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The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday
October 7, 1991
Cool
Size up front
~ makes Blue
frontrunner
IOWA CITY - Michigan's first-half
performance Saturday greatly resembled its
showing in its loss to Florida State. Like last
week, Michigan couldn't run successfully, and
the Wolverine defensive front was virtually
non-existent.
But luckily for
Phil Michigan, Iowa continu-
Green ally shot itself in the
foot. And the Wolverines
made enough big plays (a
blocked punt for a
touchdown, a 59-yard pass
to Yale VanDyne, and a
stopped Iowa fake punt)
to actually take a one-
point lead into the in-
termission.
Also like last week,
one team came out to
- - dominate the second half
- but this time it was
Michigan, which then won, 43-24.
The Wolverines' tremendous offensive line
began blowing Iowa off the line of
scrimmage, while the Hawkeyes' front five
could neither protect quarterback Matt
Rodgers nor effectively establish a running
game.
"The problem was that in the first quarter,
we just didn't have enough plays to get a roll
going," Wolverine offensive guard Matt
Elliott said. "I think once we got rolling, we
See GREEN, Page 4
6 M'
creams
Hawkeyes
Howard, Johnson
get double scoops
in 43-24 victo
by Theodore Cox
Daily Football Writer
IOWA CITY - In a game that was supposed to pit
two big, powerful Big Ten schools against one another,
it was 5-foot-9 Jesse Johnson who stole the show, lead-
ing Michigan to a 43-24 victory over Iowa Saturday.
The redshirt frosh was virtually unknown by the
70,220 in attendance at Kinnick Stadium. The third-
string tailback made the most of his second game ever,
gaining 202 total yards and scoring two touchdowns.
"Johnson really kicked us in the butt today," Iowa
defensive end Leroy Smith said. "He did good. I wish he
didn't come. We didn't respect him as much as we re-
spected (Wolverine tailback Ricky) Powers."
The Michigan offense had been stagnant in Iowa ter-
ritory for much of the first quarter. But with 31 sec-
onds left in the first half, Johnson caught a screen pass,
sliced by a tackler, and sprinted up field for a 28-yard
score. Suddenly the Wolverines were up 19-18 after be-
ing down by 11 points six minutes earlier.
However, Iowa coach Hayden Fry contributed to
the touchdown. Michigan started the drive on Iowa's
46 after his fake punt attempt failed.
On fourth-and-10, Fry elected to snap the ball to
running back Paul Kujawa instead of the punter. Not
fooled at all, the Wolverines tackled Kujawa for a one-
yard loss. It was a call Fry regretted, especially after
finding out that Iowa needed 10 yards for a first down.
"That's my fault," Fry said. "I'm the head coach. It
came down from the press box to run the fake. We just
had a lineman who didn't execute properly. We lined
up perfectly. I apologized to the team at halftime."
The Hawkeyes never recovered, and the Wolverine
offensive line kicked in during the second half.
"I thought we were able to out-physical them,"
Michigan offensive guard Matt Elliott said. "I think
once we got rolling we tired them out and we played
smash-mouth football."
The Wolverine defensive line also began to over-
power Iowa. On the Hawkeyes' first drive of the sec-
ond half, Iowa quarterback Matt Rodgers was sacked
for a nine-yard loss.
"We just tightened up a little bit," Michigan de-
fensive tackle Mike Evans said. "We got a better pass
rush than all year so far."
"Most of the things we did out there today were
working," Michigan nose guard Tony Henderson said.
"Last week we didn't force Florida State to throw the
ball."
Michigan used Johnson's running ability to kill the
clock during the second half. His ability to get through
the holes more quickly than Powers earned him a 7.6
yards-per-carry average.
A 56-yard scamper in the third quarter boosted that
average nicely. Johnson left Hawkeye Doug Buch grasp-
ing for air, but ran out of steam and was brought down
on the 21-yard line.
"Jesse meant a lot," Michigan wide-receiver
Desmond Howard said. "He opened up the ballgame
for us. When Jesse came in and broke a couple of long
See IOWA, Page 4
KRISTOFFER GILLETTE/Daily
Michigan defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson sacks Iowa quarterback Matt Rodgers in the second half of Saturday's 43-24
Wolverine victory. Hutchinson and the Michigan defense held the Hawkeyes to six points in the second half.
Rookie Johnson capitalzes
on first rushing opportunity
by Phil Green
Daily Football Writer
IOWA CITY - In Super Bowl XXIV,
little-known Washington Redskin running
back Timmy Smith ran wild on the Denver
Broncos. In Michigan's 43-24 victory over
Iowa in the Big Ten's regular season opener
Saturday, little-known Wolverine running
back Jesse Johnson ran wild on the Iowa
Hawkeyes.
