Rushing Player Att Yds Avc .La Johnson 20 118 5.9 49 Wheatley 12 43 3.6 9 Alexander 1 31 31.0 31 Legette 5 14 2.8 5 Davis 3 7 2.3 5 Smith 1 0 0.0 0 Grbac 2 -6 -3.0 -3 Total 44 207 4.7 49 Passing Player C-A Yds TD Int Grbac 17-24 169 2 0 Receiving Player No Yds Avg TD McGee 4 54 13.5 1 Alexander 4 37 9.3 0 Malveaux 2 11 5.5 0 Johnson 2 3 1.5 0 Smith 2 50 25.0 1 Legette 1 6 6.0 0 Toomer 1 4 4.0 0 Wheatley 1 4 4.0 0 Total 17 169 10.0 2 Punting Player No Yds Ava La Stapleton 6 190 31.7 36 Punt Returns Player No Yds Ava La I C H I 0 A N Purdue: The victory that almost wasn't WEST LAFAYETTE - The first reaction was, "Who switched the jerseys?" Or something along those lines. The score- board was definitely malfunctioning. Purdue 10, Michigan 0. Purdue 17, Michigan 7. The Purdue Boilermakers were churning out Michigan-like rushing yardage in the first half. The Wolverines were going three-and-out. Purdue's offensive line John was tearing gaping holes for Nlyo its running backs, namely Mike Alstott, an anonymous freshman. Michigan's Super- man, Tyrone Wheatley, was getting wrapped up at the line of scrimmage. Purdue's Eric Hunter was scrambling and finding his y tight end, Scott Green - who had caught one pass all year - open for a 27-yard gain, and then a 5-yard TD. Mean- while, Elvis Grbac was going deep on third-and- long, and Derrick Alexander was dropping the ball. Where had all our heroes gone? "I think we may have been a little flat at the start," said Jesse Johnson, the stocky, little run- ning back who did so much to change the tide in the second half. "But we came out strong in the second half. That's what Michigan has to do." Sentences in the Michigan lockerroom after the game Saturday always came in two parts: "We got embarrassed in the first half, BUT we bounced back." It was rolling out of everyone's mouth. Every- one has a bad week at some point, the translation goes, but the really good teams endure it. They weather the storm and emerge unscathed. But this is a team that hadn't been tested since Week One. Frantic fourth-quarter drives were a distant memory for Moeller & Co. They are no longer. "It was good for us," said Michigan's leader, Elvis Grbac, who turned in his third straight solid performance. "This was a reality check. The games are going to get tougher toward the end of the season, and this should really help us." The odd turn of events left the media scram- bling to finda new question Saturday. Each of the past few weeks, it had gone like this: "Would you like to maybe, say, have a game that is close - just so you could have the experience?" The answers were mostly jumbled. Yes, but no. Sure, we'd like to have the experi- ence, but we'd just as soon blow every team out of the water, if you want the truth. So now everyone is happy. Michigan can stand up to the pressure. The defense can stand its ground when it absolutely must. And the offense can become frighteningly efficient when the going gets tough. "Now, that's a win," Moeller said, with a hearty chuckle, to begin the postgame interview. There is no disputing Moeller's claim. Granted, it was Purdue, but a game is a game. And Michigan was ahead when the final gun sounded. "This was a test," Johnson said. "I guess we passed." Not exactly with flying colors, but hey, the Big Ten season is pretty much a pass-fail course. You get through the stuff in the middle. The eyes are always on the prize, that last game on New Year's Day. But you know you don't get to go unless you put on your cleats and strap on your shoulder pads every Saturday. Michigan forgot that for a brief moment this weekend. Purdue came out chomping at the bit. The Wolverines came out, well, bored. Who can blame them? They beat a conference foe, 63-13, last weekend, and the final score didn't even seem all that outlandish. Saturday, Purdue was supposed to be more of the same. It wasn't, and Michigan was surprised. It was a strange feeling, you could tell. They didn't know whether to frown or smile after the game. So, basically, they all just shook their heads and got on the bus, sighing a big sigh of relief. All those dreams - the undefeated season, the national title - almost went down the tubes to a bunch of relative nobodies. Almost, but not quite. What happened? How did Michigan save itself from drowning? "It was all up here," said Tony McGee, tapping the side of his head with his index finger. "We just made some mental adjustments." Johnson was more blunt in his assessment. "We woke up." And, to the dismay of Purdue coach Jim Col- letto, the sleeping giant rubbed its eyes, rose to its feet and flexed its muscles. Halftime was an exercise in introspection, with Moeller and his seniors doing most of the talking. "You look at yourself, don't look