Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 15

Lansing State Journal Sports inside Michigan names Ellerbe interim head basketball coach. Complete high school football report. Pages 1C, 5C Sports Edil Jeff Rive 377-107 Saturday October 25, 199 3 I IAw a iw imiii i hi nr i Jinriiuimiiri mgiciw r-r It has always been a heated but uneven series. Until now. 4 3 fads bitter Parity ovaJlry v.

A Ala sje SPARTAN LOCKER KMatchup Michigan at Michigan State The fifth-ranked Wolverines are 3-0 in the Big Ten and 6-0 overall after beating Colorado 27- 3, Baylor 38-3, Notre Dame 21-14, Indiana 37-0, Northwestern 23-6 and Iowa 28- 24. 5 The Spartans, 15th in this week's AP poll and 14th on the USA Today-ESPN list, are 2-1 in the Big Ten and 5-1 overall after whipping Western Michigan 42-10, Memphis 51-21, Notre Dame 23-7, Minnesota 31-10 and Indiana 38-6, then losing at Northwestern 19-17. Game time 12:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium (72,027 capacity, sellout) in East Tensing. Coverage TV: ESPN, with Dave Barnett, Bill Curry and Dave Ryan.

Radio: The Spartan Radio Network has 28 affiliates, including WJIM-AM (1240) and FM (97.5) in Lansing, with George Blaha, Larry Bielat and Ike Griffin. The Michigan Football Network, with flagship WJR (760) in Detroit, features Frank Beckmann, Jim Brandstatter and Dan Dickerson. The coaches Michigan: Lloyd Carr (Northern Michigan, 1968) is 23-8, .742, in three seasons with the Wolverines, after 15 seasons as an assistant to Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeflec MSU: Nick Saban (Kent State, 1973) is 17-12-1, .580, in three seasons with the Spartans and 26-14-1, .640, overall, including one year at Toledo. Injuries Michigan: Inside linebacker and co-captain Eric Mayes is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. Tailback Chris Howard, who went out last Saturday with bruised ribs, is questionable.

MSU: Defensive tackle Pete Govens (knee) and linebacker Dwayne Hawkins (knee) are out. Defensive end Dimitrius Underwood is questionable with an ankle sprain. Cornerback Amp Campbell is questionable with a shoulder injury. And four starters on the offensive line everyone except right tackle Dave Mudge are less than 100 percent with ankle, knee, back and shoulder injuries. Prediction Of STEVE REEDLansing State Journal photo illustration By Jack Ebling Lansing State Journal EAST LANSING It has never been an even series.

It has always been an emotional one. Michigan has played Michigan State 89 times in football and posted a 58-26-5 record, including 14 straight wins from 1916-29 and 10 in a row from 1938-49. Why does a lopsided series mean so much? In real estate terms, it's location, location, location. And from a historical standpoint, games against Penn State even if they decide Big Ten championships can never mean as much. Today's game means even more than usual because: Both teams are ranked.

Michigan is fifth, MSU is 15th. Both teams are contending for the Big Ten crown. Michigan is tied for the Big Ten lead with Purdue and Penn State at 3-0 and is 6-0 overall. MSU is tied for fifth at 2-1 and is 5-1 overall. BThey are meeting midway through the season in a game that matters, something that doesn't happen often.

Michigan State has pulled even in the series of late, winning three of the last seven games. Michigan won last year's game 45-29. "Last year, there was a lot of trash talk from me, my teammates and Michigan," said tailback Sedrick Irvin. "We'll still run around yelling and screaming. But this is a game where you come out bleeding." Spartan fifth-year senior guard Scott Shaw said there's already enough bad blood flowing to start a medical emergency.

"Off the field, they're probably good guys," Shaw said, not sounding convinced. "On the field, it's a street fight. It's not who has the better stats. It's smash-mouth." The same strong sentiments drifted this way from Ann Arbor, making the game sound more like a steeRage match on World Championship Wrestling. Junior tight end Jerame Tuman and senior quarterback Brian Griese knew nothing about the feelings between U-M and MSU when they became Wolverines.

