2B - September 27, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
The other Mr. Robinson
M' shakes off .
rust in Florida
hrough four weeks and
T four wins this season,
there have been an awful
lot of winners walking the Michi-
gan sideline.
The most obvious winner has
been sophomore sensation Denard
Robinson who
has captivated
the nation
and leads the
NCAA with 688
rushing yards..
Robinson's
performance
has also shone
a light on the RYAN
team's primary KARTJE
wideouts - Roy _--
Roundtree,
Darryl Stonum and Martavious
Odoms - who have all come alive
at some point or another in non-
conference play.
Even Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez, who was vilified for
the better of eight months before
the season began, has proven that
"winning cures a lot," just like he
said a month before the opener.
He's probably enjoyed a great deal
more sleep in the last month than
he had through the entire offsea-
son.
But for all of Michigan's shiny
results through a third of the sea-
son, there's been one lemon along
for the ride. And winning may not
cure enough to save his job.
Defensive coordinator Greg
Robinson, in his second year run-
ning the defense, has done little
to prove that he deserves to be off
the hotseat, which he and Rodri-
guez shared at the start of the
season.
Since year one of Rodriguez's
tenure, the Wolverines' defense
has been slowly decaying.
Under Scott Shafer - who was
first brought to Ann Arbor by
Rodriguez - Michigan gave up a
Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson's defense has alowed 400 yards per game this seasor
fairly putrid 366 yards per game.
Although a 3-9 record may have
had something to do with it, Shafer
was fired without many questions
after the season.
After fielding one of the worst
teams in the FBS in 2008, Robin-
son was removed as head coach of
Syracuse and hired by Rodriguez
to lead the Wolverine defense. The
results he yielded in his first season
were 27 yards worse than Shafer's
defense. And he was kept on.
And four games into his sec-
ond season, the results have been
even worse. Robinson's defense
was crushed for 535 yards against
Notre Dame-the second-highest
in a win in program history. Then,
the week after, the Wolverines
gave up 439 yards to an FCS squad
that the defense was absolutely ill-
prepared for.
The Wolverines are the second
worst defense among undefeated
teams in the FBS (only Oklahoma
is worse), and overall, they come in
at a stunningly awful 90th place in
total defense, allowing 400 yards
per game.
That's not acceptable, unless
you're playing your buddy on Play-
station.
And don't blame it completely on
a lack of talent. Yes, the secondary
was expected to struggle because
depth at the position group was
paper thin. But at positions like
linebacker (which Robinson per-
sonally coaches), Robinson's unit
has underachieved on a consistent
basis.
For comparison's sake, Shafer,
who left town foo Robinson's old
home in Syracuse, has the 29th-
ranked defense in the FBS, while
his defense is allowing almost 100
yards less than the Wolverines
have on average.
That means only one thing
with three quarters of the season
remaining: Greg Robinson has the
most to prove of anyone in Ann
Arbor when Big Ten season starts
next Saturday.
To say Rodriguez needs to fire
Robinson to save his job, like ESPN
analyst Mark May said following
Michigan's win over Massachu-
setts, is unfounded and untrue.
But when it comes time to evaluate
this team's coaching staff at the
end of the season, there should
be a long look at Robinson's track
record through two years with the
program.
When Athletic Director Dave
Brandon was asked this offseason
how Rodriguez could keep his job,
Brandon said that he didn't need to
win a certain amount of games, but
he needed to demonstrate a signifi-
cant improvement and step in the
right direction. There's no reason
why Robinson shouldn't be held to
the same standards.
So far Rodriguez, helped by his
record-breaking offense, is on his
way to doing that and Robinson is
eating his dust.
While the defense showed some
improvement this past weekend,
consider the word out: If Greg Rob-
inson doesn't show noted improve-
ment in Big Ten season, there's no
reason why his bags shouldn't be
packed.
-Kartje can be reached
at rkartjeo umich.edu
Wolverines deal
with weather-related
inconsistencies
By MATT KRASNOFF
Daily Sports Writer
With summer coming to a close
in Ann Arbor, a weekend slate to
Florida seemed like the perfect
getaway for the Michigan women's
tennis team.
