VOLLEYBALL WOMEN'S SOCCER Goalies work on splitting time in front of the net. Megan Bowman and Lyndsay Miller team up to master the middle block. PAGE 19A PAGE 18A ho- SPORTS IT- 7 September 7, 2005 17A 1111 1 111111!! 11: 1 1 1: 1 1; !;:: !::: 1 St dbe toga t Ba til mmm Prep or * Hall and crew need to solidify By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Editor Having to replace two starters in the defensive backfield: not fun. Having to replace two All-Americans in the secondary: damn near impossible. That's the task at hand for the Michigan defense right now as it pre- pares for Notre Dame, who gained 502 yards of total offense against Pittsburgh last Saturday. The Wolverines must fill the spots vacated by departed cornerback Marlin Jackson and safety Ernest Shazor. The two were the anchor of the defense last year, with Jackson basically sealing off half the field while Shazor provided staunch run defense and an impos- ing presence over the middle. No one will forget the hit he laid on Purdue wide receiver Bryant Dorian at the end of last season's 16-14 win in West Lafayette. "I looked up to them," junior Leon Hall said. "Those are big holes to fill, but we have the personnel to do it." Hall is now the leader of the secondary, but, even with his experience and ability, the results from the first game without Jackson and Shazor were mixed. The fact that returning starting safety Ryan Mundy missed about three weeks of practice with a left shoulder injury didn't help much either. Without the junior in the mix, the Wolverines used three new start- ers playing together for the first time. "We've just got to learn on the fly and get comfortable," Mundy said of the new starters. "It's just one of those things that time will tell." It was evident throughout parts of Saturday's game against Northern Illinois that the secondary was still trying to gel. No play made that more apparent than the 76-yard touchdown scamper by Huskies running back Garrett Wolfe. It appeared that fifth-year senior cornerback Grant Mason had containment on the outside of the play, but he let Wolfe get to the side- line instead of funneling him back toward the middle of the field. That was all the space Wolfe needed as he headed toward the endzone. "They ran the ball my way, and I was supposed to dig the wing, and I think I left a little too much space between me and the wing," Mason said. "That gave my safety a little indecision of where he was supposed to be at." That safety was Mundy, who only played sparingly due.to his injury. But he thinks that the unit did not suffer with senior Willis Barringer starting in his place.{ "Everyone forgets this, but Willis staired two years ago so he's not a new guy out there," Mundy said. Michigan's secondary used the whole depth chart, playing everyone See SECONDARY, page 21A Irish Begins Big House: Pump up the volume M ichigan students, why so quiet? Are you scared of a little sore throat? Do you think the cute sorority girl in the next row will be impressed by your stone-cold silence as the Wolverines' defense takes the field? I'm sick of the excuses and the rationaliza- tions. There's no rea- son that 110,000-plus fans - including tens of thousands of inebri- ated students - can't r' suck it up, swallow their pride and make Michigan Stadium an intimidating place to play for EVERY visit- ing team. I know the poten- MATT tial this student body SINGER has. I know girls Spitting Fire who can list every player on the Michigan depth chart. I know guys who, without looking at the roster, can say who shares Steve Breaston's No. 15 (linebacker Chip Cartwright). I know how unbelievably difficult it is to get college stu- dents out of bed at 8 a.m., and I'm constantly amazed at how many are able to do it each and every Football Saturday. You love this team, and you know your football. But for whatever reason, during most non-rivalry games, the Big House barely makes a blip on the decibel meter. This is about more than pride - in foot- ball, more than any other sport, the crowd can impact a game. False start penalties; wasted timeouts and miscommunications at the line of scrimmage can all result from rabid fans making their voices heard. But Northern Illinois didn't make a single crowd-induced mistake during Michigan's home opener. Being an active football fan isn't just about cheering big plays and booing the oppos'ition. It's about strategically using crowd noise to give the home team an advan- tage. It doesn't matter if you're a freshman or senior, a sorority girl or an engineering guy. Each and every one of us has arole to play in helping Michigan Stadium become not just the biggest, but the loudest stadium in college football. I've included a few helpful guidelines to help make this goal a reality: Don't be afraid to be heard: I under- stand that it may feel a little weird scream- ing your lungs out when the rest of your section is watching in silence. But for any significant noise level to emerge, some- .one has to be a leader and start things off. From my own experience, if one or two See SINGER, page 21A A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS .. Notre Dame looked downright scary on