The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 26, 2005 - 5B 'The Daily Dashboard After every game of the 20O5 season, The Michigan Daly's football writers will take ycu fir a ride in Lloyd's The gauges all refer to different varables that will 4 Quuate from week to week, depending on how the team aK nd fans perform.. :e fensie 1ntensity is a measure of - you guessed it -how well the Wolverines manage t4 stop their oppo- The Cavr-o-meter is a rough gauge ofbhead coach Lloyd ar's opinion of his team's play, sedgedfrom his postgame mments. This week's Hypemeter is S te different. We are tuing how we think the Wicnsin fans measured up gnt Michigan's. Rush Yards is a straightfor- ward measure of Michigan's ground yardage total in each g ake. an effective; run nng game is crucial to ptsasn uccess - espe- cial$y for this year's squad, which is loaded at running this statistic figures to be a consistently impor- tant indicator. Defensive Intensity Once again, it's a little tough to rate this. In the first half, it looked as if the Wolverines were going to bottle up Brian Calhoun and the rest of the Badgers' offense. But when the sec- ond half started, and the game changed. The Michigan defense looked fatigued throughout the final 30 minutes of the contest. Coach Carr admitted that the defense was worn down dur- ing Wisconsin's offensive surge in the second half. Overall, there were good things to look at it, but the Wolverines couldn't get it together for both halves. Carr-o-meter To say Lloyd Carr was deflated after the game would be quite the understatement. His trade- mark wit when dealing with the media was missing - no jokes, no minute-long stares and very few answers. He described the game, especially all Michigan's second-half mistakes, as frustrating, and that just about sums it up. Like many Michigan fans are bound to do, Carr placed much of the blame for the loss squarely on his own shoulders. For maybe the first time this season, he didn't blame the defensive line, the one unit to elicit any real praise. Hypemeter Rush Yards Football writer Matt Venegoni actually sat in the student section and got to see first- hand what Wisconsin students are all about. Sticking out like a sore thumb in his maize Michigan T-shirt, Venegoni was heckled and harassed, but it was mostly in good fun. More importantly, the students were loud and high- ly engaged in the game. They made it difficult on the Wolverines when they were on offense and always stayed behind their beloved Bad- gers. And the classic "Jump Around" was straight up out of control. Unfortunately, Michigan was without sopho- more standout Mike Hart, although he did at least dress for this game. Max Martin and Kevin Grady had to carry the load, and they combined to do a pretty decent job. But both made a crucial mistake that aided in the loss. Grady - often described as a "bull" - couldn't push across the goal line on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line in the first quarter. Later, in the fourth quarter, Martin fumbled, giving Wisconsin posses- sion at Michigan's 23-yard line. STAFF PICKS Predictions against the spread for 9/24/05 No. 14 Michigan (-3) at Wisconsin . Southern Cal (-21.5) at No. 24 Oregon No. 15 Georgia Tech (+6.5) at No. 4 Virginia Tech No. 5 Florida (-22.5) at Kentucky No. 7 Georgia (-14.5) at Mississippi State N. 21 Iowa (+7) at No. 8 Ohio State No. 9 Louisville (-21.5) at South Florida No, 11 Purdue (+3.5) at Minnesota Colorado (+14) at No. 12 Miami No,16 Notre Dame (43.5) at Washington No. 17 Michigan State (-10.5) at Illinois Nq.8 Adzona State (-5.5) at Oregon State Duke (+24.5) at No. 23 Virginia A kansas(+15) at No. 20 Alabama Best Bet Record this week: Overall Gabe Edelson Ian Herbert Michigan Southern Cal Virginia Tech Florida Georgia Ohio State Louisville Minnesota Colorado Notre Dame Michigan State Arizona State Virginia Alabama Arizona State 8-6 (1-0) 24-19-2(1-2) Michigan Southern Cal Virginia Tech Florida Georgia Ohio State Louisville Purdue Miami Washington Michigan State Arizona State Virginia Alabama Michigan State 7-7(10) 25.18-2 (1-2) Matt Venegoni Michigan Oregon Virginia Tech Florida Georgia Ohio State Louisville Minnesota Miami Notre Dame Michigan State Arizona State Virginia Alabama Louisville 8.6(-1) 24-19-2(1-2) Stephanie Daily Alum Wright Dan Okrent Michigan Southern Cal Virginia Tech Florida Georgia Ohio State, Louisville Purdue Miami Notre Dame Michigan State Arizona State Virginia Alabama Arizona State 8(1-0) 25-18-2(30) Michigan Oregon Virginia Tech Kentucky Georgia Ohio State Louisville Minnesota Miami Notre Dame Illinois Arizona State Virginia Alabama Virginia Tech 8 (1-0) 21-22-2 (1-2) Daily writers still solid with their picks Dan Okrent got the celebrities back on track, with a solid week, including an impressive best-bet pick. But is this how every week will look, everyone picking pretty much the same teams? Matt is the black sheep this week, not only failing to get his best bet right, but getting absolutely embarrassed by picking a team that got beat by 31. Truly pathetic. Stephanie continued her perfection in the best bet department and sticking to a one-game lead with Ian over Gabe and Matt. Finally, let's say it - no one was expecting a Michigan loss. The