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10A - Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
In the middle, Ezeh leads defense
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
All summer, the Michigan
defense got a lot of hype - most of
it highlighting the veteran line and
secondary.
But when the Wolverines took
the field against Utah last Satur-
day, it was the leader of the unher-
alded linebacker corps X- redshirt
sophomore Obi Ezeh - who made
the biggest impact.
Ezeh recorded a career-high 15
tackles and had an interception
early in the third quarter, which
sparked the improved defensive
effort in the second half.
For his performance, Ezeh was
named the Big Ten Defensive Player
of the Week. Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez took notice, too, naming
Ezeh one of Michigan's players of
the game along with defensive line-
man Will Johnson.
"Obi is pretty solid, and that's
what we've seen in practice every
day out of him and Will," Michi-
gan coach Rich Rodriguez said..
"They seem to be pretty consis-
tent in practice, and they held that
through for the game."
Ezeh said it was hard to be excit-
ed by the accolades because the
team lost. But it's hard to ignore
how far the Grand Rapids native
has come in just one year.
"I kind of got thrown into the
fire a little bit last year, butI think
that allowed me to make greater
strides," Ezeh said last week.
"That's how you learn. You learn
a lot about yourself when you're
under a lot of stress. I feel like that
allowed me to handle this lead-
season.
But it's another former No. 45
for Michigan, linebacker David
Harris, now on the New York Jets,
who Ezeh tries to emulate every
time he steps on the field.
"That's the guy to be right now,"
Ezeh said. "So every day when I go
to practice or when I see pictures
of him on the wall I just think to
myself, 'that's the guy I'm trying
to be.' "
Now Ezeh is trying to set an
example for the rest of the Michi-
gan defense.
"He's real vocal," said sopho-
more cornerback Donovan War-
ren, Ezeh's roommate. "Last year
me and him, being first year start-
ers, we were just tryingto get a feel
for the game. But now Obi's really
stepped up into a real vocal leader
for the defense."
Ezeh's message to the less expe-
rienced linebackers on the team,
including Austin Panter, Marell
Evans and Jonas Mouton, is to be
persistent.
"Just-cover your ears and worry
about playing football," Ezeh said,
summarizing his ethos to report-
ers. "People are going to be saying
things in the media. People are
going to be saying things on cam-
pus. You just kind of got to ignore
everything and just do what you
got to do to be a better football
player."
It's a message steeped in experi-
ence for Ezeh. He felt the heat last
year when things weren't going
Michigan's way.
Butifhe chose to listentowhat's
being said about him now, the neg-
ativity would be hard to find.
RODRIGOGAYA/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Obi Ezeh's third quarter interception sparked an impressive defensive effort in the second half, in which the Wolverines held Utah to just three points.
ership role a lot better, knowing
what I went through."
After redshirtinge his first
year, Ezeh played in all 13 games
last season, starting 10 of them
and recording 68 tackles and
two sacks. He improved over the
course of the season, but upon
further review, Ezeh saw plenty
of room to grow.
"Going back and watching a lot
of the film, I would just be real
slow triggering," Ezeh said. "It all
comes down to me thinking too
much."
Ezeh who mainly played run-
ning back in high school, didn't
garner much attention from
recruiting services. When Ezeh
came to Michigan he moved to
linebacker - not exactly an easy
transition.
He credits former Michigan
linebackers Shawn Crable and
Chris Graham with helping him
develop at linebacker and putting
him in position to become a leader
in the middle of the defense this
Phelps giving bonus to foundation
With conference play nearing,
weekend lacks ranked matchups
NEW YORK (AP) - Michael
Phelps will put his $1 million bonus
to good use, announcing plans to
start a foundation promoting water
safety and youth swimming.
Joe Gromek, president and CEO
of Warnaco, Speedo's U.S. par-
ent company, presented a check to
Phelps on NBC's "Today" showyes-
terday.
The company, which has spon-
sored Phelps since he was 16, prom-
ised him a $1 million bonus if he
tied or broke Mark Spitz's record
for most gold medals at a single
Olympics. The swimmer eclipsed
the mark by winning eight golds at
the Beijing Games - seven of them
with world-record times.
Company spokeswoman Audra
Silverman said Speedo Interna-
tional and the Warnaco Foundation
will donate an additional $200,000
to the Michael Phelps Foundation.
He plans to launch his new foun-
dation with an eight-city tour.
"This is a way for me to really
help to grow the sport," Phelps said
during his appearance on "Today."
Speedo first offered the bonus
before the 2004 Athens Olympics,
but Phelps came up just short of the
record with six gold and two bronze
medals. He is now the winningest
at'hlete in Olympics history with 14
golds overall, five more than anyone
else, and will try to add to his total
at the 2012 London Games.