Saturday, shocking the foot- ball nation Saturday in its season opener. The Irish took it to No. 23 Pittsburgh, 42-21. The most impressive numbers came on the offensive side of the ball, where the Irish put up over 500 yards of total offense. New Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis - formerly an offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Patriots - has been quoted as saying that college defensive coordinators won't be able to stop his pro-style offense. After one week, it looks like he might be right. As the Michigan defense prepares for Notre Dame, we give you a look at the numbers that Notre Dame was able to put up last week at No. 23 Pittsburgh: " 502 - Total yards of offense put up by the Irish. They rolled up 275 yards on the groundand added 227 more through the air.41 " 154.33- Passer rating for quarterback Brady Quinn. The junior complete 18 of 27 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. His longest throw was a 51-yard hookup with running back Darius Walker. . 40 -The lucky number for Notre Dame running backs. Three players other than Quinn rushed for more than 40 yards each on Saturday. Walker led all rushers with 100 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown. Walker also caught three passes for 52 yards and another TD * 7 - Number of Irish players who caught passes. Quinn spread the ball around like a pro: No one caught more than four passes, and three players had more than 40 receiving yards. Tight end Anthony Fasano led all receivers with four grabs. .4Q. MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Junior safety Ryan Mundy has battled injuries and missed most of Saturday's 33-17 victory over Northern Illinois. Mundy's absence depleted an already thin Wolverine secondary, which will look to slow down the Irish this weekend. Thoughts of hurricane remain with Kraus By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Editor Last week was quite a week for junior center Adam Kraus. In a moment that he called "bittersweet," Kraus got the starting nod in Saturday's victory over Northern Illinois just days after Hurri- cane Katrina devastated his hometown. Kraus is from New Orleans, and his house is just three blocks from the water. He now knows that his immediate family is safe - they evacuated to a small town outside of Jackson, Miss., last Sunday - but he still hasn't heard about the con- ditions of his house and some extended family. "We're not really sure, but we're stay- ing optimistic," Kraus said about his lakeside home. His sister, Elizabeth, went to Tulane, and she is now enrolled at Michigan. On Saturday, the family went to the Big House to watch Michigan defeat North- ern Illinois. They had been to plenty of Michigan football games before, but this time Kraus was the starting center. At the beginning of the season, Kraus wasn't sure if he was going to be starting for the Wolverines. He came to Michigan as a tight end, but, as he said, "I was a big tight end, and I knew coming in that (a move to offensive line) could have hap- pened." He caught 38 receptions for 492 yards and two touchdowns in two years of playing tight end at Brother Martin High School. And he was rated as the No. 10 tight end prospect by rivals.com. When he got to Michigan he talked to coaches about making the switch to offensive line, but playing at center never crossed his mind. Kraus, who is now 6-foot-6, 311 pounds, is certainly built like a lineman. But even when he made the change to the line after last year and switched his number from No. 83 to No. 57, he still was not guaranteed a starting job. Last year's center David Baas had made the transition to the NFL, but Michigan See KRAUS, page 21A Size not an issue for Stacy By Jamie Josephson and Anne Uible Daily Sports Writers Big things are expected this sea- son from 5-foot-6 Jake Stacy of the Michigan men's soccer team. The freshman hailing from Grand Rapids is one of the smallest mem- bers of the squad and hopes to assist in the development of the Wolver- ines' new offense. "Jake is a guy that can and will do a lot for us once he finds his way and coal-scoring form," Michigan coach championship, was placed on sev- eral All-State teams and was named Michigan's 2004 Mr. Soccer for his work on the field. "I think playing soccer in college is more intense than high school ball, especially in the Big Ten," Stacy said. "It's harder, it's faster, and it's stronger. It's a big change." Starting at forward in Michigan's disappointing 3-1 loss to Massachu- setts on Monday, Stacy found several open looks at the net within the first five minutes of the game but came up just short of converting each time. it's much more physical." With his small stature, oftentimes players think they can push him around on the field. But Stacy is able to effectively capitalize on his assumed disadvantage. Stacy uses his size to maneuver around larger players, finding holes in many teams' formations. As a forward, he is a key playmaker for finishing goals. "Obviously, most players are big- ger and stronger than I am, but I think that sometimes they won't expect me to be as fast as I am," he said. Burns likened some aspects of ,., -.