But off-and-on wet weather
caused competition to be post-
poned on Friday in Coral Gables.
That postponement left the Wol-
verines with just two days of
competition, which made for a
weekend of inconsistent play in the
non-scoring event.
The fall is generally used as
tune-up time for collegiate tennis.
Players compete as individuals in
order to improve their rankings,
while coaches tinker with lineups
in order to find the right combi-
nations for the spring. For that
reason, Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein took all nine of her play-
ers to the Miami Fall Tournament.
Michigan will most likely be
a top-10 team when spring rolls
around, after finishing last season
ranked No. 8 nationally. But even
for a squad that went 10-0 in Big
Ten play last year, there's always a
little rust to shake off.
"After the summer we're defi-
nitely not playing our best and
need to go back to work when we
get back," Bernstein said.
After the initial rain, the Wol-
verines won four singles matches
and a doubles match. No.12 Denise
Muresan highlighted the day
with a victory over No. 106 Jenny
Frisell from Central Florida. The
Michigan senior nearly blanked
her ranked opponent, winning the
match 6-0, 6-1.
Senior captains Whitney Taney
and Rika Tatsuno - the nation's
No. 4 doubles team - lost their
match on Saturday to the 16th
ranked team from Miami. Taney
came out of the match a bit sore
and did not participate in any
matches on Sunday, but the injury
isnot considered to be serious.
On the second day, the Wolver-
ines lost all of their singles match-
es, a credit to Miami's solid play.
"(Miami's) tough and they're
used to playing at home," Bern-
stein said. "But I don't think we
played our best."
And while the day was not
Michigan's finest, Bernstein rec-
ognizes the ample amount of time
her team has to improve.
"It's a little disappointing," Ber-
nstein said. "But we have tons of
time, so it's not time to get crazy
with the results."
Bernstein commented on the
team's lack of positive energy, not-
ing that the scorching heat started
to take a toll on the girls. But after
team chemistry and camarade-
rie fueled the squad last year, she
expects her senior-led team to
overcome this glimmer of adver-
sity.
And getting back into the swing
of things should come alittle easier
when the Wolverines return home.
Ann Arbor will host the Wolverine
Invitational next weekend, and
Bernstein knows that the results
from Miami are something to
build on for the future.
"We're excited, but we're not
content with where we are," Ber-
nstein said. "So we have to work
hard and the girls know that, so
that's what we'll do."
Late goals cost'M' against rival
By EVAN KARPUS
For the Daily
There werehsix minutes left
and the Michigan women's soc-
cer team was locked in a score-
less tie. A I ---- - - -_ --_
turnover OHIO STATE 2
just out- MICHIGAN 0
side of the
box turned into a chance for Ohio
State.A shot tothe rightinside post
made it 1-0, and two minutes later,
the Buckeyes found the back of the
net again. But the 2-0 Michigan
loss didn't reflect the competitive-
ness of the rivalry, which opened
the Wolverines' Big Ten slate.
Michigan (0-1-0 Big Ten, 5-2-2
overall) hung on for much of the
game, but defensive lapses in the
second half ended the Wolverines'
chances.
The Wolverines came into the
game with a 6-0-3 record in con-
ference openers since 2000. Look-
ing past the rivalry, the game
drops Michigan to 0-1 in the Big
Ten after five wins in non-confer-
ence play including a 5-0 win over
Massachusetts.
"We have been coming off such
a high because of the wins we have
been producing in non-conference
games," senior defender Sarah
Stanezyk said. "The loss was a big
blow because of the rivalry ... but
we need to put the game in the
past, learn from our mistakes and
move forward."
Senior midfielder Jackie Carron
After missing PK, Blue
drops 1-0 match to OSU
Freshman Meghan Toohey has played a bi
knew coming into the game that it
was going to be a difficult match.
"(Ohio State) is always one or
two in the Big Ten," Carron said.
