14- The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 27, 1995
INNESOTA
Continued from Page 12
is the same.
"The thing that probably hurt (us) the
most the past couple of weeks is the
running game," Conzemius said, "so
we've been working on that this week."
Minnesota's focus on the run was undi-
vided, and it showed whenever Michigan
took to the air. The Wolverines had 354
yd passing, with wide receiver Amani
Toomer receiving 147 of those; he also
caught two touchdowns.
Still, despite those stats and the 38-
22 final score, Minnesota was in that
game for a while - it led, 15-7, at the
hal . The Gophers have proven they can
play with most anybody; they just
haven't shown they know how to hang
on to a lead against anybody.
"A break here or there, and all of a
sudden you start winning. You start
believing that you're going to win,"
Wacker said. That's the difference be-
tween teams that have a winning tradi-
tion and a losing tradition."
Another difference is a guy like
Darkins. Unfortunately for Minnesota,
the difference between having him and
missing him might be too great to over-
come tomorrow.
The Matchups:
RyanPoor defense will
E doom Minnesota
Picks are made against the spread. kr % 0: 0
Minnesota (+20 1/2) at Michigan Minnesota Michigan Michigan Michigan
Michigan State (+7) at Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Michigan State Michigan State
Iowa (+18) at Ohio State Ohio State Ohio State Ohio State Iowa
Indiana (+23) at Pe State Indiana, Indiana Penn State- Penn State
Northwestern (+1) at Illinois Northwestern Northwesterm Northwestern Northwestern
Nebraska:(-8) at Colorado Nebraska Colorado Nebraska Nebraska
Southern Cal (-4) at Washington Washington Southern Cal Southern Cal Southern Cal
Boston 'Coll (+17 1/2) at Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame
Florida (-24) at Georgia Georgia Georgia Florida Florida
Arizona State (+13 1/2) at Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon
Best bet Northwestern Ohio State Nebraska Michigan
Last week 6-4 8-2 4-6 7-3
Overall 37-32-1 .536 42-27-1 .607 38-31-1 .550 39-30-1 .564
Best bets' 4-3,.571 4-3 .571 4-3.571 5-2 .714
Cleveland beats Atlanta, 5-4, forces sixth game
CLEVELAND (AP) - This could be
the start of the ultimate comeback.
Orel Hershiser and the Cleveland Indi-
ans, just one game away from losing the
World Series, beat Greg Maddux and the
Atlanta Braves 5-4 Thursday night, cut-
ting their deficit to 3-2.
Albert Belle's two-run homer in the
first inning - plus a brushback to Eddie
Murray that led to a rare, bench-clearing
incident in the Series-energized Cleve-
land early.
The Indians, who made a habit ofrous-
ing rallies all year, went on to beat the best
pitcher in baseball, sending the Series
back to Atlanta. Maddux stopped Cleve-
land on two hits in the opener, but
Hershiser outpitched the three-time Cy
Young winner this time, allowing five
hits and two runs in eight innings.
"It was an unbelievable game,"
Hershiser said.
The Braves still have two more chances
to win their first title since moving to
Atlanta. Game 6 will be Saturday night,
with Dennis Martinez starting for the
Indians against Game 2 winner Tom
Glavine.
"We've got to go back and win one
ballgame," Braves manager Bobby Cox
said.
Hershiser, who walked one and struck
out six, is 8-1 lifetime in postseason, four
wins coming this year. He made the play
ofthegameintheeighthwiththescore4-
2, atoning for two shaky plays by spear-
ing Marquis Grissom's liner and dou-
bling off Mike Mordecai at first base.
"I was yelling at myself, 'Finally, fi-
nally, you can make a play,"' Hershiser
said.
Jim Thome, who singled in the go-
ahead run in the sixth, hit a solo homer in
the eighth for a 5-2 lead. Ryan Klesko
homered for the third straight day - a
two-run shot offJose Mesa with two outs
in the ninth. Mesa earned the save by
striking out Mark Lemke, ending the
fourth one-run game of the Series.
Maddux set a major-league record this
season, extending his streak to 18 straight
road wins.
Maddux, signed bythe Braves last year
to help bring them the championship
they've chased without success, clearly
was not as sharp from the start.
He walked, the second batter of the
game, Omar Vizquel, after walking no
one in the opener. With two outs, Belle
homered into the Atlanta bullpen in right
field for the second straight day.
That brought up Murray and on an 0-1
pitch, Maddux, known for having the best
control in the majors, knocked him back
with a high-and-tight fastball.
