0 6 - The Michigan Daily - Football Saturday -- November 19, 2005 He Shal Overcome Things haven't always been easy for Prescott Burgess. If they had been, he might not be who he is today. By Gabe Edelson * Daily Sports Writer The Michigan Daily - Football a ie roIfa B dIu STAFF PICKS Predictions against the spread for 11/19/05 No. 9 Ohio State (-3) at No. 17 Michigan prescott Burgess had been aching all season for an interception. "Just wait for one of those days when I get a pick," Burgess said after Michigan beat Iowa 23- 20 in overtime on Oct. 22. "I'll show you all what I'm really about." His chance came last week against Indiana. Burgess dropped into coverage and snared an errant pass from Hoosiers quarterback Blake Pow- ers. The linebacker sprinted 21 yards toward the end zone, but 315-pound Indiana left guard Adam Hines squared up and leveled Burgess 16 yards shy of the goal line. "I wasn't expecting it," the junior explained. "I was a little tired the play before, but in this day and age, you have to play through tiredness.... I hadn't gotten (an interception this year). I was (thinking touchdown). My teammates said I should've cut all the way back, but things happen." Many things have happened to Burgess in his 21 years. Some have been tragic, others uplifting. But, no matter how great the odds stacked against him have been, Burgess has managed to remain resilient. So when the Warren, Ohio, native found himself on his back, courtesy of Hines, on Saturday, there was just one thing Burgess knew how to do: hop back up. That's exactly what he did, jumping around and celebrating with his teammates. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd found himself on the ground. And he certainly wasn't going to stay there. Ghosts and Heroes Burgess played basketball under Frank Bubba at Warren G. Harding High School. Player and coach quickly formed a strong and meaningful bond. "He changed my whole life," Burgess says. "Helped me be the person I am today. He just helped me out by showing me the ropes and guiding me." He also kept his pupil out of trouble. "When Prescott got (to high school), Coach Bubba took a real big interest in him," says Anthony Morgan, Burgess's 31-year-old cousin who played for Bubba's Raiders teams in the early 1990s. "He was like a father figure to him, a second father fig- ure to him. He helped him out, and he was there for him." All that changed on Jan. 24, 2002, in the middle of basketball season during Burgess's junior year at Harding. Bubba, who had been suffering from cystic fibrosis, died at the age of 52 from complica- tions stemming from pneumonia. The death devas- tated Burgess and the rest of the community. "That was a big blow," Morgan says. "Coach Bubba was a great man.... (The team) had a cou- ple more games to go. They pulled through. They still made a playoff run, but it was hard on the kids. Somebody is just there, physically teaching you, and, the next day, he's not. It was hard." Burgess considers himself lucky for the time he had with Bubba, whom he calls "a mentor in life and sports." It might be fair to say that Bubba has, to a great extent, helped make Burgess who he is today. On the other end of the spectrum is Korey String- er, another of Burgess's cousins. Burgess never got to know Stringer very well, but his impact on his younger relative remains deep. Stringer played offensive tackle for Ohio State and the NFL's Min- nesota Vikings before dying from heatstroke in 2001 at age 27. "I planned on getting to know him like I should've," Burgess says. "By me playing football, I'm just trying to follow in the right footsteps. And (Korey's) footsteps were some of the footsteps I would like to follow in. Hopefully, I can get to where he was at." a member of Michigan's front seven. The newly minted linebacker transformed from a wispy 215-pound freshman to a formidable 232-pound sophomore to his current rock-solid 243 pounds through lifting and eating right..Learning to cook was made easier living with 331-pound defensive tackle Gabe Watson. Burgess also shifted from inside to outside line- backer this season. "It was hard at first," says Burgess of shuffling positions. "Being at safety, you weren't used to get- ting a blocker on you right away. But I got used to it, and I'm loving it now. It really doesn't matter to me (where I'm playing), as long as I'm on the field and out there having fun." The experiment has been a smashing success. Burgess has made a name for himself this sea- son by laying out opponents with explosive hits. Despite having trouble shedding blockers early in the season, he currently sits third on the team with 67 tackles - just five behind co-leaders David Harris and Grant Mason - and ranks tied for first among Wolverines with two forced fumbles. Pretty good for a player who had a combined 42 tackles in 17 games heading into this season. "Prescott is a playmaker," linebacker Chris Graham says. "He's a hard guy who's going to go in there and fight each play. When Prescott's out there, I believe he's going to do his job. He's going to fight with all he has." Burgess seems to know what's expected of him. "My role is to bring some swagger and hard- nosed football into the program," Burgess says. "I am happy just bringing liveliness to the defense and just making plays when I