The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 14, 2005 - 5B
The Daily
Dashboard
After every game of the
2005 season, The Michigan
Daiy's football writers will
you for a ride in Lloyd's
C The,-a.4es all refer to
different variables that will
fluctuate from week to week,
depending on how the team
and fans perform,
D~eensie Lntensity is a
measure of - you guessed it
-how well the Wolverines
manage to stop their oppo-
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 Hp meter provides
our opinion of how well
you, the fans, supported the
Wolverines. Volume, con-
sistency and awareness will
all be considered.
Rush Yrds is a straightfor
ward measure of Michigan's
ground yardage total in each
game. Since an effective run-
ning game is crucial to post-
season success - especially
for this year's squad, which is
loaded at runningkback - this
statistic figures to be a conss-
tently important indicator
Defensive Intensity
Carr-o-meter
Hypemeter
The Wolverines' defense looked shaky on its
opening series, surrendering a 42-yard touch-
down pass and putting Michigan in a hole. But
the Wolverines responded after faltering early,
shutting out the Hoosiers until the middle of
the fourth quarter. Indiana was limited to 63
rushing yards, and the Hoosiers' quarterbacks
combined to go just 13-of-30 for 147 yards.
Linebacker Prescott Burgess also intercepted
a pass deep in Indiana territory, but the Wol-
verines' offense was unable to convert on its
red-zone attempt.
Carr was excited after the game, and for good
reason. It looked as if the Michigan offense was
in top form, and the defense looked solid as
well. Carr did make a point of mentioning Indi-
ana's first drive in his opening statement, mak-
ing it clear he was not pleased about the way
the Wolverines started the game. But for most
of the presser, he had fun with reporters, jok-
ing that he could reveal his gameplan for Ohio
State if anyone really wanted it. He had nothing
but praise for Breaston, whom he called "fear-
less" numerous times.
It was a little difficult to assess how hyped the
crowd was this week because so many of you left
halfway through the game - and because most
of you didn't show up until after kickoff. Dur-
ing the limited time you were actually inside the
stadium, you didn't make your presence known.
Even worse, the biggest cheer of the game came
when backup quarterback Matt Gutierrez took
the field after halftime. Your job is to vocally
support your team - and your quarterback -
and you didn't do it well on Saturday. You better
bring your 'A' game this weekend.
Rush Yards
The Michigan running game was solid yet again
on Saturday despite the absence of Mike Hart
from the lineup. The Wolverines picked up 216
yards on the ground. Kevin Grady led the attack
with 94 yards and two touchdowns, including
an impressive and powerful 32-yard scoring run
where he burst through the line and raced down-
field in the open. Alijah Bradley, Steve Breaston,
Jerome Jackson and Antonio Bass also contribut-
ed to the shared effort. Even backup quarterback
Matt Gutierrez made a nice 11-yard scramble in
the second half. A nice job all around.
ale trwoid f ?&ilda
STAFF PICKS
Predictions against the
spread for 11/12/05
Indiana (+24) at No. 21 Michigan
Rutgers (+21.5) at No. 23 Louisville (Friday)
No. 1 Southern Cal (-19.5) at California
Kansas (+34.5) at No. 2 Texas
No. 3 Miami (-16.5) at Wake Forest
No. 5 Louisiana State (-2.5) at No. 4 Alabama
Navy (+23r5) at No. 7 Notre Dame
No. 15 Auburn (+3) at No. 9 Georgia
Gabe
Edelson
Michigan
Rutgers
Southern Cal
'Texas
Miami
Louisiana State
Notre Dame
Georgia
No. 25 Northwestern (+17) at No. 10 OhIo State Northwestern
Ian
Herbert
Michigan
Louisville
California
Kansas
Wake Forest
Alabama
Navy
Georgia
Ohio State
Oregon
South Carolina
Texas Tech
UCLA
Florida State
Iowa
Colorado
Georgia Tech
Florida State
7-10(0-1)
79-84-3(46)
Matt
Venegoni
Michigan
Louisville
California
Texas
Miami
Louisiana State
Notre Dame
Georgia
Ohio State
Oregon
Florida
Texas Tech
Arizona State
Florida State
Wisconsin
Iowa State
Georgia Tech
Notre Dame
7-10 (0-1)
83-80-3 (46)
No. 11 Oregon (-4) at Washington State
No, 12 Florida (-4) at South Carolina
No. 13 Texas Tech (-23.5) at Oklahoma State
Arizona State (+4) at No.14 UCLA
No. 17 Florida State (-1) at Clemson
Iowa (+2.5) at No. 19 Wisconsin
No. 22 Colorado (-2) at Iowa State
No. 24 Georgia Tech (+5) at Virginia
Best Bet
Record this week:
Record .
