Friday
September 16, 2005
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OeRTSigan ailt
PORF

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In past,
Eagles
cure to
iV1 woes
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Editor
The rivalry between Michigan and
Eastern Michigan might be one-sided,
but it's hard to deny its importance for
the Wolverines.
The last time Michigan hosted its
Ypsilanti rival, it was coming off back-
to-back losses to start the 1998 cam-
paign.
It's a familiar story for most Michigan
fans. Coming off their national cham-
pionship year, the Wolverines opened
the season in South Bend, where Notre
Dame defeated the defending national
champions, 36-20. Then, Michigan wel-
comed Syracuse to the Big House. Led
by current-Philadelphia Eagles quar-
terback Donovan McNabb, the Orange-
men soundly beat Michigan, 38-28.
The first two games of the 2005 sea-
son might not have been quite as dis-
appointing for the Maize and Blue. But
more than likely, the Wolverines would
like their matchup with Eastern Michi-
gan to turn out the same way it did in
1998.
Michigan's offense exploded for 59
points against the Eagles that year, and
the 39-point victory kicked off a seven-
game winning streak for the Wolverines.
With a road loss to Ohio State its only
additional blemish, Michigan finished
that season with a 10-3 record and a win
over Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl.
This year's squad hopes to use a
strong performance against the Eagles
tomorrow to kick-start a similar
streak.
"People will judge us based on how

Blue freshman
has pedigree
of a Wolverine
By Alison Roberts
For the Daily
Qualifying for the first tournament of the NCAA golf season
is quite an accomplishment. But Michigan freshman Bill Rankin
didn't just qualify, he managed to tie for 10th-place overall in the
Hawkeye Intercollegiate Tournament in Iowa Sept. 10-11. His score
of 217 helped the Wolverines finish third among the nine schools
that participated. This is just the latest feat on Rankin's impressive
list of accomplishments.
At Central High School in Traverse City, Rankin had a remark-
able career. Rankin earned a spot on the Michigan Interscholastic
Golf Coaches Association (MIGCA) Division One All-State team
in 2003, and, last year, he was a part of the MIGCA Dream Team.
The Traverse City native finished in the top-10 in 14 of 16 tourna-
ments his senior year and also medaled in numerous other amateur
tournaments.
But even before his high school career, Rankin showed the mak-
ings of a Wolverine. Rankin's father and grandfather introduced
him to golf at the age of five. His earliest memory of the sport
came when he made a hole-in-one when he was just eight years old.
Rankin's family, including his parents and older sister, largely influ-
enced his decision to attend Michigan. His desire to follow in their
footsteps soon began to include playing golf as a Wolverine.
Now that Rankin is finally at Michigan, coach Andrew Sapp
has taken notice of Rankin's exemplary performance, especially
after his great finish in the first tournament of the season. He said
Rankin has been a good fit for the team, helping others improve
their games.
"He's really been able to force other players to continue to strive
each week (to do their best)," Sapp said.
Rankin has been able to help others improve despite the chal-
lenges and stresses of adjusting to being a Division I athlete. He
enjoys himself out on the links and doesn't focus on the difficulties
of being an underclassman.
"I'm just trying to enjoy it rather than getting mad about carrying
bags or getting the worst seat in the bus," Rankin said.
Although his teammates might give him a hard time, Rankin
focuses on learning from the upperclassmen. He sees senior Chris-
tian Vozza as a great role model on and off the course.
"There's so much to learn from him," Rankin said. "He's always
open to answer (my) questions."
Vozza has helped Rankin adjust well to the team. But after some
collegiate experience, Rankin will possess the talent, poise, and
leadership to teach an entirely new crop of freshman how to suc-
ceed as a Michigan golfer.

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Michigan coach Lloyd Carr started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan in 1976.

