(AP – Columbus, Ohio) — The most potent weap0ns for No. 20 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State are undoubtedly their quarterbacks.

Pity their poor defenses in the big showdown Saturday.

Devin Gardner and Denard Robinson, who may line up everywhere but behind the center due to an arm injury, are the speedsters who lead the Wolverines’ attack. Meanwhile the Buckeyes rely on Braxton Miller, who likes to make tacklers grab handfuls of air when he’s not completing long

passes.

Stopping, or at least slowing down, the trio will be the main objective for both teams.

Good luck with THAT.

Gardner provided six touchdowns, three running and three passing, in Michigan’s landslide win over Iowa last week.

Robinson, with 41 touchdowns and 4,273 rushing yards in his career, dabbled at tailback and wide receiver while picking up 98 yards on 13 carries.

Ohio State is in a quandary, having to figure out just how Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges will utilize the two. Even he doesn’t seem to know.

“You don’t know — nobody knows — until the lights go on,” Borges said.

So the Buckeyes must prepare for a little bit of everything.

“I just know something’s coming,” Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said of the possible sleight of hand. “You just know something’s coming.”

Michigan coach Brady Hoke has been tight-lipped about his plans this week. Gardner is the reigning Big Ten player of the week on offense, but Hoke hasn’t ruled out Robinson — famous for his lengthy streaks to the goal line as much as for not tying his shoelaces — under center.

The Wolverines refused to even hint at what they might do.

“I never caught a pass in a game before,” Robinson said innocently.

During closed practices this week he wore a padded compression sleeve on his right elbow, which suffered nerve damage from a hit earlier this season.

Asked if he can throw, he grinned and said, “You’ll see on Saturday.”

Despite the respect they have for Gardner, Ohio State’s defense knows it can’t ignore Robinson.

“I know about Denard here and there just from Big Ten media day, and he is a good guy,” said linebacker Etienne Sabino, himself just back from an injury. “But on the field, we aren’t friends.”

Gardner watched the video from the Iowa game, a 42-17 laugher, and saw the problems the combo created.

“Not just when Denard had the ball — of course he made big plays — but when he didn’t have the ball we had our even bigger plays,” he said. “Just the attention that he gets is amazing — it just helps us succeed.”

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One of the greatest rivalries in football, the Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry, is between the Wolverines of the University of Michigan and the Buckeyes of The Ohio State University. The annual match-up has been held every third Sunday in November. In 2012, the game will take place on November 24.

The first match-up took place in 1897. On 23 occasions since 1935, the Michigan-Ohio State game has determined the Big Ten Conference championships. What’s more, many games in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry have determined the Rose Bowl match-ups. Others have had an influence over the national collegiate football championship outcomes.

In the history of the 100+ year rivalry, the Wolverines lead the series 53-42-6. Michigan also boasts the largest win over Ohio State with a score of 86-0 in 1902.

The most heated period the rivalry took place during the “Ten Years War” between 1969 and 1978. During that time, Ohio State’s Head Coach Woody Hayes faced off against UM Head Coach Bo Schembechler, who was Hayes’ former coaching assistant.

Among the games played in the 100 year Ohio State Michigan rivalry, perhaps the most memorable took place on November 18, 2006. Each team held the two top spots in the BCS rankings. On the eve of the game, legendary UM head coach and former OSU assistant coach Bo Schembechler died, giving added gravitas to the game. Ohio State won the game 42-39 and became the Big Ten Champion, earning a spot in the BCS National Championship game.

 

KENT, Ohio – Redshirt junior running back Beau Blankenship rushed for a game-high 145 yards, but it was not enough as the Ohio University football team (8-4; 4-4) dropped a 28-6 decision to Kent State Saturday afternoon at Dix Stadium.

Frank Solich’s Bobcats, after starting the season 7-0, dropped four of its last five games.

