The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - 9A,
Mathews errs
below the belt
By KEVIN WRIGHT
Daily Sports Editor
A rash decision may rob Michigan
wide receiver Greg Mathews of a
start against Notre Dame.
The sopho- NOTEBOOK
more appeared
to kick Oregon
safety Matthew Harris in the groin
after Harris tackled Mathews in the
fourth quarter.
Mathews had just caught a 5-yard
pass, his lone reception of the game.
A brief tussle ensued, but Michigan
captain Jake Long quickly stepped in
to keep the scuffle from escalating.
"Certainly it's nothing we're
proud of," Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr said. "Greg is not proud of it.
We don't want it, and we won't tol-
erate it."
Carr didn't comment on pos-
sible disciplinary action other than
acknowledging that Mathews's
decision was "not excusable and not
acceptable."
Even though Carr left Mathews's
status unclear, the updated depth
chart for Saturday's game lists
Mathews "or" freshman Toney
Clemons as one of the three starting
wide receivers.
LEGAL TROUBLE: Defensive tackle
Marques Slocum has been charged
with a minor in possession of alco-
hol stemming from an incident on
Aug. 30, according to The Ann Arbor
News.
The redshirt freshman hasn't
dressed for the Wolverines' first two
games and will be arraigned in court
next week.
NOT SO SUPER MARIO: Carr didn't
go so far as to call out junior wide
receiver Mario Manningham, but he
voiced his displeasure.
"I don't think he's played as well
as he can," Carr said.
Manningham has caught 11 pass-
es for 193 yards but no touchdowns
in two games.
"I think he's done some very good
things," Carr said. "I just think that
he's capable of playing better, and
I'm confident that he will."
ALUMNI REACTION: Michigan fans
aren't the only ones taking the 0-2
start hard. Former Wolverine play-
ers have also been shocked by the
first two games.
Wide receiver Adrian Arrington
said he's already talked to former
Wolverines Charles Woodson and
Braylon Edwards.
Woodson lost two games in a row
during his sophomore campaign in
1996. The Wolverines dropped back-
to-back decisions to Purdue and
Penn State. Edwards lost the last two
games of his Michigan career to Ohio
State and Texas in the Rose Bowl.
Safety Brandent Englemon added
that Marcus Ray, who played on
the 1997 National Championship
Wolverine defense, encouraged the
secondary to play with a Michigan
defense's characteristic toughness.
Darnell Hood, who starred as a
special team gunner the past four
years, said he's called many of his
former teammates to offer his sup-
port.
"It'snothingtosmile about,"Hood
said. "We want to definitely address
the situation as alumni. I'm not too
happy about it. No one wants to see
Michigan lose. I'm looking forward
to the weekend. I have good faith in
my guys that they are going to turn
the season around."
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS: The
Detroit Free Press reported that
quarterback Chad Henne will be out
two to three weeks with a leg injury.
Carr said after the Oregon game
that Henne would return before the
end of the season.
Unbeaten 'M'
declaws Golden
Grizzlies in three
ANGELAtCESERE/Daily
Freshman Ryan Mallett will face another five-star freshman quarterback in Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen this Saturday. It will be Mallett's first career start.
First career start will be
talorder, for fresh-man QB.
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
ROCHESTER - Georgia volley-
ball coach Joel McCartney wanted to
soften his team's schedule in his first
year as coach - so he pulled out of
this weekend's Michigan/Nike Invi-
tational, leaving Michigan volleyball
coach Mark Rosen with one fewer
opponent on his schedule.
Rosen, who normally fills his
team's schedule a year in advance,
called Oakland University coach Rob
Beam to set up a home-and-home
series.
Even though Oakland hosted the
first match, No. 10 Michigan swept
the Golden Grizzlies (30-21, 30-24,
30-27) .last night. It was the Wolver-
ines' first non-conference match out-
side of invitational play in two years.
This season, Michigan (9-0) has
already defeated traditional power-
house No. 15 Hawaii in Honolulu and
come back to beat Xavier after falling
behind two games to none.
