The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 28, 1990 - Page 5 HOOSIERS Continued from page 1 Most impressive was Michigan's defense - a defense that has come under recent fire for allowing long touchdown drives late in the game. Saturday, however, Michigan's front seven dominated Indiana's of- fensive line and shut down a Hoosier offense that had been averaging 34.8 points a game. Other than a 15-yard pass com- pletion on Indiana's first play, Michigan did not give up a first down until there was under three minutes left in the first half. During one first quarter stretch, the Wolver- ine defense sacked Indiana quarter- back Trent Green on three consecu- tive third downs, forcing the Ho- osiers to punt. Where did the Gang-Green defense come from? "Coach (Lloyd) Carr (defensive coordinator) said we weren't getting a good pass rush lately, so we put the emphasis on the pass rush," middle guard T.J Osman said. "The whole first half, we were sending three players up and those three sacks really helped our defense out with momentum." As the defense pinned the Hoosiers down, the Wolverine of- fense was left with excellent field position. Howard consistently found. seams in the Indiana secondary, fin- ishing the day with 9 catches for 117 yards. His most impressive catch, however, was the one that put Michigan up 7-0. On first down from the Indiana three yard line, Howard headed for the corner of the endzone. Quarter- back Elvis Grbac's pass was over Howard's wrong shoulder so he spun completely around and caught the ball with one hand as he fell to the ground. "It was a regular fade pattern," Howard said. "All the credit goes to Grbac because if it (the throw) was any harder, I couldn't have caught it. It gave me time to adjust and I did a 180 and caught it with my left- FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK, Blue defense wakens to answer criticism by Eric Lemont Daily Football Writer Even with defensive end Chris Hutchinson missing Saturday's game with a back injury, the Michigan defense did not miss a beat. In fact, the beat of Wolverine footsteps was the only thing Indiana quarterbacks:Trent Green and Chris Dyer heard all day. Michigan recorded 5 sacks and created mass confusion all day long in the Indiana backfield. Green started only a few series before Indiana coach Bill Mallory replaced him with Dyer. "I decided to go to Dyer because we needed some mobility and movement back there," Mallory said. "When they got us in third and long, they really put some good pressure on us." Defensive tackle Steve Rekowski did an excellent job replacing Hutchinson and received big doses of help from Mike Evans, who recorded his fifth sack of the season, and linebackers Brian Townsend and Martin Davis, who each recorded two sacks. "Our front line did a great job putting pressure on the quarterback, from the start of the game," linebacker Erick Anderson said. "At Michigan,,when somebody goes down (Hutchinson), the next guy up is expected to perform." Anderson had a simple explanation for the defense's success in quelling recent criticism of it being lax. "It's not an X's and O's thing, it's just an attitude," he said. "We had no idea what was going on outside of practice." HOME SWEET HOME?: Indiana's loss to Michigan was only its fourth at home in the last four years. In those four seasons, the Hoosiers have won 16 of 20 games (16-3-1) at Memorial Stadium, also known as "The House." WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?: The Wolverines definitely seem to have the Hoosiers' number. Michigan has now won 19 of the last 21 meetings between the two schools including a 38-10 victory in Ann Arbor last year. MILESTONES: Jon Vaughn, who entered Saturday's contest as the nation's leading rusher (153.3 yards per game), became the 11th Michigan running back to run for 1000 yards in a season. THIS IS A PRESS CONFERENCE?: Believe it or not, Gary Moeller gave his post-game press conference in the dank, ill-lit, asbestos- filled caverns of Memorial Stadium's boiler room. Yes, a boiler room. A reporter from the Indiana Daily Student said it was normal operating procedure to hold the visiting coach's press conference in the room. He recalled the impression the room left on one Mid-American Conference coach: "Eastern Michigan's Jim Harkeman came in here earlier this year and said, 'We're having it (the press conference) in here? In the Big Ten? We have nicer places in the MAC!' JOSE JUAREZ/Daily Michigan receiver Desmond Howard races around two Indiana defenders after hauling one of his nine receptions in Saturday's game. Howard, who finished with 117 yards and one touchdown, was able to