The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 19, 2005 - 5B
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Defensive Intensity
It's pretty tough to say. Eastern put up a whopping
134 yards of total offense. But it's hard to judge
the defense when the Eagles kept shooting them-
selves in the foot. Early on, it looked like many of
the receivers were streaking open, but quarterback
Matt Bohnet couldn't make the necessary throws.
On the bright side, the defense was falling to the
ball and swarming the ball carrier - something
it was not doing at the end of last season. Fans can
only hope Michigan's ability to handle Eastern's
spread attack is a sign that the Wolverines have fig-
ured out the difficult offense.
Carr-o-meter
Hypemeter
Rush Yards
Let's be honest - Eastern is not a great team.
It's not even a good team. But there's no deny-
ing that Carr was pleased with the way his team
bounced back after the disappointing loss to
Notre Dame. Any time a team blanks an oppo-
nent and scores 55 points, you know it was a
good game. But Carr was happy about more
than the way his team played. Both the offense
and defense were able to put in many young
players, and Carr wanted to make sure those
young guys got some playing time before the
Big Ten season started. Check.
OK, so you guys didn't throw stuff on the field
this time. But that's only because so many of
you didn't stick around long enough for any-
thing to go wrong. We can't entirely blame
you for not being excited for this matchup, but
still, the effort just wasn't there. The student
was littered with empty spots even at kickoff,
something that isn't acceptable even for a lowly
Eastern Michigan team. Then when the game
started, you didn't even try to be loud. The
Eagles definitely didn't lose because they were
scared of you guys.
Another game, another leading rusher. With
sophomore sensation Mike Hart not dressed for
the game, fellow sophomore Max Martin was
given the starting spot and didn't disappoint. He
finished the game with career highs in carries,
yards and touchdowns while showing a good
burst through the line of scrimmage. Kevin
Grady had another solid showing and didn't
fumble for the first time this season. Once the
game was in hand, the coaches were able to
give carries to some guys who don't usually
play, including a few walk-ons.
STAFF PICKS
Predictions against the
spread for 9/19/05
Ian
Herbert
Gabe
Edelson
Eastern Michigan (+30.5) at No. 14 Michigan
Arkansas (+31) at No. 1Southern Cal
Rice (+41) at No. 2 Texas
Ohio (+35) at No. 4 Virginia Tech
No. 5 Tennessee (+4.5) at No. 4 Florida
Eastern Michigan
Southern Cal
Tex as
Ohio
Florida
No. 8 Florida State (-1.5) at No. 17 Boston College Boston College
San Diego State (+27,5) at No. 9 Ohio State Ohio State
Michigan State (+7) attNo. 10 Notre Dame Michigan State
Oregon State (+135) at No 11 Louisville Oregon State
No. 12 Purdue (-7.5) at Arizona Purdue
Eastern Michigan
Southern Cal
Rice
Virginia Tech
Tennessee
Florida State
San Diego State
Michigan State
Louisville
Purdue
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Arizona State
Oklahoma
Oregon
Virginia
Oklahoma
9-52 (0-2)
18-11-2(0-2)
Matt
Venegoni
Eastern Michigan
Southern Cal
Rice
Virginia Tech
Florida
Florida State
Ohio State
Michigan State
Louisville
Purdue
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Arizona State
Oklahoma
Oregon
Virginia
Louisville
9-5-2(1-1)
16-13-2(1-1)
Eastern Michigan
Southern Cal
Rice
Virginia Tech
Florida
Boston College
San Diego State
Michigan State
Louisville
Purdue
Miami
Georgia Tech
Arizona State
UCLA
Oregon
Virginia
Louisville
9-52(2-0)
1742-2(24)
Eastern Michigan
Arkansas
Rice
Ohio
Tennessee
Florida State
Ohio State
Michigan State
Louisville
Purdue
Miami
Georgia Tech
Northwestern
Oklahoma
Oregon
Virginia
Virgina
4-10-2(11)
136-2(1-1)
Stephanie Bongo Man
Wright Nahru Lampkin
Bongo man struggles as
celebrity tune goes flat
"Now here's a man with a drum,
it's not that his picks were dumb.
