The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 31, 2005 - 5B The Daily Dashboard After every game of the 2005 season, The Michigan Daily's football writers will take you for a ride in Lloyd's ca. The gauges all refer to different variables that will fluctuate from week to week, depending on how the team and fans perform. Defensive Intensity is a measure of - you guessed it -now well the Wolverines manage to step their oppo- nents. The Carr-o-meter is a rough gauge of head coach Lloyd Carr's opinion of his team's play, as judged from his postgame comments. The Hypemeter provides our opinion of how well the fans supported the Wildcats compared to the Michigan fans in Evanston. Volume, consistency and awareness are all considered. Rush Yards is a straightfor- ward measure of Michigan's ground yardage total in each game, Since an effective run- zning game is crucial to post season success -epecially for this year's squad, which is loaded at running back - this statistic figures to be a consis- tently important indicator.. I i Defensive Intensity Carr-o-meter Hypemeter Rush Yards It has been a running theme for the defense all sea- son. It plays extremely well for part of the game but also manages to give up chunks of yards and points. This time, though, despite giving up over 400 yards, the Wolverines' defense played its best game of the year. The Wildcats' two touchdowns came on long passing plays, and one of them was blown coverage by the Michigan secondary. After giving up 17 points in the first half, the Wolverines shut out Northwestern in the second half, forcing five punts and getting two turnovers on downs. Great job, defense. It would be an understatement to say that Lloyd Carr was pleased with the defensive effort on Saturday. Carr sang the unit's praises through- out his post-game comments. The coach also seemed especially satisfied with Michigan's special teams, calling special attention to Ross Ryan's kickoffs for touchbacks and Gar- rett Rivas's solid placekicking performance. But Carr made sure his defense remained in the limelight, calling attention to the fact that Northwestern's high-powered offensive attack was shut down in the second half. Granted, Northwestern isn't known for its rau- cous fans, but that was pathetic. Yeah, the sta- dium sucks, and the students probably have a lot of studying to do, but it was a night game against Michigan. The fans at this institution of higher learning definitely didn't come to play this week- end. Wolverine fans get a bad rap for their lack of noise and enthusiasm, but compared to those purple sad sacks, we're like SEC fans. At the end of the game, it looked like a miniature home game for the Wolverines; the stands had emptied and Michigan fans were the last ones left. For the second week in a row, Jerome Jackson and Kevin Grady shouldered the rushing load in place of the injured Mike Hart. But this week's running attack was far more potent than last week's version against Iowa. Jackson topped the 100-yard mark, and Grady looked more mobile with his cuts. The Wolverines' 58 rushing attempts controlled the clock, giving Michigan possession for more than 38 minutes. Receivers Antonio Bass, Mario Manningham and Steve Breaston also registered a few carries to make a contribution. Overall, a rock-solid ground game. a e idhtgatt Baffu STAFF PICKS Predictions against the spread for 10/29/05 i Honest Gabe Sir Ian Edelson Herbert No. 25 Michigan (-3) at No. 21 Northwestern Washington State (+30) at No. 1 Southern Cal No. 2 Texas (-37.5) at Oklahoma State No. 4 Georgia (+4) at No. 16 Florida Utah State (+34) at No. 5 Alabama North Carolina (+20.5) at No. 6 Miami North Texas (+43.5) at No. 7 Louisiana State No. 8 UCLA (-7.5) at Stanford Maryland (+17.5) at No. 10 Florida State Purdue (+15.5) at No. 11 Penn State No. 12 Ohio State (-4) at Minnesota No. 15 Wisconsin (-21) at Illinois No. 17 Texas Tech (-12.5) at Baylor Mississippi (+20) at No. 19 Auburn No. 20 Texas Christian (-7) at San Diego State No. 22 Fresno State (-13) at Hawaii South Carolina (+14) at No. 23 Tennessee Indiana (+18) at Michigan State Best Bet Record this week: Record Michigan Southern Cal Oklahoma