The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 7
Meyer hire changes the game
STEPHEN J. NESBITT
Daily Sports Editor
It took him 23 years, but Urban
Meyer finally found his way back
to Columbus.
This time, Meyer isn't the Ohio
State football team's wide receiv-
ers coach and graduate student,
he's the head man. Meyer signed a
six-year contract to replace Luke
Fickell as the Buckeyes' head
coach on Monday.
Meyer returns to Columbus
as a bona fide commodity, hav-
ing captured two BCS national
championships in six seasons at
Florida, his last coaching stop. He
boasts an overall 104-23 record
And has gone 7-1 in bowl games.
Meyer's only bowl loss came to
Michigan in the 2008 Capital One
Bowl, the only time he faced the
Wolverines.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke,
coming off a 40-34 victory over
Ohio State, sees Meyer's arrival as
a welcomed challenge.
"He's not going to play a down
and neither am I," Hoke said.
"Me, knowing Urban, he's a good
football coach, good guy, going to
welcome him in.
"But this is still Michigan and
Ohio, and it's still going to be that
rivalry and neither one of us is
going to play a game."
Hoke and Meyer have never
faced each other or coached in the
same conference before, but both
are Ohio natives that began their
head coaching careers in the Mid-
American Conference - Meyer at
Bowling Green in 2001 and Hoke
at Ball State in 2003.
But as a native Ohioan, Meyer
understands the magnitude of
The Game.
"That's the game of games,
and the one I grew up watching,"
Meyer said. "It's also true that the
next game is 362 days away, so I
understand the significance of it.
"The one thing I know about
that game (is that) as much as
there is dislike and hatred across
college football rivalries, there's
a share of that, but there's also a
lot of respect in that rivalry. I'm
really looking forward to coach-
ing in it."
It was a short reign for Fickell.
After taking over as head coach
when former coach Jim Tressel
was dismissed on May 30, Fick-
ell was tasked with monitoring
a program already hindered by
'M' travels east in
first true road test
DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
In the past week, the Michi-
gan men's basketball team has
become familiar with leaving
the friendly confines of Crisler
Arena. But in its first true away
game, a matchup with Virginia in
Charlottesville, the Wolverines
won't have the benefit of a split
crowd - or mid-80s and sunshine
- like Maui had to offer.
And if Michigan (5-1) shows
early signs of any remaining jet
lag, watch for the Cavaliers and
their unconventional pack-line
defense to pounce.
"It's just so good," said Michi-
gan coach John Beilein of the
defense. "It's not like pressure
defense, where you can get back-
doors or something. It's just real-
ly difficult to score against them."
The pack-line defense, used
almost exclusively by Virginia
coach Tony Bennett, empha-
sizes on-ball pressure, while the
other four defenders sag inside
the 3-point line to form a mock
perimeter. The objective is to take
away any penetration or backdoor
cuts - both of which flourished
for Michigan at the Maui Invita-
tional last week. Penetration was
key in freshman point guard Trey
Burke's success, as he was able to
drive into the lane with ease and
create scoring opportunities. The
Wolverines had an unusual week-
end after returning to the main-
land. After flying back on a Friday
red-eye flight and having Satur-
day off, the team's preparation
time for Virginia and its defense
has been limited.
Like Michigan, the Cavaliers
(5-1) have a young roster, featur-
ing just three seniors. But one of
those seniors, All-ACC forward
Mike Scott, is the main reason
Virginia was the preseason pick
to finish fourth in a strong ACC
field this year. After an ankle
injury sidelined Scott last sea-
son, the big man is going to be the
toughest post matchup the Wol-
verines have faced so far.
Scott, who was recruited by
Beilein at West Virginia, is aver-
aging 15 points and 10 rebounds
per game. Virginia's second
offensive option, guard Joe Har-
ris, poses a major threat from
beyond the arc. Though the soph-
omore is shooting just 32 percent
from 3-point range this year, his
presence must be respected after
he shot 42 percent last year.
"I'd seen them way back, and
they've gone through a transi-
tion, now (in their) third year
with Coach Bennett," Beilein
said. "They're very much play-
ing like the Wisconsins and the
Wisconsin-Green Bays. Just a
difficult, difficult team to play
against, both offensively and
defensively."
Heading into Maui, the offense
and particularly the play of Burke
were major question marks. But
in just one week, Michigan's situ-
ation looks brighter.
