Ice Hockey
vs. Illinois-Chicago
Tonight and Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
SPORTS
Football
vs. Ohio State
Tomorrow, 12:10 p.m. (ABC)
Michigan Stadium
-
x s
The Michigan Daily Friday, November 22, 1991 Page 12E
«,
Ohio
State-Michigan: vintage
'91
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Offense gives Wolverines edge in
by Matt Rennie
Daily Football Writer
QUARTERBACKS: Michigan hopes
to force Buckeye quarterback Kent
Graham to pass often by shutting
down Ohio State's running game. For
the first time in six weeks, the Wol-
verines face a quarterback not re-
nowned for his running ability. How-
ever, Graham does have a strong arm,
making him a constant threat to throw
deep.
Michigan's Elvis Grbac, the
nation's top-rated passer, may deserve
Heisman recognition of his own.
Advantage: Michigan
RUNNING BACKS: Both teams are
stacked here. Ohio State has a healthy
Carlos Snow, something Buckeye
fans have dreamed of for years. But-
ler By'not'e is hell on typists but a
more-than-capable backup. Fullback
Scottie Graham is a load. At 5-foot-
10, 220 pounds, Graham is capable of
benching 430 pounds, the approximate
weight of two defensive linemen.
Michigan's tailback trio of Ricky
Powers, Jesse Johnson, and Tyrone
Wheatley may be the best in the
country, but they can't all play at the
same time.
Advantage: Ohio State
RECEIVERS: Bernard Edwards is
a speedster, and at6-foot-5, he provides
a big target for the Buckeye quarter-
back. Brian Stablein has dependable
hands and deceptive speed.
Yale VanDyne has a knack for
getting the extra yards when Michi-
gan needs them, and Walter Smith
has gained substantial playing time
this season as a third receiver. The
Wolverines' other receiver is pretty
good, too.
Advantage: Michigan
OFFENSIVE LINE: Ohio State's line
should provide ample blocking for
the Buckeyes' fine backs. Alan Kline
(6-foot-7, 285) and Mick Shoaf (6-
foot-5, 280) are talented and experi-
enced tackles.
Michigan's massive unit is an-
chored by tackle Greg Skrepenak, a
candidate for both the Outland and
Lombardi Awards. A fifth-year se-
nior, Skrepenak has vowed not to lose
his last game in Michigan Stadium.
Believe him.
Advantage: Michigan
DEFENSIVE LINE: Defensive end
Alonzo Spellman is the driving force
behind the Ohio State pass rush.
Spellman is joined by Greg Smith
and Rich Frimel up front for the
Buckeyes.
The Wolverines will have to do
without Chris Hutchinson on their
line. However, Michigan kept Illinois
quarterback Jason Verduzco on the
run lasi week with its best pass rush of
the season.
Advantage: Ohio State
LINEBACKERS: Each team used to
Tovar
matchupS.;
had one position where he could.RO
afford an injury. Guess what? He gq
it when an injury sidelined cornerback
Bryan Cook for the season. Cook
was the most experienced member of
the Buckeye secondary, and 'the
Buckeyes have nobody with signiify
cant experience to replace him. Free
safety Chico Nelson said he plans d
lay a few hits on that No. 21 guy-f.r,
Michigan. If he can catch him, he'
doing better than most teams.
The Wolverine defensive bac
have found a team perfectly suited t
their style. Graham likes to throW'
downfield, and Michigan's second-.
ary likes to play downfield. Look for
the Wolverines' hardest hitter, free,
safety Corwin Brown, to make some
spectacular tackles in what is trdi-
tionally their most physical game.
Advantage: Michigan
Special Teams: If the Buckeyb's
have a fourth down, it's a safe bet that,
Tim Williams will be on the field,
regardless of where the ball is. Wi.
hams does both the punting and*he,
placekicking for the Buckeyes.
After struggling all seas'dft
Michigan placekicker J.D. Carlsen
played a crucial role in the Wolver't
ines' victory over Illinois. Eddie;
Azcona will do the punting fors
Wolverines. Azcona has been hot#ps
cold in terms of distance, but ,
kicks are rarely returned. As far as,
kick returns go, that No. 21 guy does
a decent job for Michigan.
Advantage: Michigan
Michigan captain Erick Anderson is one of the nation's top three
linebackers.
Anderson named
finali~st for Btkus
boast a Butkus Award candidate, but
after the finalists were announced
yesterday, only Michigan could make
that claim. Although eliminated from
the running, Buckeye Steve Tovar
will make life difficult for the Wol-
verine running attack.
On the otherside, Wolverine Erick
Anderson is one of three Butkus fi-
nalists, and he should have help now
that Steve Morrison is healthy and
can share time with Marcus Walker.
