E I 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.