find openings in the Hoosier defense all afternoon. Howard came into the game second in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game, averaging 81.3 a contest. hand." Howard, who came into the game as the Big Ten's number two re- ceiver and the nation's number three kickoff returner, has answered any questions about his ability to replace the departed Greg McMurtry. "I think Desmond is a good foot- ball player and once he gets the ball he can do something with it. He works hard and he deserves it," Moeller said." Howard, though, was only part of an almost flawless offensive out- burst. Grbac completed 14 of 18 passes for 166 yards and three touch- downs, and three Michigan backs ran for more than 60 yards - Jon Vaughn (91), Jarrod Bunch (78) and Ricky Powers (65). Michigan outgained the Hoosiers on the ground by 182 yards, 295- 113, in part because its offensive line outweighed Indiana's defensive line by an average of 60 pounds per player. The Wolverine ground attack was also aided by a balanced offense and poor Indiana tackling. "If your defense plays well and gets the ball back to us, then offen- sively you can play a much different game," Moeller said. With five games remaining, the Wolverines showed Indiana, a na- tional audience, and the 11 bowl rep- resentatives in attendance a glimpse of what they can look like on a good day. Players, however, feel this type of performance will have to be re- peated each and every week to meet their goal - five straight wins. Safety Tripp Welborne, for one, feels Saturday's winning recipe shouldn't be too hard to concoct in, the future. "We played hard, played long, played strong," he said. "That's all you have to do to be victorious." HYMAN Continued from page 1 "Michigan is a great, great1 team," he said. "Michigan is and tradition." bowl class Other bowls would love to have Michigan as well. "They have great fan support and. a big TV market," said Nelson Hendry, representative for the Hall of Fame Bowl. "We're probably more interested in a team that has less than four losses, but we loved them when we hid them (in 1988). Michigan helped put us on the map in terms of bowls." Tommy Thompson, representa- tive for the Florida Citrus Bowl agreed. "We see Michigan as one of the best bowl teams in the country. A name that has been synonymous with great football names for many years. "We require a team with a good ranking. We're very interested, un- fortunately, they have to win the rest of their games. You have a team that is 4-3, and is going to be favored in all their games." Thus, the stage is set for the Wolverines. If they win their final four games, they will be playing somewhere on New Year's Day. Yet, neither the team, nor coach Gary Moeller is looking ahead. The team is approaching the rest of the season one game at a time and is not worried about where or when they may play a bowl game. When asked where do you (the team) go from here, Michigan receiver Desmond Howard responded,. "Purdue." "It was real important to reestab- lish what it's like to win," Michigan fullback Jarrod Bunch said. "The main focus is to win each game and if that's the case (a bowl appear- ance), that'll be fine." If the season continues as the game went Saturday, the Wolverines will reach their goal of winning their remaining games - and one of the bowls will be rewarded with the op- portunity to host Michigan. -- - A-- - - - - Vaughn's longest carry of the day came on a 47-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter. Vaughn's per game rushing average fell to 144.3 yards, but he became the 11th runner in Michigan history to surpass the 1,000 yard mark for a season. nPiONTAT All' AVG T LONG l/11 11 \l'd\1 A[ 1 111 L1U ASV 1L. Ll il\\l Notre Dame UCLA Maryland Wisconsin Michigan St. Iowa Indiana Totals 22 32 22 15 26 18 201 288 89 94 162 93 91 9.1 9.0 4.0 6.3 6.2 4.8 T6, 0 3 2 1 0 1 1 24 63 26 35 42 13 47 1 G 71 .V It 147 1011 6.9 8 63 DAILY CLASSIFIEDS Vaughn JOSE JUAREZ/Daily I 1980 IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN RECREATIONAL SPORTS ::, General Motors ... "Putting quality on the road" See the visions and concepts of General Motors: * 4 i w DATE: PLACE: TIME: October 30 and 31, 1990 Central Campus Recreational Building .} 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM General Motors and GMAC Financial Services are pleased to be associated with your campus' "GM -Auto Expo." See the latest GM cars and trucks in the convenience of your own campus community, and ask about the wide variety of financing plans available to college students through GMAC Financial Services, including the GMAC College Graduate Finance Plan. # r:., . FA i