Wednesday
October 26, 2005
sports. michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
PRheTStrhigan ailg
9
Adams's
eyes key
in Blue's
road win
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Editor
There aren't any other guys on the Mich-
igan football team from North Carolina. In
fact. strong safety Jamar Adams has always
been a Tar Heel. But when it came time
to choose a university, Adams prayed and
decided to make his way north. The sopho-
more said that secondary coach Ron Eng-
lish was the main reason he came to Ann
Arbor.
"I thought he was the best defensive
back coach around, and I just wanted to
work with him," Adams said. "To me, he
was a true man. He has taught me so much
about just being a man not only on the foot-
ball field but also off the football field as
well."
One of the most important lessons - at
least last week - was simply "eyes inside."
Late in the fourth quarter, Iowa had driven
the length of the field and was down inside
Michigan's 20-yard line, looking to win
the game. It was third-and-two, and a first
down would have given the Hawkeyes three
more shots at the end zone. It was then that
Adams made, according to Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr, one of the most important plays
of the game - maybe of the season.
Adams was in man-to-man coverage on
the tight end, who was blocking him to the
outside.
"When I saw him block out, I could hear
coach E's voice in my head, 'Eyes inside
son,' and that's what I did," Adams said. "I
got my eyes inside, and I was able to make
the play."
Adams stopped the play that was devel-
oping - a shovel-pass to running back
Albert Young. It was a play that is very
difficult to contain for less than two yards,
Carr said. But Adams, just a sophomore,
stopped it almost single-handedly for a
loss of one.
"I have seen seniors that busted that,"
Carr said. "For a young guy to make that
play speaks highly of his ability to concen-
Other conferences have
nothing on the Big Ten
it's like some sort of twisted blood sport.
Throw nine of the most powerful, dan-
gerous fighters in the country (and two
weaklings) into a cage. Furnish them with
swords, nunchucks, tridents, crossbows, axes,
spears and javelins. Then lock the door, and see
who - if anyone - emerges alive.
Welcome to Big Ten football.
No, you won't find any Big Ten teams among
the top-10 on this week's poll. No, the Big Ten
won't be sending a representative to
the Rose Bowl, this year's national
championship game. But when
it comes to competitive, intense
football week-in and week-out, no
other conference holds a candle to
this mighty midwestern league.
For starters, every single team
in the Big Ten emerged from non-
conference play with a winning
record, a feat no other conference
accomplished. Even pathetic Illinois MA
went 2-1, including a 33-30 victory SINS
over Rutgers, the team now occu- S
pying second place in the Big East. Spitti
It makes you wonder if the Illini
would earn a BCS berth if they jumped ship and
moved to that unimaginably awful conference.
Then, the bloodbath of a Big Ten season
began. Wisconsin over No. 14 Michigan ...
Michigan over No. 11 Michigan State ... Penn
State over No. 6 Ohio State ... Michigan over
No. 8 Penn State ... Northwestern over No. 22
Michigan State ... and so on.
The bottom line is, on any given week, any
Big Ten team - except maybe Indiana and Illi-
nois - can take out any other Big Ten team.
That's why nine Big Ten teams have found their
way into the top-25 polls during the course of
this season. That's why, more than halfway
through the year, seven teams are within one
game of the Big Ten lead. It's this parity that
makes the Big Ten unique - no other confer-
ence has that type of competitive depth.
I'm sure the player-haters are out there, get-
ting ready to fire off their vicious e-mails in my
direction. They say the SEC, ACC, Pac-10 and
Big 12 are the toast of college football. They
point to the Big Ten's generally weak noncon-
ference schedules and claim that parity is a sign
of weakness. For these skeptics, I've prepared
a fun and informative example: the Texas Tech
Red Raiders.
After Texas, the Red Raiders are considered
the second-best team in the Big 12 this year.
How come? First of all, their "spectacular"
offense put up a whopping 199 points dur-
ing their three-game nonconference sched-
ule. Their opponents? Florida International
- ranked 118 out of 119 Division I-A teams in
The Sporting News - and two Division I-AA
squads: Sam Houston State (2-4) and Indiana
State (0-8). The latter couldn't even beat St.
Francis (Ind.), an NAIA (read: not even in the
NCAA) team.
Think things got much harder once the Big
12 season began? Think again. The Red Raiders
faced off against Kansas, Nebraska
and Kansas State. Combined, these
three teams have spent a grand total
of - you guessed it - zero days in
this year's top-25 polls. Still, Texas
Tech's efforts against these stellar
opponents earned them a No. 10
ranking heading into its matchup
with Texas. Of course, against their
h& first real opponent of the year, the
Red Raiders didn't quite live up to
TT their billing, falling 52-17.
,ER It's true most teams from other
.r conferences don't quite have a
SFire Texas Tech-style cakewalk. SEC
Al
'ng
MIKE H~ iULSELBUS/Daily
Safety Jamar Adams is the only player on the football team from North Carolina.
trate and, under pressure, execute in a dis-
ciplined way."
For Adams, this season has been all
about discipline. The young safety had to
stay focused despite the fact that he didn't
win the starting job coming out of camp.
