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What Michigan football
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(For answer, see page 2)
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The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday October 26, 1992 Page 1
' M'
goes
for
Jug ular,
63-13
Grbac back on track
as vvovert
by John Niyo
Daily Football Writer
Time passes, things change.
Take, for instance, Michigan
football. Back in 1879, on an after-
noon in late May, the Wolverines
traveled to Chicago and beat Racine
(Wis.), 1-0, in the schools first game.
Nine hundred ninety-nine games
later, the scoreboard no longer reads
like a soccer score. Michigan (4-0
Big Ten, 6-0-1 overall) trounced
Minnesota (1-3, 1-6), 63-13, Satur-
day afternoon at Michigan Stadium
in front of 106,579 fans to mark the
school's historic 1000th game in
spectacular fashion.
With the win, Michigan also tied
the Big Ten record for consecutive
conference victories (17), a feat ac-
complished three times by Ohio
State.
"If there's any single thing that
makes this game special, it's tying
that record," Michigan coach Gary
Moeller said. "That's the thing we're
most proud of."
That pride was showing after the
game on the smiling face of Derrick
Alexander, who led the record-set-
ting day by hauling in four catches
for touchdowns to break Michigan's
single-game record for TD recep-
tions (three), formerly held by Des-
mond Howard, Greg McMurtry and
Ron Kramer.
Alexander had tied the record by
the end of the first quarter, as Michi-
gan jumped out to a 21-7 lead.
The first strike came on a stop-
and-go route down the left sideline.
Grbac found Alexander wide open
for a 52-yard TD on the fourth play
from scrimmage, less than two min-
utes into the game. Two fade pat-
terns in the end zone for 13- and 3-
yard scores buried the Gophers early
and reminded fans of the countless
Grbac-to-Howard connections last
season.
"We come out to practice and get
everything going together," said
Alexander, who had seven catches
for 130 yards Saturday. "Then we
come out in games and everything
gets flowing just like in practice."
The first touchdown helped
Grbac, whose four TD passes tied
his own school record, become
Michigan's all-time leader in career
passing yardage. He needed 43 yards
coming into the game to pass Jim
Harbaugh's mark of 5,449 yards.
"It's a great accomplishment for
nes romp
myself, but I couldn't have done it
without a lot of help from other
players," said Grbac, who was 14-
of-19 for 208 yards and no intercep-
tions on the day. "I get the credit, but
it's not an individual achievement."
At the end of the first quarter -
between Grbac's throwing, Alexan-
der's catching and Tyrone Wheat-
ley's running (he finished with 148
yards on 24 carries) - Michigan
had piled up 202 yards of offense.
Minnesota had gained seven, six
coming on one play. For the game,
Smith
Derrick Alexander uses a block from flanker Walter Smith to clear the way en route to his fourth touchdown Saturday. This 32-yard reception, in the
third quarter gave Michigan a 42-13 lead. Michigan went on to defeat Minnesota, 63-13, for its 17th consecutive Big Ten victory.
Jeni Durst
IFo bete or Dur
Blue can 't keep game
, close even if it ties
Most teams worry most about how to defeat
their opponents. Michigan's biggest worry seems
to be how not to blow them out.
The Wolverines have outscored their confer-
ence opposition 181 to 60, the smallest single-
game margin ringing in at 24. So far Michigan
has managed to hold the margin of victory under
30, but there are only so many ways not to
score.
The Wolverines appeared to try things against
Minnesota to avoid the inevitable 50-point
spread, even though they failed to score on only
six of their possessions. The first time the
Gophers got their hands on the ball, it was in the
hands of kick returner John Lewis. The Michigan
defense kindly left holes for Lewis and ran the
opposite way of Lewis' cuts; the senior reached
the end zone to tie the score.
Late in the first half, leading 28-7, the
Wolverines put in running back Ed Davis. The
fourth-stringer preceded to lope 24 yards to widen
the margin to 28. Fourth string. What can a team
do to curb scoring if even the last guy on the
bench finds the end zone? Not send anybody out
on the field?
Wolverine wide receiver Walter Smith at-
tempted to give the Gophers a break by turning
around and running the wrong way on a reverse,
but Smith's efforts ended instead in another
Michigan touchdown. A seemingly certain mis-
take equals another six points.
