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8A - Thursday, September 11, 2008
Another wrinkle
added to QB battle
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
By DAN FELDMAN and
IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editors
Earlier this week, Notre Dame
coach Charlie Weis said he expected
Michigan junior Carlos Brown to play
quarterback Saturday.
When asked whether Brown would
play quarterback against Notre Dame,
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez didn't
offer a definitive
answer. NOTEBOOK
"I don't know,"
Rodriguez said. "We wanted to get
Carlos more into the game in the first
game. He would have played more
snaps, but he got hurt on his first one."
Brown, who was a quarterback in
high school but.has played mostly at
running back for Michigan, took just
one snap against Utah. He lined up at
quarterback and ran with the ball.
Rodriguez said the quarterback
rotation between redshirt sophomore
Nick Sheridan and redshirt freshman
Steven Threet will be the same as last
week.
Threet is expected to start the game,
but Sheridan is likelyto see the field.,
FERRARA TO PLAY?: Despite being
listed as a possible starter at right
guard since the release of the first two-
deep roster, redshirt sophomore John
Ferrara hasn't seen the field since mov-
ing from defensive tackle late in fall
camp.
Rodriguez said Ferrara will "proba-
bly" play Saturday at Notre Dame. If he
does, redshirt junior rightguard David
Moosman will likely slide to center
and replace redshirt freshman center
David Molk.
Ferrara said he would've played
last Saturday against Miami (Ohio) if
the Wolverines had a better offensive
rhythm.
"(Offensive line coach Greg) Frey
just keeps telling us, 'The time's going
to come when we're going to need to
call on you,' and he just wants me to
be ready," Ferrara said Saturday. "He
doesn't want to set me up for failure
by putting me out there when I really
don't know everything, all the nuances
of the offense right now."
Ferrara said learning his new posi-
tion is going well, but he needs to work
on picking up blitzes.
INJURY UPDATE: Before the season,
depth on the offensive line was already
a concern for Michigan. Then, over
the summer, the Wolverines lost two
starters, redshirt junior Cory Zirbel
and redshirt freshman Mark Huyge to
long-term injuries.
It got worse against Miami when
left tackle Mark Ortmann went down
with an elbow injury.
Yesterday,Rodriguezconfirmedthat
Ortmann will miss Saturday's game at
Notre Dame. Redshirt sophomore Bry-
ant Nowicki filled in for Ortmann last
week, but Rodriguez said he expects
redshirt sophomore Perry Dorrestein
to start at left tackle against the Fight-
ing Irish.
Dorrestein has yet to play this season
but appeared in four games last year.
Aside from Ortmann, Rodriguez
expects all players with recent injuries
to be available Saturday.
Junior wide receiver Greg Mathews
missed the Miami game with a right
foot injury. He wore a green jersey at
practice yesterday with tape around
his right ankle, but Rodriguez said
Mathews would play.
Other players wearing green jerseys
at practice were freshman running
back Michael Shaw, sophomore wide
receiver Junior Hemingway and red-
shirt sophomore right tackle Steven
Schilling. Nobody on the defense wore
a green jersey.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Three
posters were on display in a hallway at
Schembechler Hallforeachofthethree
players of the game against Miami -
,freshman running back Sam McGuffie
(offense), senior strong safety Brandon
Harrsion (defense) and redshirt junior
punter Zoltan Mesko (special teams).
McGuffie led the team with 74 yards
on 17 carries. He also had three catches
for 32 yards.
Harrison had eighttackles (five solo)
and broke up two passes, including one
in the end zone when the RedHawk
receiver had the ball in his hands.
Mesko had seven punts for318 yards,
an average of 45.4 yards per kick. His
long was 56 yards, and he dropped
three inside the 20-yard line.
6
JENNIFER KRON/Daily
Junior Stevie Brown, the starter in last year's loss to Appalachian State, has regained the starting job this year
A SECOND START
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
Stevie Brownrememberswhat
happened against Appalachian
State.
In his first career start, the
then-sophomore free safety and
the rest of the Michigan second-
ary got lit up for three touch-
downs and 249 passing yards.
And that was just the first
half.
Although Brown played in the
rest of Michigan's games last sea-
son, he never regained his start-
ing spot. With limited playing
time, Brown considered trans-
ferring.
"I know I'm playing well in
practice," Brown recalled in
June. "And I was like, 'I don't
see why I should be out here
if coaches are going to lie me,'
things like that. I mean, that's
what I was thinking. They really
weren't lying to me. I just wasn't
doing as well as I thought I was
doing."
But after a lot of thought
and consultation with his fam-
ily, Brown decided to stick with
Michigan. This year, he's getting
his second chance.
Brown was back in a starting
role for Michigan against Utah.
In the first half, the Utes hita "Everybody was probably
post on third and long over the thinking, it's App State all over
again," Brown said. "But, after
that play, I just shook it off. I
was like, 'this ain't happening no
"Everybody was more."
Since the first half against
proba ly Utah, Brown's improvement has
thinking it's been noticeable, but he still has
room to improve.
App. State all "Stevie, he's played some,
over again." but for a veteran guy, he doesn't
have a whole lot of experience,"
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
said. "It's just the recognition of
middle, a play on which Brown some things that probably is the
was a step late. Brown knew biggest thing for him, as any guy
exactly what fans were saying. See BROWN, Page 9A
Wolverines look to build on first title
By JILLIAN ROTHMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The team with the highest
winning percentage in Michi-
gan history isn't the one you'd
expect.
It isn't the football team,
despite its outstanding tradition.
