The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 22, 2010 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 22, 2010 - 5
Iowa and Wisco clash in
throwback Big Ten game
ARIEL BOND/Daily
Seniorforward Louie Caporusso was the Wolverines' leading goal-scorer last year. This season, he has yet
'M'faces off with
high-octane UNO
By TIM ROHAN camera focused on the trenches,
Daily Sports Editor it would be this one. Iowa boasts
one of the best defensive lines in
Those Midwesterners certainly the nation led by senior defensive
know how to feed a kid. Big coun- end Adrian Clayborn and senior
try boys from Wisconsin and Iowa defensive tackles Karl Klug and
have long fueled the tradition of the Christian Ballard - all of whom
rough-and-tumble Big Ten play. could play in the NFL next year.
The Badgers and the Hawkeyes And the Badgers' offensive line has
might be the only two teams left paved the way for the nation's No.
in the conference that still feature 12 rushing attack, led by monster
power run offenses - the good ol' tackle Gabe Carimi.
days, three yards and a cloud of Though both teams have physi-
dust, with the hogmollies up front cal defenses and offensive lines,
leading the way. there are differences in their phi-
The rest of the country is trend- losophies. Wisconsin relies on
ing toward the spread offense and senior running back John Clay
the Big Ten is no exception. Michi- and freshman running back James
gan, Ohio State and Penn State all White to move the chains in the
employ some sort of spread. running game and Iowa might be
But you have the chance to jump considered more pass-oriented
in the Delorean Saturday afternoon with its talented receivingcore fea-
and watch some quality old-fash- turing Derrell Johnson-Koulianos
ioned football - the way it used to and Marvin McNutt.
be. Don't be mistaken though,
you're going to get a bruise just
NO.10 WISCONSIN watching this one.
VS. NO.13 IOWA
Just a week ago, Wisconsin was NO.8 MICHIGAN STATE
on top of the world celebrating a VS. NORTHWESTERN
31-18 win over Ohio State, the for- Michigan State can run you
mer top team in the land. Iowa over and then throw over the top.
was in Ann Arbor, and though the Northwestern might have its hands
Hawkeye defense allowed more full with Edwin Baker, Le'Veon
than 500 yards to the Wolverines, Bell, and Larry Caper - not to
Iowa won by 10 points. mention quarterback Kirk Cousins
The popular belief before the and the host of receivers he has to
season was that these were the two work with in the passing game.
teams that had a slim chance to The Wildcats haven't had a true
knock the Buckeyes off as the Big test yet this season, and now the
Ten's king of the hill. Thanks to the supposed cream of the Big Ten
Badgers, that's already done. crop comes to town with a potent
Now, the Big Ten is wide open offense and a stingy defense that
and Saturday's game could ulti- allows fewer than 17 points per
mately decide whether Wisconsin game.
is worthy of winning the confer- That's a reality that Northwest-
ence title in the Big Ten's final year ern hasn't experienced against
without a championship game. Rice, Central Michigan and Pur-
If there was ever a game which due.
true football fans might want a If Michigan State doesn't run
away with this one it will be
because of Wildcat quarterback
Dan Persa. The senior is the main
cog in the Northwestern offense.
Not only does he spread the ball
around the field through the air,
but his 295 rushing yards lead the
team. The Spartans have proved
they can stop a one-man show,
though.
INDIANA VS. ILLINOIS
The list of teams that Illinois
and Indiana have lost to so far this
season is quite impressive: Mis-
souri, Ohio State, Michigan State,
Michigan. But neither has proven
itself in a victory - with the Fight-
ing Illini's 33-13 win over Penn
State serving as the only excep-
tion.
Based on how well each team
played against inferior competi-
tion, this one could be a shootout.
The Hoosiers have senior quarter-
back Ben Chappell and the nation's
fifth-best passing game, which
highlights veteran receivers Dam-
arlo Belcher, Tandon Doss and Ter-
rence Turner.
And Illinois's run game will
have to counter each Indiana blow,
because the Fighting Illini's pass-
ing game just won't cut it. Only
six FBS teams have a worse aerial
attack.
That's okay, though. Junior run-
ning back Mikel LeShoure slashed
and sprinted his way past defend-
ers in the first six weeks of the sea-
son - running for 680 yards and
three touchdowns.
This one is going to come down
to the play of the defenses. Indiana
has allowed at least 34 points in
each of the past three weeks. And
Illinois slowed down Ohio State
and stuffed Penn State, so that has
to carry some weight - but the
choice is a lesser of two evils.
By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
After leaving New Hampshire
last weekend with a 3-3 overtime
tie to the ninth-ranked Wildcats,
Michigan coach Red Berenson
and the fourth-
ranked Wol-
verines have an UNO at
opportunity to Michigan
make a statement
on their home Matchup:
ice with another UNO 4-0-0;
chance at defeat- 2Michgan
ing a top-10 team.
Michigan (2-0- When: Fri-
0 CCHA, 2-0-2 day 7 P.M.
overall) takes on Where: Yost
No. 10 Nebraska- Ice Arena
Omaha in its first
home series of the year this Friday
and Saturday. The Mavericks (2-0-
O WCHA, 4-0-0 overall) walk into
Ann Arbor with their heads held
high, coming off a weekend sweep
of then-No. 13 Minnesota in Min-
neapolis.
"We don't know yet what kind
of a home team we're going to be,"
Berenson said after practice on
Thursday. "But you're seeing some
of these good teams now win on the
road. We hope to win on the road
too, but one of our goals is to win
at home. We've got to take advan-
tage of home ice, that's huge and it's
going to be a good challenge."
