice, fifth-year senior fullback Kevin Dudley decided he'd have a little talk with Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. Dudley had played in 24 games over his career, notching 12 starts (11 of them coming in 2003). But he had yet to receive a carry - instead focusing all of his effort on paving the way for Michigan's running backs. So Dudley decided to ask Michi- gan coach Lloyd Carr to give him the ball every once in a while. And the request has paid off. Well, sort of. Through Michigan's first six games this season - all of which Dudley has started at fullback - the fifth-year senior has carried the ball twice, for a total of 11 yards. And while the two plays called for No. 32 have satisfied his request, Dudley keeps hoping that Carr will utilize him again. "I'm not going to turn (carries) down," Dudley said. At Franklin County High School in Brookville, Ind., Dudley enjoyed a hugely successful career on the ground, rushing 525 times for 45 touchdowns and almost 3,300 yards during his prep days. But during his time at Michigan, Dudley has been a blocking back from day one - using his thick, 6- foot-1, 236-pound frame to help the running backs post big numbers. "It's not really (frustrating)," said Dudley about his lack of carries. "I've never really gotten any (at Michigan) to have taken away." While Dudley hasn't had many opportunities to run the ball, fresh- man Mike Hart has. Hart, now fully entrenched as Michigan's top running back option, exploded for 160 yards in Michigan's win over Minnesota on Saturday. Hart has rushed for just shy of 500 yards on the season - and no one is more impressed with his efforts than the guy leading him down the field. "Mike Hart is just stepping up unbelievably," Dudley said. "Being able to pick up the reads and every- thing, it takes some people two years to figure it out - the way he's come in and done it in two months, it's just unbelievable." One of the knocks on Hart com- ing into Michigan was that he might not be big enough to stand up to the punishment of Big Ten football. But Dudley, who has prided himself on delivering some of that punishment to Michigan's opponents, says that Hart isn't about to back down from anyone. "When he lowers that shoulder, he gets the job done," Dudley said. "I think the one play I really figured out that he was going to be the real deal was when we ran a screen pass to him (against Notre Dame). He went up the sideline and ran over a (defensive back). I was like, 'He's here.' " One of the challenges that Dudley has had to endure this season is mak- ing the adjustment from blocking for Heisman Trophy-finalist Chris Perry, to blocking for the stream of backs that have flooded into Michigan's backfield this year. Hart - who Dudley describes as "shifty" - is the clear-cut No. 1 back for now, but six different Wolverine running backs have received carries during key moments this season. That means Dudley has to pay attention to who's running the ball. "It's sort of different, especially TONY "N"G/"Daly Fifth-year senior Kevin Dudley enjoys his duties blocking for freshman running back Mike Hart. on the sweep plays," Dudley said. "(You have to know) how a guy runs and what you will have to do to the defender." For the time being, Dudley will continue to focus on his blocking assignments - he claims he doesn't have any plans to ask for more car- ries. That's not surprising because Dudley doesn't exactly see himself as one of the Wolverines more vocal leaders. "When it gets intense, I'll start yelling, (but) I'm definitely laid back," Dudley said. "I pretty much let my actions on the field speak for themselves." Time will tell if those actions include what Dudley's really hoping for: carry No. 3. BOB HUNT Unleashed The Michigan football team will spend its weekend in a town approximately equidistant from Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. It's a town called Champaign, where the corn fields start inside the city limits. Michigan football fans may view this Saturday's game as just a side step to the following week's clash at Purdue. But in Champaign, it will be the big- gest football game of the year. Unlike Michigan, Illinois doesn't have a natural rival. The Fighting Illini haven't finished the season going against the same opponent since the 1930s. They also don't have another in-state school that can cause neighborhood divides each October. Yes, Illinois and Northwestern happen to be in the same state, but that's where the animosity stops (except for that precious Sweet Sioux Tomahawk they play for). Illinois is a state school that draws mostly from within state borders, while Northwest- ern is a private school that draws from all around the country. There is nothing to build rivalry. So, with no definitive date to circle on their calendar, most Illinois students and players pick Michigan. While football student involvement in Champaign has decreased significantly with the decline of the football program and the rise of the basketball team, the Wolverines have always been a target. In Ann Arbor, games against Illinois are quickly for- gotten. But in Champaign, the Michigan games still loom large. Fighting Illini fans remember the 2000 matchup, when Michigan wvon in a controversially officiated game that caused the Big Ten conference to issue a statement of apol- ogy the Monday following the game. They also recall 2001, when Michigan won, but Illinois went on to the Sugar Bowl. Many Illinois alumni still remem- ber close games the two teams played in the late 1980s. Trading c-mails with a number of Illinois students this week, the one overall theme was that the Fighting Illini don't think too kindly of students from Ann Arbor. Many view the school as arrogant and haughty. Some even went onto say that they hate everyone from the state of Michigan. Others downplayed their hatred for Michigan because of Illinois' recent dominance in basketball, saying that they get up for basketball games against Michigan State and Wisconsin. But don't worry, one