Outside linebackerBrian Townsend,
a Cincinnati native, said he doesn't
want to go home for Thanksgiving
next week after a loss.
Advantage: None
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Entering this
game, Ohio State coach John Cooper
by Jeff Sheran
Daily Football Writer
Michigan inside linebacker Erick
Anderson has been named one of
three finalists for the Butkus
Award, the honor bestowed upon
the nation's best linebacker.
Anderson, a fifth-year senior, has
recorded 103 tackles, and will be-
come the only Michigan player ever
to lead the team in tackles four
straight seasons. He would be
Michigan's first Butkus winner.
"I'm excited and relieved," An-
derson said of reaching the finals. "I
knew with the way I'd been playing,
I had a good chance, but you never
really can tell with awards because
they are out of your hands. I mean,
how can you actually narrow it to
the top three linebackers in the
country?"
Michigan coach Gary Moeller
and defensive coordinator Lloyd
Carr both praised Anderson for his
leadership as the defense's captain.
"After he was elected captain,
there was a lot of responsibility on
him, and now he has gone on and not
only led the team but played well
and demonstrated his leadership
that way," Moeller said. "He is
Jery deserving of this award."
"The thing that makes Erick so
special is he is. a tremendous team
player," Carr said. "He is a guy that
has provided great leadership during
the week when you really need it to
develop a great football team. His
performance has been consistently
at a high level, which has allowed
him and our team to have the kind of
year we are having."
Linebacker coact, Jim Herrmann
lauded Anderson for his intensity.
"There's just an unbelievable in-
stinct that he has getting to the ball,
making the big play and getting the
other guys fired up on the field, in
meetings and at practices," Her-
rmann said. "He has great ability to
just come up with the big play and I
think that is one of the reasons why
he's been nominated. The fact that he
has led Michigan in tackles for four
straight years also says a lot about
him. He's a durable guy."
Anderson credited his team for
his success.
"It's impossible for a linebacker
to play well if he doesn't have his
front guys and his secondary sup-
porting him the way I've had mine
support me," he said.
Anderson is one of three Butkus
finalists - the others are senior in-
side linebacker Robert Jones (East
Carolina) and junior outside
linebacker Marco Coleman (Georgia
Tech). The winner will be an-
nounced Dec. 5.
Other Michigan players vying
for national awards include offen-
sive tackle Greg Skrepenak and wide
receiver Desmond Howard. Skrepe-
nak is a finalist for the Lombardi
Award, announced Dec. 7, while
Howard remains the leading candi-
date for the Heisman Trophy,
awarded Dec. 14.
tiY. -d
Tailback Snow preCIpital
by Todd Harrell
Ohio State Lantern
Only Ohio State tailback Carlos Snow, who
has battled back from injury after injury, can de-
scribe his 1991 football season.
"It's like a dream, a dream come true."
Since arriving on the scene at Ohio State in
the fall of 1987, Snow's football career has ex-
perienced its fair share of peaks and valleys.
Now Snow seems to be working his way up to
peak form again.
As a heralded recruit, Snow was expected to
contribute in his rookie campaign, and he did. He
gained 381 rushing yards his first year.
With a new coaching staff and a new system
to adjust to in 1988, Snow responded by rushing
for 775 yards, including a career-high 170 yards
against Michigan.
While Snow was putting up big numbers
rushing the football, gaining 990 yards and 11
touchdowns in 1989, his troubles were begin-
ning. He started suffering from a severe case of
fumble-itis.
"It all had to do with my grip. I was grip-
ping the football wrong," Snow said.
However, once Snow solved the problem, the
injuries began. He missed the 1989 Michigan
game because of a sore knee.
"That was very frustrating, because all week
I thought my leg would heal but it didn't,"
Snow said. "It really hurts when you have to
es big playS
If the tumor turned out to be malignant, he-
could have lost much more than football. Brt-
the doctors' news was good. The tumor was be="'
nign.
"I wasn't a guy who was very smart, or intro
the books and stuff, and the surgery did make me
think about taking advantage of the education-,-,
Snow said.
Since he couldn't hit opposing defenses, Snowr
hit the books. He is scheduled to graduate this,
winter with a degree in sociology.
And that is why after missing the entire 199k:
Buckeye football season, Snow is thoroughly;.
relishing his good fortune in 1991. He leads the;
team in rushing with 718 yards and has scored,
eight touchdowns this year.
For Buckeye offensive coordinator Elliot,
Uzelac, the man who brought the new brand of
"grind 'em out" football to Ohio State, Snow is
special.
"The guy works hard, he has bounced bag ,
from adversity, and he is doing a great job for'
us," Uzelac said. "He's something else."
