7Tbe iidfigan mag
SPORTS
michigandaily.com
sportsdesk@umich.edu
'D'will be
tested by
Huslkies
FRIDAY
AUGUST 12, 2002
x{ |Icers bring in another
<xA BCHL star to fill void
By Charles Paradis
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Writer
Washington sophomore wide receiv-
er Reggie Williams jokingly told Seattle
papers the reason he missed the first
day of practice this past weekend was
because he's "holding out" and practic-
ing for the NFL.
Truth be told, Williams is reportedly
expected to be out just one week with a
strained left foot. But his coming-out
party last year could have led others to
believe he wasn't kidding about his pro-
fessional plans.
Williams, the first Huskies' freshman
to start in the first game of his college
career, caught four balls for 134 yards
in Washington's 23-18 come-from-
behind victory over Michigan last sea-
son. The 6-foot-4,'215-pound Williams
broke two Pac-10 freshman records
with 55 catches for 973 yards.
But come Aug. 31 when the ninth-
ranked Huskies battle No. 12 Michigan
in the Big House, Williams could have
another talented, trash-talking sopho-
more staring him in the face.
Michigan cornerback Marlin Jackson
draws comparisons to former Wolverine
and Heisman Trophy winner Charles
Woodson in terms of his competitive-
ness and will to win - not to mention
talent. Jackson said the rematch with
Washington is pretty clear cut.
"It's going to come down to our
defense against their offense," Jackson
said. "Me and Reggie Williams are
going to battle, our defensive line is
going to put some pressure on, and
we're going to try to prove why we
Daily Sports Editor
After an offseason of unexpected
losses with the departure of Mike
Cammalleri and Mike Komisarek,
the Michigan hockey team received
some good news last week. Forward
Andrew Ebbett has decided to join
the Wolverines this season instead of
next. Ebbett, who played for the
Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the
British Columbia Hockey League
last season, graduated from high
school this year but had planned to
stay another year in the BCHL to
develop. With the departure of Cam-
malleri, Michigan had a hole in the
offense and asked Ebbett if he would
want to fill it a year early.
"From all my sources, I had been
hearing that Mike had been planning
to come back to graduate, but I was
really excited," Ebbett said.
The 5-foot-10 center was named
Rookie of the Year last season for the
BCHL Interior Division after scoring
45 goals and tallying 79 points. After
such a successful season, Ebbett was
expected to contend for the scoring
title next season, an award won by
another incoming Michigan fresh-
man, Jeff Tambellini. But aside from
individual accolades, one other thing
tugged on Ebbet's mind, urging him
to stay in British Columbia.
"I was ready to go, the only thing
that was holding me back was that I
had pretty much told my coaches that
I was staying," Ebbett said. "If I had
stayed we might have had a shot at
the national championship."
Ultimately, Ebbett chose to forgo
another season with the Silverbacks
and make the jump to college hock-
ey.
While Ebbett and Tambellini did
not know each other well during the
season, the two have spoken on the
phone recently and Ebbett plans to
join Tambellini for some skating
before they fly down to Ann Arbor
together the last week of August to
join the team.
Ebbett and Tambellini fit the mold
of young Canadian forwards with
potent scoring ability. Michigan has
had success recently with such play-
ers. Both Cammalleri and sophomore
forward Milan Gajic played in Cana-
dian junior hockey programs before
joining the Wolverines.
Michigan defensive end Shantee Orr designed a practice shirt for I
know, in our hearts, we can have the
best secondary in the country."
Washington's offense wasn't the prob-
lem against Michigan last year, however.
The Wolverines held the Huskies with-
out an offensive touchdown and were up
12-6 with just over nine minutes to go.
But a blocked punt and interception by
Washington's Omare Lowe - both
returned for touchdowns - quickly took
the momentum away from Michigan.
That game started a string of heart-
breaking and pride-piercing losses for
the Wolverines, who lost to rivals Ohio
State and Michigan State in the same
season for the first time since 1987 and
suffered their worst bowl defeat in pro-
gram history, a 28-point loss to Ten-
nessee in the Citrus Bowl.
Michigan defensive lineman Shantee
Orr made sure the Wolverines didn't for-
get about their failures last season dur-
ing their summer workouts. He made a
practice t-shirt with the team's record of
"8-4" on the front and the score of the
loss to Tennessee on the back, "45-17."
It was just to "show everybody we
have to do better," Orr said. "Don't set-
tle -for mediocrity."
Michigan isn't the only team with a
bitter taste left in its mouth.
Washington finished with an 8-4 sea-
son of its own, especially disappointing
after starting the season 7-1 - with
Pac-10 and national title hopes still on
their minds. But the Huskies' defense
let them down, giving up a total of 161
points in three of their last four games
- all losses - including a 65-7 shel-
lacking at the hands of the eventual
national champion Miami Hurricanes.
Thanks to its problems defensively,
Washington ended up being outscored
370-353 by opponents last season. This
comes despite having an explosive
offense with scrambling quarterback
Cody Pickett, NFL draft pick Jerramy
Stevens and Williams at its disposal.
Washington "is coming in and it will
be an excellent opportunity to say
'we're back,"' senior fullback B.J.
Askew said.
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