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8A - Friday, September 26, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Strong slate to
open conference
By ANDY REID three.
Daily SportsEditor A night game at Happy Valley
showcasing two powerful offenses
It's finally here. After slumber- with huge BCS implications. It just
ing through four weeks of listless doesn't get any better than this.
football, including 11 games against
Mid-American Conference oppo-
nents, eight games against mighty Minnesota at No. 14 Ohio State
Football Championship Subdivision Remember how atrocious the
foes and an embarrassing flop on Golden Gophers were last year? A
the nation's biggest stage (thanks 1-11record with losses to Bowling
for givingthe conference a good rep, Green, Northwestern andFCS-team
Buckeyes), Big Ten fans can finally North Dakota State?
rejoice: Those days are over.
Conference play is upon us. Minnesota is sitting pretty at
Ofcourse,there are alwaysexcep- 4-0 with a great chance of making
tions - Purdue is traveling to Notre a bowl, barring an enormous mid-
Dame - but for the most part, Big season collapse. The Gophers are
Ten foes will be butting heads. And putting up huge offensive numbers
there's no shortage of conference this season (more than 36 points
title-deciding matchups, either. a game, more than 400 yards per
Illinois-Penn State, Ohio State- game, a 6.1-yard-per-play average),
Minnesota, Wisconsin-Michigan - and if Ohio State doesn't recover
all of these games could have major from the skid it's been on since the
implications come November. This Ohio game, watch out. The Buck-
is my favorite time of year. Nothing eyes - as strange as it seems to say
says more about ateam (for better or this - might not be able to keep up.
worse) than its performance in con- Minnesota must be riding high
ference games. Let's all get excited after its unbelievable start to the
for the weekend ahead of us: year. The only thing that could
make this remarkable turnaround
No.22 Illinois at better? Upsetting the Buckeyes,
No.12 Penn State who creamed the Gophers 30-7 last
On paper, this matchup is an season. Upsets are so much fun to
absolute must-watch. But we'll have watch.
to wait and see what the Zook and 000
Co. bring to the table - the Fight-
ing Illini have been largely unim- Michigan State at Indiana
pressive since they exploded for Is the full-swing "Javon Ringer
532 yards against No. 6 Missouri for Heisman" campaign a little pre-
and still found a way to lose in the mature? It's not like he hasn't put up
season opener. Something tells me the numbers - the Spartan tailback
they have been lying in wait since has11TDsthroughfourgames,lead-
that game, narrowly beating East- ingthe NCAA. He'swork-horsedhis
ern Illinois and Louiiana-Lafay- way to two straight 200-plus yard
ette and waiting for a reason to get games, and he seems to be a major
excited. leader on an offense that has looked
Well, if Illinois can'tgethyped for pretty good this year.
this game, it has no business making This matchup may notbe the most
a push for the Big Ten champion- exciting, but Michigan fans should
ship. gobble up every opportunity to see
Whoever comes out on top has Ringer before the Spartans come to
an inside track at the conference Ann Arbor - you might have your
title - both have to play Ohio State head in your hands too often to
and at Wisconsin, but the winner enjoy his performance against the
this weekend will at least have a Wolverines.
'W'a inst one of the Big Ten's big"
SEC showdown the
highlight of weekend
Redshirt junior running back Kevin Grady lost his spot on the team after an offseason drunk-driving arrest. After fulfilling Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez's demanc
Grady earned his placeon the roster and scored a touchdown at Notre Dame two weeks ago.
Gr ady comIes -b ack strong
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
Running out of the Michigan
Stadium tunnel and touching the
banner before a home game is
exhilarating for anybody who has
the opportunity.
"You can't Wisconsin
really compare
it to anything," at Michigan
redshirt junior iMatchup:
running back Wisconsin
Kevin Grady 3-0; Michi-
said. gan 1-2
But at one When: Tomor-
point this sum- row, 3:30 P.M.
mer, it seemed Where;.Michi-
doubtful that gan Stadium
Grady would get TV ABC
the change to T
experience that
thrill again.
On July 2, near his hometown
of Grand Rapids, he was cited for
driving under the influence with a
blood alcohol level of 0.281, more
than three times the legal limit.
First-year Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez suspended Grady from
the team.
In August, Grady pled guilty to
a misdemeanor drunken-driving
charge, which carries a fine of
$3,920, one year of probation and
the option of community service
or jail time.
But even after the legal situa-
tion had been resolved, Grady's
status with the team remained
uncertain. At one point, it wasn't
clear whether Grady would be
back on the team. But he did what
Rodriguez asked of him, and
earned his spot back.