As most expected, Oakland (4-7)
wasn't able to provide much of a chal-
lenge.
The Golden Grizzlies, who empha-
size speed over power, could rarely
dig the Wolverines' strongest kill
attempts. Michigan's middle block-
ers, senior Lyndsay Miller and junior
Beth Karpiak, led the team with kill
percentages of .500 and .450.
"Their physicality when they're in
system is really hard for us to com-
pete with," Oakland coach Rob Beam
said.
Miller had a kill percentage of
.846 through two games, higher than
Michigan's all-time single-game
record of .808, but she hit -.143 in the
third game.
Beam said the Golden Grizzlies
cut the margin of defeat in each game
because they improved on blocking
Michigan's middle hitters and dou-
ble-blockingthe outside hitters.
Although playing Oakland wasn't
Rosen's first choice,he used the match
to give some of his lesser-played ath-
letes experience. Sophomore Megan
Bower saw action in the front row,
sophomore Cassie Petoskey played
the right side in game two and junior
Liz Raschke had extensive time at
setter in the third game.
Rosen said the match was also good
for learning to deal with unfamiliar
crowd noise. When the Wolverines
played in front of 7,343 fans in Hawaii,
Rosen said it was hard to distinguish
individual voices in the crowd. Last
night, several Oakland fans had mega-
phones and Rosen said it was easy to
hear their individual taunts.
It was also a chance for Michigan
to deal with a different style of play.
Although the Wolverines dominated
almost every statistical category
- 59-41 in kills, 57-29 in assists and
62-47 in digs - Rosen said the team
didn't really feel like it was com-
manding the match because of the
Golden Grizzlies' slower pace.
"It's very subtle," Rosen said. "It's
really hard to notice unless you're on
the court, and then it's really hard to
get into a rhythm. It's like dancing
to a bad beat - you don't have any
rhythm to it."
Although they had trouble getting
a tempo going last night, the Wol-
verines had a fast-paced start to the
season. Their 9-0 record is the sec-
ond-best start in program history,
behind last year's 13-0 start.
By SCOTT BELL
Daily Sports Editor
Meet Ryan Mallett: the con-
fident five-star prospect dubbed
Michigan football's next great
quarterback.
Last year, Michigan wrestled
the 6-foot-7 signal caller away
from the Texas and finally found
the highly touted recruit it was
searching for to replace Chad
Henne.
The plan was all set: After a
year of learning under Henne,
Mallett would be ready to take
over the reins at one of the biggest
football programs in the nation
next season.
But now, just two games into
his freshman year, Mallett isn't
waiting to be the man - he is the
man.
Henne's lower-leg injury suf-
fered last weekend against Ore-
gon will sideline Michigan's only
starting quarterback in four years
until further notice.
So, ready or not, Mallett will
make his first career start Satur-
day against rival Notre Dame.
"This test, of course, will be
different than any test he's had,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"He's going to make some mis-
takes, and he's going to learn
some things. But I can guarantee
you he's not intimidated by any-
thing. That's one of the things I
like about him."
Mallett enrolled at Michigan
in January, along with two other
freshmen, so he could get a head
start on conditioning and learning
the playbook.
The Texarkana, Tex., native
suffered some growing pains early
on, experiencing a heavy dose of
homesickness. But as time passed
and Mallett became more com-
fortable at Michigan, he saw his
early enrollment paying major
dividends.
"I think it's given me a great
opportunity to develop my game
and bond with some of my team-
mates, so I think it was good,"
Mallett said last month at Michi-
gan Media Day.
As a blue-chip recruit, Mallett
had heard his fair share of praise
entering the college ranks. Early
on, there was some concern the
accolades had gone to Mallett's
head.
"We tried to get him off that
high, but that's how every player
is," Henne said at Big Ten Media
Day. "They come in and they're
All-American this and All-
American that, and you
get into college and you're
like 'Oh, everybody's an F
All-American.' I think he ,
finally realized that and stepped
back."
