The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 26, 2005 - 3B
IfBlue's not careful, team's
attitude could prove costly
MADISON - After Saturday's game, I walked down
to the area outside the Michigan locker room. To
get there, I had to walk against the traffic of the
83,022 people. In actuality, it was probably a lot fewer than
that. It seemed like half the stadium stayed in the bowl until the
maintenance crew kicked them out by turning out the lights. I
walked against the sea of red all the way down to the field and
then out into the parking lot where the Michigan buses were
parked.
I watched as the players filed out, usually one by one, onto
the buses. Some wore headphones; some carried suits; all toted
their individual boxes of KFC. I watched the players get on the
buses and sit idly. Through the window of the bus
I could see fifth-year senior Tim Massaquoi put
his head in his hands for a few seconds - prob-
ably wondering what happened.
Some of them, like running backs Mike Hart
and Max Martin, didn't want to talk at all, and I
didn't blame them. Others said just a few words.
"When we lose, it's just quiet," LaMarr Wood-
ley said. "What's going through people's heads is
just 'What went wrong?' "
No one seemed to have an answer to that ques-
tion. And when the last of the Michigan players I
was on the bus, I walked down to the field. At HER
this point - nearly an hour after Wisconsin. The Spor
quarterback John Stocco sealed the game with his Col
five-yard touchdown run - there weren't really
any more fans in the stands or players on the field. Instead, the
bleachers were littered with cups and napkins and the field was
sprinkled with 8-year-olds playing catch with a miniature rub-
ber football.
I walked out on to the wet, surprisingly slick field and made
my way out to the 20-yard line, where Chad Henne slipped and
fell to end the game. When I found a paper clip at that exact
spot, I joked to my friends that maybe it was the curved metal
object that caused his slip-up. When I found an identical paper
clip at the other end of the field - where Mario Manningham
caught his 50-yard touchdown - I figured it was just a coinci-
dence.
When I stood under the lights of the empty Camp Randall,
I wondered - like so many loyal Michigan fans - how many
times I could deal with the heartbreak of another devastating
loss. More importantly, I wondered: How many times will this
happen until the players stop believing in themselves?
When I came to Michigan five years ago, it was as if
the team felt they were entitled to win. The attitude was,
'We're Michigan, and we're going to kick your ass.' The
teams were cocky and with a little bit of attitude. Team
leaders such as Chris Perry and Braylon Edwards thought
that they were the best in nation, and the teams took on a
little bit of their personality.
If there was a problem with the Michigan teams, it appeared:
to be that they thought teams would just roll over for them. So
they lost a few road games they shouldn't have to teams that
were clearly inferior. Now though, I think it's becoming some-
thing else.
Yesterday, we found out, not surprisingly, that Michigan
dropped out of the top-25. If the Wolverines fail to find a way
to stop Michigan State's offense, then Michigan
will have its first losing record since 1998. It makes
you wonder: When will the Wolverines stop think-
ing that they are entitled to winning and start
believing they are destined to lose? Or worse, have
they already made the switch?
The second half of Saturday's struggle certainly
looked as if they were already there. Michigan
(and in some cases linebacker David Harris) was
literally holding on to the collar of Wisconsin run-
ning back Brian Calhoun by just a finger, desper-
N ately trying not to let go. But who knows if maybe,
3ERT mentally, they were already gone.
sMonday Like a drooling dog, losing - and winning for
mn that matter - can be conditioned. For so long, the
Michigan program has been drooling over win-
ning. But that could change any time - take a look at Florida
(before Urban Meyer), Nebraska or Penn State. Oklahoma has
made the switch practically overnight.
If they haven't started already, teams that once were
underdogs might start circling the Michigan game on
the schedule as a winnable game. And the more times
Michigan loses, the less of a giant it becomes. Every time
the Wolverines blow one, another team thinks, "We can
beat these guys." The real worry is if the Wolverines are
thinking the same things: We're beatable. We have to try
to hold on.
The players sat in the team bus on Saturday night, presum-
ably thinking about the second-half collapse that left them in
the cellar of the Big Ten just one week into the conference sea-
son. They were left wondering what happened, and I was left
wondering whether they had lost their swagger.
Al
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Senior Christian Vozza had the tournament of a lifetime, shooting eight-under par at the Wolverine Intercollegiate.
Riding Vozza's shoulders,
By Julian Khai
For the Daily
earns first win in years
ra
On a warm, humid Sunday afternoon at the Univer-
sity of Michigan Golf Course, the Michigan men's golf
team - led by senior captain Christian Vozza - held
off its competition to finish first overall in the Wol-
verine Intercollegiate Tournament. The five-man team
of seniors Christian Vozza and Brandon Duff, sopho-
mores Brian Ottenweller and Tim Schaetzel and fresh-
man Bill Rankin contributed to Michigan's first title
since the 2000-01 season.
The Wolverines entered the clubhouse Saturday eve-
ning with a commanding 12-stroke lead after the first
two rounds, but they were careful not come out over-
confident for their final round on Sunday.
"I told the guys that we won the first round, and we
won the second round, but our goal was to win the third
round," Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said. "We didn't
want to back up. Fortunately, with as well as we played
Saturday, we were able to maintain our lead."