Jay Riemersma, the third-string quarterback
got the nod after the Wolverines had notched all
of their 63 points. It was third down and five, and
it looked as though the Gophers would get a
break as Minnesota defenders rushed Riemersma.
But instead of conceding the sack, Riemersma
scrambled for the first down.
And Michigan looked further down the bench
to Jason Carr.
The Wolverine coaching staff doesn't want to
See DURST, Page 4
the Wolverines outgained Minnesota
621 to 227.
"Minnesota is a better team than
it demonstrated on the field today,"
Moeller said. "Hopefully, we were
the reason for that."
Minnesota's two touchdowns
both came on big plays. The first
came immediately after Alexander's
initial score, when John Lewis re-
turned Peter Elezovic's kickoff 88
yards to tie the game at seven.
Lewis scored the other TD on a
94-yard bomb from Marquel Fleet-
wood.
That was the end of the Golden
Gophers' fun, though.
"One bright spot was John Lewis,
who had two big plays," an animated
Minnesota coach Jim Wacker said
after the game. "Well, actually that
was two (bright spots). The other
bright spot for us was when the
clock ran out; I never thought that
sucker would end."
See FOOTBALL, Page 4
Third-period rally
ices weekend sweep
Goldie
by Rachel Bachman
Daily Sports Writer
G.
Gopher
by Tim Rardin
Daily Hockey Writer
BIG RAPIDS - What the
Michigan hockey team did more
than anything this weekend against
Ferris State was show that it knows
how to win. Good teams win the
easy games, - like the Wolverines'
7-2 victory Friday - but great teams
win the not-so-easy ones.
"The experience of Michigan re-
ally showed tonight," Ferris coach
Bob Daniels said after his team's 5-3
loss Saturday. "They've been
through a lot together. That team
knows not to buckle, and they know
how to win."
The No. 2 Wolverines (2-0
CCHA, 3-0 overall) proved that
Saturday against the Bulldogs (1-2,
0-2), coming back from a 3-2 deficit
with just over 6:30 remaining in the
third period.
chalked up four goals for the week-
end to give him eight for the season.
"It's tough on the goalie with six
guys standing in front of the net. I
don't even think he (Mazzoli) saw
it."
"They were winning the face-offs
consistently and that hurt us,"
Daniels said. "We blew our cover-
age. We probably should've had a
guy right on him (Oliver). It was a
big goal for them."
That goal seemed to deflate
Ferris, while it breathed some life
into the Wolverines. Only 48 sec-
onds later, center Cam Stewart raced
down the left side of the Bulldog
zone, snuck behind the net, and
punched in a wrap-around goal past
the helpless Mazzoli for the game-
winner.
"I was back into our end and
Shields was yelling at me to go,"
nnesota mascot
In his masterfully tailored suit
and with his head held high, he
struts onto the gridiron. Because of
his influential occupation, he knows
that he can do anything he wants
today and get away with it.
Is this Mike Ditka preparing for a
Sunday matchup? Nope.
It's Goldie, the mascot of the
Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Before you write him off as just
another overgrown nut gatherer (he's
no chipmunk), walk through a day
- a game day - in his fuzzy feet.
Three hours before kickoff, he
suits up. (To protect his true
identity, the Minnesota sophomore
will be called "Dave".)
Dave makes his rounds at bars,
restaurants, and picnics in the
shadow of the Metrodome,
Minnesota's home field, in
lviii
entertains fans
"By then I'm sweating buckets,"
he said. "The suit is so hot, it's like
running a few miles wearing a
bearskin rug."
Upon Goldie's arrival at the
dome, he greets the usual pack of
young fans doing their impression of
Mexican jumping beans as they vie
for his attention.
"I try to sign autographs but I've
got these huge furry hands and no
downward or peripheral vision,"
Dave said.
Soon after appeasing the thirty
kids who think that a scrawled
"G.G." on a napkin will be worth
something someday, the game
begins and Goldie takes to the
sidelines. The game begins and so
does a whirlwind of high-fiving,
visiting team mascot-battling,
cheerleading, and dancing for Dave.
"One thing that separates me
from other mascots is that I boogie
M m-:,