Rodriguez hasn't discussed
exactly what Grady did to get
back on the team, saying the mat-
ter would be handled internally.
Grady said it involved "extra
work, running and mental things"
but wouldn't elaborate on specif-
ics.
Grady, who missed all of last
season with an ACL injury, was
suspended for the opener, but
played against Miami (Ohio) the
next week.
"I think he knows he made a
mistake; he paid the price for it,"
Rodriguez said.
Through his reinstatement,
Rodriguez saw a mentality that
makes Grady ateam leader.
"He's willing to do whatever
it takes for us to have success,'
Rodriguez said. "He's working
hard to help us any way he can."
Since returning from his sus-
pension, Grady has provided a
power option to the speed and
elusiveness of Michigan's other
running backs. On short-yardage
situations, he can run between
the tackles for those necessary
yards.
Against Notre Dame, Grady
displayed the strength that made
him a top recruit coming out of
East Grand Rapids High School.
On second and goal from the
Notre Dame six-yard line, Grady
took the ball inside off a triple-
option and carried a linebacker
with him into the end zone.
The effort he shows on plays
like that is the same effort he
brings to practice. His dedica-
tion to rejoining has inspired his
teammates.
"Kevin Grady is probably one
of the hardest working members
of the team," junior wide receiver
Greg Mathews said. "He did every-
thing he could and just had a great
attitude the whole way throughthe
situation. So if he can go through
that, when you're having a bad day,
you can go through anything."
Grady has been a mentor for
Michigan's . freshman running-
backs, Sam McGuffie and Michael
Shaw.
With two seasons of Big Ten
football experience, Grady can
offer some insights to his young
teammates. This weekend, Grady's
experience will be useful as Michi-
gan(1-2)hostsNo.9Wisconsin(3-0)
and its physical brand of football at
the Big House at 3:30 tomorrow.
"You're an older guy, you got to
take care of your brothers," Grady
said. "So that's how I look at it,
especially with the guys in the run-
ning back room."
As an upperclassman, Grady
wants to share some lessons with
his teammates so they don't make
the same mistakes. Though he
didn't plan on doing what he did
this summer, Grady said he has
picked up some valuable lessons he
can carry with him and pass onto
other teammates.
In fact, when asked about what
his situation this summer taught
him, Grady said, four times in
one answer, he has learned to be
accountable for his actions and take
responsibility.
"Not saying that I wanted it to
happen, but I think it was for my
own good that it happened now
than later," Grady said.
But as he learned in working
his way back onto the team, Grady
says it will be the actions and how
he carries himself that will judge
whether he learned his lesson.
0
I
By CHARLES CLINTON and
RYAN KNAPP
Daily Sports Writers
No.8 Alabamasat No.3 Georgia
Both teams are coming off blow-
outs of lower-tier BCS schools. The
Crimson Tide rolled over Arkansas
last week, and Georgia bulldogged
Arizona State in prime time. Geor-
gia running back Knowshon More-
no will attempt to hurdle past an
Alabama defense that forced four
turnovers and held the Razorbacks
to fewer than 100 rushing yards last
week. Alabama, on the other hand,
would like to show that its offense is
legit and doesn't depend too much
on defense and special teams. The
Crimson Tide would also like to get.
a big win against atop-five Georgia.
team. In the words of Keith Jack-
son, "Wooooahhhhh, Nelly. This
one's gonna be a dandy."
No.13 South Florida at North
Carolina State
North Carolina State just busted
East Carolina's BCS hopes, and
South Florida has one of the fast-
est defenses in the country. The
Wolfpack want to turn around their
largely dormant football program,
but the Bulls will have something
to say about that. Last week, North
Carolina State's offense scored its
first touchdowns against Football
Bowl Subdivision competition this
year, but who knows if it can con-
tinue that success against a better
South Florida defense?
Colorado at Florida State
Last week, West Virginia handed
Colorado a perfect opportunity, due
to Bill Stewart's atrocious clock
management, and took advantage of
it with a17-14 win. Colorado is much
improved over last year's team and
features freshman running back
Darrell Scott, whom his coach, Dan
Hawkins, described as "One Fast
Dude." But Scott hasbeen banged up
the past couple of weeks, which has
opened the door for fellow fresh-
man Rodney Stewart. Hawkins' son
Cody is the starting quarterback
and has completed an impressive 70
percent of his passes this season.
Florida State looks improved over
last year, but it suffered a sloppy
12-3 defeat last week to Wake For-
est. Seminole quarterback Christian
Ponder has been average this year,
and Florida State's kicking game has
been subpar, hitting two of six field-
goal attempts.