Blankenship’s (Norman, Okla.) 145-yard rushing effort marked the eighth time in 12 games this season in which he has rushed for 100 yards-or-more. He also surpassed former Bobcat Kalvin McRae for the school’s all-time single season rushing record. Blankenship finished the regular season with 1,500 yards on the ground.

Junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton (Norman, Okla.) tallied 232 yards passing, going 21-of-37 through air. Fellow junior Donte Foster (Guthrie, Okla.) also chipped in offensively with 11 receptions for 100 yards receiving. His 11 receptions were a single game career-high. The `Cats also limited KSU quarterback Spencer Keith to just 9-of-20 passing and picked him off once.

Defensively, senior Alphonso Lewis (Altoona, Pa.) led the Bobcats with 7.0 tackles. The Bobcats’ defensive unit also held KSU’s running back Dri Archer to just 53 yards rushing (4.1 yards per carry). Archer came into the game, averaging 116.7 yards per game and 10.3 yards per carry.

Kent State jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the opening nine minutes of the first quarter, capitalizing on a pair of Ohio turnovers.

The Golden Flashes’ first score came after a 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Luke Wollet to make the score 7-0. Kent State struck seven minutes later thanks to a 15-yard run by running back Trayion Durham, which capped a three play, 60-yard drive.

On the next Ohio offensive possession, Tettleton threw his first interception in 88 attempts. He was picked off by KSU’s C.J. Malauulu, who returned the ball 33-yards, which made the count 21-0.

Ohio added a field goal at the 2:45 mark of the first quarter to make the count 21-3 thanks to a 33-yard field goal by senior kick Matt Weller (Twinsburg, Ohio). Weller would go on to add another field goal at the end of the first half as he connected from 41-yards out to make the count 21-6, heading into the locker room.

Despite trailing at the half, Ohio held a 170-158 advantage in total yards. Blankenship led the way for the Bobcats offensively as he accounted for 91 yards on the ground.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter, the Golden Flashes would go up 22 points with 11:44 to go, following a 24-yard touchdown pass from Keith to wide receiver Eric Adeyemi.

The Bobcats threatened to score twice late in the fourth quarter, but were unable to find the endzone as they were held without a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 26, 2010.

Ohio will await a possible postseason bowl selection. Visit OhioBobcats.com for the most-to-date information on the Bobcats’ postseason bowl opportunity.

2012 Ohio Bobcat Scores:

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
09/01/12	at Penn State	State College, Pa.	W, 24-14
09/08/12	vs. New Mexico State	Athens, Ohio	W, 51-24
09/15/12	at Marshall	Huntington, W. Va.	W, 27-24
Parents Weekend
09/22/12	vs. Norfolk State	Athens, Ohio	W, 44-10
09/29/12	at Massachusetts *	Foxboro, Mass.	W, 37-34
10/06/12	vs. Buffalo *	Athens, Ohio	W, 38-31
Homecoming
10/13/12	vs. Akron *	Athens, Ohio	W, 34-28
10/27/12	at Miami (Oh) *	Oxford, Ohio	L, 23-20
11/01/12	vs. Eastern Michigan *	Athens, Ohio	W, 45-14
11/07/12	vs. Bowling Green *	Athens, Ohio	L, 26-14
11/14/12	at Ball State *	Muncie, Ind.	L, 52-27
11/23/12	at Kent State *	Kent, Ohio	L, 28-6

CHADRON – The Chadron State College men’s basketball team will be spending this weekend playing in the Westminster College Thanksgiving Tournament in Salt Lake City, where it will meet a pair of Frontier Conference teams.

The Eagles, who are 0-2 so far, will take on Montana Tech at 5 p.m. Friday and tourney host Westminster at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Westminster, in particular, is expected to be a tough opponent. The Griffins are already 6-1 and have soundly defeated a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams—Fort Lewis 83-63 and Western State 95-53.

Montana Tech is 3-3 this season. The Orediggers’ wins include a 78-68 decision over South Dakota Mines. They also have beaten Corban University of Oregon 75-50 and Evergreen State of Washington 74-54, but have lost to Division I opponent Idaho State 71-41, Embry-Riddle of Florida 73-69 and Eastern Oregon 77-60.