Murray took a couple of steps out to-
ward Maddux and pointed at him as plate
umpire Frank Pulli got between them.
Both benches and bullpens then emptied,
though no punches were thrown.
By Scott Burton-
Daily Sports Writer
If ever there was evidence that the
Big Ten is the toughest conference in
the nation, Minnesota is it.
The Golden Gophers came within 11
points of knocking off No.21 Syracuse,
beat up on the rest of their non-confer-
ence opponents and yet qualifies as
nothing more than a second-division
finisher in the Big Ten.
Even in bringing up the rear of the
conference, they have given some of
the Midwest's heavyweights the fight
of their lives. They lost to No. 8 North-
western, 27-17, Oct. 14 and dropped a
34-31 contest to Michigan State last
weekend.
So how worried should Michigan be?
Well, there is little question that the
Wolverines have a significant talent
advantage at the skill positions, espe-
cially with the injury to Gophers' star
tailback Chris Darkins.
But how those advantages will play
out on the gridiron tomorrow is another
question. We've seen plenty of Michi-
gan teams muck around in games that
should be blowouts, and the Gophers
have inexplicably hung with unques-
tionably better teams.
Michigan rushing offense vs. Min-
nesota rushing defense:
Wolverine tailback Tshimanga
Biakabutka and the rest of his backfield
bullies have brutalized opposing de-
fenses this season. Michigan's 183.4
yards per game is spectacular, espe-
cially considering that the Wolverines
haven't established a consistent pass-
ing attack to spell the running game.
There is no reason to suspect that the
Wolverines will alter their ground ori-
ented offensive attack tomorrow. Minne-
sotais ateam capable ofputtingpoints on
the scoreboardquickly, sothe more Michi-
gan can control the time of possession via
a steady running game, the better off the
Wolverines will be.
Consequently, a pounding running
game appears to be the way to go against
Minnesota. The Golden Gophers' de-
fense has allowed 186.8 rushing yards a
game.
Advantage:
Minnesota rushing offense vs.
Michigan rushing defense:
It could have been one of the best
matchups ofthe year: Darkins, the gifted
Heisman candidate, against the Wol-
verines' rushing defense, one of the
best in the nation.
Not to be. Instead, Minnesota will
feature sophomore tailback Rafael Coo-
per tomorrow. He did a decent job step-
ping in for Darkins against the Spar-
tans, but trying to establish himself
against Michigan is going to be a task.
Ratherthan finding outhow good Coo-
per is tomorrow, we may find out how
good Minnesota's offensive line is.
Teams' with great offensive lines usually
don't see a significant production drop-
off when they switch feature backs.
Advantage:
Michigan passing offense vs. Min
nesota passing defense:
Michigan quarterback Brian Gries
seemingly has a simple role tomorrow
Let the running game do itsjob and don'
make mistakes. Yet, much like again
Indiana, the Wolverines persistent groun
game could allow Griese to surprise th
Gophers with a big play downfield.
Whether Griese is capable of makin
big plays is another questio
Minnesota's defense is nothing to g
flustered about - its allowed 204.
passing yards pergame, which is abomi
nable considering some of the less
than-distinguished quarterbacks th
have had field days against them.
Advantage:
Minnesota passing offense v
Michigan passing defense:
Gopher quarterback Cory Saute
knows how to get it done in the air. H
threw for 404 yards against Michiga
State and is No. 16 in the nation i
passing efficiency (143.1).
Sauter also has a bevy of top-note
receivers that help stabilize the attacl
The wideouts - Ryan Thelwell, Tin
Arwell and Tony Levine-all have th
ability to bust out big plays.
Needless to say, this will be Michiga
secondary's biggest test of the year. Th
Wolverines can't depend on its defensiv
line to keep the quarterback off his gam
as they have in games past. Minnesota il
too strong up front and has proven the)
can provide Sauter time in the pocket.
So, the Wolverines ability to defen
the pass will be tested. Michigan's line
backers will play a prominent role a
well - the Gophers use their tight end:
(four of them have receptions on th
year) and will pass to their tailbacks
Minnesota may have too many weap
ons to be contained tomorrow.
Advantage:
Special teams:
Wolverine placekicker Rem:
Hamilton has been as solid as you coul<
possibly expect, while punter Nat'
DeLong is inconsistent.
Same story for the Gophers: Kicke
Mike Chalberg (seven of eight on fiel
goals) is among the nation's best, whi
punter Garrison Harmann (35.2 punt
ing average) has been mediocre.
