0 Thursday November 4, 2004 sports. michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 10A - ' ' +. 1OA Cameron's return can't fix 'M' woes The Heisman campaign is heading to Ohio, too a 4 By Jamie Josephson and Anne Ulble Daily Sports Writers With the return of two star players from injury - senior Knox Cameron and junior Chris Glinski - the Michigan men's soc- cer team (13-1 Big Ten, 9-5-4 overall) was hoping these comebacks would spark a win on the home field yesterday. But after two overtimes, the game ended in a 0-0 tie against Oakland (3-1-1 Mid-Continent, 10-4-3 overall). Like the scoreless tie, you can't put a number on intensity. "There was a A big fight from both CG teams," Cameron said. "We matched their defense, and they matched ours. So I think (the tie) was a just result.: When the whistle had blown to signal the end of the second overtime, the Wol- verines had set a record. They have kept their opponents scoreless for 310 consecu- Jive minutes - the longest streak in pro- gram history. Unfortunately, Michigan set another; record: the longest it had gone without scoring a goal itself - 220 minutes. Kept on the sidelines all season with a 0 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL F.reshme: By Stephanie Wright Daily Sports Writer ACL tear, Cameron entered yesterday's contest all smiles. "It felt really good," Cameron said. "For about the first two minutes, I couldn't stop smiling. Then I realized I couldn't breathe after that. It just feels good to be back and playing in meaningful games once again." Michigan's offense started off slow, unable to fire a single shot on goal in the first half. Going into halftime, Michigan coach Steve Burns made changes in Michigan's attack. "We talked about the fact that our shape was good, but we had 45 minutes of poor execution," Burns said. "Now that (the first half) was out of our system, we wanted to come out and execute and keep the ball on the ground and move it quickly." But Michigan still struggled. As the final seconds of the clock wound down in the first overtime, senior Mychal Turpin broke away from the Oakland defense and had a clear shot on goal. But Golden Griz- zlies goalie Jeff Wiese made a key save. This was just one among several late- game Michigan attempts. The Wolverines did come into the sec- ond half aggressive on the defensive end. "(Oakland) was doing a good job FILuPHO Michigan forward Knox Cameron, shown here in 2003, got his first action of the season in yesterday's scoreless draw with Oakland. bringing the energy, tackling and the atti- tude into the game," Burns said. "We need to be bringing what they were bringing. I think for the most part in the second half and in both overtimes, we did." The Wolverines' defense was the strong- hold that kept the Golden Grizzlies' offense quiet. Burns picked out senior Matt Nie- meyer as a strong contributor at midfield. The defense was in high spirits with the return of junior Chris Glinski, who was also previously injured with a fractured ankle. But the defender was still transi- tioning from being on the sidelines. "It feels good and frustrating at the same time,"Gilinski said. "I'm definitely not 100 percent right now. I still have a fracture, and I want to get out there and do all the stuff I normally can do. And I really can't." Yesterday's stalemate marked the ninth time this season that Michigan played into overtime. Despite Michigan's must-win attitude nearing the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, the Wolverines couldn't produce results. "It felt like a tournament game," Burns said. "The boys are doing a great job defen- sively. We've just got to score goals." SHARAD MATTU Mattu fast, Mattu furious en it comes to the tradition- rich football program at Michi- gan, there's just some things we'll never see. Well, on Monday, I learned of another thing that will likely never happen: A Heisman Trophy campaign for a Michigan Wolverine. Receiver Braylon Edwards is finally getting national recognition, but if he's going to win the trophy, he'll have to do it without the help of a website or highlight- filled DVD. Lloyd Carr made it clear that, if Michigan has a Heisman candidate, it should be Edwards. But that was as far as he would go. Now, if Edwards is going to be sworn into football lore on Dec. 14, he'll have to get the job done in the same swing state that decided that other election on Tues- day: Ohio. After 11 catches and three touchdowns against Michigan State, Edwards, who already had strong support from Midwest voters (voters are split into six regions), now appears to have the northeast constit- uency energized (the schools in that area are so bad that nearly all of Michigan's games have been aired in New York, so Edwards has definitely gotten enough exposure in the area). Capturing the vote in the four other regions - Mid-Atlantic, South, Southwest and Far West - will be much tougher. So, to the remaining voters who aren't con-- vinced by Edwards' 69 catches, 995 yards and 11 touchdowns, who haven't seen how he's