The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 - 7A

Clutch golfers
finally step up
for Wolverines
Savich Tan and place.
"I've been too excited in the
Bauer lead 'M' to past," Tan said. "This week, I final-
ly got it in my head to calm down
third place at Windy and playlessanxious."
But Tan wasn't the only Michi-
City Collegiate gan underclassman shooting low
numbers. Savich shot a 224 while
By MARK BURNS starting in her third straight tour-
Daily Sports Writer nament for the Wolverines in her
young collegiate career.
The Michigan women's golf "She is going to be a really good
team is without a true leader for player for us," Teichert said. "Not
now. to say that she already isn't a good
With just three upperclassmen player, but she is just going to get
on the ten-person squad, the Wol- better and better. Once she learns
verines have been trying to find how to shape her shots, she'll be
their go-to players all season. really good."
Michigan coach Kathy Teich- The Carmel, Ind.,native set her-
ert may have found those clutch self up nicely with great first and
players in an unexpected place - second shots, giving her plenty of
Skokie, Ill. opportunities to capitalize from
The Wolverines finishedinthird the greens.
place out of13 teams with a total of Savich carded six birdies over
902 at the Windy City Collegiate her three rounds, helping her to a
Monday and Tuesday in Skokie, ninth-place tie with her teammate
riding the heels of freshman Mile- Bauer.
na Savich, sophomore Min Yean Bauer started the tournament
Tan and junior Ashley Bauer. with 76 on Monday and then fin-
"Iwas very pleased with our play ished with back-to-back 74s, tal-
thisweek,"Teichertsaid."Ifwecould lying nine birdies over the last two
have passed second, that would've rounds to give her 224.
been great. But the way we finished While the Wolverines shot
speaks volumes ofour players." lower scores than their last tour-
Tan, Savich and Bauer all fin- nament, they still had many care-
ished in the top 10in scoring. less double and triple bogeys.
After shooting a poor two-day Teichert has to hope that the
total of 235 at the Mary Fossum young and talented trio of Tan,
Invitational two weeks ago, Tan Savich and Bauer continues post-
kept her composure this week ing low scores, helping Wolver-
and tallied a three-round total of ines to continue their success
221, good enough to tie for fourth this season.
AR ; NDT E NTION
Red River Rivalry
rules national stage
in riveting weekend

BENJI DELL/Daily
Freshman tight end Kevin Koger caught his first career touchdown pass in Michigan's 27-25 comeback win against Wisconsin on Sept. 27.
Playing like atr Koger
becomes impact feha

By JACK FERNBACHER and
DYLAN TIMMER
For the Daily
There is Turmoil in the Top 25.
No. 13 Vanderbilt has its high-
est ranking since 1956.
No. 25 Ball State is ranked for
the first time in school history.
Yet, with all the chaos that
has been the 2008 season, some
familiar names represent college
football's elite: Oklahoma, Ala-
bama, LSU and Texas. There is
still balance at the top - at least
until Saturday.
The biggest game to date this
season takes place this weekend,
and you probably won't see a min-
ute of it.
If the game in the Big House
is over by half, it might be a good
idea to head home and tune in to
the matchup at the Cotton Bowl
between No. 5 Texas and No. 1
Oklahoma.
Figure in a battle of the last
two national champions No. 4
LSU and No. 11 Florida, and this
weekend might be the best of the
season.
Not buzzing over Michi-
gan's marquee clash vs. Toledo?
We've got you covered across the
nation.
NO.5 TEXAS VS. NO.1
OKLAHOMA
Quarterback Colt McCoy and
the Longhorns look to upset Sam
Bradford and the Sooners. But it
won't be easy. Oklahoma Coach
Bob Stoops has his Sooners poised
to make arun for the national title
under Bradford's steady arm and
consistent rushing yardage from
sophomore back DeMarco Mur-
ray. Oklahoma is the team to beat
in 2008 and has put up 49.6 points
per game this season.
But Texas has also looked
unbeatable so far. Led by their
dual-threat quarterback Colt
McCoy, the Longhorns have dom-
inated opponents just as easily as
Oklahoma. If the Sooner defense
can't stifle McCoy and soften his
. ground attack, it could be a long
day for Oklahoma defensive coor-
dinator Brent Venables.
Whose Heisman hopes will be
dashed?
Which team will pull ahead in
the Big 12 and position itself as
a favorite to make it to the BCS
Championship game?
CLEMSON VS. NO. 21
WAKE FOREST
In this week's lone ACC
matchup, two hungry teams meet