State Georgia Alabama North Carolina Louisiana State UCLA Florida State Penn State Ohio State Wisconsin Texas Tech Mississippi TCU Hawaii South Carolina Michigan State UCLA 10-8 (0-1) 6"003 (35) Northwestern Southern Cal Oklahoma State Florida Utah State Miami North Texas UCLA Florida State Purdue Ohio State Wisconsin Texas Tech Auburn TCU Fresno State South Carolbna Michigan State TCU 10-8 (0-1) 55643 (3.5) Minnesota Viking on sex cruise Matt Venegoni Northwestern Southern Cal Oklahoma State Georgia Alabama Miami North Texas UCLA Maryland Penn State Ohio State Wisconsin Texas Tech Auburn TCU Fresno State Tennessee Michigan State O)o State 10-8 (1-0) 70-593 (44) Don Vito Stephanie Wright Northwestern Southern Cal Texas Georgia Alabama Miami North Texas UCLA Florida State Penn State Ohio State Illinois Texas Tech Auburn TCU Fresno State Tennessee Michigan State TCU 8-10 (0-1) 6S (5a3) John Navarre Michigan Washington State Oklahoma State Florida Alabama North Carolina Louisiana State UCLA Florida State Penn State Ohio State Wisconsin Texas Tech Auburn TCU Fresno State Tennessee Indiana Ohio State 10-8 (1-0) 53463(2.5) Matt the new overall leader in picks Matt played quarterback in high school; John Navarre is a quarterback. It looks like you needed to be one to get the best bet correct this week. Matt and John were on the same wavelength, picking Ohio State as their sure thing. With her subpar effort, Stephanie lost her lead to Matt and is now tied for second place with Gabe, who continued to climb in the standings with another winning week. Ian stayed close to the lead pack by matching John, Gabe and Matt at 10-8. Ian now sits five games behind first place. The prognosticators all head into the season's final stretch with records over .500. It's neck and neck to the finish. WI LDCATS Continued from page 1B six scramble on Michigan's final scoring drive. But with more than seven min- utes left on the clock, the Wolver- ines' 16-point lead was hardly safe. Although Northwestern had gained just 73 yards in the second half, it had proven how quickly it could score in the first quarter when it drove 80 yards in 37 seconds for its first touchdown. Plus, Michigan has struggled all season to stop offenses at the end of games. But the Wolverines held the Wild- cats to 54 yards on their final two drives, the last of which ended when Michigan safety Brandon Harrison broke up a Brett Basanez pass on fourth-and-6 to give the ball back to Michigan with just under three minutes remaining. "We came into (halftime) and said, 'Eliminate big plays and we'll have a chance to shut them out in the second half,' " defensive tackle Gabe Watson said. "They have a good team - a great offense - but we just pulled it out." EDELSON Y Continued from page 11B for 174 yards, with three picks and one passing touchdown. Center Adam Kraus hurt his right knee, adding to the long list of problems on the offen- sive line this season. Taking the above information into ) account, you might have predicted another devastating loss and a contin- uation of the tailspin the team found itself in over the season's first six weeks. But instead, the Wolverines return to Ann Arbor with a three- game winning streak, heightened confidence and a foundation for suc- cess in the coming years. It's hard to deny that Michigan is laying the groundwork for a bright future. This team's poise and experi- ence have been forged in the crucible of high-pressure, down-to-the-wire finishes. Its depth has blossomed due to seemingly unfortunate injuriesal e fse and illnesses. Its fortunes have been . boosted by contributions from previ- ously obscure individuals. After all the Wolverines have been through this season, was it really so surprising that the tag team of Jerome Jackson and Kevin Grady combined for 169 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries in place of Hart? That third-string tight end Mike k Massey caught a touchdown pass - instead of primary receiver Jason Avant or top tight ends Tim Mas- saquoi or Tyler Ecker - to help the Wolverines pull away in the second quarter? That reserve linebacker Shawn Crable set the tone to open the second Dav oTUMAN/Daily