Wednesday November 16, 2005 sports. michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com PORTSigFn Bailt 9 What you missed at orientation T here are a few major mile- implications. stones in every Michigan This year is no exception. The student's life. Your first day winner stays alive in the Big Ten alone in the dorms, after your par- race, pending the outcome of the ents have said goodbye. Your first Penn State game later that evening. blue book test. Your 21st The loser will lick its birthday. Commence- wounds, swallow its ment. pride and pack its bags But in my mind - and K.'for central Florida or in the minds of those San Antonio. who truly bleed Maize But Michigan-Ohio and Blue - a landmark State is about much event stands above all of more than jockeying those. $ยข.for position in the Big The Game. Ten standings. It's about In a heartbeat, I can unbridled intensity, or conjure up images of MATT perhaps outright hatred. my first Michigan-Ohio SINGER It's about players deliv- State game in 2003. I Spit ing Fie ering vicious bone- remember the deliri- crushing hits, when they Willis Barringer hopes that he and his teammates will be able to smother the Ohio State receivers. The trio poses a threat in Saturday's big game. Bombs away:Drea for Smi 'D' 0 th ous excitement building up over the previous week, culminating in a nearly sleepless Friday night before the game. And then, finally, it was game day. On an average football Saturday, Ann Arbor is something to behold. From the packed pregame parties on State Street to the masses of human- ity heading down Hoover on their way to the Big House, there's a spe- cial feeling in the air. But, for all the freshmen and sophomores who have yet to experi- ence a Wolverine-Buckeye clash - you ain't seen nothin' yet. The morning of Nov. 22, 2003 (I can remember the date without look- ing it up), I woke up at 8 a.m. to toss around a football with my friend in front of South Quad. When we went outside, we were greeted by an unbelievable cacophony of sound. Music blaring. People screaming. The unmistakable crash of breaking glass at the Beta house car-smash. State Street was already packed. Eight in the morning, and I felt like I was the last Michigan student to crawl out of bed. The uncommonly wild party scene is just one aspect of the excep- tional nature of the Michigan-Ohio State matchup. Sufficiently liquored up and hyped for the game, most stu- dents actually arrive early, an almost unheard of phenomenon in the Big House. And then, of course, there's the main event. This year's meeting is the 102nd between Michigan and Ohio State. ESPN has called it the greatest rivalry in sports. Nationally, The Game is the most anticipated col- lege football matchup of the season, dominating sports-talk radio all across the country. And that's for good reason - every time these two premiere programs meet, there are conference or national title normally would be content with merely pushing their opponents out of bounds. It's about the coronation of heroes; about Desmond Howard returning a punt 93 yards for a score and breaking out the Heisman pose, about Chris Perry picking up 209 total yards despite a busted ham- string. In short, for Michigan students especially, it's an experience like few others in life. Anyone who was in the Big House in 2003 can attest to that. Be prepared to scream like mad for four hours, wear your heart on your sleeve and, if you're lucky, end up where I did two years ago. After John Navarre's kneel-down ended the 35-21 Michigan victory to send the Big House into a frenzy, I slowly wound my way down from my seats in row 94. It took me 15 minutes, but I finally hopped the fence and made it to the Michigan Stadium turf. There, I celebrated with thousands of my fellow stu- dents, an experience no Michigan student should leave Ann Arbor without. Just how incredible is The Game? This year's matchup should techni- cally be my last one. But in order to see just one more Michigan-Ohio State game, I'm applying to a grad school program that would keep me in Ann Arbor forone extra year. If I get accepted, I'll be able to watch the 2007 battle. Pathetic? Yes. Understandable? You be the judge. But whether or not you're willing to extend your academic career for it, make sure to soak in the atmosphere on Saturday - you'll remember it for the rest of your life. - Matt Singer gets teary-eyed watching the 2003 Michigan-Ohio State DVD. He can be reached *47 Sr By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Writer Santonio Holmes: 42 receptions for 781yards and nine touchdowns. Ted Ginn Jr.: 34 for 547 and three. Arhpny .Gonzalez: 23 for 283 and three. Together, Ohio State's trio of top receivers accounts for over 58 per- cent of the team's total offense and more than 81 percent of the team's passing attack. The three of them have helped transform Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith - who was once thought of more as a running back who can throw - into one of the most feared dual-threat signal callers in the Big Ten. For Michigan, this threat presents one of the defense's biggest chal- lenges in Saturday's big game. "They've got some great receiv- ers," said Michigan free safety Wil- lis Barringer, who is originally from Ohio. "They've been making plays 41 season. (Smith) works well in conjunction with them. He is a great running quarterback and a great throwing quarterback, so we've got to go out there and try to stop them." Identifying the receivers as an area of focus is the easy part. But stopping them is easier said than done. Ginn