The Wolverine offense was
strong last Saturday, as the power
play was a perfect 3-for-3 against
New Hampshire. But the Wol-
verines couldn't put New Hamp-
shire away, despite having the lead
three times in the road matchup.
Defensive improvement is key for
the Wolverines this weekend, as
Nebraska-Omaha is tied for first in
the nation in total offense, averag-
ing 5.50 goals per game.
The Mavericks have two senior
forwards who are atop the nation
statistically in goal scoring and
assists. Rich Purslow is in a three-
way tie for nation's top scorer, net-
ting three goals and six assists in
four games for Nebraska-Omaha,
while teammate Joey Martin leads
the country with seven assists.
"It all depends on you coming
out of your zone quick and clean
and keeping the puck in their zone,"
Berenson said. "If you look at their
goals, they're leading the country
in offense, but most of it is 5-on-5
goals. It's not like their power play is
lighting it up more than anyone else,
but it's the 5-on-5 game."
To combat the prolific Maverick
offense, Berenson will send senior
netminder Shawn Hunwick out
to start between the pipes on Fri-
day and senior Bryan Hogan on
Saturday. Hunwick is coming off a
career-high 45 saves against New
Hampshire, including eight in over-
time.
Hunwick was a vital compo-
nent of Michigan's penalty kill unit
against the Wildcats, and his play
Saturday kept the Wolverines in the
game, as Michigan found itself in
penalty trouble late in the game -
taking a total of six penalties for 12
minutes. The Wolverines held the
New Hampshire power play unit to
one conversion in five attempts.
But the defensive play will be
especially critical this series to give
the goaltenders a shot at keeping
the Wolverines in the game and the
offense an opportunity to sustain
pressure in the Maverick zone.
"We have pretty good forwards,"
senior center Louie Caporusso said.
"It's always great for our defense-
men to practice against our own
forwards. The passing is the biggest
thing, not messing up on the pass-
ing. The things that we should be
doing correctly every single time
are what we have to concentrate on
(this weekend)."
After being swept on the road
by Nebraska-Omaha last February,
Caporusso and some of the Wolver-
ines carry some extra incentive into
this weekend's matchup. But Beren-
son prefers to look at the future -
knowing that beating top-ranked
teams is the only way for his Wol-
verines to show what they're made
of, starting with the home series
this weekend.
"You're as good as your last
game," Berenson said. "We tied a
team that outshot us, and they beat
a team in their own building, con-
vincingly.
"This team is the real deal."
Senior running back John Clay leads a potent Wisconsin running attack, along with freshman James White.
STAFF PICKS
The Daily football writers do their best
to predict, against the spread, what
happens in the 2010 football season.
Nicole Ryan,
Auerbach Kartje
Lee Quackenbush
Joe Men's Glee Club
Stapleton President
Tim
Rohan
i u ' r _
No.1 Oregon (-21.5) vs. UCLA
No. 3 Oklahoma (-3) at No.18 Missouri
No. 4 TCU (-20) vs. Air Force
No. 5 Auburn (-6.5) vs. No.6 LSU
No.7 Alabama (-6.5) at Tennessee
No. 8 Michigan State (-7) at Northwestern
No. 9 Utah (-31) vs. Colorado State
No.10 Wisconsin (+5.5) at No.13 Iowa
No.11 Ohio State (-23) vs. Purdue
No.12 Stanford (-34.5) vs. Washington St.
No.14 Nebraska (+6) at No.17 Oklahoma St.
No.15 Arizona (-7.5) vs. Washington
No.19 South Carolina (-12.5) at Vanderbilt
No. 20 West Virginia (-16) vs. Syracuse
No.21 Arkansas (-9.5) vs. Mississippi
No. 22 Texas (-22) vs. Iowa State
No. 23 Virginia Tech (-26) vs. Duke
No. 24 Mississippi St. (-20) vs. UAB
No. 25 Miami (Fla.) (-6.5) vs. North Carolina
Penn State (-9.5) at Minnesota
Illinois (-14) vs. Indiana
Overall
Oregon
Oklahoma
TCU
Auburn
Alabama
Michigan State
Utah
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Washington St.
Nebraska
Washington
South Carolina
West Virginia
Oregon
Oklahoma
TCU
Auburn
Alabama
Michigan State
Utah
Iowa
Ohio State
Washington St.
Oklahoma St.
Washington
South Carolina
West Virginia
Arkansas
Texas
Virginia Tech
Mississippi St.
North Carolina
Penn State
Indiana
68-62-4
Oregon
Oklahoma
TCU
Auburn
Alabama
Northwestern
Utah
lowa
Ohio State
Stanford
Nebraska
Washington
South Carolina
West Virginia
Arkansas
Texas
Duke
UAB
Miami (Fla.)
Penn State
Illinois
67-63-4
Oregon
Oklahoma
Air Force
Auburn
Alabama
Michigan State
Utah
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Washington St.
Nebraska
Washington
South Carolina
West Virginia
Arkansas
Iowa State
Virginia Tech
Mississippi St,
Miami (Fla.)
Penn State
Indiana
71-59-4
Oregon
Missouri
TCU
Auburn
Alabama
Michigan State
Utah
Iowa
Ohio State
Washington St.St.
Oklahoma St.
Arizona
South Carolina
West Virginia
Arkansas
Iowa State
Duke
Mississippi State
Miami (Fla.)
Minnesota
Illinois
21-19-2
Arkansas
Texas
Virginia Tech
Mississippi State
Miami (Fla.)
Penn State
Illinois
74-56-4
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