Montana Tech is coached by Aaron Woliczko, who is in his third season at Butte.  The Orediggers were 6-22 his first year and finished 11-15 last season.

The team’s leading scorer is 6-foot-7 sophomore Adam Greger, who averaged 12.3 points last season and is averaging 16 so far this season. Next in line is 6-3 Bryan Bock, who is averaging 13 points this season after scoring about eight points a game a year ago.

Quinn Smith, a 6-9 freshman, is highly regarded. He is averaging just under 10 points a game and scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss to Eastern Oregon.

The Westminster coach is Adam Hiatt, who played for the Griffins and was an assistant before taking the head job a year ago.  Westminster was 21-11 in 2011-12.

Besides the lopsided wins over Fort Lewis and Western State, the Griffins have defeated Northern New Mexico 76-67, Vanguard 77-56, Walla Walla 85-44 and College of Idaho 68-50. Their lone loss was 88-81 to Westmont.

Vanguard and Westmont are California schools; Walla Walla is in Washington.

Westminster also lost 89-85 to New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition game prior to playing at Northern New Mexico.

The Griffins appear to have a balanced attack with four players averaging in double figures, led by 6-0 junior guard Blake Skidmore at 12.1 points. Another guard, 5-11 Colton Moon, is averaging 10.1 points after canning 19 of 36 3-pointers. Oddly, Moon is just eight of 15 from the free throw line.

CSC head coach Brent Bargen said Colorado State, which led 43-13 at halftime and defeated the Eagles 93-50 in Fort Collins last week, is “a really good team that is big and physical and beat us up.”

The coach also said that he was happy that the Eagles played better in the second half and he believe they learned how hard they need to play. He added that the Eagles have practiced well since that game and he hopes they continue to grow.

Both CSC teams will open their RMAC schedules Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at home against Colorado Mesa and Western State. After those games, neither of the Eagles’ quintets will play in Armstrong Gymnasium again until Jan. 4.

The CSC women are idle during Thanksgiving weekend.

Lincoln, Neb.- The No. 10 Nebraska volleyball team (22-6, 14-5) recorded its second consecutive sweep on Wednesday evening, taking down the Iowa Hawkeyes 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-8) in front of 4,033 fans at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers saw all hitters record a .333 hitting percentage or better on the evening, as Gina Mancuso and Hannah Werth led the way with 13 kills each and a .500 and .550 hitting percentage, respectively. Both seniors also recorded eight digs for the Huskers. Lauren Cook notched 38 assists and Meghan Haggerty had four blocks.

Nebraska hit .471 in the match, while the Hawkeyes recorded a .098 hitting percentage. The Huskers out-blocked Iowa 7-0 and out-dug the Hawkeyes 38-34. Iowa’s 36 points on the evening marked the lowest point total by a Husker opponent in three set matches during the rally scoring era. The next closest mark was Alabama A&M’s 37 points against the Huskers in 2005.

The Huskers took a 6-1 lead in the first set on an ace by Mancuso. Werth powered Nebraska on an 11-0 run with a pair of kills and a double-stuff block with Haggerty, as NU took a 17-3 lead over the Hawkeyes. Iowa cut Nebraska’s lead to 20-11; as NU went on to win the first set 25-12 on three-straight kills by Werth.

Werth posted seven kills in the first set, while Mancuso had three. Cook dished out 15 assists, guiding Nebraska to a .556 hitting percentage in the set. Iowa hit .222 for the set.

Iowa went up 5-4 in the second set, until a kill by Mancuso and error by the Hawkeyes tied the set at 7-7. The Hawkeyes then went up 12-10, but Mancuso gave NU the lead at 15-14. Back-to-back blocks from the Huskers gave Nebraska an 18-14 advantage. An ace by Hubl made it 21-15, Huskers, as Nebraska went on to take the second set 25-16 on a kill by Mancuso.

