0 0 2B Fotal Sturay Ocobr 00 Ocobr 009 Fotal MICHIGAN VS. PENN STATE The Wolverines have beaten Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions in nine of the last 10 meetings - of course, the one loss was last season's 45-17 lopsided affair. But the last time Michigan lost to Penn State in the Big House was 13 years ago. Sure, it seems like an long time since it last happened (except it probably doesn't for Paterno), but what matters is that this is the Wol- verines' toughest home game so far. Will the Wolverines come out firing on all cylinders for the second-half stretch? Will Michigan make itself bowl eligible with four games to spare? The answer to both of those questions will be 'yes' if Michigan can start anew winning streak over Penn State today. Michael Eisenstein Ruth Lincoln Courtney Ratkowiak a Andy Reid HIGHLIGHTS 3 JoePa seems to have been winning games since the Civil War, but has always struggled in Ann Arbor. 4 Kelvin Grady has gone from men's basketball point guard to football slot receiver. Find out how he did it. 8 Wonder what Penn State quarterback Darryl Clark's most embarrassing moment is? Learn thy enemy. 2009 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Sept. S Western Michigan: Before this win, it had been a while since Michigan fans had anything to cheer about during opening weekend. Sept.12 Notre Dame: There's still a looooong time left on that contract, eh, chuck? Too bad you couldn't beat Michigan in the fifth year of your internship. Sept.19 Eastern Michigan: The Eagles put up a good fight in the first half, but Michigan once again proved there's only room for one college football team in washtenaw county. Sept. 26 Indiana: Wait, what? Indiana still has a football team? We'll believe it when we see it. And that still hasn't happened, even though it gave Michigan a scare for a few minutes there. Oct. 3 at Michigan State: So the Spartans beat Michigan for the second year in a row. Whatever. Keep Paul Bunyan. That thing is butt-ugly anyway. Oct.10 at Iowa: Kinnick Stadium would rank as one of the best in the Big Ten -if they didn't play "Gotta Feeling" 3,000,000 times and their fans didn't storm the field against unranked teams. Oct.17 Delaware State: Imagine how bad it would have been i Rich Rod didn't start bringing the second stringers in during the second quarter. Yikes. Oct. 24 Penn State: It's really not that surprising that Joe Pa can't remember when he recruited Tate Forcier. After all, he can't even remember what he had for breakfast. Or whether he tied his shoes. Oct.31 at Illinois: After a weak start, the Fighting Illini are almost as irrelevant as chief Illiniwek, the school's mascot that was discontinued in 2007. Nov. 7 Purdue: Think the Wolverines still have that hook-and-lateral on their minds? With Michigan likely to be favored against Purdue this year, expect the Wolverines to come out swinging. Nov.14 at Wisconsin: It's probably a good sign for the coach that FireBretBielema.com hasn't -,"been updated since January, right? Nov.21 Ohio State: The sweater vest -perfect for when your torso is ice cold but your arms still need to breathe. M Seriously, Tressel, what is up with that wardrobe? GRADY From page 4B "It's a blessing for the two of them, they came up together close, and while they're in school together, they're still close," said Alice Whitney, Kevin and Kelvin's maternal grandmother. "Because sometimes when brothers are in sports, they kind of competitive and they pull away from each other. But with these two, they love each other and they support each other, and I think that's what makes both as strong as they are." FROMTHE HARDWOOD TO THEGRIDIRON After Kelvin went from start- ing eight straight games on the. Michigan basketball team to play- ing in garbage time, his departure wasn't much of a shock. "I was a little bit surprised, but I could tell because of his play- ing time because I know how my brother's competitive and how he likes to be on the playing field," Kevin said. "Being his brother, I could tell by that that he was unhappy about the situation." Kelvin left the basketball team and headed back to East Grand Rapids at the end of the winter semester in order to sort out his life, Would he continue to play basketball elsewhere? Would he give up athletics altogether? For three weeks, Kelvin tried to find those answers while working the third shift at the Amway plant in nearby Ada. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., Kelvin put caps on lotion bottles. With each bottle cap, he debated his past decisions and contemplated his future. "It was a humbling experience," he said. "To go from college, play- ing sports, getting a rent check, going to class, hanging out with your friends to reality. I was out of school and I was working - work- ing in a factory." It only took a few days for Kel- vin to realize he didn't want to spend his life in a factory. College football had been an option for him before he chose to play bas- ketball, and he felt he might fit in at Michigan Stadium. Shortly after his time at the factory, he sought out Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez and showed him some his high school high- lights. The rest is history. With Kevin already on the football team, Kelvin sought out Kevin when he felt football might be an option. "He was like, 'You got the tools,' " Kelvin said. " 'If you want to come, come in. But if you do, you need to be all in. You can't come out here just to come out here. This is something serious. This is Michigan football. This is. something that you have to really want to do.'" And what he really wanted to do was play in the Big House. LAUGHTER IS THEBEST MEDICINE If you have never heard Michi- gan offensive coordinator Calvin Magee or running backs coach Fred Jackson speak, don't worry. Kelvin can take care of that. While learning the Michigan playbook, Kelvin was, of course, listening to instructions at his slot receiver position. But between the X's and O's, Kelvin noticed the long O's, southern accents and other sound bytes coming from his coaches' mouths. He knew imitation was the highest form of flattery, so he made the accents his own. "Some of the coaches will call him out to do an imitation of it, sometimes before or after prac- tice," Kevin said, noting that Kel- vin's Coach Jackson impression is the better of the two. "You might not even know Coach Jackson, but the way he does it, we'll have a riot just laughing