In the first half, both teams
possessed the ball and had qual-
ity scoring chances. In net, red-
shirt sophomore Haley Kopmeyer
recorded six saves and was helped
out of the crossbar on one key
play. In that play, Ohio State's best
opportunity to that point hit off of
the crossbar on a corner kick.
At halftime, Ryan made changes
in order to have the offense pres-
sure the defense near the box. The
g role on Michigan's offense th ss
Wolverines did just that as more
pressure created more opportu-
nities in front of the Buckeye net.
But despite their aggressive play,
the Wolverines couldn't produce
enough quality shots.
"Our plan is to play hard and
play teams under pressure," Ryan
said.
Midway through the half,
freshman forward Nkem Ezurike
headed the ball in front of the goal,
nearly giving the Wolverines the
lead, but to no avail. Ezurike led
the team with three shots, two of
them on goal. The team total was
six shots, three on goal.
The Wolverines now look to
rebound on the road against
Northwestern next weekend
where they hope they can take
advantage ofotheir aggressive play
in the box.
Michigan can't
convert on scoring
chances, drops
another close game
By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan men's soccer coach
Steve Burns borrowed a little
inspira-
tion from OHIO STATE 1
actor Al MICHIGAN 0
Pacino
in the movie Any Given Sunday to
get his team in the right frame of
mind heading into Friday night's
matchup with rival Ohio State.
As Pacino did, Burns assured
his team that the Big Ten season
opener was going to be a game of
inches - and he was spot-on.
The Wolverines (0-1-0 Big Ten,
4-2-3 overall) dropped an aggres-
sive match to the 23rd-ranked
Buckeyes 1-0 in front of a packed
house on Friday. The crowd of
3,207 witnessed a match high-
lighted by 14 combined goalkeep-
er saves and a penalty kick - but
no Michigan goals.
"To pull a crowd like this ... this
is a game we circle on the sched-
ule as a win that we need to have,"
senior captain Alex Wood said.
"Looking at the final statistics,
sometimes that's the way soccer
is played. We'll learn from this
and we'll push forward and keep
going."
Mich
and cr(
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time ag
igan kept the tempo high Wolverines' offensive attack once
eated plenty of scoring again Friday, with nine shots and
for itself but an Ohio five on goal.
Dal in the 20th minute of But the turning point in the
t period proved to be the game came midway through
ce - or the insurmount- the first half when Michigan
h' - in the game. was awarded a penalty kick and
keep it short and simple, couldn't put it away. Senior for-
hit the shot of his life," ward Justin Meram took a good
ore defender Brian Klem- shot but the Buckeye keeper Matt
id. "(It) went in off the Lampson played it perfectly and it
r. It's unfortunate for us, proved to be the save of the game.
ent in." Both of Michigan's losses this
Wolverines pressed for the season have come in 1-0 games
er from then on, but came against ranked teams. Each time,
short each time. the Wolverines doubled-up the
other team in the offensive cat-
egories, something that visibly
frustrated the strikers against
these teams Ohio State.
The Wolverines know this
ow what it's game will sting for a while, but
the team now faces an entire
ce to play in week of practice time before tak-
ing on Penn State at home next
te Big Ten." weekend.
The Nittany Lions knocked the
Wolverines out of the first round
of the Big Ten Tournament last
igan got 24 shots off, season and they haven't forgot-
on goal - easily beating ten. Combining Friday night's
keyes in those categories, defeat with the memory of its
State finished the night season-ending loss to Penn State,
st 12 shots, four of which Michigan has plenty of motiva-
on goal. The Wolverines tion for its upcoming match.
ok six corner kicks to Ohio "That's the story of the Big
two, but couldn't find a Ten," Wood said. "It's a super
make any of them touch competitive conference, one of
k of the net. the best conferences in the coun-
man forward Soony Saad try. It just shows how vital that
nesday night's hero after first goal is. These teams know
ne-winning goal in over- what it's like to play in the Big
ainst Kentucky - led the Ten, its life and death.
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