8 - Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com

8 - Tuesday, November 27, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Hoke backs Borges's play-
calling after OSU debacle

Junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was given Most Outstanding Player honors at the
N.C. State to chall

By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan's 2011-12 season will
finally be put to rest on Tuesday
night, when the Big Ten Champi-
onshipbanner willbe raised to the
Crisler Center rafters. After that,
the Wolverines
will face their N.C t
biggest chal- N
lenge of the sea- Michigan
son, when they Matchup:
welcome North N.C. State 4-1;
Carolina State Michigan 5-0
to Ann Arbor. When: Tues-
The date for day 7:30 p.m.
the banner rais-
ing was chosen, Where: Crisler
Michigan coach Center
John Beilein TV/Radio:
said, to ensure ESPN
that a full crowd
will be present for the pregame
festivities.
"I think when you look at the
long time it took usto raise a ban-
ner, it's a pretty good feeling and
I know that having that in there
and knowing that our coaching
staff, those guys that were on that
team, our administration, (were)
all a part of that, it's agood thing,"
Beilein said.
But with a game against a tal-

ented Wolfpack squad looming,
the coach admitted that he will
"probably not" pay much attention
to the magnitude of the ceremony.
In atypicalyear, an NIT Season
Tip-Off championship would be
the highlight of any team's non-
conference slate, but with a weak-
er-than-normal field in New York,
combined with N.C. State's pre-
season No. 6 ranking, this game
has long been circled as the mea-
suring stick for No. 3 Michigan
(5-0) heading into Big Tenplay.
While the Wolverines shined
in the Big Apple, the 18th-ranked
Wolfpack (4-1) had a rough
Thanksgiving week, spoiling what
could've been a matchup of two
top-5 teams at Crisler Center. Last
Sunday, N.C. State was blown out
by Oklahoma State in the finals
of the Puerto Rico Tipoff, before
struggling defensively against a
middling UNC-Ashville team at
home in an 82-80 win on Friday.
The Wolverines are firing on
all cylinders after wins over Pitts-
burgh and Kansas State at Madi-
son Square Garden last week.
Rebounding has been a weakness
since Beilein arrived at Michi-
gan, but after a combined 79-51
rebounding advantage over the
two games, many of the questions

NIT Season Tip-Off last weekend.
enge 'M'
surrounding the Wolverines' post
game have been put to rest.
The biggeststoryline from New
York was Hardaway's play.
He scored 16 and 23 points in
the two games, which was quick-
ly overshadowed when he took
a knee to the head in the closing
minutes on Friday. But the junior
passed his concussion tests and
Beilein said he went all out in Sun-
day practice.
The Wolverines will look to
reverse their fortunes in ACC-Big
Ten Challenges.
Despite the Big Ten captur-
ing last year's crown, Michigan
looked sluggish in a 70-58 loss at
Virginia last year and is 1-4 under
Beilein. But none of his teams
have garnered a ranking as high as
this year's team, though that's not
something Beilein, or his team, are
looking at.
"To do it in November, it's prob-
ably meaningless," Beilein said.
"Any of these rankings right now
are so premature that why even
pay attention to them. . mean, I
realize it sells - people want to be
able to talk about it. It'sgreat buzz,
I get all that.
"We don't talk about it at all. I
know it's coach speak, but it's the
truth."

By LUKE PASCH
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan offensive coordina-
tor Al Borges has come under
fire from the public regarding his
second-half play-calling in Satur-
day's 26-21 loss to Ohio State.
Fans have criticized Borges's
calls in short-yardage situations,
as well has his use - or possible
misuse - of senior quarterback
Denard Robinson. Borges hasn't
spoken to the media and he isn't
scheduled to address reporters
this week. But on Monday, head
coach Brady Hoke backed Borg-
es's play-calling and said poor
execution was the main problem
from an offensive standpoint.
"I thought (Borges) called a
good football game," Hoke said.
"If we do a couple things better,
I think we'll all be much happier.
I thought the play-calling was
exactly what it should have been."
The turning point of the game
came on the first drive of the sec-
ond half, when Michigan was
driving with a 21-20 lead. The
Wolverines, picked up one first
down and advanced to midfield
before being held and lining up
for a punt.
Then, Hoke called a timeout
and decided instead that he want-
ed to go for it on fourth-and-three,
sending his offense back onto the
field. The Buckeyes held strong,
though, forcing a turnover-on-
downs and then converting a field
goal on the following drive.
On Monday, Hoke declared
emphatically that the decision to
go for it on fourth down was his
- not Borges's - and that he was
going with his gut. For a moment
before the timeout, he considered
fakingthe punt.
"That's the only thing I wish I
wouldn't have done was call the
timeout," Hoke said. "I should
have left them on the field and
gone for it.
"I just told (Borges) after I
called the timeout, 'Be ready, and
then go.' And I thought we had a
good play. In fact, we did have a
good play if we execute the block-

