The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 3, 2005 - 5B
The Daily
Dashboard
Ater every game of the
2005 seasoz, The Michigan
Dail' football writers will
tkeyoufor a ride in Lloyd's
car. The gauges all refer to
different variables that will
ftuate from week to week,
depending on how the team
and fans perform.
Deensive Intensity is a
m easre of - you guessed it
- how well the Wolverines
manage to stop their oppo.
nents.
The Carr--meter is a rough
of head coach Lloyd
Car's opinion of his team's
t y s judged from his
postgame comments.
This week's Hypemeter is
a like last week's. We are
crtiquing hw we think the
Michigan State fans mea
gyred up against Mlchigan's.
Rush Yards is a straightf or.
wrd measure of Michigan's
grotud yardage total in each
ame.Sincean effective
running game is crucial to
postseason success - espe-
illy for this year's squad,
whih is loaded at running
back - this statistic figures
to be a consistently impor-
tant indicator..
Defensive Intensity
Carr-o-meter
Hypemeter
Rush Yards
The defense was jacked up for this in-state rivalry
game, as evidenced by the hard hits throughout the
contest. Strong safety Brandent Englemon let the
Spartans offense know that the middle of the field
would be a dangerous place to roam with his hit
on receiver Jerramy Scott - it could be heard all
the way up in the press box. But the defense also
gave up way too many third-and-long conversions.
Whenever it looked like the Wolverines had Michi-
gan State stopped, the defensive backs gave up a big
gain. But the fact remains that Michigan slowed an
offense that was averaging 49 points per game.
It was obvious as soon as Lloyd Carr walked in
that this game might have meant something more
to him. As he commented on the game, Carr
appeared to be very emotional. But his emotion
came for good reason: The Wolverines may have
just saved their season. The offense that looked so
anemic in losses against Notre Dame and Wis-
consin finally put together a solid game and exe-
cuted. The defense - while not perfect- slowed
Drew Stanton and the rest of the Spartans enough
to give Michigan a chance. Carr liked enough of
what he saw to give out an "outstanding."
The Michigan State fans were quiet for much of
the game, but they must be given credit for mak-
ing plenty of noise when there was something to
get excited about. It's hard to cheer when your
team is down 14-0, after all. But at the same time,
the fact that Spartans quarterback Drew Stanton
had to run over to the student section to get them
to start the yelling before kickoff. Not good. One
Michigan State fan sitting near football writer
Gabe Edelson in the upper deck was arrested
after he was caught drinking from a flask and
swearing at other fans. That's the spirit.
Well, the rotating Michigan backfield must have
been holding back the Wolverines' offense.
Mike Hart came back from his leg injury to lead
the team with 218 yards rushing. But more than
the yards, Hart provided that emotional spark
that the team looked like it was missing. On his
first run - a 45-yard scamper - Hart bounced
up and let the Michigan State bench know
that he-"came to play, and we came to win."
The Spartans took notice of Hart: On Mario
Manningham's 43-yard touchdown, Michigan
State's safeties bit on a play-action fake.
US IdO- Ig ateu
STAFF PICKSF
Predictions against the
spread for 10/1/05
Gabe
Edelson
Michigan (+5.5) at No. 11 Michigan State Michigan
No. 1 Southern Cal (-16.5) at No. 14 Arizona State Arizona State
Ian
Herbert
No, 2 Texas (-15) at Missouri
No. 3 Virginia Tech (-10.5) at West Virginia
No. 4 Louisiana State (-14.5) at Mississippi State
No. 5 Florida (-3.5) at No. 15 Alabama
Syracuse (+21.5) at No. 6 Florida State
South Florida (+20.5) at No. 9 Miami
Mississippi (+22) at No. 10 Tennessee
No. 13 Notre Dame (+3) at No. 22 Purdue
Kansas (+17.5) at No. 16 Texas Tech
Indiana (+18) at No. 17 Wisconsin
No. 18 Minnesota (-3) at FenState
No. 19 Virginia (-3.5) at Maryland
Washington (+21) at No. 20 UCLA
Florida Atlantic (+38) at No. 24 Louisville
Illinois (+17.5) at Iowa
Best Bet
Record this week:
Overall
Texas
Virginia Tech
Mississippi State
Florida
Florida State
South Florida
Tennessee
Purdue
Texas Tech
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Arizona State
Texas
Virginia Tech
Louisiana State
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Mississippi
Purdue
Texas Tech
Indiana
Minnesota
Maryland
UCLA
Louisville
Iowa'
Louisiana State
10-7 (1-0)
35.25.2 (2-2)
Matt
Venegoni
Michigan
Southern Cal
Texas
Virginia Tech
Louisiana State
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Mississippi
Notre Dame
Texas Tech
Wisconsin
Michigan
Arizona State
Texas
Virginia Tech
Louisiana State
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Tennessee
Notre Dame
Texas Tech
Wisconsin
Michigan
Arizona State
Texas
West Virginia
Mississippi State
Florida
Florida State
South Florida
Mississippi
Purdue
Texas Tech
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Maryland
UCLA
Florida Atlantic
Illinois
Florida
7-10 (0-1)
28-32-2 (1-3)
Stephanie Former All-American
Wright Ed Muransky
Ian, Matt and
Stephanie continue roll;
celebrities, not so much
Ian claims that he took Michigan
State because he didn't want
the beat all choosing the
Wolverines. Yeah, right. Suck it
up tough guy. But Ian did redeem
himself by having the best record
and padding his overall lead.