For the first time in his college career, Vozza accept-
ed the first place trophy as the overall individual win-
ner. He shot an exceptional round of four-under 67
Saturday morning and followed it up with two equally
impressive rounds of 69 on Saturday evening and Sun-
day morning for a combined total of 205 (-8). He fin-
ished one stroke ahead of Xavier's Jason Kokrak and
Iowa's Cole Peevler.
"I knew where to hit the ball on this course, and I
knew how to get up and down from some tough places,
whereas a lot guys wouldn't, coming in blind," Vozza
said.
Coach Sapp was very impressed with Vozza's per-
formance, but he also felt the entire team succeeded.
"It's exciting for us to win as a team and also to have
someone win, especially at home," Sapp said. "We got
so many good rounds from our players this week. It
was just amazing to watch."
Other outstanding performances at the Wolverine
Intercollegiate included strong play from Schaetzel
(67-70-70-207) and Ottenweller (67-67-74-208), who
ended up tied for fourth and sixth respectively. Duff
(76-69-75-220) and Rankin (78-72-74-224) also turned
in impressive performances. Michigan won the title
with a combined stroke total of 839 (277-275-287), 11
strokes ahead of both Xavier (288-283-279) and Char-
lotte (289-276-285).
Since they also finished third at the Hawkeye Inter-
collegiate two weeks ago, the Wolverines find them-
selves among the best in the conference. Now, coming
off their first victory, the team is very optimistic about
its chances this season.
"I think we can compete to win every single tour-
nament from here on out. It all comes from within,"
Vozza said.
Coach Sapp also feels good about the team's chanc-
es, but.he is careful not to jump the gun just yet.
"This is a platform for us to continue to improve,
and we've got confidence that we can do well," Sapp
said. "But we still have a lot of season left."
The team will now have a week to practice before
heading down to the Colonial Country Club in Cordova,
Tenn., next Monday for the Memphis Intercollegiate,
where they hope to build on their recent success.
WILDCATS
Continued from page 1B
stormy weather on the U-M Soccer
Field and the game was suspended.
After a 40-minute rain delay, the
officials resumed the game - despite
continued heavy rain, puddles on the
field and extremely slippery condi-
tions.
"(The inclement weather) takes a
lot of the air out of the game," Burns
said. "But I think we did a good job
being at home and in a comfortable
environment. The bench added a lot
of energy for us in terms of adding
inspiration to the guys on the field,
but also with the guys coming off
the bench and picking up the level
of play. (I give) credit to our depth
and our bench on getting this win
today."
The flow of the game was extreme-
ly physical throughout. Two yellow
cards were given - one to fresh-
man Chase Tennant and the other to
Northwestern's Adam Sirois. Michi-
gan hoped to use its aggressive style
of play to avenge the Wildcats' romp-
ing of the hosting Wolverines at the
- Ian Herbert can be reached
at iherbert@umich.edu
Big Ten Tournament last year. Plus,
the Wildcats had taken the last three
of four games from the Wolverines in
years past.
Shutting out its opponents in four
out of its last five games, Michigan
appears to be riding the tide after this
important first conference victory.
"(This first Big Ten win) is very
important," Burns said. "Each one is
so precious. Our team looked at the
game in terms of what the goals are
for the season, knowing that we have
to take it one Big Ten game at a time.
But today was our day."
BUCKEYES
Continued from page 1B
"We wanted to add someone up
front, and give (Boyles) a rest,"
Rademacher said. "(Banco) is a
really smart kid, and it's her first
time playing forward. But she really
absorbs things well. She is getting a
lot more comfortable up there, and
she really sparks us."
Said Banco: "I don't really expect
anything when I go in there. I was
in the right place at the right time.
Dobbyn had a great cross, and I was
just happy to come in and be a spark
at thatr moment."
Ohio State gave the Wolverines
some unexpected help early in the
second half. Coffman sent a corner
kick to the far side of the net, and the
ball glanced off a Buckeye defender
and into the net at the 54:16 mark
for an own goal, which turned out to
be the game-winner.
Dobbyn capped off the scoring
with her second goal at the 74:38
mark. Coffman delivered her the
ball on the right side of the goal and
she outmaneuvered Miller to set
herself up for a left-footed shot in
the upper left corner of the net.
"I just got the ball in the corner
and tried to get a shot off," Dob-
byn said. "I guess luckily, again, it
went in."
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Dobbyn's nose for the net appears
to be a little more than luck, as she
leads the team in shots and is tied
for the lead in points.
"She loves to shoot, and her range
is the best on the team," Rademach-
er said. "For her, every time she gets
the ball she's dangerous, and other
teams know that. She's just been
tremendous."
The Buckeyes added a meaning-
less goal off a free kick with less
than ten minutes to play, as Tuura
could not corral the rebound and the
ball trickled past her. But the Wol-
verines finished off the game in the
same manner they had played the
first 80 minutes: in the Ohio State
end of the field. Tuura - who played
aggressively and was quick to come
out of the goal and challenge the
Buckeye offense all game - picked
up her fourth win of the year.
Michigan capped off the weekend
with a 3-2 win at Oakland (3-4-1)
on Sunday. Dobbyn added two more
goals - including the game-winner
- and freshman Danelle Under-
wood added her third of the year.
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