2B - October 8, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
28 - October 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Minnesota flies past
Michigan in straight
sets in Minneapolis
The Michigan footbaliteam trounced Purdue on Saturday, but the Boilermakers still have a legitimate shot at the Big Ten Leaders Division crown this season.
Big
Tgen has a long way to go
ST LAFAYETTE
- Trees blanket the
horizon beyond the
eastern border of Ross-Ade Sta-
dium, stretching endlessly, inter-
rupted only by the smoke stacks
and wind turbines that soar sky-
ward in the distance.
It's a picture of the Midwest.
Expanses of nature and rem-
nants of an industrial age stand
side by side
in the land of
the blue-col-
lar. Cropped
close to that
backdrop,
the brick,
steel and
grass of STEPHEN J.
Ross-Ade
Stadium NESBITT
straddle that
line.
The tapestry is built for Big
Ten football, stitched together
for blue-collar men and a blue-
collar game. The conference has
historically been big, brawny
and bruising.
But this fall, the Big Ten foot-
ball programs have failed again
and again on the national stage.
Respect in college football isn't
just given, it's earned. Right
now, the Big Ten deserves none.
On Sunday, the USA Today
coaches poll was released and,
for the first time in its history,
no Big Ten teams were ranked
among the top-25 teams in the
nation. (Ohio State is undefeated
but ineligible for ranking while
serving punishments for the
program's 2011 sanctions.)
During the non-conference
slate this fall, the 12 Big Ten
teams posted a combined 34-13
record. Those losses can't be
chalked up to strength of sched-
ule, either. Just five of those
losses were to ranked teams,
and only one win was over a
team in the top-25.
The powerhouse programs
plummeted early.
Ohio State and Penn State
entered the season crippled by
sanctions. Neither is in conten-
tion for a bowl appearance, a
national ranking or a stab at the
Big Ten championship.
Wisconsin began the year
ranked No. 12 before a tumultu-
ous three-week stretch against
consecutive unranked oppo-
nents - a five-point win over
Northern Iowa, a three-point
loss to Oregon State and a two-
point win over Utah State.
Michigan lost to No. 2 Ala-
bama in the season opener,
barely escaping with its dignity
in a nationally televised blow-
out.
Michigan State snuck by No.
24 Boise State in week one and
climbed the polls. Then the
Spartans lost to No. 20 Notre
Dame, who then beat Michigan
the following week.
The Leaders Division has
become a two-horse race
between Purdue and Wisconsin.
And neither team is a thorough-
bred.
The Legends Division crown
is expected to go to Michigan,
Michigan State or Nebraska at
season's end. All three teams
have two losses on their sched-
ule, with the Spartans and
Cornhuskers already losing a
Big Ten game.
Now nobody can crack the
nation's top 25. C'mon, even
teams you barely recognize
made the top 25. Iowa State?
Louisiana Tech? Cincinnati?
The Big Ten can't stand up
to the rest of the nation. It's
become a bit of an embarrass-
ment for a once-proud confer-
ence. And it's nothing new.
The discussion rises up every
winter when bowl games come
and go: How does the Big Ten
stack up with the SEC, the ACC,
the Pac-12? The truth is that it
doesn't. Not right now.
It's not only the teams that
haven't kept pace in college
football this fall, it's the Big
Ten's headlining players too.
Michigan senior quarterback
Denard Robinson, Wisconsin
running back Montee Ball,
Michigan State running back
Le'Veon Bell and Nebraska
running back Rex Burkhead all
entered the season with Heis-
man hype.
Bell, averaging 129 rushing
yards per game, is the only one
putting up the numbers expect-
ed of him, but he's nowhere near
the Heisman frontrunners after
six weeks.
The Big Ten just doesn't make
a lot of sense.
That brings us back to West
Lafayette and Michigan-Pur-
due, a game in which the Wol-
verines rolled to a 44-13 victory
in front of a crowd of less than
50,000 scattered throughout the
Ross-Ade Stadium horseshoe. It
really was never close.
The scary part is that Purdue
has a legitimate shot at a Big
Ten division crown - ESPN
analyst Kirk Herbstreit even
called Purdue a Big Ten favorite
prior to the game. The blue-
collar conference is one marred
by futility. And national respect
isn't easy to get.
It's the big life, big stage, big
problems.
- Nesbitt can be reached
at stnesbit@umich.edu.
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By GREG GARNO need to play a little bit more free,
Daily Sports Writer play volleyball and have fun."
