The Michigan Daily- Monday, October 15,1990 - Page 13 --'a I"'I 3,96111:0 SPARTANS Continued from page 9 Carlson 28-yard field goal just before the half - which Moeller called "ridiculous" - and dropped passes throughout the contest let MSU Beep the score close. As the game progressed, the partans' running game was even- tually able to wear down a Michigan defense made weaker by the loss of defensive end Chris Hutchinson (back injury) at halftime. Spartans' tailback Hyland Hick- son rushed for 90 yards, picked up key first downs when needed, and brokea 26-yard touchdown jaunt that Viut MSU up, 21-14, with six minutes left in the game. In all, the Spartans ran for 222 yards, outgain- ing Michigan's output by 46 yards. "You don't expect them to do that. Here at Michigan you don't expect anyone to do that," Michigan linebacker Erick Anderson said. "They just had a set number of plays and just ran them." State running backs Hickson and ico Duckett were able to run the ball right at the heart of Michigan's defense when they had to. Often, they would appear stopped at the line of scrimmage only to spin off would-be tacklers for extra yardage. What happened to a defense that was ranked 14th nationally in rushing defense, giving up an average of only 97 yards a game? 0 "That's a good question," Moeller said. "But obviouslytif we let that happen it's going to be a long season. "They just possessed the ball too much on us (MSU controlled the ball almost 10 minutes longer than Michigan). Four touchdowns. That's not Michigan defense. Not at all." Also unchracteristic was the umber of dropped passes by ichigan receivers. On the final drive, three different players - Jarrod Bunch, Howard and Dave Diebolt - all let Grbac passes fall. Unflustered, Grbac finished the drive with a touchdown and the game with a career-high 213 yards. "There were too many (drops), far too many," Moeller said. "Elvis threw the ball well. He pinpointed a *olt of passes today and from where I stood, I thought he did an excellent job." Even with Grbac's performance ad 162 yards from tailback Jon Vaughn, the Wolverines fell a point short and will have the rest of the season to reflect on it. "Everyone wants to be No. 1," Welborne said. "Everyone wants to win. But someone's got to lose be- 0 cause this wasn't going to end in a tie. This loss will hurt more as the season goes on." Motivated Hickson breaks image, tackles for big yards by Ryan Schreiber s Di ly ootball Writer Hyland Hickson finally stepped out of the Michigan State doghouse and into the limelight. And it took the senior tailback a year to equalize the most devastating moment of his career. On Oct. 21, 1989, the Spartans had a victory over Illinois in hand, leading, 10-7, with just over two minutes to play. Then, disaster struck. Hickson fumbled away the ball on the Spartan 35, setting up an Illini scoring strike from Jeff George to Mike Bellamy, and snatching de- feat from the jaws of victory. "Last year, once that fumble was there, it's over with," Hickson said. "It's behind me. (Michigan State) Coach (George) Perles and everybody are behind me 100 percent now. I don't look back at the past, but to- ward the present and the future." But Hickson's most recent past includes two touchdowns in MSU's 28-27 victory over Michigan, with 90 yards rushing and 36 more receiving. His first touchdown - a four- yard, broken-play screen pass from Dan Enos - tied the game,14-14, at the close of the third quarter. Hick- son then gave the Spartans a 21-14 lead on a 26-yard burst up the mid- die, breaking a few tackles before storming over the goal line. "Hyland gave us two touchdowns by breaking tackles," Perles said. "This is by far his best game and I'm very, very happy for him and proud of him. He's been playing second fiddle to some backs that we've had in previous years. He played second fiddle to a degree with Tico (Duckett) and then he came into his own. "My hat's off to Hyland. He played a very inspirational game." Hickson's inspiration, though, came from ESPN's pre-game analy- sis that riled him and the team. "I felt from the start that we could win the game and I was fired up from the start because, before we left the hotel, (ESPN analyst) Beano Cook told us that we never made a big play in a big game," Hickson explained. "So, I'm out to prove to Beano that we can do everything in our will to break a run and get in the endzone. "Since I've been here, he's been putting Michigan State down to the lowest degree, and I had to show him." Hickson also felt that Michigan's running defense, ranked 14th in the nation, had been overrated. "From the start, we knew we could run the ball on them, because their linebackers float real hard, and if you float too much, you've got a lot of open holes in the back," he said. "(Michigan made) too many arm tackles. They tried to tackle with just their hands, and on that long run that I had that I scored on, they tried to reach out and trip me up, but I wouldn't go down. I'm the type of runner that if you put your hand out there, I'm going to step on it." Hickson was glad to get in the last word, proving to the Wolverines and the networks that the Spartans could handle Michigan. "I feel real good that we won this game, because everybody underesti- mated us. Michigan players told