Advantage: even
Overall:
If Michigan can stuff Cooper earl
and make the Gophers yearn for th
Darkins days, this one will be ove
early. However, should Minnesota es
tablish the running game and prove th
there is more to this team than on
player, this could be a halfway com
petitive game.
Prediction: Michigan 31, Minnesota 1
AP PHOTO
Mike Mordecal sits dejected after Orel Hershiser picked him off first base In the
eighth inning of last night's 5-4 Indians win.
DICERS
Continued from Page 12
through the third period.
"It was really good for us -we needed
a wakeup call," Maine coach Shawn
Walsh said of his No. 2 Black Bears.
"Turco impressed me a lot. That third
goal they got was huge. It was like we
were playing catchup the rest ofthe way."
With all the talk about revenge and
battling back from last year's loss, it was
a freshman who put Michigan over the
t6p. Left wing Greg Crozier put the Wol-
verines up for good, 3-2, at 14:55 of the
second period. He took a beautiful pass
from Mike Legg on a four-on-four and
broke in alone on Allison. Crozier made
a fake to the backhand that sent Allison
sprawling and Crozier sent a wrist shot
into the bottom left corner of the net.
The Wolverines played with a lot more
emotion after Crozier's goal, beating
Maine tothe loose pucks and finishing off
their checks. In fact, Michigan seemed to
get stronger in the third period.
"I thought we played well down the
stretch ofthe game," Berenson said. "They
may have gotten a little tired and we
might have gotten a little stronger."
The Wolverines started the game a
little slow. The Black Bears were in the
Michigan end foragoodchunk ofthe first
period and whipped 12 shots at Turco.
But Maine had just two power play
opportunities in the first. Even though the
Wolverines held them scoreless, Maine
had plenty of quality opportunities.
Michigan turned on the offense after
the close first period. Just two minutes
after Crozier's game-winning goal, left
wing Jason Botterill made it 4-2 on a
deflection ofdefenseman Steven Halko's
shot from just outside the left circle.
John Madden made the score 5-2 a
minute and a half into the third periodon
a wrist shot offa shorthanded two-on-one
rush with right wing Warren Luhning.
Luhning finishedoffthe scoring for the
Wolverines, redirecting a centering pass
from Madden for a 6-2 final.
Michigan almost let Maine back into
the game, taking six penalties in the final
period, including a two-minute stretch in
which Maine was u five-on-three.
Maine 1 1 1-3
Michigan 1 3 2-6
First Period -1,UM, Halko i (unassited),9:02.2, MA,
Mansoff 1 (Cullen, Wansborough), 19:27. Penalties -
Libby, MA (interference), 1:02; Sloan, UM (hooking),
4:29: Botteril , um (crosschecking),9:30; Bourke, UM
(interference), 16:53.
Second Period - 3, UM, Sehock 2 (Luhning Crozier).
1:20.4, MA, Wansborough 2 (Tory, Purdie), 9:48. 5, UM,
Crozier 3 (Legg, Berenzweig), 14:55. 6, UM, Botterill 8
(Halko). 17:11. Penalties - Parmentier, MA (hooking).
3:53; Bourke, UM (interference), 7:28; Cu:len, MA
(interference), 9:47; Luhning, UM (hooking), 14:24;
Cardinal, UM (high-sticking), 14:24
Third Period - 7, UM, Madden 1 (Luhning, Bourke),
1:28 (sh). 8, UM, Luhning 1 (Madden Berenzweig), 6:20
(pp). 9. MA, Clark 1 ,(Tory). 9:17 (5-3). Penalties -
Rominski, MA (interference). 0:44; Lovell, MA
(interference). 5:40; Clark, UM (charging), 8:03; Luhning,
UiM (slashing), 8:10; Schock, UiM (hi-sticking), 9:17;
Hayes, UM (hooking), 14:04; Conlan, MA (charging),
16:36; Turco, UM. served by Rominski (roughing), 16:36;
Libby, MA (tripping), 18:33.
Shots on goat - UM 6-8-9-23. MA 12-13-12-37.
Power plays - UiM 1 of 5; MA 2 of 9.
Goalie saves - UM, Turco 11-1211-34. MA, Allison
5-5-4-14, Marsh (12:47 third) xx-xx-3-3.
Referee - Steve Piotrowski.
Linesmen - John LaDuke, John Dobrzelewski.
At: The Palace of Auburn Hills. A: 4,437.
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