Michigan fell behind 9-3 early
season long, the Michigan in the second set, but fought
'ball team has talked about back to tie the set at 11 on an ace
through the Big Ten season from freshman outside hitter
ently than last year's down- Kelly Murphy and a Wisconsin
nish. But after losing four of service error. The Badgers went
st five games, 2012 is look- on a 6-1 run, though, forcing the
rily similar to 2011. Wolverines to take a timeout
argu- with the score 17-12. Wisconsin
the MICHIGAN o slowly worked its way to a 23-16
gest MINNESOTA 3 lead - its largest margin for the
rence set.
e country, the Wolverines Michigan hit a meek .079 in
on the road for their fourth the set while the Badgers ended
ht game, losing to Wiscon- with a strong .355. Once again,
straight sets 20-25, 18-25, the Badgers used an early lead
in Madison on Sunday. to capture the final set, but never
eally didn't think we played amounted more than a 3-0 run.
it all," said Michigan coach Trailing 4-1 at the beginning
Rosen. "I didn't feel that we of the set, the Wolverines tied
sented our abilities in any the game at 12, but Wisconsin
all today.rIt certainly was put together another run to
a match _______ move ahead
I felt we 20-14 - its
rmed "We just need to largest lead of
close to the game -
evel and figure out a way to before coasting
frus- to victory.
g. It's play our game." "I don't
st on the think they're
rs, but on going in not
coaches wanting to play
well," Rosen said. "I didn't think
e Wolverines (2-4 Big Ten, we let ourselves play tonight on
iverall) were out hit 15-10 in either side of the ball. We have
rst set, struggling to accu- to continueto set extremely high
e more than 13 in aset. standards and that our players
ither team was able to are preforming at the level, but
momentum in their favor we have to execute in matches."
gin the first set, but with The Wolverines struggled
igan ahead, 11-10, Wiscon- defensively on Sunday, a trend in
ent on a 4-0 run. The Wol- many games this season, totaling
es rallied to take a 16-15 just six team blocks and 38 digs.
in a kill from junior middle They had 58 in Wednesday's loss
er Jennifer Cross, and against Minnesota. Sophomore
ned to the back-and-forth setter Lexi Dannemiller led the
Tied at 19, the Badgers (2-4 team with 27 assists while fresh-
en, 14-5 overall) went on man libero Tiffany Morales led
run to put the set out of the team with 12 digs.
. Rosen was adamant that his
ss had a team-high 10 kills team, including coaches, needed
e day, and was the only to regroup at the beginning of
r to reach double-digit kills the season, but refused to blame
Michigan. One of the few tough competition for the recent
'classmen to play through trend.
eason, Cross too, empha- "I never try and compare
her team's frustration. year to year," Rosen said. "We're
e just need to figure out playing good teams and the Big
to play our game," Cross Ten is full of good teams, but we
"We've been practicing expect to be one of those good
well, but it's like we're teams. It's not going to get any
ng on to something. We easier so it can't be an excuse."
Grinwis stands tall
Ezurike scores twice, Kopmeyer
in 1-1 draw vs. PSU posts shutout in visit to Evanston
By DAN HARTLEP
For the Daily
After stunning Ohio State last
week with ashot from midfield by
freshman midfielder Jack Brown
early in the second overtime,
the Michigan men's soccer team
looked to keep the momentum
rolling on Saturday against Penn
State. PENN STATE 1
The MICHIGAN 1
Wolverines
raced out to an early lead, but
failed to keep Penn State from
scoring as the teams fought to a
1-1 draw.
The Wolverines (1-1-1 Big Ten,
3-5-1 overall) had the upper hand
offensively in the early minutes of
the match, scoring in the fourth
minute off the head of junior for-
ward T.J. Roehn. After a strong
cross into the goal boxby redshirt
freshman midfielder Colin McA-
tee to a streaking Roehn, the ball
slid underneath the left arm of
the Nittany Lion goalkeeper for
Roehn's second goal of the year.
"Colin McAtee had a great
game," Roehn said. "He sent in a
great low ball and I got my head
on it and beat the (keeper) near
post."
From that point on, it was all
Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (1-1-1, 6-3-
2) threw everything they had at
redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Adam Grinwis, who had a career-
high 13 saves. Grinwis and the
Wolverines'backline consistently
kept the Penn State out of the net
with the help of the hard-nosed
play of junior defender Ezekiel
Harris. Harris made several key
defensive stops when the Wol-
verines needed them most, as the
Nittany Lions continued to bring
pressure.
