The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - November 26, 1990 - Page 5
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK.
Powers runs wild, then
misses game winner
by Ryan Schreiber
Daily Football Writer
COLUMBUS -Ricky Powers, who has been grabbing more playing
time each week, exited the Ohio State game as the obvious offensive star.
The first-year tailback rushed for 128 yards on 27 carries, while the rest of
the Michigan running corps totalled just 16 yards in the Wolverines' 16-
13 victory.
3 Powers accounted for over half of Michigan's total offense, and was
instrumental in the Wolverines' lone touchdown drive as he carried the
Mall on five of the nine plays preceding the score.
In the meantime, Michigan's touted running back, Jon Vaughn, saw
extremely limited action, carrying the ball four times for no yards.
"I guess his ankle was still bothering him a little bit, but he'll be 100
percent probably by the bowl game," Powers said.
BLIND FAITH: Powers was also exhilarated by his first Michigan-
Ohio State match-up, but he missed the final play of the game, J.D.
Carlson's game-winning 37-yard field goal.
"I didn't look at it," Powers said. "I was holding hands with a couple
of the other players, and I looked at the other side of the field. I was
looking at the scoreboard.
"I heard it get real quiet after a while, and our team was going nuts and
our fans started going nuts, so I figured we won the game."
Joining Powers was Otis Williams, Mike Evans, Vada Murray and
John Milligan.
"John looked," Powers laughed. "He cheated, but I didn't look."
INCONSISTENT OFFICIATING: Ohio State coach John Cooper
was overly frustrated about the inconsistency of the Big Ten officials on
the crowd noise violations.
In the third quarter, the Buckeyes received two warnings after
complaints were made by Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac on a fourth-
down play. One snap later, referee Tom Quinn charged Ohio State with a
time-out, an action that did not occur two weeks earlier when the
Buckeyes faced similar circumstances at Iowa.
"To me, and maybe I shouldn't even comment on that, we faced the
worst conditions at Iowa that you can face," Cooper said. "We talked
about it before the ballgame with the officials, and I don't like it (the
noise violation).
"I'll be honest with you - if you come here, there ought to be a
home field advantage. I thought it was a bad call, to be honest with you.
We go on the road and officials don't give us that courtesy."
I WHO'S IN FIRST?: Michigan's victory muddled an already
confusing situation at the top of the Big Ten. Iowa dropped its game to
Minnesota, and Illinois and Michigan State each won, leaving all four
teams at 6-2 in the conference. Even with the four-way tie for first place,
Iowa earned the trip to the Rose Bowl, having beaten all three of the other
teams this season.
Incidentally, Ohio State, who would have gone to the Rose Bowl with
a victory Saturday, finished in fifth place at 5-2-1.
Fourth,
A Woody
Hayes
defensive
type game.
by Mike Gill
Daily Football Writer
&
one
Gary Moeller smiled and said,
"This was kind of a Woody Hayes-
type game. He'd look back and say,
'That's the way that game is
supposed to be played."'
Throughout Woody Hayes' time
as Ohio State coach, many a
defensive battle took place. In the 28
games against Michigan from 1951-
78, Hayes' Buckeyes averaged 15
points per contest, while holding the
Wolverines to just over 12.
Saturday's 16-13 Michigan win
had all the makings of a defensive
battle typical of the two neighbor-
ing, but not friendly, states' schools.
And it all came down to one play.
Ohio State still had flirtations
with a Rose Bowl birth - if
Minnesota could defeat Iowa (as it
later did). A tie did them no good -
except guarantee them a spot in the
Gator Bowl. Michigan needed a win
to gain a Gator berth - and with an
Iowa loss, it could share in the Big
Ten Championship.
After a clipping penalty nullified
a first down and John Milligan stop-
ped Raymont Harris on third and
short, the play of the game occurred.
Facing fourth and less than a yard
from their own 29, Ohio State coach
John Cooper called time out and
decided to gamble to keep his Rose
Bowl aspirations alive.
Quarterback Greg Frey started
running wide but could not find an
opening. He froze and soon was
brought down by Mike Evans.
It was Chris Hutchinson who
snuffed out the option, hitting the
Ohio State quarterback Greg Frey is stopped on 4th and inches on the most crucial play of Satuday's game.
fullback and leaving Frey to keep the
ball himself. When Frey attempted
to come back inside Eric Knuth and
T.J. Osman shut down the path.
"That's the first time we went
into that defense," Moeller said, of a
goal-line defense. "We worried about
them trying to draw us offsides. We
thought they might come up there
and yell 'GO! GO! GO!' and one of
us would be drawn offsides."
For defensive coordinator Lloyd
Carr, the moment was redemptive.
In Michigan's three losses, he
watched his defense allow prolonged
scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
Now, when Michigan couldn't afford
a tie to grab a shot at the Gator
Bowl, his defense stopped a run
whose percentages were highly in
favor of the visitors.
