The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 25, 2007 -- 5A
Buckeyes face
tough test in
Happy Valley
ANGELA CESERE/Da
Redshirt freshman Steve Schilling and the rest of the Michigan offensive line have had to deal with a myriad of injuries throughout this season.
M' deals with injured line
By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan football team
has thrived on turnovers this
season. The Wolverines have
forced more fumbles and inter-
cepted more passes than any
other Big Ten team.
But there's a different kind
of turnover that has plagued
Michigan this season.
The offensive line has just
one member who has played the
same position through all eight
games of this season - cap-
tain Jake Long. The senior has
started every game at left tackle
for the past two-plus seasons, a
string of 25 straight games.
The rest of the line, however,
has struggled with injuries and
consistency throughout the
year.
The problems began with
the right side of the line. Pre-
sumed starter Alex Mitchell
was injured before the season,
and the coaches didn't expect
him back for several weeks.
But after replacement Jeremy
Ciulla went down with an inju-
ry against Appalachian State,
Mitchell returned and played
against Oregon and Notre
Dame. He was injured again
against Penn State, though, and
just a couple plays after Ciulla
came in to replace Mitchell,
Ciulla was on the ground with
injury again. Mitchell returned,
but re-injured himself later in
the same game.
At that point Michigan was
down to its third-string right
guard, redshirt sophomore Tim
McAvoy. While he performed
admirably in his teammates'
absence for the second half
against Penn State and then in
his first career start at North-
western, the Wolverine coaches
weren't getting the production
they wanted from the position.
Before facing Eastern Michi-
gan, the coaches decided they
preferred shuffling the deck to
playing with worse cards.
Right tackle Steve Schilling,
who had started every game
of the season to that point at
right tackle, moved over one
spot to guard, and junior Mark
Ortmann replaced Schilling at
tackle.
For Schilling, the switch was
tough.
"Two weeks ago, three weeks
ago, when he got his first start
at guard, it was not something
that he relished," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said Monday.
"There's a degree of feeling
comfortable that he didn't have
then."
Schilling never complained
aboutthe switch, but he did note
that shifting to guard brought
with it some challenges.
"There's some things that are
difficult," Schilling said after
his first start at guard against
Eastern Michigan. "As far as
assignment-wise, it's not as dif-
ficult, but technique-wise, as
far as pass blocking, it's a little
bit different."
With Ciulla's return to the
lineup against Illinois, Schilling
has moved back to his original
spot at tackle, where he's more
comfortable.
But the experience the sopho-
more gained at guard will prove
invaluable.
"I think eventually Schilling
could end up at guard," Carr
said after the game against Pur-
due. "He could be a great guard
or a great tackle. (He's) started
at both guard and tackle, and I
think in the long run that will
be a great thing for his develop-
ment because he'll understand
what the guy next to him is
doing because he's done it, not
because he sees it on film."
The left side hasn't been
immune to the switching,
though.
The season started with
senior Adam Kraus entrenched
as the left guard and sophomore
Justin Boren playing center. But
when quarterback Chad Henne
had to sit out with injury, fresh-
man quarterback Ryan Mallett's
insertion into the lineup shook
things up.
Mallett fumbled two snaps
against Notre Dame, and after
the second one, the coaches
switched Boren and Kraus.
Carr attributed the switch to
the fact that Boren is left-hand-
ed, which changes the center-
quarterback exchange.
But another reason might
have been simpler.
"Sometimes you got to.
remember to get the snap up
every time," Boren said. "Just
concentrate on getting the ball
up. Ryan worked a couple dif-
ferent things with his hands
and I think he finally got it
down, with some little stuff like
interlocking his thumbs ... Basi-
cally as the center you just got
to make sure it's in the middle
where he can get it. Other than
that, it's pretty easy."
Boren switched back to center
against Penn State, and Mallett
fumbled just one snap against
the Nittany Lions. The troubles
returned against Illinois, how-
ever. Mallett fumbled two of his
limited snaps, and Kraus was
switched back to center while
Mallett was in the game.
The constant shuffling of the
line has had its costs. Running
back Mike Hart has already lost
more yards from scrimmage
this season than he has in any
other of his career. Henne has
been hurt twice, and was seem-
ingly knocked down every time
he dropped back in the second
half against Illinois.