Wolverine fans and coaches hope the simi-
larity between the two ends there, because
Smith's career finished without much notice
after his short flash of fame. But Johnson's at-
titude should help him avoid Smith's plight.
"I had to work really hard to get some
playing time," the redshirt frosh said. "It's
all about attitude and Michigan tradition."
That tradition includes a wealth of tail-
backs, so when Michigan coach Gary Moeller
thought starting tailback Ricky Powers had
broken his hand, Johnson was ready and wait-
ing to play.
"Honestly, somebody told me that Powers
had broken his hand and that was not the case,"
Moeller said. "So we put (Johnson) in there
and we thought Ricky was gone."
The mistaken injury turned into a blessing
for the Wolverines and a disaster for the
Hawkeyes. Johnson, who saw his first colle-
giate action ever last week against Florida
State, exploded for 168 yards on 22 carries
with one touchdown Saturday - all in the
second half. He also caught two passes, includ-
ing a 28-yard touchdown off a screen pass at
the end of the first half.
"It's just a great feeling," Johnson said. "I
was just happy to get in. I figured I'd play a
See JOHNSON, Page 4
Michigan tailback Jesse Johnson runs against Iowa.
Blue spikes Indiana
after Buckeye loss
Eyeing the
by Bruce Inosencio A' it%. &L
finish
line
oof I f o&AwJ -% 4 Lo *
by Ken Davidoff
Daily Sports Writer
If, for some inexplicable reason,
Mick Jagger were in Ann Arbor this
past weekend, he and the Michigan
women's volleyball team would
have been at odds, because coach
Peggy Bradley-Doppes and her play-
ers got plenty of satisfaction.
The Wolverines (2-2 in the Big
Ten, 10-4 overall) ended the week-
end on a high note when they swept
Indiana, 15-10, 15-5, 15-12, Saturday
night after falling to a formidable
Ohio State squad, 15-9, 15-5, 15-7,
the previous evening.
"I told the kids that if they
played with the exact same inten-
sity, only a little looser, we would
be very successful tonight,"
Bradley-Doppes said after the
Indiana victory. "And I think they
played the exact same as they did the
first 10 minutes of (Friday's)
match, but we played that way for a
much longer duration."
Indeed. it would be hard to fault
41 assists and Julie Chellevold's 17
kills, their hold on the match was
never in doubt. With the second
game knotted at 5-5, OSU ran off a
10-0 streak that in effect ruled out
any chance of the Wolverines
pulling off an upset. Nevertheless,
Michigan more than held its own,
and everyone was pleased with the
squad's efforts.
"I thought we played a great
game," floor captain Thompson
said. "That's the best we've played.
Michelle Horrigan was hitting like
I've never seen her hit before,
Hayley Lorenzen was diving on the
floor... I was satisfied with our
play."
"Ohio State is that good,"
Bradley-Doppes stated. "This is the
biggest, best team we've seen, and I
would say it's probably the best
team I've been against since I've
been here at Michigan. They're that
strong."
However, Ohio State's powerful
dishiav did not comnletelv exemnt
The men's cross country team
tied rival Michigan State and
easily defeated Ohio State at the
Michigan Invitational Saturday
morning. Leading the way once
again for coach Ron Warhurst's
squad was Matt Smith.
A redshirt junior, Smith has
been running for seven years and
enjoys it more every day, a
pleasure attributable to his
bloodlines.
One of eight kids, Smith comes
from a family devoted to running;
his father and all of his brothers
are avid runners. Therefore, it
seemed only natural for Smith to
try the sport the rest of his
family had grown to love.
"I picked it up when I was a
little kid," Smith said, "and I was
pretty good, so I kept at it."
Smith graduated from Bishop
Borgess High in 1988 and earned
all-State Cross Country honors
his senior year. Though he also
min .a.. Gr rh r..u a - r -c
iviazx amiui ius ite
cross country team to
national recognition
are the reason I like our course, I
guess I've always been fond of
hills. Hilly courses psyche me up
more than flat courses."
After not being heavily
recruited out of high school,
Smith eventually walked on the
Michigan team.
"Ron (Warhurst) called me up
maybe once, and I came up here one
time with my mom," he said.
"But other than that there was
really no recruiting."
Smith chose to attend
Michigan because his brother had
run for Warhurst, who had a
reputation for successful teams.
However, after Smith reached
Michigan, the road to success was
filled with potholes.
"I almost quit running my
first year," Smith said. "In fact, I
quit the track team in February
because I didn't feel I was doing
as well as I should have been.
Another major factor was that I
wasn't getting anything out of
it "
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