Colorado comes into the game
unbeaten and is riding, a wave of
confidence. Florida State's defense
has been impressive, but there
are still questions at quarterback.
The x-factor is Florida State's
dual-threat backup quarterback,
D'Vontrey Richardson. He leads the
team in rushing, and while he's not
the same passer as Ponder, he has
been explosive running the ball and
added another dimension to Florida
State's offense.
No. 24 Texas Christian at No. 2
Oklahoma
Don't sleep on TCU. It has won its
past two games at Oklahoma, sits at
4-0 and is in the top 25 for the first
time in over a year after its 48-7
thrashing of Southern Method-
ist. The surprising thing about the
Horned Frogs is that their defense
leads the FBS in total yards against
and rushing yards allowed. Their
unusual 4-2-5 defense could give
Oklahoma some trouble.
Oklahoma's offense, led by quar-
terback Sam Bradford, is off to a
scorching start and has scored over
50 points in three straight games.
Bradford continues to improve on
his freshman campaign, throwing
for 882 yards and 12 touchdowns so
far. Oklahoma has also been impres-
sive on the ground with three run-
ning backs who combined foralmost
five hundred yards rushing and nine
touchdowns. The x-factor for this
offense is junior tight end Jermaine
Gresham, a dynamic talent pro
scouts are already salivating over.
The key to this game is whether
TCU's run defense can stop Okla-
homa's trio of running backs. If it
does, watch out for an upset here.
If the game comes down to a field
goal, look out for Oklahoma's red-
shirt freshman Jimmy Stevens,
who has just one career field goal
attempt. A
Golden Bears spoil Blue's comeback
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
Though the Wolverines had a
renewed sense of hope after scor-
ing two late goals in the second half
against No. 20 California, the Michi-
gan field hockey team suffered its
second consecutive overtime loss
yesterdayat
Phyllis MICHIGAN 2
OckerField, CALIFORNIA 3
falling 3-2.
After falling behind 2-0 late in the
second half, Michigan coach Nancy
Cox decided it was time to make a
change. She delivered a short pep
talk and switched some of the play-
ers in the backfield. The modifica-
tion worked, and No. 19 Michigan
tied the game by scoring two goals
in less than a minute. The goals were
enough to send the game into over-
time, but the Golden Bears scored
on a penalty corner shot five minutes
into the extra period.
Although Michigan has lost itg last
two games in overtime, both losses
have been a source of motivation. A
strong performance against No. 4
Connecticut last weekend and the
comeback invigorated the Wolver-
ines.
"We felt such a high after play-
ing Connecticut and I think we just
wanted to bring that feeling into
this game, " said senior co-captain
Sarah Wilhite. "I don't think it really
clicked until the last seven minutes of
the second half that, yes, we are that
good. And we came back in seven
minutes and not many teams could
do that. I think we really just need to
believe."
Sophomore Zara Saydjari scored
the first goal for Michigan off an
assist from sophomore Alicia Mayer
with just eight minutes remaining in
the game. The Wolverines kept the
offensive pressure on California and
Wilhite scored just 53 seconds later
off an assist from sophomore Mer-
edith Way.
Way contributed to each of the
Wolverines' goals against Connecti-
cut and has tallied at least one point
in six games this season. Wilhite
leads the team in points this season
with 20.
"I ran back and looked at Mer-
edith," Wilhite said. "I said, 'OK, now
we need No. 2 and we've gotplenty of
time,' and she shot and I scored the
second goal and that motivated us
all. After that second goal, we were
goodtogo,buttheyjustgotthatlucky
shot."
After the two Michigan goals, the
Wolverine defense was able to hold
off California from scoring and sent
the game to overtime. Just over four-
and-a-half minutes in, California was
awarded a penalty corner shot and
scored.
The Wolverines (3-6) have yet
to win a game this season against
a ranked opponent. Their difficult
nonconference schedule has included
games against No. 1 North Carolina,
No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Wake Forest
and No. 4 Connecticut. Though these
games may have resulted in a loss,
Cox believes the challenge her team
has faced against the top ranked
teams is the best way to prepare for
the Big Ten season.
"All of these opportunities will
prepare us to for a great Big Ten sea-
son start," she said. "(The players)
continue to do what we ask them to
do in terms of being resilient, and
playing until the last whistle blows,
and today that mentality kept us in
the match."
Michigan will face its first Big Ten
opponent this Saturday when it takes
on Northwestern at 11 a.m. at Phyllis
Ocker Field.
CLIF REEDER/Daily
Senior co-captain Sarah Wilhite scored the game-tying goal in the 65th minute
of regulation against California yesterday.
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