Once again, the celebrities
struggled with their picks. This
time around, former Michigan
offensive tackle Ed Muransky
made sure that the celebrities
weren't going to make up an
ground by dropping 10 of the 17
games. But that's OK. He was
pretty awesome when he played
here, so we don't mind. Plus,
it makes us look even better.
After all of his smack talk the
first week, Gabe continues his
slide. He's doing so bad, he's
only ahead of the celebrities
by three games. It doesn't
matter, though, because the
conference season is still young
and anything can happen.
Minnesota
Virginia
UCLA
Florida Atlantic
Iowa
Texas
7-10 (1-0)
31-29-2(2-2)
Minnesota
Virginia
UCLA
Louisville
Iowa
Virginia Tech
9-8(1-0)
33-27-2(2-2)
Minnesota
Virginia
UCLA
Louisville
Iowa
Texas
9-8 (1-0)
3426-2(4-0)
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.
Every year, The Michigan Daily
and the State News play each other in
a touch football game
and blanketed
looked the 19
The bigges
the night
the big boys
on Saturdw
The Dail
looked
like the
point-a-
minute
Michigan
offense
before JAOn r of the
s play Scot
y. DalyRoad Trip St
y A
receivers. Really, they
997 Michigan defense.
st defensive highlight
day came when rover
t Bell picked off a
tte News pass at the
goal line and then pro-
ceeded to return the
ball 80 yards, taunt-
ing the other team
for the last 15. In
I /
circa
1901-06
- the State
News had no
chance in the
70-21 spank-
ing. Led by seniors
David Betts and Matt
Venegoni, the offense could not be
stopped. Betts finished with five touch-
downs, including a kick return for
a touchdown, and Minnesota native
Venegoni finished with eight touch-
downs, including a rushing touchdown
to end the massacre.
But it wasn't just the offense that
laid the wood to our neighbors from
the northwest. Co-coach/safety Matt
Singer put together a spectacular
group that pressured the quarterback
d : :
the end, everyone had
fun, except the State
News - especially
when the Daily tried to
plant a Michigan flag at
midfield.
Bars were impossible to
get into on Friday night, with
lines forming as early as 3 p.m.
Even at Lou and Harry's, a pre-
party bar that closes at midnight and
is known for its lack of a wait, over-
crowded quarters prevented anybody
from getting in after 10 p.m.
So house parties were plentiful
on Friday night. Charles Street was
especially busy, with get-togethers
in many living rooms, kitchens and
backyards. But those $5 cups for
beer sure were a downer.
On Saturday morning, the best tail-
gating action could be found at the
SPARTANS
Continued from page 1B
At the start of the last 15 minutes of
the contest, the Spartans had the ball at
Michigan's nine-yard line. An unsuc-
cessful run on third-and-four set up a 23-
yard attempt for Goss, but he missed the
chip shot.
On the very next play, sophomore run-
ning back Mike Hart continued his great
day in his return from injury. He broke a
64-yard run - a career long - down the
left sideline to Michigan State's 16-yard
line. Hart finished the game with 36 car-
ries for 218 yards and a touchdown.
"Well, Hart is, you know, the heart of
our team," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
said. "We kept trying to take him out of
there, and he kept going back in."
Hart finished the drive he started
by plunging in from one yard out. It
looked as if he was going to be stood
up at the line of scrimmage, but, in
typical Hart fashion, he didn't go
down on the first hit. He bounced off
Michigan State's Michael Bazemore
and David Herron Jr., and barely kept
his knee from touching the ground as
he dove for the goal line, giving the
Wolverines a 31-24 lead.
"I wasn't going to miss this game for
anything," Hart said. "I don't care how
hurt I was."
On the Spartans' next drive, Michi-
gan held them to a three-and-out and
looked to put the game away. On a key
third-and-li from the Michigan State
25, Henne dropped back to pass. As
he went through his progressions, the
sophomore was pressured from his
right side. As Spartans defensive tack-
le Bobby Jones sacked and stripped
Henne. Though his arm appeared to be
moving forward and attempting a pass,
the officials ruled it a fumble. Defen-
sive tackle Domata Peko picked up the
ball and rumbled 74 yards for a game-
on na in-a nhinnthat tied the a me
tennis courts, the traditional spot for
drinking, eating and listening to music.
Police officers were prowling the area
- maybe to prevent another riot - but
didn't seem to take any action when
students walked down the street with
open cans of beer.
TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Quarterback Chad Henne threw for 256 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Michigan came right back after the
disheartening turnover. Fifth-year senior
Grant Mason returned the ensuing kick-
off 32 yards to the Michigan State 40-
yard line. Then, it was the Mike Hart
Chow anin H3 ecrried the h all11 of the
L. Smith. "I hope the players feel it, and
I hope they don't forget the feeling. It's
tough, but we'll bounce back."
The shootout featured 45 first-half
points, including Michigan jumping
out to a 14-0 leaL Rut the Snartans