8 - Friday, September 12, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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FO TBALL
Fiery remarks set
stage for rivalry game
By DAN FELDMAN
Daily SportsEditor
Most Michigan fans remember
Notre Dame football coach Char-
lie Weis's comments on Michigan
in April:
"Then we'll listen to Michi-
gan have all their excuses as they
come running in, saying how they
have a new coaching staff and
there's changes. ... The hell with
Michigan,"he said.
The comments, made at an
alumni function, only became
public because an observer took
video of Weis's speech and posted
it onYouTube. Weis said this week
that his remarks were meant as a
compliment to legendary Michi-
gan coach Bo Schembechler, who
famously said "to hell with Notre
Dame."
Fewer fans know that Michi-
gan coach Rich Rodriguez took a
shot at the Fighting Irish. And his
words, which came in 2002 when
he was West Virginia's coach,
were made to the media with the
intent everyone would hear them.
The Mountaineers finished
second in the Big East that year.
Notre Dame is a member of the
conference in most sports besides
football. But as part of the part-
nership, the Irish can bump a con-
ference school from a bowl under
certain conditions. The Irish
knocked the Mountaineers from
the Gator Bowl to the Continental
Tire Bowl that season. West Vir-
ginia still received the same pay-
out had they played in the Gator
Bowl, but that wasn't enough to
please Rodriguez.
"I don't know if 'slighted' is the
right term," Rodriguez said at the
time. "I do wonder sometimes
what Notre Dame's affiliation is
with our league. I'm just a foot-
ball coach, and our players are
just players. ... But I don't under-
stand why Notre Dame gets the
best of both worlds.
"In my opinion, Notre Dame
needs to get in or get out."
Notre Dame doesn't seem to be
using Rodriguez's words as moti-
vation, but the Wolverines are
certainly keying in on Weis's.
Shortly after Weis made his
comments, Michigan's student
trainers put them up all over the
Wolverines locker room. Fifth-
year senior defensive end Tim
Jamsion hasn't seen the video,
but he was reminded about what
Weis said besides when he looked
around his locker room.
"Barwis was mad," Tim Jami-
son said of Mike Barwis, the Wol-
verine's director of strength and
conditioning.
To at least one Michigan player,
Weis's tone wasn't too surprising.
"When Coach Weis used to
recruit me, he kind of had an
arrogance about him," junior free
safety Stevie Brown said. "I fig-
ured it's just him being him.".
For the record, the only time
Rodriguez coached against Notre
Dame was in 2001, his first year
with the Mountaineers. Notre
Dame entered the game 1-3 and
beat West Virginia 34-24.
Rodriguez has also gone against
first-year Irish assistant defensive
head coach and linebackers coach
Jon Tenuta once. Tenuta, known
for his aggressive zone blitzes,
was the defensive coordinator at
Georgia Tech for the 2007 Gator
Bowl, which the Mountaineers
won 38-35.
When the two teams square
off Saturday afternoon at 3:30 on
NBC, Michigan will attempt to
become the first team in the rival-
ry to win three straight games
since Notre Dame won four in
a row between 1987 and 1990.
The Wolverines lead the all-time
series 20-14-1, including a 38-0
win last year and a 41-27 win the
year before in South Bend.
Rodriguez irked a few Wolver-
ine fans when he called Michigan-
Ohio State "one of the greatest
rivalries in college football" at his
introductory press conference in
December. But the Notre Dame-
Michigan rivalry is one he has a
better grasp of. Rodriguez was
asked Monday whether rooted for
the Irish growing up, given their
prominence on national televi-
sion.
"No," Rodriguez said with a
disgusted look. "No."
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Back to .500: With third win,
M' matches last year's total
Wolverines go to 3-3-1
with win over Oakland
By JACK FERNBACHER
For the Daily
YPSILANTI - The Michigan
women's soccer team's 6-2 win
over Oakland yesterday at Eastern
Michigan's Scicluna Field probably
didn't seem out of the ordinary.
But the Wolverines (3-3-1)
matched their win total from last
season, when they went 3-9-6, in
only their seventh game of the
year.
"It has felt really good to win,"
sophomore Amanda Bowery said.
"We have been trying to get to .500
on the season and are extremely
happy to reach our goal."
Freshman Natalie Horner and
Bowery had two goals each. Bow-
ery has scored at least one goal in
each of the last three games and
now has four goals on the season.
"It doesn't matter who scores in
the game on our team because we
have just been trying to get any of
the players in the position to score,"
Bowery said. "Recently, I have had
open looks at the net and been able
to score."
Freshman Kim Siebert had a
breakaway down the sideline early
in the first half and sent a cross to
the far post. The ball slipped past
Oakland goalie Shannon Coley and
Bowery was there to tap it in the
net.