know that it counts." There's No Place Like Home Though he spent all last year away from home, Morgan told Burgess not to come back to Ohio last summer. "He really didn't need to be back there in War- ren," Morgan says. "It's too much commotion. Somebody with his type of name, or just any kid, can get in trouble - just by hanging with the wrong people. I didn't want that for him, and I don't think he wants that for himself." Burgess had plenty of doubters in his hometown when he left for college. According to Morgan, some said Burgess would fail. That he wouldn't make it at Michigan. That he wouldn't "grade out." For his part, Burgess doesn't want to hear any of it. "I really don't pay attention to negative com- ments (in Warren)," Burgess says. "I do what I want to do. I make my own decisions, and my decision to come here was the best decision I ever made." Burgess still has his fair share of supporters back home, though. His football coach at Harding, Thom McDaniels, is a diehard Ohio State fan, but he's remained loyal to his former star player. "Every time I go home, I go see him," Burgess says of McDaniels. "The first thing he tells me is what I need to work on or the things I'm doing good. He's still behind me." Morgan is proud of his cousin's determination since coming to college, both in the classroom and on the field. "He's doing better than a lot of people thought he would," Morgan says. "He's got his grades together, (and) he's finally on the field playing. So everything is looking up for him. He's proving (his critics) wrong." In spite of all the adversity, Prescott Burgess has persevered. He's managed to fight through trying times and emerge as a success story. If he happens to fall to the Michigan Stadium turf on Saturday, you can bet he won't take much time to pick himself up. Gabe Edelson Michigan Ian Matt Herbert Venegoni No. 16 Fresno State (+23.5) at No. 1 Southern Cal Southern Cal Georgia Tech (+17.5) at No. 3 Miami No. 4 Louisiana State (-17) at Mississippi No. 5 Penn State (-7) at Michigan State Syracuse (+34.5) at No. 6 Notre Dame No. 7 Virginia Tech (-7) at Virginia No. 8 Alabama (+7) at No. 11 Auburn Oregon State (+13) at No~. 10 Oregon Kentucky (+27) at No. 14 Georgia Oklahoma (+7.5) at No. 21 Texas Tech Clemson (-2.5) at No. 19 South Carolina UAB (+7.5) at No. 24 UTEP Minnesota (+5) at Iowa Northwestern (-14.5) at Illinois Best Bet Record Miami Louisiana State Penn State Syracuse Virginia Tech Auburn Oregon Georgia Oklahoma South Carolina UTEP Minnesota Northwestern South Carolina 84-79-3(4-6) Ohio State Southern Cal Miami Mississippi Michigan State Notre Dame Virginia Tech Auburn Oregon Kentucky TexasTech South Carolina UTEP Iowa Northwestem South Carolina 79.84-3(4,6) Michigan Southern Cal Georgia Tech Louisiana State Perth State Notre Dame Virginia Tech Alabama Oregon Georgia Oklahoma South Carolina UTEP' Iowa Northwestern UTEP 83-80-3(46) Stephanie Wright Michigan Southern Ca Miami Lou siana Sta Penn State Syracuse Virginia Tech Alabama Gregor Georgia Oklahoma South Carolin UTEP Minnesota Northwesterr Oregon 83480-3 (5-5) . . ...... .. ............................. ...................... ........... . . ....... ...... Henne key to 'The Game' Linebacker Prescott Burgess intercepted Blake Powers in last week's win over Indiana. Burgess has been privileged to have admirable role models to look up to. Unfortunately, two were taken from him too soon. "They're gone, they're passed away, but I feel them right by my side, every time I'm going through hard times or when things are good," Burgess says of Bubba and Stringer. "They keep me motivated, knowing how good of people they were. (They) keep me motivated to keep going." A Young Buck Growing up in Warren, Burgess found himself in the heart of Buckeye country. Naturally, the son of Prescott Walters and Leslie Burgess was an Ohio State fan. "He loved Ohio State," Morgan says. "That's all he talked about, was, 'Ohio State this, Ohio State that.' " Burgess himself admits that he wasn't interested in Michigan until his junior year of high school. His cousin, Alfie Burch, played cornerback at Michigan from 1991-93. Burch made sure to plant Maize and Blue seeds in Burgess's mind with an eye to the future. "(Burch) used to tell me things about Michi- gan," Burgess says. "Back then, I was worried about playing high school football. But, after I was all done, it started to pop into my head. He helped me lean toward Michigan." The Wolverines pursued Burgess relentless- ly. According the Morgan, Michigan recruiters attended his football and basketball games, show- ing substantially more interest than the Buckeyes did in the five-star prospect. Strange, considering Burgess was ranked by Rivals.com as the nation's top safety and the sixth-best player in the entire country. Morgan, who claims to despise Ohio State, lobbied for his younger cousin to choose Ann Arbor over Columbus when it came time to pick a school. "I said, 'You ain't going nowhere but Michigan,' " Morgan says. Burgess ultimately selected Michigan over Ohio State, Florida, Notre Dame and Tennessee. He cites the University's academic reputation as a deciding factor. "I visited both (Michigan and Ohio State)," Burgess says. "My family sat down with me and told me, 'Pick the school where you know you'll get the best