"I do see some things that are
very promising," Beilein said. "I
liked how we played with great
passion and energy and confi-
dence against some really good
teams. Biggest question was Trey
Burke, how is he going to do now
that he's out there. I think he per-
formed fairly well."
However, the Wolverines' post
play continued its inconsistency
in the Maui Invitational. While
sophomore forward Jon Horford
showed glimpses of the potential
Beilein has raved about, sopho-
more forward Evan Smotrycz
and redshirt sophomore forward
Jordan Morgan struggled.
Morgan found himself in early
foul trouble in two of the three
games in Maui.
Meanwhile, Smotrycz was held
scoreless in each of the tourna-
ment's games and has been criti-
cized for forcing shots.
"When he lets the game come
to him a little bit more, he's a far
more efficient player," Beilein
said. "He knows it. And he's just
got to continue to work at it.
When you're out there, it's a dif-
ferent thing. So he's adjusted a lot
in the past, he'll adjust again."
Aside from continuing its
momentum after a third-place
finish in Maui, Michigan will
again look to pick up a win in the
Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
Last year, the Wolverines went
on the road and knocked off
Clemson, a key factor in gaining
confidence.
TERYGILIMAP ND MM A SMCCLAIaly
(Top) Urban Meyer, who boasts an all-time 104-23 record as head coach, will replace Luke Fickell (left) as Ohio State
football coach. Fickell dropped The Game to Michigan coach Brady Hoke (right) and the Wolverines on Saturday.
pending NCAA sanctions and
allegations.
A week later, starting quar-
terback Terrelle Pryor withdrew
from the university and began
training for the NFL's Supple-
mental Draft. Fickell was left
with a tattered program head-
lined by a promising young fresh-
man quarterback, Braxton Miller.
The resulting season wasn't
pretty. After losing to the Wolver-
ines for this first time since 2003
on Saturday, Ohio State crawled
to the finish line at 6-6 for a
fourth-place finish in the Big Ten
Leaders division.
The end was ominous for Fick-
ell - Hoke sensed that. When he
came to midfield after Saturday's
victory, Hoke gave the first-year
coach a few words of support.
"I just thought he did a heck of
a job all year," Hoke said. "Tough
situation."
Fickell will coach the Buckeyes
in their bowl game, after which
he will remain on staff at Ohio
State. His job description has not
been determined.
The three head coaching
changes between Michigan and
Ohio State in less than a calendar
year qualify as the most in the
rivalry's history.
Meyer's last game was a 37-24
win over Penn State in the Out-
back Bowl on Jan. 1, 2011. He
stepped away from Florida citing
family and health concerns and
spent the past season as a college
football commentator for ESPN.
At one point this spring, Meyer
toured the country visiting major
college football programs for
ESPN. He took in a Michigan
practice on March 30on the side-
lines at Schembechler Hall.
Does Hoke regretletting Meyer
inside the walls?
"No," Hoke said. "Nope."
A month later, rumors swirled
about Meyer as a replacement
for Tressel. His daughter, Nicki,
quickly quelled those rumors.
"HE IS NOT repeat NOT,
GOING TO OHIO STATE," she
tweeted on April26.
Seven months later, her father
stood at the podium in Columbus
as Ohio State's new head coach.
As for the effect the hiring has
on Michigan, Hoke says his sin-
gular focus is on recruiting. That
focus won't waver.
"Recruiting is the lifeblood of
the program," Hoke said.
The ability to close Ohio's bor-
ders to outside recruiting was a
point of emphasis for Ohio State
Athletic Director Gene Smith in
his coaching search.
"We wanted a football coach
who ... will create an environment
here with an aspiration for every
single football player in the state
of Ohio is to be a Buckeye and
come to the Ohio State Univer-
sity and have no other thoughts,"
Smith said.
Michigan's 2012 recruiting
class of 23 commits includes nine
players poached from the state of
Ohio.
Michigan icers'problems aren't an easy ix
The last time the Michi-
gan hockey team won
a game, the Wolverines
were the third-ranked team in
the nation, the football team was
headed towards a late season
slide after losing to Iowa and I
was not passing Spanish.
Now, more
than three
weeks later,
Michigan has
tumbled all
the way down
to 19th in the
rankings, the
football team EVERETT
beat Ohio COOK
State and my
Spanish grade
es bueno, gracias.
Michigan will travel an ungod-
ly amount of miles this weekend
to play Alaska-Fairbanks and
try to snap its six-game winless
streak. The Nanooks are com-
ing off two shutout victories in a
row, but they were against lowly
Bowling Green. The hardest part
about playing Fairbanks (3-7-2
CCHA, 6-8-2 overall) is not the
team, but the travel.
