The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, November 8, 2013 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November 8, 2013 - 7A What to Watch For: Nebraska In third year, rugby seeks Big Ten Title By ZACH HELFAND Daily Sports Editor. 1. Can Michigan find any consis- tency? There's a reason why Michigan coach Brady Hoke still struggles to name his team's identity. Name- ly, that identity seems to change every week. Heading into their ninth week, the Wolverines have still yet to find any sort of on-field consistency. Many of the same problems have plagued Michigan this year. The offensive line has yet to play a stellar game, or even close to that, and the secondary has always, been loose. But mostly, each week has varied vastly from the one preceding it, from the highs of the Notre Dame victory and the record-setting Indiana perfor- mance, to the lows of Akron and Penn State and Michigan State. Some of that is on youth or inexperience. Defensive coordi- nator Greg Mattison says that, often, nine guys will execute per- fect on any given play. But all 11? "We're not there yet," Mattison said. "And we have to get there." The frustrating part, he said, is that a different player will err on different plays. The key is get- ting the entire unit to play in cho- rus. The same can be said of the offense. It has been a turbulent ride so far, and right now the Wolver- ines are riding a downswing. This team doesn't need to put up 751 yards of total offense each week, as it did against Indiana. It just needs to find something it can rely on. 2. Will the receivers have time to get open? Or maybe the question is, will the line protect Gardner? Michigan's offensive strength is the passing game. That's no secret. The Wolverines rank 10th PATRICK BARRON/Daily Fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint and the offensive line will be major factors on Saturday. in the Big Ten in rushing yards per be another long day. game, in front of just Illinois and Purdue. 3. How will the sec When they're successful, it is its leaks? because fifth-year senior wide receiver Jeremy Gallon and soph- The defense playe omore tight end-receiver hybrid against the Spartan Devin Funchess make plays considering the fiel downfield. And even against the was given by a stag stout Michigan State secondary, Against the run, the those plays were there for redshirt held its own. Thep junior quarerback Devin Gardner. was a slightly differe "We have to get Devin a little The secondary more of an opportunity because passing yards per ga there were plenty of them down age. That's second t the field," Hoke said Monday. Big Ten. Opponents The problem, of course, was more passes per g protection. The Spartans sacked Michigan (38) than Gardner seven times and hurried other Big Ten team, him seven more. For the routes that the Wolverines that develop more slowly - think able there. Gallon's double moves - Gard- On Tuesday, H ner was hit before he had time to the secondary need release the ball. up. The fact that The coaching staff expects will field backup more interior blitzes similar to Tommy Armstrong J the ones it faced against Michi- freshman, will help. gan State. And Nebraska averages Michigan's defensen slightly less than three sacks per coverage is tighter?. game, same as the Spartans. If the "I don't know," 1 offensive line doesn't adjust, it'll got to be. If I knewt ondary patch d serviceably Ls, especially d position it nant offense. e front seven passing game nt story. allows 255 me, on aver- to last in the also attempt ame against against any an indication are vulner- attison said ds to tighten Cornhuskers quarterback Jr., a redshirt But how can make sure the he said. "It's that, I would probably feel a lot better about that, but we have to. We have to get tighter in coverage. We just have to. We have to contest more balls. And that's what we'll work on very hard this week." 4. What's the answer to Ameer Abdullah? Unlike the pass defense, Michi- gan's rush defense has been among the Big Ten's best this sea- son. On ateam lacking much con- sistency (see No.1 above), the rush defense supplies some depend- ability. Still, . the Wolverines' front seven has yet to see a back like Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah. He's the Big Ten's leading rusher with 1,108 yards. Multiple Michigan players or coaches said he is the best back Michigan will see this year.% If the Wolverines can at least contain Abdullah - who hasn't gone for less than 98 yards in a game this year - the defense will be OK. Abdullah has shown just how difficult that is to do this year. By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Writer At a school that prides its teams on nothing if not tradi- tion, it's fitting that the Michi- gan club rugby team got its battle cry from a 123-year-old news article. The first-ever issue of The Michigan Daily featured an arti- cle.previewing the rugby team's upcoming clash with Cornell. Somewhere inside the article's now charmingly outdated ver- biage lies a phrase that the team has since adopted as its rallying cry - soiled meat and sand. The phrase is meant to con- jure feelings of toughness and grit within the players and has become central to the team. Before every match, the team cries out "soiled meat and sand!" The words even appear on the header for the team's website. "It really sticks with us," said Michigan coach Matt Trenary. "We're representing a lot of people that have spanned a lot of years." Saturday, the 12th-ranked Wolverines will represent their long tradition of alumni at the Big Ten Finals against No. 9 Indiana. Unlike many sports, which feature long tournaments at the end of the season, Big Ten rugby simply pairs the two top teams in the standings for one winner- take-all match. In that type of high-pressure environment, the Wolverines' preparation will be key. "We get a lot of benefit from the intelligence of our players," Trenary said. "They have a blue- collar attitude. They want to work." Michigan's 'A' squad has only lost one game this season, a 27-18 loss