made the freshmen backfield's transi- tion to college football immensely easier, you leave me no choice. Let the bashing begin. First of all, in Southern Cal. and Okla- homa, we've got two parties that need to give away a nomination once and for all. Since they won't, let's do it for them. As you have to be 35-years old to be president, Heisman winners must be juniors or seniors as well. That would elim- inate sophomore Reggie Bush and fresh- man Adrian Peterson, the running backs for the Trojans and Sooners, respectively. And then there's quarterback Jason White, Peterson's running mate. Like the man who won'Tuesday, White is looking for re-election, even though many believe he shouldn't have won in the first place. Last year, just one week before his inauguration, White turned in an awful performance in the Big 12 Championship game. But enough voters had sent in their absentee ballots before the last debate to ensure White the hardware. With Bush out of the picture, that leaves Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart joins Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the top candidates. When the two went head-to- head earlier this year, both played great, but Southern Cal. won, so Leinart gets the edge. But some may still vote for Bush, taking away from Leinart's chances. All the remaining candidates have even bigger flaws. Utah quarterback Alex Smith, BCS bid or not, has been playing bad teams all year, and Auburn quarter- back Jason Campbell has benefited from playing with the team's real star, who boasts a sweet nickname, running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. Now back to Edwards. Right now, Ohioans probably don't think too much of Edwards. They may even think that their own receiver, Santonio Holmes, is just as qualified. So the campaign trail will have to hit the state hard on Nov. 20. But even if he has a great game, Edwards will have trouble convincing some voters simply because of the position he plays. But remember, two Wolverines who won the Heisman - Anthony Carter and Desmond Howard - were receivers. And Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald finished second last year. Well, if they're not convinced by now, these old fashioned, conservative folk must have forgotten that people were predicting the Alamo Bowl for this team three weeks into the season. Now, the same people are hoping for a Rose Bowl. If that's not enough, Edwards will be the first person to sign up for the draft. The NFL Draft, that is. Sharad Mattu approves this message, and can be reached at smattu@umich.edu. ready to gain experience Senior forward Tabitha Pool is the most experi- enced player on the Michigan women's basketball team. But it's not hard for her to remember what it felt like before she had s N GH T, ever played a game for the Wolverines. Athee& n Acnon As a freshman, Pool T p wondered what the pace of a college basketball gameM would be like. Practices helped, but it was her first exhibition game that really prepared her for the season. "It felt like an actual game," Pool said. "Then, when we played our first game, I was like, 'All right, that's how our exhibition game was.' It helped me a lot." After replacing eight players that either graduated or left the program with seven freshmen, Michigan's first exhibition game tonight against Athletes in Action will be even more important than usual. "Really, our first exhibition game will tell our coaching staff as much about our team as any first exhibition game in all the years I've coached," Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. "Because there are a lot of unknowns, going back to the fact that we could be starting three of those young players." But that uncertainty doesn't mean Burnett has changed her approach to tonight's game. Burnett still plans to determine the starting lineup based on which players have worked the hardest and played the best defense in practice - even if it means putting an unusual assort- ment of players on the court. "I've had walk-ons start, I've had four guards start - it doesn't matter," Burnett said. "(Those players) will be rewarded the first exhibition game, and we build the chemistry of the basketball team off of that." One area that Burnett will focus on is finding a point guard. Right now, Burnett believes Michigan has three - freshmen Becky Flippin, Krista Clement and Sierrah Moore. "Becky has watched the program since being a sixth- grader, so she knows the style," Burnett said. "Krista is one of the best basketball minds and leaders that I have ever seen. And Sierrah is very physically gifted. She's very strong, very athletic. "(But) there's no question that a point guard is going to have to step forward." For the freshmen, the opportunity to play in an actual game - exhibition or not - is the culmination of a sum- mer of hard work. "It'll be good for us to experience things in a real setting together," Flippin said. "We're all really excited to see what's going to happen, to take on the challenge." ..U ... .......... . . .