Page 10 - The Michigan Daily -- Monday, October 20, 1986 Iartin QThronicdes By Adam Martin Losing devastating... ...revenge is sweet Final FG leaves Hayden Fryed ' Revenge. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Blood for blood. Justice. Yeah, that's it, justice. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Michigan was supposed to simply beat Iowa, and in so doing avenge last year's 12-10 loss at Iowa City, the one that ruined the Wolverines' Rose Bowl hopes. But Michigan got more than revenge; they found justice. Poetic justice. Last season all sorts of hard objects hit the TV screens of Michigan fans when Iowa's Rob Houghtlin booted the. Wolverines out of the Rose Bowl with no time on the clock. After Saturday's 20-17 Michigan victory, Hawkeye fans probably got violent. And yet that's the beauty of it. Iowa and its faithful suffered through the same heart-wrenching ordeal that Ann Arbor experienced one year ago. But pity is a nonentity here. Vengeance - getting even - is the key. "We wanted to make them feel like we felt last year," said Wolverine cornerback Garland Rivers. \"They broke our hearts. They hurt our pride." Funny thing, this getting even. A win should be enough, but in some games, the most intense clashes, just a win doesn't quite cut it. "That's a ballgame we never should have lost," said the often hateable Hayden Fry, Iowa's head coach. "We just made some critical mistakes. It was similar to what we did to them last year. It's what Bo said - 'We're even now." Yeah, that's it Hayden, even. The Wolverines got even. In fact, they might have one-upped the Hawkeyes. Three years ago Bob Bergeron's lst-second field goal put pain in Hawkeye hearts as Michigan won, 16-13, in the autumn drizzle. Saturday, Mike Gillette's boot recreated Begeron's feat. Three of the last four Iowa- Michigan games have been decided in the final moment. And Wolverines decided two. All the same, recent history is foremost in the minds of Saturday's victors, players and fans alike. "Any time a team beats you twice in a row, there's gonna be a revenge factor," said Michigan outside linebacker Dieter Heren, who punished the Hawkeyes with six tackles and two assists. "This was the same as last year, but the teams were reversed. And we came out on top." Like the cherry, Dieter. Michigan's victory was unquestionawny sweet. There'll be no black and yellow in Pasadena come January. Whether maize and blue will appear isn't certain, but as Bo Schembechler, Michigan's own master of the football cliche, said: "We re in the driver's seat." Meanwhile the Hawkeyes just drove over the cliff. Iowa may not lose another Big Ten game, but if Michigan does the same, the Wolverines go to the Rose Bowl. Pasadena is two and half months away, of course. "This is sweet, revenge," said quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who threw for 225 yards in what was a mediocre 17-for- 28 day. "This really feels good, but we don't have a lot of time to feel good. We have some serious work to do." But no matter how serious, or difficult Michigan's next five games will be, none will be as supremely satisfying as Iowa. Or at least until a win assures the Big Ten championship. Schembechler wants the conference crown badly. He has not won the Big Ten since 1982, and so prides himself on teaching un-believers about the twists and turns of the Big Ten race. "On any given day, any team can beat..." Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bo. What about revenge? Bo quickly defers. "I don't like to call it revenge," he said. The players disagree. Because revenge is unethical outside the stadium, they can only seek it on the field. There, in the midst of battle, revenge is justice. And when history repeats itself as it did Saturday, it is poetic justice. Said Rivers: "It's the best feeling in the world." Yeah, that's it Garland, in the world. (Continued from Page 1) THE OFFENSIVE miscues were left in the locker room at halftime, though, as the Wolverines came out and scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter. Michigan drove 75 yards in 10 plays to open the second half. From the wishbone formation, fullback Gerald White caught a 25-yard pass, powering his way in from the five- yard line to tie the game at 10-10. Five minutes later, Michigan scored again, this time on White's 10-yard run. The touchdown was the first rushing TD the Iowa defense has allowed all year, and the Wolverines' 193 yards on the ground were the also most the 1986 Hawkeyes have yielded. IOWA'S defense was without standout tackle Jeff Drost. Other injuries forced Fry to play second- stringers. "We went through everybody we had on the defensive line," Fry said. "I've never been more proud of a team that's lost." One player who was hurt but saw action was quarterback Mark Vlasic. The senior missed the last two games with a shoulder separation and led the nation in passing efficiency before his injury. Fry said that when starting quarterback Tom Poholsky had trouble in the first series of the second half, he decided to replace him with Vlasic. POHOLSKY was effective in Iowa's opening drive, leading the Hawkeyes 80 yards in just nine plays. Fullback Richard Bass plunged in from one yard out to give Iowa a 7-0 lead. The Wolverines came right back with a drive of their own, but had to settle for a field goal when the Hawkeye defense stifled them at the 36-yard line. Gillette made good on the 53-yarder, breaking Bergeron's school record of 52 yards set against Washington in 1984. After Michigan's two touchdowns in the third quarter, Iowa came back with a fourth quarter score to tie the game at 17. Vlasic found wide receiver Robert Smith in the right corner of the endzone and hit him with a 15-yard strike. ALTHOUGH all seven of