Thursday night to prove who
belongs atop of the conference's
Atlantic division. And both look
to bounce back from dishearten-
ing losses after bye weeks.
The Tigers, who have fallen
from the top to unranked, are
eager to prove that they still
belong among college football's
elite.
The Demon Deacons are des-
perate to eliminate the bitter taste
that has lingered since the embar-
rassing loss to Navy Sept. 27.
While the game won't have
the national appeal of Texas and
Oklahoma, it is easy to under-
stand why it will be a very emo-
tional matchup.
NO.4 LSU VS. NO.11 FLORIDA
Which division is better? East
or West? Both divisions in the
SEC have three teams in the top
20 and want to prove their divi-
sion's superiority.
Two Saturdays ago, Alabama
sent a message to the East with a
41-30 victory over Georgia. This
Saturday, the Gators host LSU
and will try to send it back to the
West.
Last season, LSU defeated
Florida 28-24 at home with two
touchdowns in the fourth quar-
ter.
GUARANTEED: On fourth and
short, Florida coach Urban Meyer
will call for a quarterback sneak
and surprise the LSU defense.
Guaranteed: Left Guard Her-
man Johnson, the biggest LSU
football player at 386 pounds, will
eat 15 pounds of fried gator head
Friday night.
NO.17 OKLAHOMA STATE VS.
NO.3 MISSOURI
Going on the road in college
football is hard for any team.
And visiting a third-ranked team
with Chase Daniel at quarterback
makes matters even more diffi-
cult.
Afterfourstraighthomegames,
No.17 Oklahoma State has its first
big test of the season on the road
against Missouri. Both teams
have scored more than 50 points
in four of their five games.
GUARANTEED: Chase Daniel
will complete 30 straight passes,
but more surprisingly he will
throw an interception in the
fourth quarter.

By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
When true freshman tight end
Kevin Koger arrived in Ann Arbor,
he didn't know where to get a hair-
cut.
So he just didn't.
His hair and beard grew thick,
and teammates started calling him
Greg Oden - after the grizzled
Portland Trailblazer who was No.1
NBA draft pick two years ago.
"They just thought I looked real
old," Koger said.
It wouldn't be the last time he
gave teammates the impression of
being more experienced than he
actually is.
Before Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez took over in January,
Koger was more familiar than most
Wolverines players with Rodri-
guez's program - and Rodriguez
was more familiar with Koger than
he was with most players in Ann
Arbor.
Koger is one of the few fresh-
men on Michigan's roster who were
also recruited by the Mountaineers

coaching staff. A few days before
Rodriguez took over the Wolver-
ines, Michigan wide receivers
coach Tony Dews, who was then
wide receivers coach at West Vir-
ginia, stopped at the Koger house-
hold in Toledo, Ohio.
Koger liked West Virginia's staff,
but his family liked that Ann Arbor
was just 45 miles from home. Now
he is in an ideal situation.
Despite his familiarity with
Rodriguez from the recruiting pro-
cess, Koger was still unfamiliar
with the coach's spread offense. The
other Wolverine tight ends - fifth-
year senior Mike Massey, redshirt
junior Carson Butler and sopho-
more Martell Webb - had spring
practice to learn the system.
Koger started June 21 with the
other freshmen, and two months
later, he was listed as a possible
starter for the season opener.
Rodriguez said Koger is high
on the depth chart because of how
quickly he picked up the offense.
It took a few weeks for Koger to
actually get his first snaps. But the
delay didn't bother him. He actu-

ally expected the wait to be much
longer.
"I really didn't think I would
see the field this year," Koger said.
"I thought I would redshirt, hon-
estly."
Before the Wisconsin game,
Michigan offensive coordinator
Calvin Magee told Koger to be
ready to play. In the second quar-
ter, someone on the sideline told
him to get in the game.
"I thought he was playing a joke
on me," Koger said. "Then I asked
the coach, and he told me I was
in."
Koger said he was nervous for a
couple of plays, but the butterflies
quickly disappeared.
Down 19-0 at the beginning of
the third quarter, redshirt fresh-
man quarterback Steven Threet
hit Koger on a third-and-10 seam
route for a 26-yard touchdown.
"He just throws me the ball, and
I catch it," Koger said.
Koger talked about the play as
if he had been in the same situa-
tion thousands of times - not like
a freshman who playing his first