Phelps trained for the last four
years as a member of Club Wolver-
ine, an elite swim club based out of
Canham Natatorium. In that time,
he was also a volunteer assistant
coach of the Michigan men's swim-
ming and diving team in that time.
By GJON JUNCAJ and IAN KAY
Daily Sports Writers
This weekend's slate of col-
lege football games isn't for the
casual fan. There are no matchups
between ranked teams, but some
underdogs are salivating at the
chance to restore their reputation
and spoil potential national cham-
pionship campaigns.
Miami at No. 5 Florida
On the surface, this game seems
unwinnable for the Hurricanes.
Redshirt freshman Robert Marve
is making his first career start
under center - in a night game
at the Swamp, no less. And on the
other side of the ball, Florida wide
receiver Percy Harvin is expected
to play after recovering from off-
season heel surgery. Even if the
heel slows him down Saturday, his
backup, freshman Jeff Demps, has
eye-popping speed, too, running a
10.02 100-meter dash at this sum-
mer's Olympic trials. And Miami's
defense, which gave up 37.6 points
per game to ranked foes in 2007,
still has Heisman Trophy-win-
ning quarterback Tim Tebow to
shut down. Miami's 52-7 drubbing
of Charleston Southern last week.
was nice, but the first half against
Florida willtellyou everythingyou
need to know about what direction
the Hurricanes are headed. If the
Gators race out to a 14-point lead,
change the channel.
Prediction: Gators 37, Hurricanes
13
Stanford at No. 15 Arizona
State
After last week's win over
Oregon State, Stanford coach Jim
Harbaugh admitted his defense
got away with missed assignments
and mounting fatigue. That's a
terrifying omen as the Cardinal
travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face
senior quarterback and dark-
horse Heisman contender Rudy
Carpenter. But there's still a glim-
mer of hope for Stanford, which
proved its mental toughness in last
year's thrilling upset of Southern
Cal. This season, Cardinal junior
Toby Gerhart has already tallied a
career-high 147 rushing yards and
two touchdowns. Stanford needs
him to convert short-yardage
third downs to keep Carpenter
and standout senior wide receiver
Michael Jones off the field. But
when the offense has the ball, keep
an eye on the offensive line, which
surrendered a school record 55
sacks last year. Since Stanford is
outmatched in talent, it will have
to hope that Arizona State is look-
ing ahead to its Sept. 20 date with
No. 2 Georgia. But that's a danger-
ous assumption.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow should get speedster Percy Harvin back for this
weekend's game against Miami.
backs and the inside veer - the
Prediction: Sun Devils 41, Cardinal Ramblin' Wreck's flexbone is here
20 to stay.
Georgia Tech at Boston College
Georgia Tech's new triple-op-
tion attack looked impressive last
Saturday, racking up 484 yards
against Jacksonville State in a
41-14 rout. But after five years of
coaching at Georgia Southern,
Yellow Jackets coach Paul John-
son already knew Division I FCS
opponents can't stop his quirky
running game. Georgia Tech's
quest to prove an offense that
went out of vogue 15 years ago can
work in a major BCS conference
will face a more daunting chal-
lenge against reigning ACC Atlan-
tic Division Champion Boston
College this weekend. The Eagles
defense forced three turnovers and
allowed just 260 yards in a 21-0
victory over Kent State last week..
Boston College avoided turnovers
and penalties as it churned out
230 yards on the ground against
the Golden Flashes, but fifth-year
senior quarterback Chris Crane's
106 passing yards won't make
anyone forget last year's starter,
Matt Ryan, who went third over-
all in the NFL Draft. Crane will
have to show some playmaking
ability, as the Yellow Jackets will
likely pitch, spin and feign their
way onto the scoreboard early and
often. Get used to slotbacks, wing-
Prediction: Yellow Jackets 28,
Eagles24.
Cincinnati at Oklahoma
Two words can describe Okla-
homa's 57-2 slaughter of Chat-
tanooga: Complete domination.
Sam Bradford led the offense to
50 points on 343 yards - and that
was just the first half. The Soon-
ers pulled their starters early in
the third quarter but' still held
the Mocs to just 36 total yards
and one first down. Things will
be considerably more difficult
when Cincinnati rolls into Nor-
man Saturday. The Bearcats took
care of business with a rout of
their own last weekend against
Eastern Kentucky. Quarterback
Dustin Grutza threw for 296
yards and three touchdowns
before, like Bradford, hitting the
showers during the third quarter.
If Cincinnati hopes to pull off the
upset, they'll have to follow West
Virginia's blueprint from last
January's Fiesta Bowl: spread the
field and gash the defense with a
speedy running game. The Soon-
ers' dreams of Miami in January
stay alive, but the starters won't
be leaving early.
Prediction: Sooners37, Bearcats 24.