By the end of the match, Penn
State had recorded 26 shots. First-
year Michigan coach ChakaDaley
praised the play of his keeper, but
recognized that having a career
day from a goalie is often times a
sign of defensive turmoil.
Lineup changes stemming
from injuries and suspensions
have prevented the Wolverines'
defensive four from becoming
familiar with each other this sea-
son.
The number of scoring chanc-
es that the Wolverines allowed
would come back to haunt them
in the 82nd minute. The Nit-
tany Lions found an equalizer
from defender Akil Howard, who
tapped in a low line drive from
the right edge of the goal box.
After two overtime periods of
evenly matched play and equal
scoring opportunities, the two
squads settled for a draw.
Looking to get the season back
on track, Roehn had only positive
things to say after the game.
"Getting an early goal in a
game like this was crucial," he
said. "We would have liked to get
the win, but we'll take the point."
The result ties Michigan with
Penn State for third place in the
Big Ten. The Wolverines next
take the pitch Wednesday against
undefeated Oakland University at
the U-M Soccer Complex.
Daley said he knows what his
team needs in order to be ready
for the Grizzlies.
"From here on out, there isn't
much training," Daley said. "It's
pretty much just about resting
and getting yourself ready emo-
tionally for the next big game."
ByALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
Daily Sports Writer
Junior forward Nkem Ezurike
struck twice for the No. 23 Uni-
versity of Michigan women's soc-
cer team, leadingthe Wolverines
over Northwestern, 2-0, in Evan-
ston on Sat-
urday. MICHIGAN 2
The N'WESTERN 0
Wildcats'
defense could do little to slow
down an overpowering Michigan
attack. The Wolverines (5-0-1 Big
Ten, 11-2-1 overall) controlled
possession from the opening
whistle, generating a barrage of
offensive opportunities. Despite
being outshot 8-1 in the first fif-
teen minutes, Northwestern
goalkeeper Rachel Bergman held
strong and kept Michigan off the
scoreboard.
The Wolverines finally capital-
ized 17 minutes into the contest.
Junior midfielder Tori McCombs
headed a ball toward net that
was misplayed by a defender, and
Ezurike took advantage of the
mistake. Alone against the goal-
keeper, the forward lifted a shot
over Bergman and into the back
of the net, breaking the scoreless
draw. A humble Ezurike refused
to take credit for the tally.
"It's totally agroup effort," she
said. "I wouldn't get those goals
without the team."
The goal seemed to awaken
Northwestern (0-6, 4-8-2) which
began creating its own scoring
chances. Junior forward Kate
Allen, the Wildcats' greatest
offensive threat, fired a strong
shot on goal in the 27th minute,
but fifth-year senior goalkeeper
Haley Kopmeyer corralled the
0
PATRICK BA RON/Daily
Junior forward Nkem Ezurike scored twice against Northwestern to give the Wolverines a 2-0 Big Ten victory.
effort. That attempt was North-
western's last on target, but
Michigan's offense wasn't done
-the McCombs-to-Ezurike com-
bination soon struck again for
Michigan.
Just six minutes into the sec-
ond half, McCombs curled a low
cross into the 18-yard box. The
ball landed perfectly at the feet
of Ezurike, who had made a long
run from midfield. The forward
poked a shot past Bergman for
her eighth tally in six games.
Ezurike said she understood
the importance of the 2-0 lead,
since itvirtuallyassured a Michi-
gan victory.
"We have to win every game
from here on out," she said. "Each
game we play is like a Big Ten
championship to us."
The result temporarily pushed
Michigan into first place in the
Big Ten. Conference-leading and
4th-ranked Penn State (5-0, 11-2)
had the night off, and will face
Indiana on Sunday afternoon. If
the Nittany Lions win, they will
regain sole possession of first
place; a tie would put them even
with the Wolverines.
Once Michigan took a two-
goal lead, the defense did the
rest, holding an opponent score-
less for the tenth time this sea-
son. The back four surrendered
eight shots, but just two threat-
ened Kopmeyer. The Wolverines'
fifth clean sheet in six confer-
ence games dropped their goals-
against average to 0.36.
Michigan coach Greg Ryan
has been impressed with his
defense all season long, and Sat-
urday night was no different.
"The back four were great,"
Ryan said. "There were very
few chances (for Northwestern)
throughout the game."
The victory in Evanston
helped the Wolverines match a
program record with four con-
secutive road wins. But facing a
quick turnaround before a crucial
midweek game against Michigan
State, Ryan has moved on.
"Tonight's win was nice," he
said. "I'm already focusing on
Michigan State."