basketball win for the Wolverines, and those Michigan-haters will fly right out of the closet. The website for the Orange Krush, Illinois' version of the Maize Rage, features a behind-the-scenes look at how Illinois students lined up outside Assembly Hall at 7:30 a.m. before last year's game against Michigan. This Saturday, the students who attend the game (many will be pre- partying for "Midday Madness" taking place immediately after the football game) will be wearing orange and blue "Muck Fichigan" T-shirts and bringing anti-Michigan signs. They'll view them- selves as Red Sox fans taking on the Evil Empire. When the football team was more of an emphasis, hating Michigan football used to be a source of school pride. In 2002 the Daily Illini, the Illinois student newspaper, wrote an entire story about students' hatred for Michigan the day before Michigan's last game in Cham- paign. The story included quotes from students saying that Michigan is the embodiment of all evil and that Michi- gan students are the most arrogant they have ever met. While one could probably find stu- dents at any Big Ten school that don't like Michigan because of its consistent football success, Illinois is a unique case. Most schools that care about ath- letics have a consistent rival. Indiana and Purdue have a great basketball rivalry. Minnesota and Wisconsin have a big rivalry in football and hockey. Illinois has nothing like this. Illinois administration also views Michigan as a target to some degree. Illinois competes with Michigan in a number of programs, especially in the sciences and engineering. When Illinois needed a chancellor in 2001, it got then Michigan provost Nancy Cantor (Can- tor recently left to become chancellor at Syracuse). Illinois football has eroded in recent seasons from the teams it had a few years ago (Braylon Edwards has said repeatedly that former Illinois cornerback Eugene Wilson was the best he has ever faced in a game), so the excitement surrounding football Saturday has eroded as well. But this Saturday's game will bring the best atmosphere that Memorial Stadium will see this year. So just remember, while you may not care about them, they certainly care about you. Bob Hunt is looking forward to hit- ting up the bar scene in Champaign this Friday, where he hopes students don't give him too much trouble. He can be reached at bobhunt@umich.edu. 4 I Blue hoping early loss won't haunt future By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Writer To put it mildly, the No. 3 Michigan hockey team was not pleased after Friday's 4-2 lost to North- eastern. The players didn't come to play, and the team - then-No. 1 in the country, according to the Sept. 27 USCHO poll - was embarrassed. "The players weren't satisfied, the coaches weren't satisfied, and it was a long 24 hours for everyone," coach Red Berenson said. "Getting the messages across, looking at the video, showing the team the chances and the mistakes, chances against. It could have been a lot worse than it was. The score flattered us." But a nonconference loss can't really hurt Mich- igan that much, can it? Wrong. According to Berenson, these games matter a great deal. A loss looks bad for Michigan in head-to-head comparisons with Northeastern down the road. But the Huskies aren't expected to make much noise in the Hockey East conference this season. More importantly, nonconference losses like this one reflect badly on the CCHA. Notre Dame, Ferris State and Ohio State all lost nonconference games last weekend as well, which puts the CCHA behind the rest of the country to start the season. "They're huge because they really do have a bearing on how all the teams in our league are considered for the NCAA tournament," Berenson said. Berenson added that the games in October count just as much as the ones the team plays in March. Though he noted that Denver - who won the national championship last season - was not even expecting to making the tournament after its play in December. With the loss to Northeastern, Michigan also lost the No. 1 ranking that it held for two weeks before the season began. Although Berenson was visibly upset about the loss on Friday, he was not so upset about the loss of the No. 1 ranking. "It's so easy to talk about it, and it seems like it becomes a topic of the media on a regular basis when you are ranked high like that," Berenson said. "And we're not unused to being ranked high. Our teams have been ranked high before." With the bullseye off of its back, Michigan can focus on other important things. After Friday's loss, the Wolverines talked a lot about making better decisions on the ice - both with and with- out the puck. The Wolverines had a lot of pucks bounce over their sticks and a lot of opportunities that weren't converted. Senior captain Eric Nystrom had to watch the game from the stands because of an inju- ry to his ribs that occurred in practice three weeks ago. Both Nystrom and Berenson said that the team would try to use this game as a stepping stone. Berenson said he wasn't sure how he would judge this weekend's games just yet, but he said that the players knew that they had to get better. The Wol- verines have spent the week working on 5-on-2 and 5-on-5 drills. Berenson said that playing .500 hockey is obviously unacceptable, and the team has worked this week to improve before it gets back on the ice. "I'll tell you a month from now if (the loss on Fri- day made it) a good weekend," Berenson said. "It might have been a great weekend for us, depending on how we respond to it over the next month." 4 JEFF LEHNERT/D; The No. 3 Michigan hockey team fell in rankings after losing its first regularseason game to Northeastern. 4 Reality 101 Experience. It sets us apart. School of Information students apply what they learn as they learn it. Our Practical Engagement Program ensures that students pick up relevant, valuable experience through field placements, internships, and part-time jobs before they graduate. 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