Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Sports Monday - October 5, 1992 I C H I 0 A N 5 2 *'' " Davis shines in FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK iniured backfield Walker Rushing Player Att Yds Avg La Wheatley 19 224 11.8 82 Davis 10 84 8.4 33 Powers 10 71 7.1 35 Foster 2 51 25.5 50 Johnson 6 40 6.7 15 Leg ette 4 10 2.5 4 Buff 1 0 .0 0 Total 52 480 9.2 82 Passing Player C-A Yds TD 1nt Grbac 11-17 101 1 2 Collins 4-4 7 0 0 Total 15-21 108 1 2 Receiving Player No Yds La TD McGee 3 41 23 1 Alexander 3 18 15 0 Davis 3 11 9 0 Johnson 1 15 15 0 Malveaux 1 8 8 0 Smith 1 7 7 0 Foster 1 7 7 0 Burkholder 1 2 2 0 Wheatley 1 -1 -1 0 Totals 15 108 23 1 Punting Player No Yds Ava La Stapleton 4 141 35.3 51 Punt Returns Player No Yds Avg La Alexander 5 61 12.2 39 Kickoff Returns Player No Yds Avg Lg Hayes 4 81 20.3 25 Defense Player Tac Ast Tot by Jeni Durst and John Niyo Daily Football Writers Due to injuries to running backs Ricky Powers and Jesse Johnson, and fullback Burnie Legette during Saturday's contest, fourth-string tailback Ed Davis was again able to get some quality playing time. Davis has come out of nowhere this season to prove Michigan's running game is just as deep as it is touted to be. Davis has seen action in every one of the Wolverines' matchups so far this season, rushing for 206 total yards, including a 108-yard performance against Houston in the fourth quarter. "At one point I looked around and Legette's hurt, Powers is hurt, Johnson is hurt and I look out there and I have Ch6 Foster and Ed Davis," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "And thank God for that Eddie Davis. He's a real spunky guy; you have to really give him credit for sticking in there. Gentleman, and ladies, that takes a lot of character." SWEET REVENGE: There was plenty of celebration by Michigan fans after the Wolverines 52-28 romp of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Two years ago at Michigan Stadium, though, it was a different story. Even though 24 months have passed since the Wolverines last dropped a conference game to the same Hawkeyes, the memories and the bad feelings were definitely alive Saturday afternoon. Many Michigan players didn't just want to claim victory in their first conference contest, they also wanted revenge. "It was a whole lot of motivation," Michigan tight end Tony McGee said. "I mean for a team to come into Michigan Stadium and beat us. We were embarrassed; we rallied after that loss." SPECIAL TEAMS: Michigan has experienced one game with an outstanding passing performance, one with an exceptional defensive display, and now one with a great running game. All the components have been displayed except a solid kicking game. Floridian Remy Hamilton was supposed to be the Wolverines kicking salvation. But the true freshman injured a hamstring in practice earlier this year and has yet to see action. Instead, Michigan has exploited the services of junior Pete Elezovic. Elezovic has missed on three of his five field goal attempts in Michigan's four games, including a 32- yarder in the fourth quarter against Iowa. The punting game seems to be mired in just as much inconsistency. Junior Chris Stapleton has re- placed regular Eddie Azcona in the last two contests, averaging almost 42 yards per kick. Stapleton lofted his longest punt of 55 against Houston and also had 51-yarder against the Hawkeyes. BEST OF THE BEST: Michigan and Iowa peren- nially field two of the Big Ten's and the nation's best offensive lines. Saturday's game seemed to provide evidence that the Wolverines' front five is superior this time around. "Coach Moeller in practice made a comment about how good Iowa's line was," said Michigan's Doug Skene, who made the switch rom left tackle to left guard Saturday. "We wafted to prove to the Big Ten and the nation that we w'Ner better." The switch of Skene to guard, enabled Trezelle Jenkins to move into the tackle spot, a move which appeared to strengthen an already tough line. The line opened gaping holes all afternoon especially on the left side. "It was just a matter of the running backs getting an attitude and the line getting that same attitude," Skene said. Dyson Walker Peoples Ware Burch Wallace Morrison Stanley Law Brown Holdren B. Powers S. Collins B. Foster Hutchinson Maloney Smith Henderson Buff Blankenship Charles M. Davis Doherty Elezovic Horn Zenkewicz 4 1 1 1 1 -0 2 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 Michigan center Steve Everitt (#51) celebrates one of Michigan's seven touchdowns on the day with teammates Derrick Alexander and Doug Skene. Scoring Summary Michigan First Quarter: Legette 1-yd run (Elezovic kick), 11:23 Michigan 7, Iowa 0 Wheatley 29-yd run (Elezovic kick), 6:12 Michigan 14, Iowa 0 Powers 2-yd run (Elezovic kick), 3:47 Michigan 21, Iowa 0 Second Quarter: Elezovic 20-yd FG, 9:18 Michigan 24, Iowa 0 Wheatley 18-yd run, (Elezovic kick), 2:46 Michigan 31, Iowa 0 RENNIE Continued from page 1 This is the demoralizing effect a successful running attack can have on an opponent. Passing is a random science - its success and failure of- ten depends more on individual matchups than on overall team strength. A struggling team can break a big play after an opponent blows one coverage assignment. Rushing is different. One missed blocking assignment, and the play could be a bust. A running game is designed to be relentless, punishing - not a quick fix. The Wolverines did not beat Iowa on Tyrone Wheatley's 82-yard run. They beat the Hawkeyes with Wheatley's eight- and nine-yard plays. Luck is rarely an issue in a run- ning game. You either do it or you don't. Michigan did. And the Hawkeyes had no choice but to con- cede that they were beaten by a bet- ter team. "We tried everything in the world to stop them, but we just couldn't do it," Fry said. "Every time we'd wn.P thsvd iet.r. an.. h-, s nn Oklahoma State and Houston loaded up against the Wolverine tailbacks, sticking seven or eight defensive players on the line of scrimmage. Michigan responded by throwing the ball, and the system is so sound that a backup quarterback didn't make a difference. After watching those game films, Iowa responded by lining up its safeties deep in an effort to cover the whole field. "I think they played the back be- cause the deep passes weren't there," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "They didn't give us the long pass at all." And a week ago, Houston didn't give the Wolverines the running game at all. Nonetheless, Michigan has scored 113 points in the last two weeks. This versatility is what makes the Wolverines so dangerous. And don't kid yourself - the running game would never be nearly as successful without the threat of the deep pass. Both aspects of the offense comnlement each other. And i p