ing."
The play called in that situa-
tion was the same power forma-
tion Borges called with just over a
minute left in the first half, when
Robinson lined up in the shotgun
with three other players in the
backfield. In the first half, Robin-
son faked the sweep handoff and
kept the ball to the right sideline
with a convoy of blockers in front.
He bounced off a pair of defend-
ers and took it 67 yards to the end
zone.
After the game, Ohio State
coach Urban Meyer said the mes-
sage to his players at half time
was to stop Robinson from run-
ning the ball, and it was clear that
they were keying on him on that
fourth-down stop.
"My comment was, after I
saw Denard Robinson sneak out
of there for a long run, stop the
quarterback run," Meyer said.
"That's the input I had. Probably
the same, I think 107,000 people
said that as well."
Another issue fans have had
with Borges's play-calling was
the limited simultaneous use of
Robinson and junior quarterback
Devin Gardner. Against Iowa,
Gardner took many snaps with
Robinson lined up either at tail-
back or in the slot.
"We were helping our foot-
ball team because you're putting
your best 11 on the field," Hoke

said after the Iowa game. "I think
Denard fits in that either as a
quarterback or as a slot receiver
or wherever it may be."
It was evident in the first half
of the Ohio State game that Rob-
inson would not be throwing the
football due to his elbow injury.
But Borges did not try very hard
to disguise it, either. Nearly every
time Robinson was in the game,
Gardner was not, and Robinson
was taking the snap at quarter-
back. He would either keep the
ball himself or pitch it to a tailback
- passing was notan option.
It didn't take the Buckeyes long
to catch onto the game plan -
Gardner was passing, and Robin-
son was running. And without the
two on the field together, the play
calling was transparant.
"They were a little bit predict-
able in the first half," said Ohio
State co-defensive coordinator
Everett Withers. "You know, they
put (Robinson) back there, he
was gonna run it. And they put 12
(Gardner) back there, they were
gonna throw it."
Still, Hoke denies that the
plays were predictable because he
thinks they would have been suc-
cessful had they been e ecuted
properly.
"I don't think (it was predict-
able) because I think there were
plenty of opportunities," Hoke
said. "You have to block, too."

0

Road struggles becoming common for Michigan

Michigan has been
doubled up on goals
away from home,
readies for Bulldogs
By MICHAEL LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
Playing on the road in college
hockey is never an easy task -
facing the opposing student sec-
tion's taunts whenever play ends
up in its corner of the ice is tough
to handle.
And that's just one of many
obstacles that arise while play-
ing on the road.
Whether it's that effect or
something less tangible, the
Michigan hockey team has espe-
cially struggled away from Yost
Ice Arena this year.
Including the technically
neutral-site loss to Cornell on
Saturday at Madison Square
Garden, Michigan is 0-3-1 away
from Yost. The Wolverines have
allowed five goals per game and
scored just 2.5 goals per game
during those four appearances.
Notching the first goal can
become a crucial factor in road
appearances in order to elimi-
nate the crowd and to gain confi-
dence. But, more often than not,
Michigan has allowed the first
goal of the game.
"(Allowingthe first goal) defi-
nitely sets the tone for the rest of
the game and that's something
we need to work on," said fresh-
man forwal Boo Nieves.
"We're letting up too many
goals early and it definitely
needs to change for us to win on

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d." ,Arena.
he Wolverines' 5-1 loss to The Wolverines allowed four
I on Saturday, a rematch first-period goals, three of which
last year's NCAA Tour- came during the initial seven
t, the Garden didn't feel minutes, en route to a 7-2 loss.
neutral site. Of the 18,200 There have been struggles to
in attendance, the major- find the net during these con-
re clad in red and white. tests, but defensive-zone cover-
an (3-5-1 CCHA, 5-7-1 age has also been a problem, as
) had its fair share of fans the team has trouble limiting
but considering the Big costly mistakes.
ome, Ithaca, N.Y., is about "When you're trying to come
urs closer to Manhattan back, you've got put your chanc-
nn Arbor, the discrepancy es in," Berenson said. "And then
bers wasn't a big surprise. you're going to need some goal-
area that has been a con- keeping, and you're going to
horn in the Wolverines' need your overall team defense
to be better."
Not only is keeping deficits
manageable important for Mich-
or us to play igan to have a chance at victory,
but it is just as important in
ll ... we need order to keep the sixth man -
the crowd - off the ice. Many
o keep the college hockey arenas tend to be
small and noisy, and when the
wd out of it. home team scores early and in
bunches, the crowd can deliver
a knockout punch to keep the
opposing team out of the game.
their inability to keep The Wolverines travel to Fer-
manageable and within ris State this weekend, where
During Michigan's shoot- Ewigleben Ice Arena has a repu-
ctory against Northern tation for being a difficult place
;an on Nov. 2, the Wolver- to play. Berenson has recognized
ve up four second-period the importance of eliminating a
nd managed to rally in the boisterous crowd all season on
eith three of their own to the road, and the Bulldog fans
p. pose exactly that.
he series finale against "For us to play well in (Fer-
ildcats a night later, they ris State), we need to keep the
4-1 after the second peri- crowd out of it," Berenson said.
ring given up two goals in "That means score the first goal
'ames. and get them on their heels, and
aring off against Michi- keep the momentum from going
ate on Nov. 10 in East against you.
g, the trend continued for "That's part of our road men-
;an in a sold-out Munn Ice tality."

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