at the guy next to you," Moeller said, paraphrasing his half- time speech. "You've got to go out and do some- thing yourself." So they did. Quickly, efficiently. Linemen pancaking the opposition. Johnson busting big runs. McGee plowing defensive backs. Suddenly, it was back to the same old daily grind. And it was just barely enough. "We won by the hair of our chinny-chin-chin," Johnson said with a smile. How close was it? "It was tough," Alexander said, when asked about the final Purdue drive. "They were moving the ball pretty well ... "I don't know what I would've done if they had scored." Thankfully, we didn't have to find out. Alexander 2 6 3.0 4 Kickoff Returns Player No Yds Avg La Hayes 1 30 30.0 30 Wheatley 3 17 5.7 14 Total 4 47 11.8 30 Defense Player Tac Ast Tot Morrison Hutchinson Brown Walker Peoples M. Davis Law Stanley Aghakhan Dobreff Ware Horn Henderson Dudlar S. Collins. Elliot 12 4 7 7 3 3 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 0 1 0 14 9 8 8 7 6 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER: no scoring SECOND QUARTER: Smith 43-yd pass from Grbac (Elezovic PAT), 12:12. Michigan 7, Purdue 10 THIRD QUARTER: McGee 10-yd pass from Grbac (Elezovic PAT), 11:05. Michigan 14, Purdue 17 Johnson 3-yd rush (Elezovic PAT), 5:45. Michigan 21. Purdue 17 Elezovic 25-yd FG, 2:53. Michigan 24, Purdue 17 PURDUE Continued from page 1 within three, but Purdue answered with another TD. Michigan almost exited the half facing an even larger deficit, as the Boilermakers reached Michigan's two-yard line before time ran out. One of the keys to Purdue's offensive success was the performance of senior quarterback Eric Hunter. His mobility allowed him to scramble out of many precari- ous situations, rushing for a touchdown and completing 6-of-8 passing attempts in the first half. "(Hunter) just keeps you so off balance," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "He's an exceptional athlete. We couldn't sack him. Sometimes you even worry about blitzing him." Before halftime Purdue registered 284 total yards of offense, 164 of which came on the ground. In compari- son, the Wolverines mustered only 146 yards and were 4-of-8 on third down conversions. The Michigan rush- ing game that had dominated teams most of the season recorded only 57 yards before the break. "Not playing well in the first half was the fault of the players and coaches," Moeller said. "Give Purdue credit. They played a whale of a football game. Give credit for their execution, and their fullback ran for way too many yards." Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, there was an- other 30 minutes left to execute. Or try to do so. Alstott, who had blazed through the Michigan de- fense for 98 yards in the first half, registered only three in the second. O'Leary missed a 47-yard field goal at- tempt, his first failure in 13 tries this season. In the third quarter, Purdue had control of the ball on only nine plays. "There was no mental lapse, but it just was not the same effort as in the first half," Purdue coach Jim Col- letto said. "There was a loss in the edge of the effort to get to the player. With that little loss of edge, that in- tensity of effort, you get yourself in real trouble. We had a whole third quarter like that." Purdue's loss of intensity, combined with an im- proved Michigan execution, led to 17 Wolverine points in the third quarter. The start of the second half appeared at first to follow in line with the rest of the matchup when Michigan's Tyrone Wheatley fumbled the ball out of bounds at the eight-yard line on the kickoff. Yet things quickly turned around for the Wolverines as they gained 67 yards on the first four plays. They capped of the drive with a 10-yard completion to tight end Tony McGee for a touchdown. "They threw some things at us in the first half that we didn't expect," Michigan inside linebacker Steve FOURTH QUARTER: no scoring Elvis Grbac, a recently-named finalist for the Johnny Unitas Award, throws one of his 17 pass completions. He posted 169 total passing yards. Washtenaw County Drain Conunissioner Janis Bobrin has been endorsed for re-election by The Michigan Sierra Club. "Janis Bobrin has won statewide recognition as Washtenaw County Drain Conunissioner for her leadership on water quality and natural resource protection. We urge the voters of Washtenaw County to re-elect her." Ann Woiwode Team Michigan Ohio State Indiana Michigan State Illinois Wisconsin Purdue Iowa Northwestern Minnesota w 5 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 L 0 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 T 0 0 0 0 0 0 0l Pct. 1.000 .600 .600 .600 .400 .400 .400 .400 .450 .200 Director, Michigan Sierra C THIS WEEK'S RESULTS Michigan 24, Purdue 17