They do now. "I'd never heard about this game," said Tuman, a Kansas native. "I had to learn and pick up on the intensity and the hatred once I got here." Griese, who grew up in South Florida, learned all he needed to know about the rivalry the week before the game his freshman year. After 17 I'll take Longtime tradition of picking Michigan doesn't always pay off EAST LANSING Michigan 17, Michigan State 0. That won't be the score today in Spartan Stadium.

It's the number of times in the Lansing State Journal I've picked the. Wolverines and Spartans to win their annual football matchup. Needless to say, I've been wrong a few times. OK, more than a few. In 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993 and 1995, to be exact.

Or every time MSU has won. This year; it's time for a new approach. And the oddsmakers say I'll be wrong again by 2'2 points. But there's something different about the 90th meeting in this series. Let's see if we can figure it out: U-M is tied for the Big Ten lead at 3-0 and is fifth in both major polls at 6-0.

MSU shares fifth place in the conference at 2-1 and is 14th or 15th in the rankings. After last week's effort, it's lucky to be that high much higher than its last field goal attempt Evans-ton, 111. Advantage Wolverines. The Spartans ruled Notre Dame on the road the week before U-M edged the Flubbing Irish at home. MSU also traveled to Northwestern and had to be towed home when its wheels came off in the second quarter.

U-M hasn't traveled anywhere more hostile than a neutral site, Indiana's Memorial Stadium. Advantage Spartans. The Wolverines have the best player on offense, tight end Jerame Munn, was particularly galling. with four straight wins from 1950-' Fritz Crisler had national champi- 53, with that last game helping his onship talent that year and kept his team reach the Rose Bowl in its first stars in the game for 60 minutes of a season of Big Ten play. 55-0 humiliation.

The decision to admit the Spar-' Worse yet, something had gone tans to the league on Dec. 12, 1948 wrong with the plumbing in Michi- was probably the most important i gan Stadium, putting toilet overflow moment in the school's athletic his- all over the visitors locker room. Munn vowed to get even and did Please see RIVALS, 2 Defense is why Wolverines win i Michigan first stops tot 4 first matchup 39-0 in 1898. Four years later, Michigan Agri- cultural College took a huge step backward in a 119-0 trouncing, It took five games and 12 years before MAC scored a single point and 36 years before the Aggies Spartans won for the third time. The 1 947 game, the MSC debut of former Michigan assistant Biggie GREG DeRUITERState Journal Good luck: Lloyd Carr (left) and Nick Saban shake hands before Michigan State's 28-25 victory in 1995.

Another push. So what's the difference? And why does something whisper: Spartans win, 23-21? Perhaps because its MSU's turn for a two-minute miracle like the one the Wolverines had at the end of the first half last year. Perhaps because the Spartans' focus following a loss should mean more than U-M's feelings of invincibility. Or perhaps just because in the 90th meeting, MSU is honoring its last No. 90, Hall of Fame roverback George Webster.

His friends are hoping to raise $100,000 to pay his mounting medical bills after seven years of double-team blocks by cancer and hardening of the arteries. And though doctors said Webster couldn't fly here from Houston, his spirit should be in Spartan Stadium. Some football games turn on mistakes. Others are determined solely by fate. In this case, it's probably a little of both.

If they played 10 times, each team would win five. But this year's battle means more to MSU. It's a game the Wolverines all want. And one the Spartans desperately need. What do you think? Write to Jack Ebling, 120 E.

Lenawee, Lansing, 48919. th "4 YU "Until then, we hadn't had a fight in practice all season," he said. "That week, we had four or five knock-down drag-outs. The intensi- ty level really changed. You could feel it.

