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 ZB it lu 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." $1.00 BEFORE 6:00PM - $1.50 AFTER 6:00PM TUESDAY 50t ALL SHOWS ALL DAY MADAGASCAR 12:30 2:40 4:40 1:00 9:00 P6 HERBIE: FULLY LOADED 12:40 2:507:30 6 DARK WATER 5:05 9:50 PG13 FANTASTIC 4-12:10 2:30 4:50 7:20 9:40 PG13 MR. & MRS. SMITH 12:15 2:45 7:10 PG13 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. THINK SOUTH FLORIDA DESERVES! TO BE IN THE TOPlO? JOIN DAILY SPORTS, AND YOU'LL MAKE AT LEAST ONE FRIEND. STOP BY 420 MAYNARD ST., ANY TIME AFTER 5 P.M. Students Fly Cheaper Sample roundtrip Student Airfares from Detroit to: Philadelphia $124 London $468 Denver $207 Amsterdam $496 San Francisco $224 Rome $554