Page 6 - The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 12, 1992
I
C
H
I
G
A
N
3
5
'C,
Rushing
Player Att Yds Avg La
Wheatley 28 172 6.1 23
Johnson 17 72 4.2 13
Smith 1 26 26.0 26
Legette 4 16 4.0 6
Fdster 2 11 5.5 6
Alexander 2 5 2.5 5
Davis 1 2 2.0 2
Grbac 1 -10 -10.0 0
Total 56 294 5.2 26
Passing
Player C-A Yds TD Int
Grbac 11-19 111 0 2
Receiving
Player No Yds Avg TD
Alexander 2 34 17.0 0
McGee 2 25 12.5 0
Smith 2 16 8.0 0
Wheatley 2 9 4.5 0
Malveaux 1 20 20.0 0
Toomer 1 6 6.0 0
Legette 1 1 1.0 0
Totals 11 111 10.0 0
Punting
Player No Yds Ava La
Stapleton 3 119 39.7 42
Punt Returns
Player No Yds Avg La
Alexander 4 108 27.0 80
Tempers flare in battle for state supremacy
by Jeni Durst
Daily Football Writer
There was a lot of trash talking,
dirty tricks, pushing, shoving, and a
few fights going on Saturday. And in
the middle of it all, they played a
football game.
The matchup between Michigan
and Michigan State erupted into a
war of words, some skirmishes and
cheap shots, and a lot of bumping
and grinding,
The Spartans showed some atti-
tude early as they chased the Wol-
verines onto the field and knocked
down the traditional "'M' Go Blue"
sign. From there it was all downhill.
"We hate each other's guts,"
Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac
said. "We just wanted to go out there
and beat each other up."
The actual beating didn't begin
until the second half, but plenty of
repartee, among other things, went
on long before the clashing turned
physical.
"There was a lot more (talking)
going on than usual, but it's almost
expected in this game," Michigan
center Steve Everitt said. "After the
first quarter, their talking was getting
old so we started talking back, which
we probably shouldn't'have. But all
you had to say was 'Central Michi-
gan' and it shut them up for a few
minutes."
Michigan State players seemed to
take offense to some of the Wolveri-
nes' comments and turned to other
methods of harrassment, according
to the Michigan team, Early in the
second quarter, Michigan found it-
self inches from the goal line on first
down, and a Wolverine went off-
sides. A five-yard illegal procedure
penalty was issued and Michigan
found itself at second-and-six.
According to the Wolverine
squad, someone on State's side of
the line had called Michigan's ca-
dence, causing the player to jump
early.
"That shouldn't be part of the
game," Michigan wide receiver Der-
rick Alexander said. "(Calling the
cadence) was a cheap trick. I mean it
worked, but it was cheap."
Talking and tricks culminated
into physical confrontation in the
second half, starting with subtle
pushing and bumping.
"A couple of (State) guys were
pinching me and (offensive tackle
Doug) Skene said guys were trying
to poke his eyes out," Everitt said.
Yet tempers didn't explode into a
major skirmish until early in the
fourth quarter. Following a Grbac
incompletion into the end zone for
Alexander, the Wolverines and the
Spartans came to blows on the goal
line. From the bottom of the pile ap-
peared Michigan tight end Tony
McGee.
"I was getting grabbed by the
face mask and I tried to get loose,"
McGee said. "Then I was on the
ground surrounded by white jerseys.
My instincts took over and I went
after (State outside linebacker Matt
Christensen) ... It was an emotional
contest; things like that happen.
Unfortunately it happened today and
unfortunately I had to be involved."
At first, Michigan received one
personal foul and one ejection for
McGee, while State recorded one
personal foul call following the
clash. McGee's suspension was
changed to only a personal foul a
few minutes later after Michigan
coach Gary Moeller had a few words
with the officials.
On the next play, Grbac at:
tempted to connect with wide re
ceiver Amani Toomer, but the pass
fell into the hands of Spartan corner-
back Myron Bell. Bell was forced
out of bounds at the Michigan side-
line and some shoving commenced
once again.
That was all it took for the
Wolverine fans to get involved.
Chants of "State sucks" and "CMU"
echoed through the stadium while
trash began to litter the Michigan
end zone.
"In a big game like this, you have
a lot of pushing and shoving on ei-
ther side and a lot of emotion on ei-
ther side," Michigan running back
Tyrone Wheatley said. "If you get
those emotions clashing, they're
going to flare."
The remainder of the contest
seemed to pass without conflict until
the final horn when all of the players
took advantage of their last chance
to get their thoughts and feelings
about the oppostion out in the open.