us that we shouldn't even show up," Hickson said. "Like I said, I feel real good, because they should have never been No. 1 from the start." " * JOSE JUAREZ/Daily Michigan linebacker Erick Anderson tackles Michigan State running back Hyland Hickson during the first half Saturday. Hickson had the last laugh, though, scoring two touchdowns in the second half. FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK Howard's return sixthfr MichiganR by Ryan Schreiber Daily Football Writer Desmond Howard's 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown marked the second-longest in Michigan history, and boosted his average to 34.8 yards per return, tops in the Big Ten. Howard had previously been second in the conference, behind teammate Derrick Alexander. Additionally, his total of 135 return yards on the game broke Alexander's team-high set against Maryland earlier in the season. The return was just the sixth for a touchdown in Michigan history and the first since Tony Boles went 85 yards against Purdue on Nov. 4, 1989. AND THE WINNER IS...: Michigan State coach George Perles made it perfectly clear who he thought the true victors were after the game. "I think the real winner was ABC. They had a game out there that probably really entertained the country." He also couldn't avoid mentioning the politics of the in-state rivalry. "I think the people in the state of Michigan and Governor (James) Blan- chard ought to be real happy with this kind of exposure that the state of Michigan got," he said. "I'm not in politics. I don't know anything about politics, but if I were a governor I'd be very happy with this game. He had two fine schools in the Big Ten out there playing, and it really showed the country what Michigan is made of." SNAKE BITTEN: Michigan State's 28-27 victory marks the fourth time Michigan has lost while the nation's No. 1 team in either the AP or UPI polls during the season. On Oct. 17, 1977, AP slated Michigan at the top of the chart, only to have the Wolverines lose to Minnesota, 16-0. Next was UPI's 1981 preseason poll, which Michigan followed with an opening loss to Wisconsin, 21-14. Then, AP's preseason 1989 pitted No. 1 Michigan against No. 2 Notre Dame, with the Irish prevailing, 24-19. GILL AGAIN Continued from page 9 mance was striking. Now, return to that final drive. In a way, it was a courageous drive. Twice on fourth down, the Wolver- ines converted. But look at what else happens. Howard drops a ball. Jarrod Bunch drops a ball. Dave Diebolt drops a ball. "Too many, far too many," Wolverine coach Gary Moeller acknowledged. And when Michigan hung onto the ball, their mind went to sleep. Jon Vaughn makes a nice catch near the sideline - with the crowd in bedlam, dreams of a miracle in ev- eryone's head, and the clock quietly ticking away the final precious sec- onds - and what does he do? He cuts up field, does not stop the clock, and Michigan is placed in a world of hurt. A large mental error. Should we turn to the bruised and broken up defense? The Spartan of- fense, which is from the stone age and looked so lackluster against Iowa the oddsmakers made State a 12 1/2 point underdog, resembled a self- propelled lawnmower moving up and down Michigan's artificial turf. The Michigan defense is suffering from the loss of some injured key players, but when Hyland Hickson ran the ball 26 yards to give the Spartans a 21-14 lead, it was a case of shabby tackling. And it happened again and again in the second half. It appeared as though the defense was worn out. Then we come to the special teams. Specifically, punting and kicking. I don't think anybody's ready to complain about the returns after Magic Howard's sensational run. What has happened to J.D. Carl- son? It appeared that 1989's Mr. Consistency was back after a slow start. Then, he shanks a chip shot at the end of the first half. One does not need to be an accountant to fig- ure out three points might have helped Michigan a whole heck of a lot. There have been no blocked punts this year and Eddie Azcona's statis- tics sport a pretty impressive aver- age, but the punts are wobbly little beasts that find an open cranny and start bouncing. It's luck. But who's to complain when it works? The one time it didn't - Michigan State caught it before it had a chance to work its magic - Azcona was stuck with a 28 yard punt. And he only averaged 34.3 yards for the day. Overall, maybe Michigan proved that it was a good team Saturday. They made all types of errors, yet still had a chance to win in the end. The question everyone wants an- swered though is "were the Wolver- ines robbed Saturday?" Sure. And for the second time in six games, an official's decision went against the Wolverines and cost them the game. The flag that cost Bo the Rose Bowl was never seen yesterday - and it cost Molin his first intrastate showdown. Be angry about it. Say it wasn't fair. But remember this: The officials' eyes were not the only reason for this loss. Give Michigan credit. They did a lot to deserve it too. Considering The Michigan BBA? Attend An Information Session . a I' (abovJe Steve Cea' I w fillWW 441.- a , """Z""rm re " ..-.." !.! * " '#5 ar-w * M.7.. ., Monday, October 15th 1990 Hale Auditorium School of Business Administration 4:00-5:30 pm For additional information .