is one of the fastest players in all of college football and was one of the front-runners for the Heisman trophy at the beginning of the season. Free safety is often considered the leader of the defense, and Bar- ringer will be expected to help lead the charge against Ginn and the rest of the Buckeyes' receivers. But Barringer missed a large chunk of Michigan's season this, year with an injury he suffered dur-; ing the team's loss to Minnesota on' Oct. 8. He had to sit on the sideline and watch as Minnesota running back Gary Russell broke off a 60- yard run to win the game in the final minute. When Barringer was first injured, it was unclear how long it would take for the safety to get back on the field. Even though backups Jamar Adams and Brandon Harrison filled in admirably - Harrison even had an interception against both Iowa and Northwestern - Barringer wanted to get back on the field as quickly as possible. "You always want to come back because you're a competitor," Bar- ringer said. "Mike (Gittleson, Mich- igan's strength, and conditioning coach) helped me out a lot, and I came back as quick as I could." The funny thing is that Barrin- ger's injury might actually have helped Michigan in the long run. The experience that the young safe- ties have gotten gave the team more depth in the secondary, something that the Wolverines might desper- ately need against Ohio State's receiving corps. "It's always good for younger See BARRINGER, page 10 Freshman just keeps Looks like dej& vu all over again for Icers 0 0 imnproving By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer Freshman point guard Jerret Smith doesn't concern himself with what his stat line reads. His focus is on helping the Michigan men's bas- ketball team win in any way that he can. But, at the Maize and Blue scrimmage last month, Smith didn't look as though he was quite ready to make an impact this year. As the point guard, Smith had trouble han- dling the ball, throwing several lazy passes that resulted in turnovers and easy buckets going the other way. At times, he looked overwhelmed by the speed of the game and couldn't find a com- fort zone. But Smith didn't let the sub-par performance get him down. "It was a, 'Welcome to college basketball,' " Smith said. "It was good for me, but at the same time it was a learning lesson. This isn't high school anymore." When the Wolverines returned to the hardcourt on Nov. 5 for their first exhibition game against Grand Valley State, Smith looked remarkably better. He showed signs that he could contribute early to a team that returns guards Daniel Horton and Dion Harris, who both have experience at the point. H. JOSE BOSCH ON ICE HOCKEY The Michigan hockey team is back at the top of the national polls this week - just in time for the 13th annual College Hockey Showcase against No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 10 Minnesota next weekend in Ann Arbor. But the Wolverines' less-than-impressive record as the No. 1 team in the nation over the past two seasons (2-4-1) doesn't bode well. Plus, the team's performance in last season's Showcase might be an indicator that Michigan will be in for a tough stretch of games in the next month. Sporting a 9-2-1 record last season, then-No. 1 Michigan traveled to then-No. 3 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin on Thanksgiving week- end and dropped both contests by a combined score of 8-2. Despite the disappointing weekend, the Wolverines went on to win nine of their next 10 games and never looked back the rest of the season. But their two series after the Showcase were home-and-homes against Notre Dame and Bowling Green, the Fighting Irish finished dead last in the CCHA and the Falcons finished in the middle of the pack. Games against Michi- gan Tech, Michigan State, Western Michigan and Alaska-Fairbanks allowed Michigan to gain momentum going into a tough road series against Ohio State. This season, the Wolverines are in the same cr4.. .nfnn antien n ln, mnrcarecrt whebn College, the 11 freshmen on the team have done anything and everything to prove to themselves and the nation that they can step up in the big games and the upperclassman have been doing a commendable job helping the younger players acclimate to Division I college hockey. Playing in front of a home crowd will be a decidedly bigger advantage for the Wolverines as opposed to last year when they traveled to Minnesota and Wisconsin. To win back-to-back games against two of the top programs in the nation, Michigan must improve its five-on-five play. Through 11 games, the Wolverines have scored two more power- play goals than even-strength goals. Although boasting the nation's third-best power-play per- centage hasn't hurt the team, its two power-play goals in 16 chances against Northern Michigan this past weekend may mean that special teams are cooling down. Even though Wisconsin is No. 8 and Minne- sota just No. 18 in the county in penalty killing, Michigan cannot rely solely on the power play all season. Staying out of the penalty box is one way the Wolverines can tally more even-strength goals. They are No. 6 in the nation in penalty killing, but just four teams in the top-20 have commit- ted more penalties than Michigan. The ability to concentrate on attacking the opposing net rather than defending their own zone will no doubt make the Wolverines a much more dan- gerous team next weekend. In recentt rnoct the tNn 1 taur hawnoit lhe.in a SHUBHA OHMi/L)aily Slowly but surely freshman Jerret Smith is becoming a big contributor to the Michigan basketball team.