With Michigan undefeated
in the Big Ten but trailing Ohio
State overall, the Wolverines
can't afford any losses down the
stretch of their season.
The same can be said of the
offensive line.
By MARK GIANNOTTO
Daily Sports Writer
What do you know? The
famous saying "the more things
change, the more they stay the
same" rings true once again.
Five weeks have passed in the
Big Ten conference race, and the
top of the standings has a famil-
iar ring to it. Just like last year,
Michigan and Ohio State are the
only two teams in the Big Ten
without a conference loss. In
fact, the Wolverines and Buck-
eyes are the only Big Ten teams
to have fewer than two losses
within the Big Ten.
But don't go circling Nov. 17
- the date No. 1 Ohio State and
No. 19 Michigan will play - as
the deciding game in the confer-
ence race just yet.
We all know what lies ahead
for the Wolverines - road games
with Michigan State and Wis-
consin - but the Buckeyes have
a test of their own when they
travel to State College to face
No. 25 Penn State and its notori-
ously raucous home crowd Sat-
urday night. A loss there, and
the Big Ten race becomes wide
open again.
So without further adieu,
here's the two Big Ten games
you should be aware of heading
into the weekend.
No. 1 Ohio State at No. 25
Penn State, 8 p.m. - ABC
I'm not really sure what to
make of this Ohio State team.
It clearly isn't as good as the
2006 version led by Troy Smith
and Ted Ginn, Jr. And yet eight
weeks into the 2007 season,
their records are identical.
Part of that is because of the
soft schedule the Buckeyes have
navigated through. Their most
impressive win up to this point
is probably last week's 24-17vic-
tory over Michigan State.
And in that game, some of
Ohio State'sdeficiencies were
finally revealed. After building
a 24-0 lead midway through the
third quarter, Buckeye quarter-
back Todd Boeckman threw an
interception and lost a fumble
on consecutive possessions,
both of which were returned for
Spartan touchdowns.
Both were caused by pressure
from Michigan State's front
seven, revealing a sieve in the
Ohio State offensive line that
nobody knew about. So expect
a lot of blitzes Saturday from
the Nittany Lions' talented line-
backing corps led by senior Dan
Connor.
But Ohio State's offense
doesn't need to be perfect - not
with a defense allowing just six
points per contest, excluding
Michigan State's two scores off
giveaways.
That doesn't bode well for a
Penn State offense led by incon-
sistent quarterback Anthony
Morelli, who hasn't progressed
as many thought he would as a
senior. And it can't help that the
Nittany Lions starting running
back at the beginning of the sea-
son - senior Austin Scott - is
suspended indefinitely because
of impending rape charges.
But lest we forget, the last
time Ohio State stepped into the
unfriendly confines of Beaver
Stadium in 2005, it lost a 17-10
heartbreaker at night that cata-
pulted Penn State to the Big Ten
title that year. After the game,
Buckeye apologist and ESPN
analyst Kirk Herbstreit called
the Nittany Lions' faithful "the
best home-field advantage in
the country."
Since becoming coach at Ohio
State, Jim Tressel has lost two
of three in Happy Valley, and
something tells me Saturday
will make it three out of four.
Troy Smith had trouble han-
dling the crowd two years ago,
so I certainly don't trust Boeck-
man against the boisterous
Penn State faithful, who will be
liquored up and wild under the
bright lights. This could be the
defining moment for Morelli,
the second-best quarterback
in the Big Ten from the state
of Pennsylvania behind Chad
Henne, of course.
Penn State 20, Ohio State
14
Indiana at Wisconsin, Noon
- Big Ten Network
The Badgers are the perfect
example of underestimating the
importance of a veteran quar-
terback. They collected all sorts
of preseason accolades because
they returned so many starters
from a one-loss team a year ago.
But everyone forgot about
quarterback John Stocco. While
not overly impressive, Stocco
kept pass defenses honest a year
ago and allowed running back
P.J. Hill to run wild.
Although Hill has amassed
more than 1,000 yards already
this season, he couldn't crack
100 yards in either of Wis-
consin's consecutive losses to
Illinois and Penn State. In the
defeats, new quarterback Tyler
Donovan was far from impres-
sive, throwing two intercep-
tions in both games.