But it doesn't matter who
Michigan (3-5-2, 7-7-2) is playing
anymore.
The issue isn't the other team.
Senior forward Greg Pateryn
has said that if this team is run-
ning on all cylinders, it's unbeat-
able. He might be exaggerating,
but to a certain extent, he's right.
Michiganhas one ofthebestgoal-
tenders in the nation in Shawn
Htunwick, one of the most excit-
ing young players in all of college
hockey in Phil Di Giuseppe and
one of the most respected coach-
es at any level in Red Berenson.
This is a team that should have
no problem making the NCAA
Tournament for the 22nd con-
secutive season. It's not the most
talented team Berenson has ever
coached, but it's good enough to
make some noise in the tourna-
ment.
But the thing that the Wol-
verines are missing right now is
something that Berenson can't
coach. He can coach the pen-
alty kill, the faceoffs and the line
changes, but he can't teach pas-
sion.
Michigan's issues aren't talent-
based. They are based off the one
lesson, the most important les-
son, that every kid hears on day
one. It's the lesson of hustle, hard
work and grittiness. It's the les-
son of not getting outworked by
anyone, anywhere, because the
minute you stop working is the
minute you let the other team
into the game.
The Wolverines haven't won
a game since Nov. 5 because
they haven't played like a team
that wants to win. They aren't
doing the little things - dig-
ging the puck out of the corner,
hustling out of line changes and
flying to loose pucks - that all
teams, even talented ones, have
to do to sustain success.
In some respects, it would be
easier for Berenson if he could
point to the defense, the special
teams or the goaltending and
definitively say, "This is what
we need to work on."
If it were that easy, junior
forward Chris Brown wouldn't
walk into a press conference
with his head in his hands,
mimicking the pose that senior
captain Luke Glendening struck
a week earlier. If Michigan's
problems were an easy fix, there
wouldn't be much of a concern.
Berenson has had teams in
the past that have looked like
locks to break the NCAA Tour-
nament streak. Two years ago,
the Wolverines finished seventh
in the CCHA and were relying on
the walk-on Hunwick to win the
CCHA Tournament and keep the
streak alive.
That team had no business
making the tournament, but
they did. That team had what my
high school football coach called
"want-to." They wanted to win
more than anything else, and did
whatever it took to become team
No. 20.
This team doesn't have that
- yet. Berenson and the older
players know it, but you can only
teach so much. You can't teach
want-to, that has to come from
within.
"We have to work harder,"
Brown said. "I know that's cli-
che an
the pa
how it
thing
our go
nothin
l
a:
to win
don't h
On I
game
d we've been saying it for freshman defenseman Brennan
st three weeks, but that's Seville tried to clear the puck by
has to be. We can't do any- taking his man one-on-one. The
different. It's not systems, puck was stolen from him, but
alie, or coaching. ... It's not then he stopped skating, turned
g. It's just the will to want around and watched Dutchman
forward Kevin Sullivan skate
uncontested towards the net.
t Hunwick never had a chance.
Those type of plays aren't skill
to grow up or talent. Those type of plays are
pure hustle, something any play-
nd play like er is capable of doing.
Those are the types of plays
a m an." that decide games.
"It's time to grow up and play
like a man," Brown said. "It's
time to start playing hockey.
a game. And right now we Michigan hockey, and this is not
ave it." Michigan hockey."
Union's second goal of the You can .never count a team
in Sunday's 6-3 blowout, out. Not in November and not at
Michigan.
But the Wolverines are dan-
gerously close to being the first
team in 21 years to miss the
NCAA Tournament. Yes they
are young, and yes it's early, but
this team has no drive right now.
The schedule is only going to get
tougher.
Michigan is missing some-
thing that can't be coached. If the
players don't find it soon, they'll
be on the outside looking in,
despite riding high with the No.
1 ranking just over a month ago.
In the last month, something
was lost in translation - just like
my Spanish skills.
- Cook can be reached
at evcook@umich.edu or on
Twitter @everettcook
Do you know a GSI whose teaching and mentoring are
outstanding? If so, tell your department about it!
Provide your department chair or administrator with the
names of GSIs who deserve to be recognized.
The nomination deadline is January 23, 2012, 12PM EST.
More information: Pat McCune at phmccune@umich.edu
http://www.rackham.umich.edu/umogsia12
RACKHAM GRADUATE SCHOOL - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ENE
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