U The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I December 5, 2011
New Orleans
January 3rd,
2012
Michigan
vs.
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech
unfamiliar foe
for Wolverines
Sugar Bowl berth pushes
Michigan back into spotlight
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily SportsEditor
It's not often that a team gets
spanked on the first Saturday of
December but still gets a taste of
sugar a day later.
But that's the case for No. 11
Virginia Tech, the Michigan
football team's opponent in the
Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3.
On Saturday, No. 15 Clemson
smoked the Hokies, 38-10. It was
the second time this season the
Tigers have easily handled Vir-
ginia Tech - on Oct. 1, Clemson
rolled them, 23-3, in Blacksburg,
Va.
Yet, despite only beating
one ranked team all season in
then-No. 20 Georgia Tech on
Nov. 10, Virginia Tech (7-1 ACC,
11-2 overall) is on its way to the
See VIRGINIA TECH, Page 3B
The Big Easy beckons.
The lights are bright,
Bourbon
Street is bus-
tling. And
here come
the Wolver-
ines, who
earned a spot
in the Sugar
Bowl in New TIM
Orleans and ROHAN
return to col--
lege football's
grand stage - playing in a BCS
bowl for the first time in five
seasons.
"It'll just show everybody that
Michigan's back and we're seri-
ous," said fifth-year senior tight
end Kevin Koger.
Beating Ohio State was the
most important thing, but all it
did was make knocking off No.
11 Virginia Tech the next impor-
tant thing.
There will only be one college
football game that night.
At 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 3, Mich-
igan-Virginia Tech will take
center stage. Opinions across the
nation will be formed. Expecta-
tions will rise. Win and it was
no big deal. Lose and it's a catas-
trophe.
People like to associate a
certain phrase when discussing
Hoke: "What you see is what you
get." With the spotlight shining
as bright as it has all season -
and maybe as bright as it will
for a few years to come - Hoke
has one last chance to leave an
indelible mark on this magical
season.
What will the nation see?
Like he did with the Ohio
State game, Hoke will treat this
opportunity like a business trip.
He said he wouldn't mess with
a formula that produced a 10-2
season. Why should he change
who he is when the lights get
brighter?
The nation will be introduced
to the coach with the goofy
smile and a coaching style to
match. The man who was grin-
ning ear to ear when he walked
off the field after beating Ohio
State - his emotions on his
sleeves - still drenched by his
See SPOTLIGHT, Page 3B
Guptill's OT goal ends Blue's skid, nets series split
By MATT SLOVIN a Nanook defenseman. After
Daily Sports Writer Michigan coach Red Berenson freshman forward Zach Hyman F O
let out a long sigh of relief that he dumped the puck into the attack- 0
FAIRBANKS - Regulation
ended in Saturday night's game
against Alaska Fairbanks and
the No. 19
Michigan MICHIGAN 3
hockeyteam ALASKA 4
had yet to
snap its lon- MICHIGAN 1
gest winless ALASKA 0
streak of the
new millennium.
The Wolverines battled
through three scoreless periods,
having to hold their collective
breath throughout as the Nanooks
(4-8-2-0 CCHA, 7-9-2 overall)
fired shot after shot at fifth-year
senior goaltender Shawn Hun-
wick. But the hero, freshman for-
ward Alex Guptill, capitalized on
a failed Nanook pass to clinch the
game in the early stages of over-
time, giving Michigan a 1-0 win.
had been holding in since Nov. 5,
when his team last won against
Western Michigan.
"It's about time," Berenson
said. "We had a lot of pressure
on us and a little bit of self-doubt.
Sooner or later we were going to
get out of it, but the sooner part is
better."
With the game winner, Gup-
till tied fellow freshman forward
Phil Di Giuseppe for the team lead
with eight goals. But the biggest
tally of his young collegiate career
came with its fair share of what
Berenson calls "puck luck."
"I didn't even know it went in,"
Guptill said. "I saw everyone else
celebrating, so I figured it went
in."
That's probably because it
wasn't supposed to go in - at
least until it was re-directed by
ing zone, Guptill was there to col-
lect. He weighed his options and
fired a shot. Alaska's Adam Hen-
derson frantically tried to clear
it, but a bad bounce sent it off his
skate and into the net.
"Obviously, it's nice to be able to
win a game on the road," Hunwick
said. "We had a bad stretch going
there. But at the same time, it's
only one win."
With the losing streak snapped,
the long plane ride home seemed
far less daunting.
And the mood in the locker
room mirrored Berenson's. Hun-
wick, too, mentioned just how
"relieving" the win was.
After all, it was the team's first
true road victory. Sure, the Wol-
verines picked up a couple points
from its shootout win at Northern
See GUPTILL, Page 3B
COURTESY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Fifth-year senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick recorded his first-career shutout on the road to ensure Saturday's win.
RUNNIN'N' GUNNIN
Led by Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 19 points,
Michigan downed Iowa State on Saturday.
The Wolverines used 21-5 second-half
run to coast to a 76-66 win. Page 2B
CYCLONE DETHRONED
* Michigan rebounded from its loss
against Maryland with a strong seven-
point win over Iowa State, improving the
Wolverines record to 8-1. Page 2B