For now, Snow isn't thinking of the year inl
terms of individual statistics. He is thinking 4-
just one thing - beating Michigan tomorrow.--
"We have to make some big plays to beat
Michigan," Snow said. "I told some of our play-
ers before the Indiana game that you can't sit
around waiting for other people to make the big
play - you've got to make the big play."
just sit on the bench, especially in (your team's)
biggest game."
But the biggest blow to Snow's career, and
life, was still to come. The following spring,
doctors found a tumor in Snow's hip.
"It was about two weeks before the results
came back," Snow said. "I can truly say it's the
worst two weeks I've ever had to go through."
Buckeye d-backs face
tou h task vs. Howard
by Mark Podolski
Ohio State Lantern
By now it is no secret that to-
iorrow, the Buckeyes will face the
probable 1991 Heisman Trophy
Award winner, Desmond Howard.
, The Buckeyes must be able to
contain Howard if they are to have
any chance of beating Michigan,
something they have not done in
three years.
"He's going to get his catches,"
OSU cornerback Foster Paulk said.
"But the main thing we're going to
ave to do is contain him and not
let him get the long touchdown
catches."
A major concern for the Buck-
eyes now is who will cover
Eloward, with injured cornerback
Pryan Cook gone for the rest of the
season. Prior to his injury, Cook
was second on the team with 56
tackles and had one interception.
"We're going to miss Bryan
Cook," OSU starting free safety
-Chico Nelson said. "He's the back-
year. He currently holds the Big
Ten record with 19 touchdown
catches in a season. He set an
NCAA record last week against
Illinois for going 10 straight
games with at least one touchdown
reception.
Nelson, known for his physical
style of play, hopes to get some
good, clean hits on Howard.
"I'm going to get a couple of
shots on Desmond," Nelson said.
"He's a great player, and I just
want to play up to my potential. I
want to leave the field knowing I
left everything I had on that
field."
It is a good possibility that
Paulk will defend Howard. Paulk
said he is ready if it comes down to
that.
"I'm looking forward to it,"
Paulk said. "You can measure your
ability on how you play against
him because he's probably the best
in the nation."
Althoiugh this veir'c -vprnng1lar'
OHIO STATE
Continued from page 1
esty, those people up there probably
look at it the same way."
"It's like playing your buddy in
golf," Moeller said, "or somebody
you always want to beat. It's a big
rivalry because of the closeness and
the way that you know one another.
This was created a long time, obvi-
ously, before I was here, or Bo, or
anybody else. It's one of those
things between neighboring states. I
would say this is going to be a dog-
fight until the end... and we'll take
care of the Rose Bowl when we get
there."
It doesn't matter that the
Wolverines have won the last three
contests, a feat which neither team
had accomplished since Michigan
did it from 1976-78. From 1969-81,
the winner of the Michigan-Ohio
State game ventured to Pasadena.
But even with Michigan's flight
reservations already made, the tradi-
tion behind this game still rings
true with the players, especially be-
cause both squads are dominated by
players from Ohio.
"Personally, for me it means a
lot." Wolverine linebacker Rrian
for the Michigan players.
"And as far as the last game in
the House (at Michigan Stadium),
personally, for the fifth-year se-
niors, and for the team, this is some-
thing that's special," Townsend
said. "We have to come out and re-
ally lay it on the line. When I look
back, I want to look back on my last
game in the Big House as a win -
this really means a lot to us."
"Both teams will come out Sat-
urday on an emotional high,"
Desmond Howard said. "I respect
Ohio State, because I know a lot of
football players on their team and
they have a lot of talent. We're not
fipR
Pa en
st:. ..
talents to the voters for the Hei-
man Trophy. Though Howard is al-
ready considered a lock, prolific
numbers against such a strong rival
would warrant the Downtownr
Athletic Club to begin engraving
his name among the list of previous
winners.
And against the Buckeyes,
Howard and the rest of the Mich.;
gan passing attack could see a lotof-
action. The strength of Ohio Stata 3s
defense is against the run, and=its-
secondary could be exploitable.
However, the Buckeyes are stilKl
tough to score against - they
haven't given up more than 20,
points in a game this year.
"We always have a team object
tive of scoring 24 points a game. I'
we score 24, we feel we can wi A.
most games," Moeller said. "It'$
going to be hard, we're going to have
to work for them. I wouldn't ex,
pect this to be a high scoring foot:
ball game."
On the other side of the ball"
Ohio State's strength is also the run:
Carlos Snow has returned from hip,
injuries to fill the void left when
Robert Smith quit the team just be-:
fore the season. Snow has powered,
th Rnrlrp-lvP ni c4,in tt.naprr mm ,v
Howard
"What are you going to do
about it?" Cooper asked about the
possibility of playing less experi-
enced players against. Howard.
"They just have to play."
OSU cornerback Tim Walton,
Cook's replacement, said Howard
deserves a lot of attention. But, he