The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com k 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."