the game's turnovers could have been pivotal, perhaps the most pivotal was Bass' fumble with 1:57 remaining in the game. The sophomore fullback mishandled a pitch from Vlasic and Michigan linebacker Andy Moeller smothered it at the Wolverine 49. Michigan used that possession to set up the winning field goal. "I have every reason to believe we would have gone down there and scored if we hadn't fumbled," Vlasic said. Schembechler saw the turnover as a last-gasp opportunity to win the game. "I thought we'd get down in there and at least have a shot at it. I didn't want to come out of there with a tie." Michigan promptly moved the ball upfield, using mostly screen passes to get to the Iowa 19 with 15 ticks left. The Wolverines risked running out of time and sent White up the middle for a two-yard gain. "I don't think it was risky," Schembechler said. "If that clock runs out here at Michigan Stadium when they know I've got a timeout, we'll get a new timekeeper." I Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY Freshman wide receiver Greg McMurtry goes up for a desperation pass on the last play of the first half Saturday along with Paul Jokisch. It was his only catch of the day, good for 46 yards in Michigan's 24-17 win. His to repeats itse4[.- Gillette redeems himself with By MARK BOROWSKY History is like a syndicated television show. It just keeps repeating itself. Three years ago, a Michigan kicker who wore the number 19 lifted himself out of obscurity by kicking a field goal in the final minute to beat Iowa after the Hawkeyes fumbled late in the game. He earned the chance after another kicker, Todd Scholpy, lost the job. His name was Bob Bergeron. LAST SATURDAY, another Michigan kicker who wears the number 19 lifted himself out of obscurity with a field goal at the end of the game to beat Iowa after the Hawkeyes fumbled late in the game. He, too, earned the opportunity after the starter, Pat Moons, lost the job. His name, if you were in a cave somewhere Saturday, is Mike Gillette. In one, make that two, fell swoops, the sophomore from St. Joseph made history of the memories of Bob Bergeron. First it was his 53-yard field goal in the first quarter that eclipsed Bergeron's Michigan record of 52 yards. Then it was his 34-yard field goal with no time remaining that beat the Hawkeyes, 20-17. It was not the type of situation those with lesser nerves would enjoy, especially after Iowa coach Hayden Fry called a timeout in order to put the psychological screws. Pressure, however, apparently is meaningless to Gillette. "YOU'RE NOT going to fluster him," Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler said of Gillette in reference to the Iowa timeout. "He is the cockiest guy that ever lived. "I laughed and said,'They're trying to ice you.' He said: 'Yeah yeah yeah."' "I wasn't really nervous," Gillette said. "I went over to the sideline and just played cool." THE KICK served as revenge for last year's 12-10 thriller at Iowa City in which Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin won the game at the end. But for Gillette, the game-winning kick was vindication of a different sort. He was a starter last season but was suspended before the Ohio State game for training violations. He had not kicked a field goal since the Minnesota game in 1985, and had lost the job to Moons. But after Moons missed a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, assistant coach Alex Agase told Gillette to get ready. He had already assumed the long- distance kicking duties. With five seconds left, Gillette trotted out to make another number 19 famous. AS A freshman, Gillette kicked 16 of 23 field goals, but while his kicking might have been accurate, his attitude was out of line. "Last year, my attitude was 'I kick good, I get the job,"' said Gillette, who also plays catcher for the baseball team. I Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON Mike Gillette boots a school record 53-yard field goal in the first quarter Saturday, as Gerald White (22) blocks. "This year I gave 200 percent." Schembechler remembers last season with his freshman kicker. "He (Gillette) was just an immature freshman. Now he's a mature, competitive sophomore." Mature and accurate. With his two kicks last Saturday, Gillette became record-holder and hero, two titles that almost never occurred because of his suspension. Fortunately, Schembechler (believe it or not) was the forgiving type. "I just glad that he (Schembechler) eased up on me," Gillette said. "I love the guy. and I wouldn't play at any other university." Not the.type of quote that is historic, but the kind that Wolverines seem to frequently repeat. Blue Banter - Gerald White's third-quarter called a tim touchdown run was the first six- been the re pointer scored on Iowa on the to heck w ground this year. Last year, White (Parseghian scored Michigan's only touchdown at Iowa. Big T - The Wolverines are riding the crest of 12-game unbeaten string. Their last loss was at Iowa last MICHIGA neout and got it. If I had feree, I would have said with that. Probably Ara n) was up there talking." en N year. - With tension increasing every second before the game-winning field goal, CBS got a television timeout - to the dismay of Bo Schembechler. "Can you believe that?" Schembechler said. "TV Minnesota Iowa Indiana Illinois Michigan St Wisconsin Purdue Northwestern Standings Conf. Overall W L W L 3 0 6 0 3 0 52 3 0 4 2 2 1 5 1 1 2 4 2 1 2 2 4 1 2 3 3 1 2 2 5 0 3 1 5 0 3 2 4 0 0 GRIDDE PICKS Turn in your picks by midnight tonight and win an FTD Pick-me- up buquet and a free pizza from Pizza Bob's. 1. MICHIGAN at Indiana (pick total points) 11. 12. Missouri at Arkansas at Kansas State Houston I 13. Kansas at ,Oklahoma State 14. Southern Methodist at Texas Nor-- 'So 1I