Oregon
South Carolina
Texas Tech
UCLA
Florida State
Wisconsin
Colorado
Georgia Tech
Northwestern
7-10 (0-1)
84-79-3 (46)
Stephanie
Wright
Michigan
Rutgers
Southern Cal
Texas
Miami
Louisiana State
Notre Dame
Georgia
Northwestern
Oregon
Florida
Texas Tech
UCLA
Florida State
Wisconsin
Colorado
Georgia Tech
Oregon
6-11(0-1)
83-80-3 (5-5)
Marlin
Jackson
Michigan
Rutgers
Southern Cal
Texas
Miami
Louisiana State
Notre Dame
Georgia
Northwestern
Washington State
South Carolina
Oklahoma State
Arizona State
Florida State
Wisconsin
Iowa State
Georgia Tech
Michigan
9-8(1-0)
78-85-3 (3-6)
Gabe pulls ahead after
rough week all around
Gabe reclaimed the top
spot for the first time
since week one, backing
into the lead with a
disappointing 7-10 mark.
His ascension was made
easier with Ian and Matt
matching his 10 mistakes.
Stephanie did even worse,
finishing 6-11 and, like her
three peers, also missing
her best bet. Now, no one
has a record of above
.500 for their best bets.
The best record of the
week goes to celebrity
prognosticator Marlin
Jackson, who finished
with a winning record
at 9-8. Jackson was the
only one to nail his best
bet. Guess it pays to go
with the alma mater.
Florida State and Georgia
Tech proved particularly
troublesome for the group
of five; both schools were
picked across the board,
but neither covered.
WRIGHT
Continued from page 11B
came against a better-than-average Big
Ten defense (Minnesota). After their
shaky start to the season, the Wolver-
ines have rebounded. They shut down
Northwestern's spread offense, made
Indiana look like a MAC team and
now rank third in the Big Ten in total
defense.
But statistics rarely tell the whole
story, especially when Michigan and
Ohio State face off. To me, the Wolver-
ines' response when Indiana scored on
its first possession indicates how far the
defense has come. Defensive coordina-
tor Jim Herrmann made it a point of
emphasis to eliminate big plays, and his
efforts have largely succeeded. Then
Hoosiers quarterback Blake Powers
completed a 42-yard touchdown pass
to receiver Jahkeen Gilmore just three
minutes into the contest. Instead of
letting the game get out of hand, Mich-
igan's defense gathered on the sideline
and resolved to put together a string of
three-and-outs and get the ball back for
the offense. Indiana didn't score on the
Wolverines' first-string defense for the
rest of the game.
I'm not saying Michigan is going to
beat the Buckeyes this weekend.
But whether or not they admit it, the
Wolverines have clearly been preparing
for Ohio State over the past two weeks
- and maybe even the entire season.
Saturday's win was the perfect tune-
up for the biggest game of the year.
The message: Bring on the Buck-
eyes.
- Stephanie Wright can be
reached at smwr@umich.edu.
HOOSIERS
Continued from page 1B
junior put a lot of mileage on his tires Saturday, racking
up 201 all-purpose yards. He caught three passes, had a
reverse for 30 yards rushing and even threw an incom-
plete pass. But the majority of his work came in the return
game. Breaston returned three punts for a total of 78
yards and brought one kickoff back 47 yards.
That return came directly after Indiana's first touchdown
pass, just three minutes into the game. It set up Michigan
and quarterback Chad Henne nicely for a quick strike to
tight end Tyler Ecker that evened the score at seven. He
played just the first half of the game, but Henne put up
some of his most impressive numbers of the year: 17-for-
24, 174 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Michigan offense came out throwing - offensive
coordinator Terry Malone called just one running play
on Michigan's first, 34-yard drive - and Henne's offense
was never forced to punt.
"Chad's always in control," Breaston said after the
game. "He played like he's done the whole year."
When Henne turned over the reins at halftime, Michi-
gan already had a comfortable 41-7 cushion. From there,
the gameplan was just to run the clock. Backup Matt
Gutierrez looked capable, completing just over 50 percent
of his passes, but he was working with mainly the second
string, and his primary job was to protect the lead. In fact,
Indiana's only other touchdown came off a Gutierrez
fumble, and Indiana forced three punts while Gutierrez
was in the game. But the redshirt junior quarterback did
get the opportunity to show off his speed, taking off for
an Il-yard scramble at the start of the fourth quarter.
Although Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said Mike Hart,
who has been nursing a hamstring injury for the last few
weeks, was capable of playing in Saturday's win, the
sophomore running back didn't play any snaps. Instead,
freshman Kevin Grady got the start and the majority of
the carries. Grady finished with 94 yards on just 14 car-
ries - a whopping 6.7 yards per carry.
On one play in the second quarter, Grady swept to his
left where he was hit and appeared to go down for a mini-
mal gain. But 230-pound back kept churning his legs and
burst out the other side of the pile. That run was good for
Ga
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
V