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. Career opportunities at J.P. Morgan for IUni'ersity of .Tichigan Liberal arts students (undergraduate) & Blusiness students (undergraduate) interested in Equity Research Associate Ilunan Resources Investment Banking Municipal Finance Please plan to attend our information presentation on 1.