Mancuso had six kills in the second set, while Werth had four. Cook tabbed 12 assists as Nebraska hit .308. Iowa recorded a .158 hitting percentage.

Back-to-back kills by Werth made it 5-3, Huskers, early in the third set. A kill by Cook put Nebraska up 10-5, while Allison McNeal came up big for the Huskers, tallying two kills and a double-stuff block with Cook to make it 15-5, NU. Hubl recorded another ace for the Huskers to make it 17-5, Nebraska. The Huskers would not look back in the third set as they won 25-8.

Mancuso had four kills in the third set, while Haggerty, Werth and Fien all had two. Cook tabbed 11 assists as Nebraska hit .667 in the set. Iowa recorded a -.111 hitting percentage.

Nebraska will close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 24 as the Northwestern Wildcats come to the NU Coliseum. The match is slated for 7 p.m.

Cody Johnson finished with a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team rolled to a 96-81 win over Western Wyoming Community College in the Cougars’ home debut Tuesday evening at Cougar Palace.

“We came out with a lot more energy in the second half and we just wanted to win,” Johnson said. “We played really good team ball. We got rebounds and we went out there and did what we needed to do.”

Johnson finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the game and the Cougar big man said that he was out there just doing his job.

“I did what my team needed me to do,” the 6-foot-10 center from Salt Lake City said, “ and that was to rebound. My points just came by working hard on the boards.”

Willie Mangum led all scorers with 30 points, including three 3-pointers. Quante Cooley also pitched in 12 points, while Youssoupha Kane had eight points.

Johnson said this team has plenty of fire power.

“We are a very deep team and we just need to get to a point where it doesn’t matter who scores and we are all happy with each other,” he said. “Some people are more offensive oriented than others, but we get equally as hyped when others score.”

WNCC opened the contest with a blaze of glory, running to a 15-0 lead behind seven points from Mangum. Western Wyoming finally scored its first points on two free throws by Jonathon Mines. WNCC came back to go up 17-2 before the Mustangs went on a 17-2 run to knot the score at 19-19.

Western Wyoming came back to take a 39-32 lead on a bucket by Eric Rippetoe. WNCC responded with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by Trey Moore for a take a 39-37 lead. The Cougars went into the locker room ahead 41-40.

Johnson said head coach Russ Beck told them keep playing hard.

“He told us box out hard and come out with the energy that we started the game,” he said. “We did that and it ended in a 15 point win.”

The Cougars opened up the second half as Mangum buried a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 44-40. WNCC pushed the lead to 53-46 on a Mangum trey and a Johnson dunk for a 52-46 lead.

Western Wyoming sliced the lead to 54-60 on a Daveon Gibson 3-pointer and trailed 71-67 with eight minutes to play. That was when the Cougars opened up the contest with a 11-0 run that was highlighted by a Zach Clemens 3-pointer and buckets by Mangum, Tahir Little, and Rich Williams for an 82-67 lead and the Cougars never looked back after that.

A big key for the Cougars was free throw shooting where the team sizzled the nets for a 93.3 average (15 of 16). Johnson said they have been working on their free throws.

“As a team we have been focused on getting our free throw percentages up,” he said. “It is improving each and every game and we are really happy about that.”

WNCC, 3-3, will be back in action Tuesday when they host Casper College at 7 p.m.

 

W. Wyoming                      40 41 – 81

WNCC (3-3)                        41 55 – 96

WESTERN WYOMING

Jonathon Mines 9, Pedro Faria 4, Cameron Bailey 8, Daveon Gibson 10, Mike Pelo 20, Lindsey Johnson 8, Amal Wilson 12, Eric Rippetoe 10.

WNCC

Tahir Little 6, Zach Clemens 5, Quante Cooley 12, Rich Williams 2, Willie Mangum 30, Trey Moore 5, Isaiah Castellaw 2, Charles Ward 8, Cody Johnson 16, Youssoupha Kane 8, Chad Calcaterra 2.