Sports Monday Trivia What was the last year Michigan State lost its first four football games of the season and who was their coach? Inside Sports Monday 'M' Sports Calendar AP Top 25 Results 'M' Athlete of the Week Q&A Sheran My Thoughts Football Coverage Cross Country Field Hockey Swimming Griddes Soccer 2 2 2 3 3 4-5 6 7 7 8 8 turn to the (For the answer, bottom of page 2) , . 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 " * 2 :