Not everyone thought Mallett
needed to calm down, though.
"I love Mallett; I love how he
is," captain Mike Hart said last
month at Big Ten Media Day.
"He has a swagger about himself
where he knows he's going to be
the best - he wants to be the best.
He's going to be a great leader."
Hart's prediction already
showed signs of coming true last
Saturday. Wide receiver Adrian
Arrington said Mallett did a good
jobstayingcalmandtakingcontrol
of the huddle, and Carr praised the
true freshman's poise at his press
conference on Monday.
Since coming to Michigan,
Mallett appears to have found
the middle ground between what
Henne and Hart want from him.
Another senior leader, captain
Jake Long, said the Oregon game
was a perfect example.
"He's definitely matured in
the short period of time he's been
here," Long said. "You could see it
in practice, and I saw it in (Satur-
day's) game. That's one of his good
qualities. He can be humbled, and
he's learned how to take criticism,
step back at times. He's becom-
ing a better leader and a better
player."
Onthe field, Mallett'sdebut was
forgettable. The man who once
threw a football 87 yards in the air
managed just 49 yards on 6-of-17
passing. He also lost a fumble and
threw an interception.
The poor results may be the
result of Mallett throwing the
ball a tad too hard, according to
Arrington, who ruined a pair of
receiver gloves playing catch with
the fireball-throwing Mallett this
summer.
Despite the slow start and being
thrust into the spotlight sooner
than expected, if there's a fresh-
man the team needs to perform;
early, there are few better pre-
pared for the role than Mallett.
Just ask Henne, who was thrust
into a similar position his fresh-
man year.
"Ryan has so much potential,"
Henne said last month. "If he
develops the right way in the next
four years, he'll probably be the
best ever to come through Michi-
gan.
Subpar play disappointing for Wolverines
By RYAN PODGES
For the Daily
After winning its first tourna-
ment in twoyearslast Saturday,the
Michigan men's golf team felt con-
fident. And two days after the big
win, the Wolverines hit the links
again at the two-day Inverness
Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio.
But after a poor first round on
Monday, Michigan couldn't build
on Saturday's big win as it placed
15th in the 16-team field.
Michigan finished with a team
score of 909, one stroke out of
14th place and 47 strokes behind
tournament champion Florida
State. Junior Bill Rankin was
the top Wolverine, tying for 36th
place a three-round total score of
225, 12 strokes over par. Rankin
has led the team in both tourna-
ments this season. Senior co-cap-
tain Tim Schaetzel finished 50th
(227).
Senior co-captain Brian Otten-
weller and freshman Lion Kim
tied for 57th (229).
Despite playing in its second
tournament in four days, the team
still felt mentally and physically
prepared for competition.
"We came in with a bunch of
confidence and (were) hoping to
carry that over into this tourna-
ment," Michigan coach Andrew
Sapp said. "Our players are used
to playing multiple days in tour-
naments. Mentally, when you're
playing well, you want to keep
playing, but we just did not play
well."
Michigan teed off against a
difficult field that included No. 5
Oklahoma State, No. 6 University
of Nevada- Las Vegas and No. 9
Florida. After a disappointing first
round score of 307, the Wolverines
made a ten-stroke improvement in
the second round before finishing
with a third-round 305.
"We hung in there on the tough
holesbutwe'rereallydisappointed
(with the tournament) because we
had a chance to play some peren-
nial powers," Sapp said. "Inverness
is a difficult golf course that can
really beat you up if you don't bring
your A-game."
Inverness has hosted four U.S.
Open Championships and two PGA
championships since it opened in
1903.
The Wolverines will have time
to improve before their next tour-
nament, the Wolf Run Intercol-
legiate on Sept. 22. Sapp said his
squad will learn from the mistakes
made over the past four days.
"We need to look at every play-
er's performance," he said, "each
individual component, like miss-
ing putts or poor tee shots, needs
individual attention. We're going
to have to practice a lot."