college game.
Against Illinois, he caught what
appeared to be another touch-
down, but it was negated by an
illegal-man-downfield penalty.
Junior Greg Mathews caught a
touchdown pass on the next play.
Like a veteran who had been
there before, Koger brushed off
the setback.
"I didn't even know what the
penalty was on until halftime,"
Koger said. "We still have points
on the board, so it really didn't
bother me that much."
On Monday morning, Koger was
the first true freshman this year to
speak at the weekly press confer-
ence this season. He displayed a
sense of humor, revealed a bit of
his personality and was honest.
When asked about team's reac-
tion to watching the video, he said
"frustration would be an under-
statement."
He looked comfortable at the
podium, as if he had been there
before.
Then again, with "Koger,
shouldn't that be expected?

The goaltender dilemma

No goalie in recent Michi-
gan history has caused as
many clenched fists, grit-
ted teeth 'or nail-biting as senior
Billy Sauer. 'J
We've seen ugly shots ruin a '
shutout in a
game's closing -
minutes. And
we've also seen
him save S O
pucks against a'
top-flight team.
We saw Sauer
get pummeled
by North Dako- MICHAEL
ta in the first KSNTI
round of the EISENSTEIN
NCAA Tourna-
ment two years
ago in Denver. And we also saw
him comeback last season as one
of the country's top goalies.
But then we also watched him
let up three goals in the first peri-
od against Notre Dame in the Fro-
zen Four, struggling once again in
Denver, and shaking our confi-
dence in the future of his game. RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
So everyone is wondering: Is Senior BillySauer allowed 10 goals in the team's last two NCAA Tournament losses,
there a chance that the season will
end with Sauer getting shelled for
a third straight year? Can you give goaltending is a strength for the CCHA Media Day, but mononu-
Sauer a third chance to lead this Wolverines. Sauer returns from cleosis sidelined Hogan until mid-
team? Even with promising sopho- a great junior season and Hogan November, and Sauer, the starter
more Bryan Hogan waiting in the showcased an ability to step up by default, established himself
wings? when called upon last year. But as an integral part of the team's
Yes. He's proven himself over an at the moment, there's also no unexpected 22-2 start.
entire season as one of the nation's answer as to who will start for This year, Hogan is mono-free
best goalies. the Wolverines, and that could be and back in the mix and giving
He's proven he can come back troublesome down the line. Michigan depth. Now, each goalie
from nightmare games that would "I'm not even sure exactly what has the difficult task of getting in a
haunt most players for the rest of they're goingto do," said Michigan rhythm from the outset with much
their career. goaltending coach Josh Blackburn, less game time.
And most importantly, he still adding the situation will likely be To no one's surprise, Sauer and
has something left to prove: That reevaluated on a weekly or month- Hogan split time in the opening
he can lead Michigan to a national ly basis. "We're unsure. I have no weekend of exhibitions. Berenson
championship. idea what we're doing." plans to employ the same strategy
There's no question in Michigan Last season, the question against St. Lawrence this week-
coach Red Berenson's mind that answered itself. Berenson said the snd.

as just naming Sauer, the more
experienced ofthetwo,the starter.
What if he gets injured and Hogan
isn't up to game speed after riding
the bench?
Splitting every other start, in
the long term, isn't viable either. If
one goalie gets hot, it'll be tempt-
ing to ride the streak. And that's a
slippery slope.
Yes, experimenting with a two-
goalie system may work in the
regular season, and it has for many
teams, but then who starts in sin-
gle-elimination playoff games?
One solution is a set-in-stone
rotation once the CCHA season
starts. Say, Sauer starts three out
of every four games, and Hogan
comes in for the fourth. This way
you're not sending mixed messag-
es as to who the primary starter
is, you keep Hogan relatively up to
game speed and most importantly,
Sauer gets regular breaks from the
mentally exhausting season like
he did from Hogan at the end of
last year.
When Hogan comes in, it won't
be a question of Sauer's ability, it'll
be to give him a night off to stay
fresh.
But for now, Berenson is stick-
ing with alternating starts.
"Are they both ready to help us
win? That's what it really comes
downto," Berensonsaid. "If there's
one that's way up here and the
other one's down here, we're going
to play the number-one goalie. But
if they're both up here, we might
be able to play both goalies."
That might work for now, but if
this team's going to make another
Frozen Four run, there needs to
be a clear No. 1 starter, and that's
Sauer.
-Michael Eisenstein can be
reached at mseisen@umich.edu.


job was open for competition at

But the decision is not as simple