But the games didn't go his way,
and that's all we can say."
Nahru Lampkin should stick
to his day job - he's a youth
counselor during the week - or
his weekend job entertaining
loyal fans on the way to the Big
House. Someone - Stephanie,
maybe - should let Ian
know how to pick a best bet.
Oklahoma didn't just lose. They
got embarrassed. Ian could have
picked any of his nine correct
picks, but he pretty much blew
it. Thecelebs were right with
us last week, but Lampkin's
4-10-2 showing is going to
seriously hurt their chances of
Even though Gabe spent three
days working on his picks, he
ended up last - proving that
staff picks mean nothing.
No. 13 Miami (-7) at No.20 Clemson
Connecticut (+17) at No. 16 Georgia Tech
Northwestern (+15.5) at No. 18 Arizona State
No. 21 Oklahoma (-17) at UCLA
W, 23Fresno State (+3) at Oregon
No. 25 Virginia (-9) at Syracuse
Best Bet
Record against spread
Overall
Miami
Georgia Tech
Ariona State
Oklahoma
Oregon
Syracuse
Ohio
6&2(0-2)
16-13-2(0-2)
I I
HERBERT
Continued from page 1B
Breaston returned the ball to the 10-yard line.
Cornerbacks Leon Hall and Grant Mason
were regularly giving seven- and eight-yard
cushions off the line of scrimmage, which
would be fine if the receivers didn't get the
ball. But when the receiver is open, it means
the cornerback was doing something wrong
- even if Bohmet threw the ball into the
ground, and even if the receiver dropped the
pass. I'm worried that the fact the defense
gave up just 134 yards and kept the Eagles
to a goose egg on the scoreboard has every-
one thinking that they are back to where
they should be.
The defense kept Eastern Michigan to just
15 yards on the ground, but next week they
have to go up against senior transfer Brian
Calhoun, who has rushed for 481 yards this
season, not Eastern's Dwayne Harrison.
Harrison, the team's starting running back,
wasn't even the leading rusher. Instead it was
backup quarterback Tyler Jones, who carried
the ball seven times for 24 yards.
And it's the same for the offense. It's
great that Michigan rolled for nearly 500
yards, but they didn't prove anything to
me. After the first two drives, Michigan
was up 14-0 but with just 30 yards of total
offense. They didn't need to do much.
Chad Henne did a great job putting the
ball in the end zone. Sophomore running
back Max Martin looked great, running
for 128 yards and two scores. But Bradley
scored, Jerome Jackson scored and fresh-
man Antonio Bass ran for 20 yards in three
plays at quarterback.
All this is wonderful, and 55-0 is a nice
way to bounce back from 17-10. But it
doesn't say all that much about the team
- except that Alijah Bradley and Jason
Eldridge can play. And I think everyone is
happy we have figured that much out.
- Herbert can be reached at
iherbert@umich.edu
Blue takes advantage of
" Eagles' mistakes, coasts
to impressive victory
EAGLES
Continued from page 1B
"Coming off a loss, it shows that we can
be dominant," Henne said. "We came out
and proved that we can play offensively
and defensively and put some points on
the board."
Michigan's offense did get a little help
from the Eagles' struggling special teams.
Four minutes into the game, Eastern
electrifying 72-yard punt return just over
two minutes into the first quarter. Martin
ran the ball on the ensuing three plays,
finding the end zone on a one-yard run to
the left side of the line.
Starting in place of injured Mike Hart.
Martin received the bulk of the carries,
running 26 times for 128 yards.
The Wolverines' defense continued its
resurgence by stifling Eastern Michigan's
spread offense. Michigan held the Eagles
PHOTOS BY
ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily
ABOVE: Michigan
wide receiver Antonio
Bass carried the
ball three times and
gained 20 yards in the
Wolverines' shut-out
win on Saturday.
LEFT: Quarterback
Chad Henne bounced
back from a rough day
against Notre Dame
m