The Badgers rebounded last
week against Northern Illinois,
but a loss against the Hoosiers
eliminates any chance of return-
ing to the Big Ten title race. A
win, coupled with my predicted
Ohio State upset, puts the Bad-
gers right back in it with upcom-
ing games against the Buckeyes
and Michigan.
I don't expect Wisconsin to
overlook the very capable Hoo-
siers, especially after its 38-7
thrashing at the hands of the
Nittany Lions two weeks ago.
Indiana quarterback Kellen
Lewis will surely make things
interesting with his multi-
dimensional game as a passer
and runner. But I think the
Badgers realize they have the
opportunity to redeem them-
selves in upcoming weeks, so
overconfidence shouldn't be an
issue.
Wisconsin 31, Indiana 17
Quick hits
Expect Iowa to take advan-
tage of visiting Michigan State.
The Spartans will be looking
ahead to next week's matchup
with measuring stick Michigan.
Look for Purdue to get its usual
victory over an inferior team
like Northwestern. And Illinois
should get back on track against
David Letterman's alma mater,
Ball State.
Shutout Sperry leads Blue in win
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
-- _ _.- _ _ _ . ... _.
Less than a minute into dou-
ble overtime, junior Jake Stacy
provided the Michigan men's
soccer team with something it
had been sorely lacking - a big
win against a top opponent.
Seconds earlier, Stacy passed
the ball to sophomore forward
Matt Schmitt. Schmitt made a
nearly impossible turn at the
goal line to keep control, then
sent the ball back to Stacy.
Stacy caught both Akron goal-
ie Evan Bush and his defender
unprepared.
"I beat my defender and the
goalie was out of position, so
I just put it in the goal," Stacy
said. "It felt awesome."
And just like that, Michigan
recorded an impressive 1-0 vic-
tory over No. 17 Akron (10-3-2).
It was junior goalkeeper Pat-
rick Sperry's eighth shutout of
the season, setting another new
single-season shutout record.
Sperry broke his old record of
six with his shutout against
Northwestern Saturday.
Stacy's goal marked the first
time Michigan had scored since
lastWednesday's S-2win against
Bowling Green.
"This had all the makings of
an NCAA Tournament game,
and that's how we billed it to
our guys," Michigan coach Steve
Burns said.
Last night's game was on
track to becoming a repeat of
the Northwestern game, which
ended in a scoreless draw.
Neither team could mount an
extended attack, even with Sper-
ry at his best. His finest moment
came at the end of regulation.
With most of the crowd
already heading to the conces-
sion stand and just seconds left
on the clock, Akron drove on the
goal. Zip forward Steve Zakuani
dribbled the ball toward Sper-
ry's left, then suddenly passed
to a teammate at the far post.
Sperry dove all the way to the
other side of the goal to keep
the game scoreless and send it to
overtime.
"It really helps to get the
shutouts against two top-
ranked opponents," Sperry said.
"It looks good for us, and we're
going to carry that into a big
win, hopefully, against a good
Ohio State team on Saturday."
Though at times Michigan's
play was rough, the team made
up for any deficiencies with
effort, gutting out more than
100 minutes of scoreless play.
Burns chose junior midfielder
Danny Gray as his man of the
match, reflecting the Wolver-
ines' fighting spirit.
"He did a great job, a tremen-
dous job," Burns said. "He was
tough, he gave us the steal in
the middle of the midfield that
we needed, his distribution was
great and he really just was a
force to be reckoned with in that
spot on the field."
As soon as Stacy's shot found
the back of the net, all the ten-
sion among the Michigan play-
ers and fans evaporated. The
Wolverines (10-4-2) poured
gleefully onto the field to cel-
ebrate the victory over a ranked
opponent.
And it couldn't have come at a
better time. Michigan needs all
the confidence and momentum
it can get going into Saturday's
game. The Wolverines travel
to Columbus to take on their
archrival, No. 25 Ohio State.
"Ohio State is a team that has
a lot of confidence and a lot of
weapons, both offensively and.
defensively," Burns said. "We're
really taking this same atmo-
sphere that we had tonight (to)
Columbus, Ohio, and it's going
to be a great one."
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