Michigan went into halftime
leading 4-0 and never lost the
lead.
In the second half, the Wolver-
ines' defense got tired and allowed
the Golden Grizzlies to put two
balls in the net. Oakland senior
Kristi Evans scored a long-range
goal, unguarded in the 64th min-
ute.
Senior goalkeeper Madison
Gates held the Grizzlies (1-4-1)
scoreless in the first half with five
saves, but after allowing two goals
on two shots, Gates was replaced
by redshirt sophomore Kristen
Keane. Keane finished the game
for Michigan but didn't face any
shots.
"We lose focus as the game goes
on," Michigan coach Greg Ryan
said: "We talked about focusing for
the whole game at halftime, but we
clearly lost our intensity and focus
in the second half."
Michigan is a young team and
has started to jell in the past couple
games.
"My expectations were that the
team would improve day-in and
day-out," Ryan said. "Our team
has improved tremendously, and I
am very happy with how they have
done up to this point."
Michigan will try to extend its
winning streak when it heads west
to take on Arizona and Arizona
State next weekend. But Ryan isn't
focusing on the coming opponents.
"Most of the teams we are play-
ing have a lot of seniors and expe-
rienced veterans," Ryan said. "We
have abunch ofyoungkids and just
a few experienced players. I just
wanted the team to enjoy today;
and next week we are going to keep
working on improving and not
focusing on winning streaks."
Defense key for Blue against Irish
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
and IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editors
Notre Dame rushing offense
vs. Michigan rushing defense
Notre Dame had just 105 rushing
yards against San Diego State last
week. That would be bad for the
Fighting Irish in a normal season.
Consider the Aztecs had seven inju-
ries on the defensive line, and the
Michigan defensive front should be
licking its chops.
The Wolverines are giving up
just 1.1 yards per carry this season.
ArmandoAllen and Robert Hughes,
Notre Dame's top two running
backs, have to hope their offensive
line can find a way to control the
line of scrimmage or create holes.
But don't expect that to happen.
Edge: Michigan
Notre Dame passing offense
vs. Michigan passing defense
Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy
Clausen's career is well-document-
ed. He was the top quarterback
recruit coming out of high school
in 2007, struggled in his first sea-
son in South Bend, grew his hair
out during the offseason and threw
two interceptions last week. He has
talented receivers in Golden Tate
and Duval Kamera. The key is find-
ing them. Last year, Clausen didni
have enough time, getting sacked
34 times. Michigan already leads
the country with nine quarterback
takedowns and should get more
tomorrow.
In its first two games, Michi-
gan has been vulnerable to short
passes and throws over the middle.
Clausen should be able to find these
spots, and missed tackles in the
secondary have led to big plays in
each of Michigan's two games.
Edge: Push
Michigan rushing offense vs.
Notre Dame rushing defense
Michigan's running game expo-
nentially improved from Week 1
to Week 2. After gaining just 36
yards against Utah, the Wolverines
ran over the RedHawks last week
to the tune of 178 yards. Fresh-
man Sam McGuffie rushed for 74
yards, while his classmate Michael
Shaw also showed promise with an
impressive 30-yard run. Now, the
Wolverines' younger players have
to prove they can handle the pres-
sure of playing on the road.
Notre Dame's defense gave up
345 yards against San Diego State
last weekend, and the Aztecs lost to
Cal Poly the week before. Michigan
should have fun with this one.
Edge: Michigan
Michigan passing offense vs.
Notre Dame passing defense
Michigan redshirt freshman
quarterback Steven Threet is
expected to start for the second
week in a row, but neither he nor
redshirt sophomore Nick Sheridan
has been impressive enough to win
the starting job outright.
Last week, against the Notre
Dame secondary, San Diego State
quarterback Ryan Lindley com-
pleted just 49 percent of his passes.
That statistic looks a little scary for
a Michigan team without an expe-
rienced quarterbacks.
Edge: Notre Dame
Special teams
With Michigan's offensive
struggles this year, redshirt junior
punter Zoltan Mesko hasbeen one
of the team's most valuable play-
ers. Last week, freshman Boubacar
Cissoko showed some potential as
a kick returner. But it will be inter-
esting to see how he responds to a
hostile road atmosphere.
Notre Dame kicker Brandon
Walker hit just half of his field goals
last year as a freshman and missed
his only chance last week. Allen
and Tate share return duties for
the Fighting Irish and can be dan-
gerous in open space.
Edge: Michigan
Intangibles
It's the first time away from
home this season for the Wolver-
ines, and there will probably be
some road-game jitters. But, then
again, Notre Dame almost lost last
week to one of the worst teams in
the Football Bowl Subdivision. It
looks like they really are that ter-
rible.
Edge: Michigan
Score: 13-10 Michigan
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