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8 - Friday, October 9, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Night game awaits Blue
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Editor
They say the freaks come out at
night.
The 1984 "Moonlight Madness on
Mountaineer Field" between Penn
State and West Virginia saw plenty.
And for Rich Rodriguez, the madness
started early.
That October night, the West
Virginiaseniorstartedandgrabbedan
early interception.
But Rodriguez MiChgan
was just a catalyst a JIoa
for the eventual
bedlam. Matchup:
After going Michigan 4-1;
winless in the Iowa 5-0
rivalry since 1955, When: Satur-
this West Virginia day, 8 P.M.
team was about to
make history Where: Kin-
athis st nick Stadium
under a minute TV: ESPN
left to play and Twitter:
the Mountaineers @michdailysports
up 17-14, Penn
State threw an
interception at the West Virginia
18-yard line.
Then all hell broke loose.
Fans rushed the field, taking a goal
postdownwiththem.Thescoreboard
ignored the 50-some seconds left on
the clock and read, 'WOW.'
The TV announcers declared,"The
game is not over, folks." But Penn
State coach Joe Paterno knew better.
Amid all the on-field chaos,
Paterno, who at the time held an 18-0
record against West Virginia, ran
across the field to shake the hand of
Mountaineers' coach Don Nehlen
and offered some advice.
"We can't stop the clock, and we
can'top this crowd,butthis game is
over. Let's get our teams out of here,"
Nehlen recalled in his book, "Tales
from the West Virginia Sideline."
Paterno sprinted to the visitors'
locker room, and the Mountaineers
continued with the on-field
celebration. But outside the stadium,
no one was going anywhere.
A year after a sluggish trip to Alaska,
Michigan returns with revenge on mind
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was 23-7 in night games at West Vir
A bonfire in the middle of a campus
street seemed like the appropriate
answer to the Mountaineers'
unimaginable win. It wasn'tquite the
style of East Lansing's Cedar Village,
but little was spared from theblaze.
"They were burning couches,
chairs and tables, lawn furniture,"
Rodriguez recalled in what he said
was his most memorable night game.
"That happened to be a block from
- the house I was renting, so I saw all
the smoke."
As the Mountaineers' head coach
from 2001 to 2007, Rodriguez was
familiar with the 'Backyard Brawl,'
West Virginia's annual rivalry with
Pittsburgh, which is often played at
night. At the helm in Morgantown,
Rodriguez was 23-7 in nightgames.
"Our players took a little extra
pride in that, because it was a special
atmosphere for them," Rodriguez
said.
Tomorrow, Rodriguez will coach
in his first night game as Michigan's
head coach when the Wolverines
travel to No. 12 Iowa. After losing to
Michigan State last weekend in East
Lansing, the Wolverines have yet to
prove themselves in a hostile road
atmosphere. With kickoff scheduled
after sunset, the lights will be on in
Kinnick Stadium, and the crowd will
likely be as rowdy.
"Sometimes the crowd gets into
it for whatever they were doing the
six, seven, nine hours before the
game," Rodriguez said with a laugh.
"They seem to be more prepared for
the game attnight than those noon
kickoffs,ifyouknow what Imean. t'm
sure their students and the fans will
be juiced up - if that's the rightword
-forthenightgame."
But if you ask Iowa Athletic
Director Gary Barta, there is a fine
line between use and abuse. For the
Hawkeyes' home games so far this
season, Bartahasn'tbeen pleased.
Barta suggested that tows fans
still have fun but do so responsibly.
Regardless whether the fans are
staying warm because of their
beverage choice or layers of clothing,
nothing could shine brighter under
the moonlight than the Wolverines'
rumored throwback ensemble.
Against Iowa, the Wolverines may
complement their white away jerseys
with white pants, but an Athletic
Department spokesman told The
Michigan Daily last night he had
"no definitive answer." The uniform
change would include everyone, even
the 300-pound linemen.
"We alreadyhave someprettyself-
conscious offensive linemen. I don't
know if that will help out," left tackle
Mark Ortmann said.
By RYAN KARTJE
Daily Sports Writer
It wasn't the performance that
Michigan coach Red Berenson
had hoped for from his new top
line.
Last November, as the Wolver-
ines left Fairbanks following a
two-game split with the Nanooks,
then-sophomore and top scorer
Louie Caporusso left as the only
first-liner to
score a goal all
weekend. Mdigan
Berenson's atAlaska
comments about
Caporusso's sin- Matchup:
gle first-line goal Aacha n 0-0;
spoke for them-
selves: When: Today,
"Your best 9PM.
players have Where: Sul-
to be your best hvan Arena
players in these Live Blog:
games," Beren- michigandaily.
son said afterthe com/thegame
game.
As No. 4 Mich-
igan returns to Alaska this week-
end to open regular season play,
Berenson is breaking in another
first line. Caporusso, sophomore
David Wohlberg and junior Ben
Winnett will have to redeem
themselves for last year's perfor-
mance. The Wolverines will face
Alaska-Fairbanks tonight and
non-conference foe Alaska-An-
chorage on Saturday.
In that first series against the
Nanooks last November, Wohl-
berg. emerged as an offensive
force, scoring two goals on the
weekend, including one in a 3-2
victory that helped Michigan
avoid a sweep.
This year may be a little easi-
er for Wohlberg and Co. - they
won't have to deal with an All.