"There were situations earlier in
the season where our defense let us
down," Carr said. "We talked all this
week about big games and when you
have an opportunity to make a big
play, you've got to make it. We told
them that this game was going down
to the fourth quarter and we were
going to be on the field in a
situation where we have to stop
them to win the game."
For Cooper, the move took the
Buckeyes from a Rose Bowl berth to
a fifth place finish. "Why not go for
broke," he said. "A tie didn't do us
any good at all. If I go for a tie and
Minnesota beats Iowa, then I
couldn't face our football team."
Bandfinally hits the road
COLUMBUS - The Michigan Marching Band finally got to make a
road trip, after staying home since Notre Dame. They didn't make the
most of it - rerunning their (fill in the blank) Beatles salute.
Since the Ohio State band played Christmas songs, we won't
harbor on this Beatles fact. Instead, we're in the holiday giving mood.
'Let's question why the athletic department can't spring more money
for the band to make more trips. The football team flew home from
Columbus. Despite their small head start over this driving writer, they
arrived home only an hour earlier. Was flying that important?
Second, there is an amazing interest in Columbus for the Buckeye
Band. The band, as well as Michigan's, ran through their shows an
hour and a half before the game, which is nothing uncommon. How-
ever, in Columbus, they do it in St. John's Arena - and in front of a
standing room only crowd. It certainly would be nice if Michigan could
start this kind of tradition. What could be better than a little pep rally
for fans inside Crisler Arena an hour or so before the game begins?
The pregame was something to behold. First Michigan's band
high stepped to the Victors. Then came OSU, complete with the
script Ohio, and dotting of the 1. Tradition and excellence at its best.
Merry Band Day. -'MIKE GL
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Although Vaughn tallied no yards on the day, his seven yard
scamper on Michigan's final drive set up the game winning kick.
OPPONENT ATT YRD AVG TD LONG
GILL
Continued from page 1
defense rapped Ohio State and let
Carlson try to redeem his misfire of
a few minutes ago.
Out onto the field with only three
seconds left came 10 huge men -
and one who would decide the game
- a walk-on, no less, from Florida.
How many times do you get that
second chance? Here was Carlson,
walking head down off the field with
4:16 left, missing his chance to give
Michigan a lead with a 38 yard
attempt. Then the defense held the
Buckeyes and Carlson knew some-
thing was waiting in the wings.
"It felt great, just great," Carlson
said of the fourth down defensive
stampede that left Buckeye quarter-
back Greg Frey with no where to
turn, no where to run, no daylight to
find. "I said, 'This is God giving me
a second chance to make this one."'
So Carlson, who had booted two
field goals earlier in the day, one just
barely sneaking through, would have
a chance to turn from goat to prince
with one swing of the foot. There
were worries, big worries.
This was not the artificial turf he
was used to kicking on. The grass
was what he blamed his miss and
near miss. This was not an extra
point attempt - it would be a 37
yard attempt.
This was no kick that would up a
lead from 28 points to 31.
This was The Kick.
In The Game.
And it would be all anyone
remembered or talked about for days.
The past would be recalled.
Remember the field goal missed at
Notre Dame? Michigan State? And
Iowa too? Well, Carlson could
become a name thrown to the tigers,
scorned at Michigan drinking holes
from the mining oountry in the
Upper Peninsula, to the Ohio border.
It had to gnaw at you. The Kick
in The Game for The Win.
"On every kick, I can't be too
excited or too sad. I just got to
concentrate on the fundamentals and
do the best I can," Carlson said.
So an imposing crowd of 90,000
made no difference to Carlson.
Neither did the importance of the
kick. Only one thing rang back and
forth in his mind as the armies posi-
tioned themselves for one final
offensive thrust.
"Keep your head down. Keep
your head down."
Which is exactly the opposite of
what Dave Ritter and others told him
minutes earlier. They had said,
"Keep your chin up, we're going to
get the ball back for you."~
They did. And Carlson came
through. When he looked up, there
was reason to keep his chin up. The
battle was over. A low scoring
squeaker had seen its last shot fired
- fired by 5-foot-10, 179 pound
kicker, and it sent an entire state
down as losers.
On the field lay Buckeyes in
disbelief. The Wolverines danced.
The lockerroom was rather
boisterous, the Victors rang
throughout the land.
"I'm very very pleased," Moeller
said. J.D. Carlson just gave Ohio
the boot.
Notre Dame
UCLA
Maryland
Wisconsin
Michigan St.
Iowa
Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Minnesota
OoSt.
Totals
22
32
22
15
26
18
12
25
14
7
4
201
288
89
94
162
93
91
139
56
28
0
9.1
9.0
4.0
6.3
6.2
4.8
7.6
5.6
4.0
4.0
0.0
0
3
2
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
24
63
26
35
42
13
47
35
11
9
7
Derrick Alexander is hit by Ohio State cornerback Vinnie Clark in the
second half of Saturday's game.
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