It isn't the hockey team, despite
its dominance in the CCHA. That
distinction belongs to the men's
club-varsity lacrosse team which
has won more than 82 percent of
its games.
The lacrosse team's 60-year-
old tradition differentiates it
from your average club program,
though few on campus are aware
of its historic success.
"Sometimes it feels like people
don't know about us," said senior
co-captain Zach Elyachar. "They
see 'club' and think intramurals
or something small."
Being misled by the team's
"club" title is a common mis-
take. Even Elyachar's co-captain,
senior Riley Kearns, was fooled.
"I figured I would come here
and just have fun," Kearns said.
"It ended uphbeing alot more seri-
ous than I thoughtitwould be."
The Wolverines pride them-
selves on the time and effort
they put in at Oosterbaan Field
House.
"There was no doubt we were
he hardest working club team in
the nation last year," sophomore
Trevor Yealy said. "We were out
there early in the morning run-
ning. We were here late at night
running - always running."
The hard work has yielded a
reputation that attracts talented
players to Michigan.
Yealy chose Michigan's club
team over Division-I varsity
programs at other schools. Head
coach John Paul, who actively
recruits students to the program,
emphasizes that reputation to
future Wolverines.
At the team's information-
al meeting for . freshmen last
Thursday, Paul told them about
the club's rich history, winning
record and nationwide respect.
See LACROSSE, Page 9A
Huskies' year looks*
ZACHARY MEISNtR/Daily
Michigan coach John Paul (far left) hopes to lead the Michigan men's clh-varsity
lacrosse team back to a national championship this year.
By RYAN KARTJE
and JOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Writers,
Anunwritten rule for referees is,
barring a blatant penalty, to swal-
low your whistle late in the game.
The idea is that the players should
decide the outcome of the game..
When Washington played
Brigham Young last week, the
Huskies scored a late touchdown
and needed an extra point to send
the game into overtime. .
But, as Lee Corso says, "Not so
fast, my friend." After Washington
quarterback Jake Locker scored
the touchdown on a 3-yard run,
he threw the ball in the air and
turned to his teammates in cele-
bration. The problem is, throwing
the ball in the air is a direct viola-
tion of NCAA rules and calls for a
15-yard penalty.
The referee dutifully called the
penalty and turned the extra-point
attempt into a 35-yarder, which
was blocked..
Would Washington have won
without the penalty? Who knows.
The point is, the referee may have
followed NCAA rules,but he broke
the code. Bogus call. Let the play-
ers decide the game.
And now, the casualties of that
boneheaded call:
NO.3 OKLAHOMA
AT WASHINGTON
After two close losses to startw
the season, it has to be hard for
Washington to even take the field
this week.
And it doesn't get any easier
with No. 3 Oklahoma coming to
town. Sooners quarterback Sam
Bradford has completed 76 percent
of his passes, and the play action
shouldprove deadlyastheHuskies
have to take into account the dual-
threat rushing attack of DeMarco
Murray and Chris Brown.
One thing we know about
Washington coach Ty Willingham
is that he has about as many facial
expressions as the Terminator.
Hopefully, he's been able to main-
tain his reserved exterior in front
of his players. If they see that he's
not discouraged, it'll go a long way
toward givingthem some hope.
Guaranteed: Willingham will
jump in the air and scream like a
pre-teen girl in front of Zac Efron
after the Huskies score their only
touchdown.
NO.14 EAST CAROLINA
AT TULANE
There's always one lovable
underdog that takes down a peren-
nial powerhouse. But it's not eVery
year thatthe underdog comes back
with another bite and takes down
an entire slate of powerhouses.
Enter No.14 East Carolina.
Fresh off victories against Vir-
ginia Tech and West Virginia, the
Pirates will be looking to knock off
Tulane in what should be a cup-
cake game.
Guaranteed: Pirate quarterback
Patrick Pinkney completes 75 per-
cent of his passes, and becomes the
second East Carolina quarterback
ever mentioned on national televi-
sion (the first was Jacksonville Jag-
uars quarterback David Garrard).
Guaranteed: Tulane coach Bob
Toledo cries in the locker room
after the game when he realizes
that Chicago Bears running back
and former Green Wave star Matt
Forte graduated. He spends the
night watching highlights of Forte
tear up the Colts defense with a
pint of Ben and Jerry's Phish food
ice cream.
NO.13 KANSAS AT NO.19
SOUTH FLORIDA
After last week's narrowvictory
over a mediocre Central Florida
team, the Bulls have to prove that
their number two ranking last
year wasn't a complete fluke. In an
ultimate game of contender versus
pretender, Kansas quarterback
Todd Reesing will look to outdo
South Florida quarterback Matt
Grothe in a contest to see who can
blow more scoring chances.
Guaranteed: Kansas coach
Mark Mangino sweats through
two shirts 'on the Jayhawk side-
lines as South Florida's. monster
defensive end George Selvie sacks
Reesingthree times.
Guaranteed: Grothe breaks the
ankles of three Kansas lineback-
ers on hisway to looyards rushing
and two rushing touchdowns.
Kerwin Kofi Charles, University of Chicago
Ford School Scholar in Residence September 15-19, 2008 -
Professor Charles will deliver two public lectures
held in the Annenberg Auditorium, 1120 Weill Hall, 735 South State Street
Black-White Differences in Economic Well-Being
Monday, September 15, 4 - 5:30 PM
Reception to follow
Disparities and Prejudice: An Economic Analysis
Wednesday, September 17, 4- 5:30 PM
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