education.' And Michigan was the place for me." Hitting All Over the Field Another obstacle awaited Burgess when he arrived in Ann Arbor as a freshman. Coach Lloyd Carr decided to switch the standout safety to inside linebacker. It wasn't an easy transition. "(Moving) from safety to linebacker, that's a different world," Carr said in October. "He had a lot to learn. He had a lot of things to fight through because everything was new, and yet, he has fought through. I think he is learning how to play from the snap of the football to when the whistle blows." Burgess worked with strength and conditioning coach Mike Gittleson to bulk up so he would be able to sustain the extra pounding he would see as It's the 102nd meeting of the greatest rivalry in college sports. You don't have to be a native Midwesterner to appreciate what it means when these two storied programs meet. Ohio State comes in averaging over 40 points per game in its last four contests and sporting one of the best defenses in the country. But Michigan is on its own hot streak, winning four in a row and establishing a solid defense to go with a balanced offense. Michigan rushing offense vs. Ohio State rushing defense: In last week's 41-14 victory over Indiana, the fact that Mike Hart sat out the whole game was lost in the blowout win. Resting his myriad injuries, including a sprained ankle and sore hamstring, Hart tried to get back to 100 percent for the all-important rivalry game. If right tackle Jake Long returns from injury, he should cre- ate big holes for Hart to run through. All that sounds great, but the Buckeyes sport one of, if not the best, linebacking crews in the country. A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpen- ter and Anthony Schlegel represent a formidable task for the Wol- verines offensive line. Hawk and Carpenter blitz often, but their true abilities lie in stuffing the run and running sideline-to-side- line to chase down ballcarriers. But these are the games that make Michigan running backs. If Hart can be close to 100 percent, he'll have the ability and will to get 100 yards against Ohio State. Edge: Push Michigan passing offense vs. Ohio State passing defense: The key to this weekend's game probably will be the play of sophomore quarterback Chad Henne. If he can keep the Buckeyes honest, preventing them from placing an extra safety in the box, it could open running lanes for Hart. More importantly, he needs to go through his progressions rather than locking in on his primary target senior receiver Jason Avant. Part of Michigan's success depends on if the line can pick up the blitzing Ohio State lineback- ers. Henne has shown that, if given time, he can make the throws necessary to win big games. Hopefully for Michigan fans, redshirt junior Steve Breaston will be on the receiving end of a couple of the throws. Starting safety Donte Whitner is questionable for the game, which could be a help to the Michigan passing attack. But the Buckeyes are giving up just 198 yards through the air and just 14.8 points per game. Nate Salley provides big hits from the secondary while also helping with run defense. If Henne can get the ball to his playmakers, the Wolverines will be able to move the ball effec- tively against the stout defense. Edge: Michigan Ohio State passing offense vs. Michigan passing defense: Last year in Columbus, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith torched Michigan for 390 all-purpose yards. He's got the legs to beat the Wolverines if they let him, but he also has all the weapons: three receivers who are a threat to go deep every time they touch the ball. Santonio Holmes, Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez have combined for 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, giving Smith plenty of options. The Michigan secondary is as healthy as it's going to get - and the group has played exception- ally so far this year (see performances against Northwestern and Iowa and even Notre Dame as examples) - but the Ohio State receivers would be a test for just about any defensive secondary. Edge: Ohio State Ohio State rushing offense vs. Michigan rushing defense: At the beginning of the year, it looked as if running the ball with someone other than the quarterback was going to be a difficult chore for the Buckeyes. But running back Antonio Pittman has proven everyone wrong, running for more than 1,100 yards. Still, you have to figure that if the Wolverines can stop Smith from running, they should be able to control the ground attack. Last year, that would have seemed like an impossible task, but Michigan has been superb at containing mobile quarterbacks this year. Edge: Push Special teams: As much as everything else matters, this game could end up coming down to a long kickoff or punt return at a crucial moment. Last year, Ginn destroyed the Wolver- ines' dreams with a punt return for a touchdown. Last week, Breaston racked up 201 all-purpose yards, most of See MATCHUP, page 7 Quarterback Chad Henne's play may ve I ARE YOU A HEAl 18-55 YEARS OF You may qualify for UpC( studies conducted byth Ann Arbor. Studies last weeks. Payment for stui $600-$1200. You must no medications or have an' be a non-smoker or uigh A pre-screening proces information, call the Res 567-8804. Pfizer Researc Ann Arbor, MI 48105.