Adams battled with junior Brandent Engle-
mon for the spot at strong safety, but, in
the end, Englemon won out. Adams said
that - through everything - he always
believed he would get his opportunity.
"I think, in practice, I continued to prac-
tice hard and my coaches continued to push
me," Adams said. "So, I knew that they
believed in me and continued to push me. I
knew my chance would come."
For the year, Adams has 21 tackles (17
solo) plus one pass breakup and one tackle
for loss. He has been solid pretty much all
year, solidifying a secondary that is play-
ing with just one returning starter.
When Englemon went down with an
injury during the Minnesota game, Adams
filled in. He's had played some snaps
throughout season, but his work the last
couple of weeks as a starter has been a step
up.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly when, but
Carr said he saw a change in Adams a few
weeks into the season. For the first few
weeks, Carr said Adams was playing tenta-
tively at safety.
"Somewhere along the line, it all became
clear for him, and the clutter was gone and
he was able to go in and play within the
system," Carr said.
Maybe it's another way coach English has
helped to mold this Michigan Tar Heel.
and ACC teams, especially, have
genuinely difficult stretches built into their
conference seasons. But even their schedules
are much more palatable than Big Ten slates.
First of all, the middle tiers of these "power"
conferences are nowhere near as strong as the
Big Ten's. I'd take Iowa over Clemson or Min-
nesota over South Carolina any day.
Also, the very structure of the Big Ten
conference season makes conference play
much more intimidating. Big Ten games are
scheduled in a block, after the nonconference
season concludes. The SEC and ACC mix
nonconference games within their conference
season. The result? While Michigan is forced
to play six consecutive games against top-25
caliber opponents, Virginia Tech can sched-
ule teams like Marshall and Ohio to provide
a nice breather in the middle of its conference
season.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not disrespect-
ing the undefeated teams in other conferences
or implying that Michigan deserves to move
up in the polls. What I'm saying is that, top to
bottom, there is no tougher football conference
than the Big Ten. Give any team in the coun-
try - even Southern Cal - eight consecutive
games against Big Ten opponents, and I doubt
any of them come out unscathed.
- Matt can be reached at
mattsing@umich.edu
Martin excels early in career
By Bryan Hamilton Learning to be a leader is something has been reached just three other times i
Daily Sports Writer that can only come with more experience Michigan volleyball history. Such num
and, as the first-year player continues to bers have earned praise from coaches an
n
n-
d
k
Seeing the floor; creating situations for
your teammates to score; knowing where
to put the ball.
All are qualities vital for point guards to
successfully lead their teams to victory.
And though these may be the duties of
basketball's floor general, they are also the
responsibilities of the setter in volleyball.
And this season, the Wolverines are see-
ing a change of the guard at the position.
Redshirt freshman Mara Martin of the
Michigan women's volleyball team is the
new starting setter this year - a role that
she has been anxiously awaiting since
her arrival in Ann Arbor last fall. As an
incoming freshman in 2004, Martin had
to wait for her shot at the coveted position
because fifth-year senior Lisa Gamalski
was finishing up her impressive career at
Michigan.
"It was kind of expected coming in
that I would be redshirted," Martin said.
"With Lisa there and all of her experi-
ence, it would be tough for a freshman
to take the starting spot. But it was still
extremely difficult because I was always
used to playing."
In the unfamiliar role as spectator, Mar-
tin made the best of her situation by learn-
ing from someone she admired for her style
of play and command of the court.
"It was really helpful to be able to
watch how she ran the team and was in
control on the floor," Martin said. "After
watching her, I knew I would want to be
that kind of leader out on the floor."
be shaped into her new role this season, players a like.
she admits she still looks up to some of "She had a great match," coach Mar
her elder teammates, such as co-captain
sophomore Katie Bruzdzinski.
"Katie is someone who has a lot of
experience playing in big matches," Mar-
tin said. "She is someone who knows how
to get the job done."
As it turns out, Martin - who, at 6-
foot-1, is the tallest setter in Michigan
volleyball history - is getting the job
done herself in her inaugural season of
play. The young Michigan star has start-
ed in all 17 matches played this year and
has accounted for nearly 90 percent of the
team's total assists to date. If these num-
bers are not enough indication of what
Martin has accomplished so far, then
her mark in Wolverine history a month
ago may be. In a Sept. 16 match against
Georgia, the redshirt freshman recorded
a career-high 81 assists - a mark that
Rosen said. "She has come so far in the
last month, and her game has taken great
strides. I think she has actually played
better matches since then."
As mentioned before, the key to being
a great floor leader, basketball or vol-
leyball, is the ability to make the others
around you better as you continue to
improve your own game - something
that is essential for Martin and the rest of
the Wolverines.
"No question about it," Rosen said.
"The success is almost parallel. As Mara
improves her game, so we will improve as
a team overall."
Whether it's continuing to learn from
hers captains, setting up her teammates
for crushing spikes or merging into that
leadership role, it can be expected that, as
Martin rises, so will the Wolverines.
EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN/Daily
Redshirt freshman Mara Martin replaced Lisa Gamalski at setter this year.
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