What was the score the last time Michigan beat Notre Dame? (For the answer, turn to the bottom of page 2) K 'M' Sports Calendar APTop 25 Q&A Sheran My Thoughts Griddes 'M' Athlete of the Week Football Coverage Women's Soccer 2 2 3 3 4 4 4-5 7 I The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday September 9, 1991 "Low-flying 'M' tops Eagles, 35 -13 QB Grbac: 'We knew we would win sooner or later' by Theodore Cox Daily Football Writer CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Was Michigan worried when Bos- ton College jumped out to a 10-0 lead in Saturday's game at Alumni Stadium? Or maybe when Eagles' kicker Sean Wright nailed a 22-yard field goal to pull within one point with 14:07 left in the game? "Not at all," Michigan quarter- back Elvis Grbac said. "We knew we would win sooner or later." "I didn't panic," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "I felt like we just got to hang in there and play our game and do it better. I was a little displeased we weren't execut- ing better." Well, when you have the talent of wide receiver Desmond Howard, victories are a lot easier to obtain. The junior scored four touchdowns this weekend to open Michigan's season with a 35-13 victory. None was more important than a 93-yard kickoff return to open the second half. Michigan was down by three at intermission, after a half in which Boston College capitalized on several Wolverine errors - the first being an offsides penalty. The Wolverines thought they had stopped Boston College's open- ing drive with an interception by Lance Dottin, but the play was called back with an offsides penalty. On the next play, Eagle wide re- ceiver Keith Miller snuck behind the Blue backfield to catch a touch- down pass. The crowd of 32,071 cheered wildly, giving the Eagles plenty of momentum as the two teams lined up for the second half kickoff. But Howard got great blocking, allow- ing him to run untouched into the end zone. "We definitely needed that at the time," Howard said. "If we didn't take it all the way back, we wanted good field position. We needed something to uplift not only our offense, but also our defense too. We were putting a lot of pres- sure on our defense by going three plays and out." The play gave the Wolverines their first lead of the afternoon, but it didn't solve Michigan's offensive inefficiencies. Although tailback Ricky Powers rushed for 176 yards on 27 carries, the Wolverines had difficulty scoring. The best example was Michigan's first drive of the game. The Wolverines moved the ball down to the Boston College 24-yard line. Powers needed only one yard for the first down, but he was stopped three straight times, giving the ball back to Boston College. "They were trying a couple of new defensive alignments," Grbac said of the Eagles' defense. "I knew if we kept plugging away, sooner or later with the two backs we have we could score." Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Michigan's massive offen- sive line began to wear down the Eagles, allowing Powers and frosh Tyrone Wheatley to run the ball down to the Boston College eight- yard line. It was there that Grbac found Howard free in the end zone for his third touchdown. But Boston College was still moving the ball on Michigan. Quarterback Glenn Foley threw for 280 yards before he was done. However, every time the Eagles got close, the Michigan defense would come up with a big play. Leading the Wolverine attack were linebackers Steve Morrison and Erick Anderson. They held all- America candidate Mark Chmura to three catches in the second half. "We came out with a great mix of offense in the first half," Boston College coach Tom Coughlin said. "I had hoped to maintain that mix. In the second half, when we had no mix, we looked the worst. I would like to have been able to run, but we couldn't." With more than a minute left in the game, Howard made a finger tip catch in the end zone to put the game out of reach. He finished with 86 yards on seven catches. Desmond Howard catches one of his four touchdowns in Michigan's 35-13 victory over Boston College Saturday. Phil Green Desmond provides Blue with much-needed Magic CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Michigan Wolverines trailed Boston College, 10-7, at. halftime and needed a little magic. As the second half's opening kickoff settled into Desmond "Magic" Howard's hands, the Wolverines could sense their moment coming. An explosive 12 seconds and 93 yards later, Michigan led, 14-10. "We knew we had the ball coming out (for the half), and if we didn't take it all the way back, we wanted to get good field position, take it down and score," Howard explained afterward. "We needed something to uplift not only our offense, but our defense, too." Howard's touchdown did more than just uplift Michigan. His runback helped demoralize the high-flying Eagles. "That opening kickoff in the second half really shot us," BC linebacker Tom McManus said. "That started things off and they just took control," all-America candidate tight end Mark Chmura added. Michigan went on to win, 35-13. Without Howard's heroics, the Wolverines very easily could have lost. The team did not play as well as expected: BC's offense moved the ball against the Michigan defense with relative ease; the Eagle defensive front held its own against Michigan's vaunted offensive line; and when BC didn't stop Michigan, the