American between the pipes for
Alaska-Fairbanks.
Last year's CCHA Player 'o
the Year and Hobey Baker Award
Finalist Chad Johnson, now a
member of the New York Rang.
ers, was a dominating force in the
net for the Nanooks last year and
allowed 1.66 goals per game.
Johnson is replaced by sopho-
more Scott Greenham, who regis-
tered three wins and a tie in five
.games of action last season.
"We don't really know a lot
about this guy," Caporusso said of
Greenham. "We obviously knew a
lot about Chad Johnson. But at the
end of the day, if we're shooting
well enough, we should beat any
goaltender."
The Nanooks play a style o
offense that players and coaches
agreed is dangerous because it
can "lull a team to sleep" and force
opposing teams to lose focus. By
employing a neutral zone trap
when Michigan crosses the blue
line, Alaska-Fairbanks will try to
limit the Wolverines' opportuni-
ties near the net.
But senior captain Chris Sum-
mers thinks Michigan is more
than capable of keeping its com-
posure, even with the high num-
ber of young, inexperienced
players that will likely see the ice
this weekend.
"We need to implement ou
own style, that's the most impor-
tant thing," Summers said. "We're
a fast offense and a shutdown
defense, so if we can beat them
we'll beat them with our speed."
The weekend's matchup also
- poses a challenge that Michi-
gan won't encounter the rest of
- the season - a 10-hour flight and
r a time difference of five hours.
The Wolverines have expressed
f
"If you want to
build momentum
t... itstarts with
this weekend."
t
f
a range of feelings in anticipation
of theoad trip, but most of all, the
team sees it as a bonding experi-
ence for its younger players.
"(Winning) makes the whole
f trip so much more positive when
you go all the way up there,"
t Berenson said. "It's not like a one-
hour bus ride ... and it's a long 10
hours coming back. It's so much
more positive when you have a
good weekend."
After opening last season with a
- relativelydisappointingiO-6 record
before cruisingto a CCHA Champi-
- onship, the Wolverines know that
starting off the conference season
- strong could make a huge differ-
- ence come March.
"If you want
to build any
momentum for
r the rest of the
- year, it starts
this week-
end,"
Sum- /
mers
said.
Guest Picker:
Michigan
Marching
Band
Drum Major
David HinesaJr.
Michigan
Florida
Colorado
Alabama
Boston College
Wisconsin
TCU
Miami
Oregon
Penn State
Oklahoma St.
Kansas
Arkansas
BYU
Oklahoma
Missouri '
Georgia Tech
South Carolina
Indiana
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
9-10
57-52-1
a
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STAFF PICKS
The Daily Football writers do their
best to predict what happens Michael
Eisenstein
in the 2009 football season.
.rtI
Ruth
Lincoln
Andy
Reid
Courtney
Ratkowiak
Michigan (+8) at No.12 Iowa
No.1 Florida (-7.5) at No. 4 lSU
No. 2 Texas (-32) vs. Colorado
No. 3 Alabama (-5) at No. 20 Ole Miss
No. 5 VA Tech (-13.5) vs. Boston College
No.9 Ohio State (-16) vs. Wisconsin
No.10 TCU (-10.5) at Air Force
No.11 Miami (FL) (NS) vs. Florida A&M
No.13 Oregon (-6.5) at UCLA
No,14 Penn St. (NS) vs. Eastern Illinois
No.15 Oklahoma St (-8) at Texas A&M
No.16 Kansas (19.5) vs. Iowa State
No.17 Auburn (-2.5) at Arkansas
No.18 BYU (-17) at UNLV
No.19 Oklahoma (-26) vs. Baylor
No. 21 Nebraska (-3.5)at No. 24 Missouri
No.22 GA Tech (+3) at Florida State
No. 25 So. Carolina (-9.5) vs. Kentucky
Indiana (+7) at Virginia
Illinois (+4) vs. Michigan State
Minnesota (-3.5) vs. Purdue
Northwestern (-19) vs. Miami (Ohio)
Last Week
Overall
Michigan
Florida
Texas
Alabama
Boston College
Wisconsin
Texas Christian
Miami
Oregon
Penn State
Texas A&M
Kansas
Arkansas
BYU
Oklahoma
Missouri
Florida State
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Minnesota
Northwestern
8-11
62-47-1
Michigan
Florida
Texas
Mississippi
Virginia Tech
Wisconsin
TCU
Miami
Oregon
Penn State
Texas A&M
Kansas
Arkansas
UNLV
Oklahoma
Missouri
Florida State
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Minnesota
Miami (Ohio)
5-14
56-53-1
Michigan
LSU
Colorado
Alabama
Boston College
Ohio State
TCU
Miami
Oregon
Penn State
Oklahoma St.
Kansas
Arkansas
'BYU
Oklahoma
Missouri
Florida State
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
Northwestern
10-9
60-49-1
Michigan
L SU
Texas
Alabama
Virginia Tech
Wisconsin
TCU
Miami
Oregon
Penn State
Oklahoma St.
Kansas
Arkansas
BYU
Oklahoma
Missouri
Georgia Tech
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue'
Northwestern
9-10
51-58-1
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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.
a
Your Path
ues at Lehigh.
Stop by our table at the
Graduate School Information Fair
on October 14 or discover
us online at
http://cas.lehigh.edu/discover.
LEHIGH
VU N I V E R S I T Y.
Discover Our Degrees in:
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