But the teams were hurried into the
tunnel before major scuffles came
about.'
"I was surprised (with the fight-
ing)," Moeller said. "I don't ever ex-
pect our team to act like that. WheW
something happens you can't retaW
ate, because that hurts the team.:'I'
never like to see a team wrestling'
out there like they're going to fight."'
I(ickoff Returns
Player No Yds Ava
La
C.: Foster 1 -2 -2.0 0
Defense
PI yer Tac Ast Tot
WpIker 9 3 12
Mprrison 5 5 10
Brown 5 1 6
Hptchinson 5 0 5
Wallace 5 0 5
Burch 4 1 5
Dyson 3 1 4
Henderson 2 2 4
Ware 3 0 3
D Johnson 2 0 2
Law 2 0 2
Aghakhan 1 0 1
Elaiot 1 0 1
Hpldren 1 0 1
Peoples 1 0 1-
B: Powers 1 0 1
Zenkewicz 1 0 1
Blankenship 0 1 1
Charles 0 1 1
Maloney 0 1 1
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Michigan coach Gary Moeller wasn't happy with the extra-curricular activity in Saturday's game.
MICHIGAN
Continued from page 1
all), rushing for 172 yards and two
touchdowns. Wheatley has rushed
for over 400 yards in the last two
games.
"Wheatley is a great running
back," Michigan State coach George
Perles said. "He can see the holes up
front, -and then he makes holes for
himself in the secondary. He'll be
everyone's all-American, and is cer-
tainly quite deserving. He's a big,
strong running back, and the credit
goes to him."
Wheatley started and ended the
scoring for the Wolverines. Michi-
gan started its second possession on
State's 44-yard line. Moeller called
Wheatley's number four consecutive
plays, and the sophomore responded
with runs of 15, 17, 2 and 10 yards,
respectively, the last of which was a
sweep around the right end for the
score.
Wheatley iced the game with a
23-yard run up the middle for the
game's final score with 23 seconds
remaining.
"The last touchdown meant a lot
to me," Wheatley said. "We capped
it off. Coach Moeller was trying to
run out the clock. But to me, it
capped the game off."
Wheatley felt he had to earn all
of his 172 yards against a tough
State defense. The Spartans were
able to concentrate more on the run
because Michigan quarterback Elvis
Grbac was ineffective throwing the
ball. Grbac, in his second game back
from an ankle injury, completed 11
of 19 passes for 111 and had two
passes intercepted.
"I wasn't too good, but I didn't
have to pass a lot because the offen-
sive line did a helluva job," Grbac
said. "A lot of the situations where
we passed today were first and long
after a penalty, second and long and
third and long. They were able to
drop back in their zones and did a
good job."
Moeller did not call for many
passes in the second half. This con-
servative play-calling created more
tough yardage situations against a
Spartan line stacked to stop the run.
"I didn't want to risk anything
and give them a quick score,"
Moeller said. "Once they know you
are going to run, they can shut you
down."
The Wolverines had little trouble
stopping State's running game. The
front seven bottled up tailback Tico
Duckett and applied heavy pressure
on quarterback Jim Miller. By hold-
ing the Spartans to 60 rushing yards,
Michigan held its fourth straight op-
ponent under 100 yards on the
ground.
"Our main goal was to stop the
running game," said inside
linebacker Marcus Walker, who had
12 tackles. "They have a good run-
ning game, but we stopped them. We
didn't do much differently; we just
played straight defense."
The Wolverines sacked Miller
four times. Moeller moved defensive
tackle Chris Hutchinson to outside
linebacker in the base defense to add
more size and rushing ability. The
switch paid off as Hutchinson had
two sacks on the day.
Team
Michigan
Illinois
Indiana
Wisconsin
Purdue
w
2
1
Iowa
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio State
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
T
0'
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pct.
1.000
.500
.500
.500
.500
.500
.500
.500
.500
THIS WEEK'S RESULTS
Michigan 35, Michigan St. 10
Illinois 18, Ohio St. 16
Indiana 28, Northwestern 3
Purdue 24, Minnesota 20
Iowa 23, Wisconsin 22
NEXT WEEK'S GAMES
Michigan at Indiana, 3:30 p.m.
Michigan St. at Minnesota
Iowa at Illinois
Purdue at Wisconsin
Northwestern at Ohio St.
2 0 .000
U I
DEPARTMENT OF
RECREATIONAL
SPORTS
01
Tailback Tyrone Wheatley gained 172 yards on 28 carries against MSU.
INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM
FLAG FOOTBALL
Entries Taken
Tuesday 10/ 13
0
Entries Taken: Tuesday 10/13