4 4B - October 5, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com THE QUICK BREAKDOWN 4 MAIZE GAUGE The Michigan Daily football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box score. The Mesk-o-Meter measures the success of special teams, the Rod-o-Meter judges how emotional (positive or negative) Rich Rodriguez was following the game and the Hype-o-Meter measures the fans' performance. AL-A AMLAL 17W T- AtwAk, ALA s _ 4 1 i r' ROD-O-METER MESK-O-METER o He may be a Ray Guy Award finalist, but that failed f fake-punt attempt - which Rodriguez said was an 4s wrong read by Mesko - headlined a poor special teams Zotans day. Sophomore Darryl Stonum averagedjust 24 yards per return and fumbled one out of bounds. Yeesh. 4/4 Rich Rods The visiting team interview trailer was about the last place in the world Michigan coach Rich Rodri- guez wanted to be following the Wolverines' over- time loss. He must have figured short and curt answers would get him home a little quicker. HYPE-O-METER 4 Spartan Stadium was predictably rocking after Caper's OT f touchdown. The players started celebrating and so did one B overzealous Spartan fan, who rushed the field and was Big Houses promptly arrested. As he was led out in handcuffs, he told the police officers, "My uncle is a lawyer. Does that help?" LOOKING GOOD FEELING BLUE I CLIF REEDER/Daly ZAcHARY MEISNER/Daily WIDE RECEIVER ROY ROUNDTREE PAUL BUNYAN TROPHY Before the Michigan State game, redshirt freshman Besides its absolutely absurd pose that no one in Roy Roundtree had only one career reception to their right mind would ever make, the trophy has his name - a meaningless end-of-the-half Hail the punishment of staying in East Lansing for a Mary catch against Indiana. But after he caught a second straight year - something it hasn't done since touchdown pass to tie the game with :02 left on the 1967. The 42-year gap may lead to some creative clock, nearly every Wolverine fan knew who he was. new anti-State chants, such as one we heard this He didn't play most of the game, but Roundtree will weekend: "Go Green, Go White. I shit, you wipe." probably hear his number called a bit more often now. Oh, and did we mention how ugly that trophy is? { NOTABLE QUOTABLE We're going to snatch it from 'em. We're going to snatch it from 'em when they thought they caught us. We are going to snatch it right back." - Michigan State coach Mark Danto- nio, on what he said to his team right before the start of overtime. THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL The Michigan Daily Top 10 returns for its fifth installment this season. Each week, Daily Sports staffers will fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine, and so on. The results are published with first- place votes in parentheses. 4 1. FLORIDA (4): We wonder how many lives superhuman Tim Tebow saved duringthe bye week. 6. VIRGINIA TECH: Duke went 3-of-3 on fourth down and was in it late, but the Hokies beat the Blue Devils forthe ninth straighttime. 4 2. TEXAS (3): The key to being in the top two 7. THE MICHIGAN DAILY: is clearly having a bye. Believeit. With a10-5 score, Simplyput: don't lose, the Daily tallied its fifth don't move. straight win against the State News. It was the onlyteamto 3. ALABAMA (3): Four leave East Lansing victorious. turnovers did the trick. And we all picked the 8. CINCINNATI: The Crimson Tide to cover. Bearcats beat Miami (OH) Win, win. with just 19 minutes of possession. Taking notes, 4. BOISE STATE: With an Rich Rod? easy slate and the top dogs likelyto beat eachother 9. SOUTHERN CAL: up, canyou say national McKnight bested Best on championship game? the ground, and with it came a 27-point victory. 5. LSU: The Tigers won after a combined three 10. IOWA: They let up 21 touchdowns were scored to Arkansas State. Is the L in the final three minutes. "Hawkeye 'D' still a great one? 4 CLIF REEDER/Daily Freshman Tate Forcier passed tsr 223 ysrds sudsa score, but threw a costly pick in overtime. STAFF PICKSF The Daily Football writers do their' best to predict what happens in the 2009 football season. Michael Ruth Courtney Andy Eisenstein Lincoln Ratkowiak Reid No. 22 Michigan (+3) at Michigan State No.3 Alabama (-16) at Kentucky No.4 LSU (+3) at No.18 Georgia No. 5 Boise State (NS) vs. UC Davis No. 6 Virginia Tech (-17) at Duke No.7 USC (-5) at No. 24 California No.8 Oklahoma (-7.5) at Miami(FL) No.9 Ohio State (-17) at Indiana No.10 Cincinnati (-28.5) at Miami(Ohio) No.11 TCU (-28) vs. Southern Methodist No.12 Houston (-15) at UTEP No.13 Iowa (-21.5) vs. Arkansas State No.15 Penn State (-7) at Illinois No.16 Oregon (-32.5) vs. Wash. St. No. 20 BYU (-24.5) vs. Utah State No. 21Mississippi (-8) at Vanderbilt No. 2SGa. Tech (-5.5) at Miss. State Minnesota (-3) vs. Wisconsin Purdue (-7) vs. Northwestern Last Week Overall x Michigan Alabama Georgia Boise State Virginia Tech California Oklahoma Ohio State Cincinnati Southern Methodist Houston Iowa Penn State Washington State BY U Mississippi Georgia Tech Minnesota Northwestern 8-11 62-47-1 Michigan Alabama Georgia Boise State Virginia Tech California Miami Indiana Cincinnati Texas Christian Houston Iowa Penn State Oregon BYU Vanderbilt Mississippi State Minnesota Purdue 5-14 56-53-1 Michigan Alabama LSU Boise State Duke Southern Cal Oklahoma Ohio State Cincinnati Texas Christian Houston Iowa Penn State Washington State BYU Mississippi Georgia Tech Wisconsin Purdue 10-9 F,0-49-1 Michigan Alabama Georgia Boise State Virginia Tech California Miami Ohio State Cincinnati Texas Christian Houston Iowa Penn State Washington State BYU Mississippi Georgia Tech Wisconsin Northwestern 9-10 51-58-1 Guest Picker: Michigan Marching Band Drum Major David Hines Jr. Michigan Alabama Georgia Boise State Virginia Tech California Oklahoma Indiana Cincinnati Texas Christian Houston Arkansas State Penn State Washington State Utah State Mississippi Georgia Tech Wisconsin Northwestern 9-10 57-52-1 4 4 4 i To apply to be a guest picker, e-mail lincolnr@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season.