at No. 11 Wisconsin. Senior captain Aiken Andutan called the loss a good wake-up call, saying it helped the team stay focused. Junior Sequoyah Burke- Combs, who recently switched positions from wing to flanker, will be key to the Wolverines' success on Saturday. Burke- Combs is among the team lead- ers in both tries (seven) and points (35) and usually plays the role of motivator for Michigan. "He just tears up the field," Andutan said. "When he gets the ball in hand, he can run over anyone. He gets us all really pumped up." Andutan is soft-spoken off the field and in interviews, but his grounded nature keeps the team together when things get tough on the field. "He doesn't get flustered," Trenary said. "It helps provide a nice, even keel for the guys." Andutan's five tries and 25 points have been important to the Wolverines this season and will be magnified against an Indiana defense that hasn't allowed a point since Oct. 5 The Hoosiers finished the season undefeated and show- cased their dominant capabili- ties three weeks ago in a 96-0 win over Iowa. Michigan won't be afraid going into the match, though. Andutan says the Wolverines are preparing for this challenge like they do every other, with one exception. "We weren't as focused dur- ing the bus ride to some of the earlier away games," Andutan said. "This time, we'll really emphasize concentrating and visualizing what we need to do in the game." Added Trenary: "It'll be a fun and exciting game. This isn't baseball where you get a bunch of games. You just get one." The undefeated Hoosiers haven't been challenged much this season, but Sunday they'll be up against much more than the men lined up across from them. They'll be staring down decades of=history and tradi tion. They'll be goiig p against soiled meat and sand. Mustaches for a etter cause By GREG GARNO including the players, the coaches Daily Sports Writer and even the administrative staff. "As a team, it's kind of just a fun Sophomore forward Andrew thing for us," said junior forward Copp predicts that Travis Lynch Alex Guptill. "We can raise aware- will look the best. Senior defense- ness for this, and hopefully make man Mike Chiasson, meanwhile, it into a big thing. Maybe, one day, likes forward Andrew Sinelli as it will turn into something bigger a quiet underdog who could sur- than this." prise his teammates. Senior defen- Added Copp: "I think it's defi- seman Mac Bennett believes he nitely a team-building thing that could finish the strongest. we didn't do last year." Freshman defensemen Michael Guptill has kept the idea float- Downing and Nolan De Jong like- ing around for over a year, but it ly won't have much to boast about, wasn't until the middle of July that though. Neither will freshman the idea came to fruition. Guptill goaltender Zach Nagelvoort. and Chiasson approached Michi- It's not a competition on the ice. gan coach Red Berenson with the In fact, don't call it a competition. idea of growing out mustaches for Instead, call it one of the many men's health. team-bondingexperiencesthe No. Since another popular move- 2 Michigan hockey team has had ment, Movember, has been trade- this year. But this time around, marked, the Wolverines are the Wolverines are working for working just to raise awareness a cause bigger than their team - for issues like prostate cancer or Mustaches for Men's Health. depression, as opposed to raising Since the beginning of Novem- money. Updates will be regularly ber, the Wolverines have been posted to the Athletic Depart- growing mustaches - strictly ment's website. mustaches, no beards - in an The hockey team is the first effort to raise awareness for men's program among Michigan's 13 health. Everyone is on board, men's varsity sports to partici- pate in such a movement for men's health, though. Female programs, like the softball team and women's basketball team, have worn pink on their uniforms to raise aware- ness for breast cancer. "Next year, hopefully we can do something with other men's teams on campus," Chiasson said. For a team that has gone paint- balling and organized trips to the movies, events like these fur- ther demonstrate a change in the team's mentality from a team that failed to make last year's NCAA Tournament after 22 consecutive appearances. The Wolverines joined together at the beginning of November to shave together, posing for pho- tos where they pretended to use skates as razor blades. Thus far, much of the team has a noticeable mustache forming. That includes Berenson, whose gray mustache is an unusual sight for the 30-year veteran. According to Berenson, 1977 was the last time that he can remember growing a mustache. "It feels fine for me, but my wife doesn't like it," Berenson said. Near the end of October, the captains - Bennett, Copp and senior forward Derek DeBlois - approached Berenson with the idea to join his players in growing a mustache. It didn't take long to convince him. "I know you're not asking me to join," he said at the time. "Actually, coach, we are," Ben- nett said. "Alright. I can do it," Berenson responded. Younger players like Downing, De Jong and freshman forward Evan Allen are struggling to keep up with their teammates, some of whom are nearly six years older. Downing and De Jong were both born in 1995, but also happen to be 6-foot-2. "I told them they better get a sharpie out," Guptill said. Other players, like Bennett, can grow out facial hair, but not neces- sarily a successful mustache: "He's got a little bit better chest hair than facial hair," Guptill added. But there might be one problem with the month-long activity for some members: the scruff could make it hard to find a date. cOURTESY OF MRUGBY.COM Junior Drew Vecchio has started nine games this year for No.12 Michigan. STUDENT LEADERS NEEDED to hlp michigan's best j-LULG 1 For details gobluetan.org and look under "Our Fans" for Current Students or email Mike at michajam@umich.edu NICHOLASWILLIAMS/Daily Senior defenseman Mike Chiasson helped organize the Michigan Mustaches for Men's Health campaign. He currently has a filthy stache.