Wolverines were stopping themselves with costly penalties and turnovers. So when the Wolverines needed a lift, Howard was there. After the Eagles had closed to 14-13 and had regained the momentum, it was Howard catching the pass in the back of the end zone to put the game away. "Desmond is an excellent football player," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "We've got to count on him a lot. He has to get open and we've got to get the ball to him." Besides becoming the first Wolverine to return more than one kick for a touchdown in his career, the redshirt junior caught seven passes for 86 yards, while tying a Michigan record with three touchdown receptions in one game. Howard's last two scores came with fellow See GREEN, Page 5 Lance's family by Theodore Cox Daily Football Writer CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - "My celebrity," Lance Dottin's mother said about her son. The Michigan defensive back might not be known around the country, but Saturday he had the largest cheering section at Alumni Stadium. His family members had to rent a school bus to bring all his supporters over from Cambridge, Mass. It was the closest Dottin has played to home in four years. "I could hear them out there," Dottin said after Michigan beat Boston College, 35-13. "They were calling me throughout the whole game. I didn't want to turn around since I was trying to concentrate, but I kept hearing '22' and 'Lance."' Dottin certainly delighted the 70-plus fans who came out to see him. On the Eagles' first drive, he intercepted a pass and then broke two tackles before being brought down 50 yards later. But because Michigan was offsides, the play was negated. However, Dottin was not to be deprived of his moment. With a minute left, he picked off another Glenn Foley pass, this time running it in for a touchdown. 44 - - --.-A'IT ~ -te a Dottin clan turns oul in droves to watch' its favorite son affair "My grandfather is always !.going to be with me," Dottin said. "He was here in family, he was here in spirit. Emotionally, it really hurt me. It was in the summertime, and I was trying to pick up the pieces of my broken heart for my grandfather, but he's here with me today. I know he's watching." His family brought a poster photo of Dottin, and placed his grandfather's picture in the corner. Former Michigan basketball star Rumeal Robinson's family also rode the bus from its home in Cambridge. Robinson had other commitments, but his mother, who is also Dottin's godmother, attended Saturday's game. Although Robinson was adopted into the family, Robinson and Dottin consider themselves as cousins. "I was over (Robinson's house) every weekend," Dottin said. "Every day we played basketball together. We ran track out in the street; we played football." For one individual, Dottin's return was not all roses. High school teammate Jay Clark, a defensive back for Boston College, saw his longtime friend seal the game with Michigan's fifth score. "The first thing on my mind is by Andy De Korte Daily Sports Writer Spending a brilliant late summer weekend on a golf course is a dream shared by many a lifetime hacker as well as competitive golfers. In suc- cessfully defending the Lady Wolverine Invitational title, the Michigan women's golf team took the dream one step further. Carding a 992, Michigan (338- 329-325) ended Sunday with an im- pressive 15-shot victory over its closest competitor Bowling Green (327-348-332) to keep the crown. Last year's individual medalist was Michigan's Becky Hayes. This year, a Wolverine almost took the crown again. Wendy Bigler tied for first with Ferris State's Amy Summers, and Purdue's Carrie Ko- toshirodo at 241. However, light- ning did not strike twice for Michi- gan, and Bigler lost the one-hole playoff to Summers. After 36 holes on Saturday, Michigan was closely followed by Purdue and Bowling Green, four and eight strokes off the pace, respec- tively. Although they were in the lead, Wolverine coach Sue LeClair was not completely satisfied. "I was a little disappointed, I kind of expected to shoot a little better," LeClair said, "I think they were trying too hard, especially dur- ing the morning round, but after I saw the other scores I was feeling a little better." On Sunday, Bigler and Erica Zon- der, who finished fourth with 243, led the Wolverines' charge over their 5,972-yard course. Both recorded tournament-low 77s to provide the 15-shot cushion, keying the tournament-low round of 325. LeClair felt that the home ter- rain probably helped Michigan. "We're used to the hilly course and See GOLF, Page 5 'M women golfers win Wolverine Invite It~r 1s.nd".ap S .1 . .~s%%v~va41: ?. ...*i ~ 4 S :':.,:' ;.1:t'? " ::"::', " .1"r:.;. .'." ' 1 "'r.1"':' W5 ' ' '' . v ,".'Y ' :'"};4,"1 ':'"'':.; . y .:* {"::'':? :i' .::..:: h 4'Y.t{! .'h:' ''~".:Y. :h '''4.1'.;4"' 4'A!..:?..' S h;. ;.4;.r "'.'":'":1?:i{.?::":t':'"' 4: ":: ':":'Yti:''": ^J'.h;1 r v:.:''CJi....;. s '':4 41 4,1.".?1?..ry44.h":"'5 .11:,:::::1+'J41;4.'\ ';"':;.:":JJ";?:{ti:i:::Y''°:i?'?",,:::i"4"?,{i,':1;,;:,:;;iJ;yi;:''R'4 ''""a}' : :,:44f:yS.4'::1 1"e 1.' i'i;J,4:}r1y L 1 " J'.4;4"Trt ;:t : ,?'' ?;}:: :;;.." 1. :::'?;.1 .':; ..ay m rrng f4.:.4.... '1.. ..h.} .}.s""414VR, 4. 4{.,1!y" :?4::'W"'':' ?"4',::'1JYI 'y?"Y' ":.''4.4::41'..A1 tW t t)'""44:"}4J " M1hr1>p {,,"M°"1 '4.$1'.'4;"4 y '"L h.R;",{ - -.- ..ti":. .;;-.41 . 44>±.; g } 1; ,.-,;