You learn early on that the games are physical and bitter." The football rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State start- ed with the Wolverines winning the straight, ans Jack Ebling Tuman, and on defense, cornerback Charles Woodson. But MSU has two electric performers in tailback Sedrick "Swer-vin' Irvin and linebacker Ike Reese. It's better depth for the Maize and Blue vs. better coaching for the Green and White. Call it a push.

The Spartans have played four games on artificial turf, U-M just one. And the home team has won the last five meetings, including two when no one except some moms and dads could say MSU had better talent. Or anywhere near the team it has now. Advantage Spartans. BThe Wolverines have shown the ability to come from behind and are the healthier squad.

MSU hasn't beaten anyone but itself in the final two minutes since U-M's visit in 1995. And it might still be wondering about last week's crash landing if it needs a field goal in the closing seconds. Advantage Wolverines. BThe Spartans have outscored opponents 80-6 in the opening period and by 129 points overall. U-M has the nation's best defense, hasn't allowed a point in six fourth quarters and has won by a total of 124.

Snail r'? i Jim Cnockaert the run, then cuts loose on quarterback Jim Cnockaert is an Ann Arbor News sports reporter. Michigan's formula for success-this season has been pretty simple: Defense, defense and more defense. That defensive success has been well-documented. The Wolverines are at or near the top of every Big Ten team statistical category. They've bottled up Colorado's passing attack and Iowa's running game.

They've given up just three field goals in the second half all season. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that, and if the most important reason to like fifth-ranked U-M's chances against No. 15 Michigan State this afternoon at Spartan Stadium. What isn't always recognized, however, is the motivation behind that success. It's not simply a desire to win the Big Ten championship and return to the Rose Bowl for the first time in five seasons, though that's certainly reason enough.

The key is a determination not to contribute to another devastating U-M loss. U-M's defenders have kept two defining moments from the past two seasons clearly in the mind as they've backstopped the Wolverines to their best start (6-0 overall, 3-0 in the Big Ten) since 1986. One is a total team collapse at Northwestern last year, when U-M squandered a 16-0 lead in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines already atoned for that two weeks ago, when they whacked the Wildcats 23-6. The other, which provides much of the motivation for today's game, is the defense's fourth-quarter failures at Spartan Stadium in 1995.

Twice, the offense put U-M ahead. Twice, the Spartans drove nearly the length of the field to regain the lead. The second drive a 68-yarder proved to be the game-winner. "I'll never forget what happened up there two years ago," U-M senior free safety Marcus Ray said this week. "It was a blow to our defense.

We were called upon to win the game, and we were not able to come through." "It hurt our confidence and our pride. We had a lot of young guys on the field that day, and theyVe back We all know what's at stake." What the defenders understand is that today's game is likely to again come down to their ability to stop the Spartans. They do not intend to be beaten in the same way a second time. "Each week tells us more and more," U-M senior linebacker Clint Copenhaver said. "This is our biggest test.

We'll see how the defense reacts this week." So far this season, the defense has been equal to every challenge. It turned away Notre Dame three times in the fourth quarter following U-M fumbles. It played over two third-quarter fumbles against Northwestern. It overcame four first-half turnovers last week against Iowa. "Usually, if you make one of those mistakes, it will cost you the Please see MICHIGAN, 3 How Michigan wins: The Wolverines will need steady play from quarterback Brian Griese, clutch catches from tight end Jerame Tuman and split end Tai Streets and running or receiving help from the tailbacks.

On Carr's defense, corner-back Charles Woodson, strong safety Marcus Ray and inside linebackers Sam Sword and Dhani Jones are capable of huge plays for a unit that hasn't been scored on in the fourth quarter. How MSU wins: Spartan tailbacks Sedrick Irvin and Marc Renaud will need to run the ball with consistency. Quarterback Todd Schultz will have to be mistake-free. And wide receivers Gari Scott or Octavis Long must do something to keep the defense honest. Defensively, a team approach is the best way to contain Michigan.

The pick: The Wolverines haven't been in a hostile environment this season. The winner today will make more plays than mistakes in the fourth quarter. By Jack Ebling.