we react to what happened (last) Satur-
day," senior fullback Brian Thompson
said. "We're not looking past Eastern
by any means."
All the Wolverines understand they
can't underestimate their Mid-Ameri-
can Conference opponent. But if there's
one person on the Michigan sideline
that knows just how good the Eagles
can be, it's Lloyd Carr.
In 1976, Carr was head coach at John
Glenn High School in Westland, where
he had led his team to an 8-1 record and
earned Coach of the Year honors the
previous season. That summer, George
Mans - a former Michigan captain and
then secondary coach at Eastern Michi-

gan - resigned, and Eagles head coach
Ed Chlebek approached Carr about fill-
ing the position.
Carr said he enjoyed his job at John
Glenn, where he was being paid $20,000,
but even a paycut couldn't stop him from
moving on to Eastern Michigan.
"Ed Chlebek offered me a job for
$10,700, which I immediately took,"
Carr said.
In Carr's first season as secondary
coach, the Eagles stumbled to a 2-9
record, and Carr began to regret taking
the job. But with third-team All-Amer-
ica selection Ron Johnson leading the
secondary, Eastern Michigan finished
with an 8-3 record in 1977. After that

season, Carr left the Eagles to become
secondary coach at Illinois.
"I was only there about 18 months
- nearly starved to death," Carr joked.
"But everything worked out OK."
Since then, Carr has amassed a 96-
30 record as head coach of the Wolver-
ines and has led them to five of the past
eight Big Ten titles.
But none of that - including last
week's home loss to Notre Dame -
matters to Carr tomorrow.
"You'd better be trying to figure out
what happened and find some solutions
to the issues that you face," Carr said.
"But you'd better be zeroed in on the
next deal. That's what we've got to do."

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OT loss ends Utah's 18-game streak

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Tye
Gunn threw a 4-yard scoring pass to
Michael DePriest in overtime as TCU
beat Utah 23-20 last night, snapping
the Utes' 18-game winning streak.

Freshman Aaron Brown rushed for
163 yards on 17 carries in his debut for
TCU (2-1), which rebounded from its
loss to SMU after beating then-No. 7
Oklahoma to start the season.

Tied at 17 after regulation, TCU
won the coin toss and elected to start
overtime on defense. Utah went three-
and-out and settled for a 34-yard field
goal by Dan Beardall before TCU
scored on its first possession.
Utah (2-1) lost for the first time
since dropping a 47-35 decision to
New Mexico on Oct. 25, 2003. The
Utes entered the game with the nation's
second-longest winning streak behind
top-ranked USC, which has won 23
straight.
TCU's Chris Manfredini kicked a
30-yard field late in the third quarter
to tie the game at 17.
TCU contained running back Quin-
ton Ganther to mostly short bursts and
smothered short passes. One week after
Johnson set a school record for pass effi-
ciency against Utah State, missing on just
three of 21 attempts, the sophomore went
15-of-30 for 208 yards.
He also threw his first interception
with a reckless pass into double cov-
erage. Marvin White made the pick
for TCU, which scored on the ensuing
possession when Robert Merrill's 3-
yard touchdown run.
Johnson had better luck on longer
throws, especially on third down.
Facing third-and-7 from midfield in
the first quarter, Johnson threw a per-
fect pass over the shoulder of Brian
Hernandez for a 45-yard gain. On the
next play, Ganther scored on a 5-yard
run.
Utah later set up its second touch-
down after Johnson found Brent

Casteel for a 15-yard gain, again on
third down. The play put the Utes on
the 4-yard line, and Johnson scored on
a 1-yard keeper two plays later.
TCU had rallied within a field goal
before Brown had his biggest run of
the game, a 50-yard sweep down the
Utah sideline. He was finally brought
down at Utah's 10, and Merrill scored
two plays later on a 4-yard run.
Brown was playing in place of
Lonta Hobbs, who sat out with a groin
injury. Hobbs had spent the first two
games splitting time with Merrill, who
finished with 16 carries for 58 yards.
Brown ran for 15 and 18 yards on
his first two carries. In the fourth
quarter, he hurdled one Utah defend-
er and dodged several others for a 27-
yard gain. It was the most dazzling
play in an otherwise conservative
countdown toward overtime for both
teams.
Beardall added a 39-yard field goal
for Utah, which had not had been
involved in such a close game since
beating BYU 3-0 on Nov. 22, 2003.
Casteel finished with four receptions for
77 yards. Cory Rodgers was the favored
target of TCU's limited passing game, fin-
ishing with four catches for 52 yards.
Gunn was just 8-of-17 for 88 yards.
The senior had thrown 81 passes in his
first two games, but his three intercep-
tions against SMU were a big factor in
the Horned Frogs' letdown after beat-
ing the Sooners on the road.
Ganther had 47 yards on 22 carries
for the Utes.

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AP MU
TCU quarterback Tye Gunn throws the ball as he gets pressure from Utah defensive
end Martall Burnett in the first quarter of their game in Fort Worth, Texas, yesterday.


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