4 8 - Wednesday, September 30, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com CHRis DZOMOAK/Daily Junior Lowe Caporusso was a unanirnous pick for the preseason Al-CCH A irst tear. T Preseason A1-CCHA Team SAID ALSALAH/Daily Senior Carlos Brown is leading the Wolverines' high-flying offense with 336 yards rushing, four total touchdowns and 8.4 rushing yards per attempt. Blue aims to be more physical with in-state rivalry game up next Forward, Louie Caporusso,junior, Michigan Forward, Carter Camper, junior, Miami Forward, Mark Olver, junior, Northern Michigan Defense, Ian Cole, junior, Notre Dame Defense, Erik Gustafsson, junior, Northern Michigan Goalie, Brian Stewart, senior, Northern Michigan Forward, Calle Ridderwall, junior, Notre Dame Forward, Billy Maday, sophomore, Notre Dame Forward, John Albert, junior, Ohio State Defense, Eddie DeGrosso, senior, Nebraska-Omaha Defense, Kyle Lawson, senior, Notre Dame Goalie, Bryan Hogan, junior, Michigan H0 N*2ABLEM Forward, Ryan Thang, senior, Notre Dame Forward, Greger Hanson, junior, Northern Michigan Defense, Zach Redmond, junior, Ferris State Defense, Chris Summers, senior, Michigan Defense, Tyler Ludwig, senior, Western Michigan Defense, Chris Wideman, sophomore, Miami HEY, @UMCOACHROD. AT LEAST W E WRITE OUR OWN TWEETS. FOLLOW @MICHDAILYSQPORTS. I I ByANDY REID physical is a mentality and a state Daily Sports Editor of mind with your players, not a system." Since Rich Rodriguez and his Rodriguez's critics grew louder coaching staff at Glenville State after his terrible 2008 debut, saying came up with the crazy idea to run his brand of football wasn't tough a two-minute offense for the whole enough for the Midwest. Michi- game, he has had to deal with com- gan couldn't run, throw or, well, do mon perceptions about the spread. anything when it got the ball. The offense is about speed. It's But those naysayers have been about finesse, style points and quieted thisseason. The Wolverines flash. are eating up enormous chunks of It's not about toughness. yards, and they're doing it in a way When he took the Michigan that would make Bo Schembechler job after Lloyd Carr's retirement, proud - on the ground. Rodriguez was berated with ques- Michigan leads the Big Ten in tions about how his high-octane rushing offense, racking up more offense could possibly work in the than 240 yards per game. That's Big Ten, still home to 320-pound almost 50 yards more per game linemen and the "three yards and a than second-place Wisconsin. The cloud of dust" philosophy. Wolverines have also scored 12 "I've heard that quite a bit ... that touchdowns on the ground, which if you're a spread team, you're not is greater than or equal to the num- as physical," Rodriguez said at his ber of total offensive touchdowns Monday press conference. "Being put up by five conference counter- parts: Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. "If you run for 350 yards or 400 yards in the spread offense, you have to be a little bit physical at some point," Rodriguez said. "That part is probably played up too much. I don't think it's the style of play. But there is no question, in this game, the physicality of both teams." But once again, with his team traveling to East Lansing this week- end, Rodriguez was questioned about his team's toughness. That'sbecausethe Spartans have garnered the reputation of being a very physical team since Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio strolled onto campus three seasons ago. Last year, on the legs of Javon Ringer, the Spartans were one of the most physical, ground-churn- ing teams in the Big Ten, if not the nation. But Rodriguez doesn't want to focus on the toughness of Michi- gan State, but of the intensity of the conference as a whole. "Wetrytopreach the importance of the Big Ten games in particular, how intense they are," Rodriguez said. "Some of the schools in the Big Ten, if you ask them, they may tell you their biggest game is against Michigan." On the defensive side of the ball, the Spartans are giving up a scant 113 yards per game on the ground, which means hard-nosed football is going to be the key to the Wolver- ines' offensive success this week- end and in the future. "We've played pretty physical at times this year, but we're going to challenge our guys this week to be more physical, and not just because we're playing Michigan State," Rodriguez said. "We're doing it because I think we can play more physical." 4 4 Wle. Michigan 28 \4 n State 35 Michigan 21 Since Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio's first season in 2007, there has been no love lost between the Wolverines and Spartans. You probably remember Mike Hart's infamous "Little Brother" comment - and Dantonio making fun of Hart's height in response - but there are plenty of chalkboard-worthy quotes for both sides from the last few years, including some pretty startling quips from a few Spartans at yesterday's press conference. Needless to say, this annual in-state 4 4 room:It's not over, and it'll 4 ovrhere. It's just starting." Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham before the 2008 Mich game: "We gonna come out, we gonna work hard this week. Because we are going to ever lose to State. I'm feeling like we're not gonna because that's just - we're not going to lose to State. We are goi We're gonna win." ° f defensive end Trev- or Anderson: "After about 15 seconds, I realized why I didn't like them. Just the total lack of respect that they have for our school in general. Not just the program, but the general lack of respect they have for us." quarterback Kirk Cousins: "This game is personal, and we need to win it. And we better win it." left tackle Rocco Cironi: "Yeah, I think everybody has a hatred for Michigan." Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez: "I'm friendly with everybody ... I'm a nice guy. I'm closer with some other coaches. (Dantonio andI) don't share tea and crumpets ... we don't trade text mes- sages every day, but we'refriendly,." Michigan cornerback Donovan Warren: "This past year (in January) I was going back home and I was at the airport and a guy - I had nothing Michigan on - but the guy just came up to me and said, 'We're gonna beat your ass this year again.' I said, 'What?' He's like, 'Yeah, those Wolverines, we're going to give it to you this year again.' I said, All right, all right, sir.' " 4 I