at him." Kelvin said it took him all = of fall camp and the first couple weeks of the season to hone his craft. But picking upon others' traits is noth- ing new for the self-pro- claimed "people person." Kelvin said he will talk with teammates from all position groups, and he likes to find out unique and interesting things about people. But above all he loves to make people laugh. For the Wol- ver- ines, that's a good thing. "From the first day he came in, he fit right in," sophomore tight end Kevin Koger said. "He gives comic relief to the team and main- ly our position group. I love having him around. "It's Tuesday, it's Wednesday in the middle of the week and we're not feeling too well, and he comes in always with a smile on his face, always has a joke to say." It's natural, then, that Kevin said the best part about sharing an apartment with his brother is the constant laughter. Senior wide receiver Greg Mathews doesn't live with the Gradys, but for him, Kelvin makes Friday morning Anthropology class a little more bearable. "It's tough to go to class at 9 a.m. and pay attention because it's kind of early, but being in class with Kelvin, it's just fun because the teacher usually calls on Kel- vin, and he usually has something funny to say," Mathews said. "He makes a joke and then he'll get around to answering the ques- tion." At Michigan, it's easy for Kelvin to be in his element. His team- mates and peers respond fluidly to his jokes and humor. Laughter has helped Kelvin fit in, but he's not about to forget the person he likes to make laugh most: His grandmother. "She's probably one of the peo- ple I talk to the most," Kelvin said. "I try to make her laugh as much as possible. ... I know my grand- mother really well. I just tell her lots of jokes. She likes jokes." Kelvin said the two talk fre- quently about a range of topics, and despite their age difference, they actually have a lot in com- mon. Alice lives in Grand Rapids and can't make it down for games, but watches her grandsons on TV every week. "I have 17 grandkids and when we all get together, we are just one big, laughable family," Alice said. "For one thing, (Kelvin's) very loving. He's very funny. He's always doing something to keep me laughing. He just one grand- son that's always thinking about his granny and making sure I'm all right, so I love him for loving me like that." Sometimes, Alice must miss the live broadcast because of choir practice, but she always watches the recorded version when she gets home so she can discuss the games with Kelvin later. "Wetalkabouteverything," Kel- vin said. "She tells me she watches the game and she's like, 'If they're going to keep hitting you like that, I'll have to come out there''" Luckily, for Alice, the first time Kelvin got hit, he got right back up. YOU'REHIT,NOW WHAT? Redshirt sophomore wide receiver. Junior Hemingway remembers well the first day Kel- vin put on pads during fall camp. None of the Wolverines wanted to miss it. "We were talking about it like, 'Ooooh, Kelvin's first day in pads, we're gonna see what you got,' " Hemingway recalled. "He was like, 'Man, I'm so small. I haven't gotten hit in what seems like four years. I don't know how it's going to feel. Someone might break my bones.'" Luckily for the 5-foot-9, 168 pounder, no casts were neces- sary. "I just remember him get- ting smacked and him getting up quick," Magee said. "He was kind of excited about it. He said, 'Man, at least I got that out of the way.' " Now, it's not a question if Kelvin can take a hit, but how far he can go. When Kelvin first, contacted Rodriguez about joining the team in June, Magee said he immediate- ly got a phone call from Rodriguez to examine Kelvin's high school highlights. Magee was impressed with Kelvin's play-making ability at tailback, his ball skills and vision. But with Michigan already boasting a deep stable of running backs, the coaching staff felt Kel- vin's talents could best be used at slot receiver. "That was what we talked about from the very beginning, because that's what we look for in our slot receivers," Magee said. "Most of our slot receivers are good for- mer tailbacks. So he had the ball skills." It's a formula Rodriguez and his staff has already proved to be effective. Darius Reynaud, a cur- rent Minnesota Vikings receiver and former slot receiver at West Virginia under Rodriguez and Magee, rushed for nearly 2,000 yards his senior year of high school but never played receiver. He went to Morgantown and fin- ished his storied three-year career with 1,550 receiving yards. Kelvin's Michigan football story might not be quite as prolific, but with two years of eligibility remain- ing after this season, he could just be getting started. "He can be as good as any col- legiate starter," Magee said "As he gets another year with (strength and conditioning coach) Mike Barwis in the weight room, he's going to get stronger, he's going to get faster. I think the sky's the limit for him. I really think he can be as good as any other guy at his position." When Magee meets with Kelvin in his Schembechler Hall office, it's always a worthwhile trip for Kel- vin. Sitting on Magee's office desk is a candy dish. Magee doesn't care for Starburst fruit chews, but he keeps his dish stocked, just for Kelvin. "I think he would choose to eat Starburst for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he could," Magee said. "He eats candy all the time. I know he's probably excited Halloween's coming up." To the staff, Kelvin's worth keeping around. Magee's small gesture shows the coaching staff wants to keep Kelvin happy, and he clearly is. But probably the big- gest indicator of Kelvin's potential success came one week into fall camp. Completely unprovoked, Kelvin approached Coach Magee and told him that he wasn't looking back at Crisler Arena. or anything else. He was a football player now, and was going to put all of himself into it. "I was excited because it's a lot that the kid volunteered that on his own," Magee said. "I didn't have to sit him down and talk with him about that. ... I took his word for it." Live Games & Tournaments $S Buy In Wed, Thur, Fri $10 Freezeout Saturdays Supporting Parents without Partners 340 General Fund Children's Events 6:00pm - 2:00am Sept. 30h thru Oct. 3"d bicense #M51688 207 N. Main St.Ann Arbor 734-626-4621 Like what you see? Become a fan of The Michigan Daily on Facebook and get up-to- the-minute, front-page news updates.