entire beat and celebrity got bit by the disappointing Wolverines. The football beat doesn't just cover games and write columns that no one seems to like. The group also loves partying and hanging out. That's the point of the Daily Road Trip - to see what's going on in other Big Ten cities and let you, the reader, get a glimpse of it. Before I got to Madison, I had never heard of a pizza door, there's a television set submerged into the floor and place with a bouncer. The line at Ian's Pizza was out the covered by Plexiglas, which is just plain cool. And the door and around the block, and Ian's place was packed. We stood by a TV showing the Iowa- had employed a door monitor to 4Z01,te Ohio State game and looked around for a table, but limit the fire hazards. While when nothing opened up, Gabe and I went to buy Gabe was happy with a ir brats while Ian stood guard. While we were up slice of barbecue steak Daily R Iad Tripat the bar ordering our food, a table opened and fries pizza and a up. One of the guys leaving the table asked slice of mushroom, Ian if he was a Wisconsin fan. Instead I had my eye on a of lying to secure us a place to sit, Ian piece of macaroni remained loyal to Michigan - and didn't and cheese pizza. >;get the table. When Gabe and I returned The first time I went with brats in hand, we had to stand around up, the mac was gone, " a little table while we ate. Still, the food was so I got a slice of regu - Ar good and the atmosphere was even better, so lar cheese instead. Big : it really wasn't the worst thing that could have mistake. With options >x:. happened. - Stephanie such as chicken and Badgers taliback Brian Calhoun runs away from Michigan's Leon Hall to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Wisconsin's 23-20 win over the Wolverines. mashed potato pizza and taco pizza, I felt ashamed that I stuck with something so ordinary. I went up a second time, but the girl in front of me took the last piece of my coveted mac and cheese pizza. Infuriated, I booked out of the store and over the mounds of paper plates littering the outdoor sidewalk. - Ian State Street Brats is known as one of the best sports bars around - Sports Illustrated, for one, named it the fourth-best college bar in the nation. So before we headed over to Camp Randall on Saturday, we decided to satisfy our urge for tasty brats by checking it out for ourselves. In my opinion, the place didn't disappoint. Just inside the :BADG ERS Continued from page 1B The Wolverines contained Calhoun in the first half, limiting the nation's leading scorer to 53 yards on the ground. But Wis- :consin's relentless reliance on Calhoun paid toff on its final possession of the game. E With 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Badgers regained posses- ;sion on their 48-yard line, and Calhoun ran the ball on three straight plays. Stocco then completed a nine-yard mass to wide receiver Rrandon Wil- "I gained a lot of respect for him," Carr said of Calhoun. "I liked him coming into this game. He is one tough guy, and he keeps coming." Calhoun capitalized on Wisconsin's great field position throughout the sec- ond half with his lone touchdown early in the fourth quarter. In his second straight start, Michigan tailback Max Martin fumbled on the Wolverines' 23- yard line. After Wisconsin linebacker Mark Zalewski recovered the ball and Michigan committed a personal foul, Calhoun ran twice for 12 yards and the Things took a turn for the worse when we ven- tured over to Angelic Brewing Company, a bar on West Johnson Street on Friday night. The interior was nicely decorated but, it was a bit too crowded inside. Actually, it was way too crowded. I stood at the bar for 45 minutes, a $20 bill in hand - and very visible - while I went completely ignored. I wasn't alone, either. Most of the people around me were similarly shut out. After it became apparent that no alcohol was in our immediate future, we decided to try our chances elsewhere. Inter- estingly, the bar was so packed with Michigan students that a rousing chorus of "The Victors" met little to no opposition while spreading like wildfire. "It's great, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!" was also overheard. All in all, a good scene but disappointing results. - Gabe Often you hear that Madison is a "drinking town with a football problem." Well, everyone saw Saturday night that it didn't have too much difficulty putting Michigan away on the field. But before that even happened, Madison showed that it definitely deserves its repu- tation as one of the premier party if not better, than Michigan's. Everybody was hyped up and willing to get crazy. Probably a little too crazy con- sidering the beating I took. Once inside the stadium, the student section lived up to its billing of being hostile. I was called an "asshole," "faggot" and "bitch" no less than 1,000 times. But the tradition "jump around" was great and made the Big House's lack of noise even more obvious. Special thanks to the fellas of 414 Main Street for their hospitality. - Matt The Top Five of the Daily Road Trip Mix-Tape: Chicago -"Fight for Your Honor" Boyz 11 Men - "On Bended Knee" Dead Prez - "Hell Yeah" Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise" Liz Phair - "Why Can't I" m