Sports Wednesday Trivia
When was Michigan's last
undefeated football season?
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Inside Sports Wednesday
Football
Basketball
Hockey
3-5
6
7
(For answer, see page 3)
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revenge
by Albert Lin
Daily Football Writer
PASADENA - For Michigan
players and fans, this was a long
time coning. So they savored the
moment together, neither side leav-
ing the Rose Bowl field until they
had joined in a chorus of "The
Victors."
It had been four long years since
a Wolverine football team had tasted
triumph in the Granddaddy of Them
All, but a presidential term's worth
of disappointment was all forgotten
Saturday when Michigan pulled off a
38-31 victory against Washington,
its tormentors from a year ago.
In one of the more entertaining
gapes of the year, the Wolverines
(9-0-3 overall) exploited an implicit
weakness in Washington's defense to
foil the I luskies' (9-3) bid at becom-
ing the first team in history to win
three consecutive Rose Bowls.
"I just can't be prouder of the
kids," Michigan coach Gary Moeller
said after the game. "They paid the
price, they did the work, and I'm
very happy that things worked out
the way they did."
Sophomore Tyrone Wheatley was
the easy choice as game MVP, run-
ning for a near-Rose Bowl record
235 yards on only 15 carries.
Wheatley, who did not play in the
fourth quarter because of back
spasms, missed former Southern Cal
Heisman Trophy winner Charles
White's mark by 12 yards.
"You can't take anything away
from Tyrone Wheatley - he's a
great back, as you can see," said
Washington coach Don James,
whose career bowl record fell to 10-
5. "He's so big and strong, but he
can make moves. We had guys that
had him up in the open field and
couldn't make the move (to tackle)
him. You've just got to give him all
the credit in the world."
Wolverine coaches saw a weak-
ness in the Huskies' defensive phi-
losophy and took full advantage.
Washington's defense stacks against
the run, but once a back gets past
the line, it's clear sailing. The
Michigan offensive front dominated
the line of scrimmage and freed
Wheatley for touchdown runs of 56,
88 and 24 yards. The holes were so
big, in fact, that Wheatley sped in
untouched on the first two scores.
See HUSKY, Page 4
MysfIgWdttBRbWILLt T ailys.
Michigan tailback Tyrone Wheatley races 56 yards for the first of his three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 38-31 Rose Bowl victory over Washington. Wheatley ran for 235 yards on just 15 carries.
Superman's
by Albert Lin
Daily Football Writer
PASADENA -- Fred Jackson had an idea.
Michigan's offensive backfield coach thought.
his team needed an extra spark to send it on its
way to a victory in the Rose Bowl.
So Jackson looked toward his star pupil, a
sophomore running back with a knack for the
big play. And he gave Tyrone Wheatley a little
history lesson.
Jackson led Wheatley outside the Rose
Bowl the afternoon before the game and
showed him the plaques affixed to the concrete
structure, each bearing the name of a Rose
Bowl most valuable player.
Jackson noted that the last Michigan player
to earn the honor was a running back, Leroy
'eturn: Wheatley dons cape i~n Pasadena
Hoard, who ran for 142 yards as a sophomore
in a 1989 triumph over Southern Cal.
Then he told Wheatley, "Ty, that could be
you tomorrow."
Saturday, Wheatley did everything he could
to put his name up there. The sophomore
vaulted himself to the head of next year's
Heisman class by gaining a career-best 235
yards on just 15 carries, for an eye-popping
15.7 yards per attempt. He also scored three
touchdowns, on runs of 56, 88 and 24 yards.
"I thought (showing him the MVPs) would
get him focused," Jackson said. "Leroy Hoard,
the time he got his name on that plaque was
because of big runs. He won the game on the
big run. I just wanted Tyrone to get into the
mindset that big plays would win this game.
"I told Ty two weeks ago that he had to
gain 200 yards for us to win this football
game."
How prophetic.
What made Wheatley's accomplishments
more remarkable is an injury suffered on the
second drive of the game. A helmet to the back
brought on back spasms that periodically
caused sharp pain to shoot down his left leg.
Would the man once known by the moniker
Superman' be on his way out, just like the
D.C. Comics hero?
"It just kept stabbing me from then on and
kept getting tighter and tighter," Wheatley
said. "It felt like someone had just taken a
muscle in my leg and tied it in a knot."
But Wheatley would not give in, playing
through the pain. And Washington defenders
still couldn't bring him down. Wheatley
brought out his cape and scored all three of his
touchdowns after that hit.
"The basic thing we had to do is wrap him
up," Washington coach Don James said.
"That's easy to say on the sideline, but when
we go out there and try to tackle a guy - he
weighs 225, that means with his pads he's
probably 240, with great speed. So it's not an
easy task."
Wheatley was helped by his mammoth of-
fensive line, which opened up huge holes all
day long. Michigan's backs gained 308 yards
on 36 carries Saturday.
The Washington defense stacks its
See WH EATi Y, Page 3
NoKaOi
Men cagers claim Rainbow Classic crown
by Adam Miller
Daily Basketball Writer
HONOLULU - In Hawaiian,
"Kinipopo hina'i" means "basket-
ball." 'Chris Webber is a kinipopo
hina'i player.'
"Kaukolu" means "triple." 'A
Jalen Rose kaukolu.'
And "No Ka Oi" means "The
Best."
'In Hawaii, Michigan was No Ka
Oi.'
The Michigan men's basketball
team (10-1) triumphed over three
top-25 teams Dec. 28-30 at
Honolulu's Rainbow Classic. In suc-
bucket at the break, 36-34, Michigan
took control with a 9-1 run in the
first three minutes of the second half
to push the lead to 45-35.
Led by shooting guard Rex
Walters, who finished with a team-
high 16 points, Kansas scored the
next five points to make the game
competitive again.
However, the 45-40 margin was
the closest the Jayhawks would
come for the remainder of the game.
Jalen Rose's long alley-oop to Chris
Webber less than a minute later
sparked Michigan onto another 10-
tfllhtif T'ilt
rebounds.
While the Jayhawks twice cut the
margin to nine points, the game was
not in doubt after this point. Jalen
Rose's flying slam with three sec-
onds remaining added an excluna-
tion point to the victory, silencing
the five sections of Kansas fans
(Michigan had only one section) and
completing Michigan's sweep.
Webber was named Most Out-
standing Player and Rose was named
to the all-tournament team.
"Sometimes just because you' re
on the court a lot you score a lot of'
with Michigan's frontcourt. Kansas
relies on a somewhat small, quick
lineup to run its halfcourt attack, and
could neither penetrate against nor
defend the combination of Webber,
Juwan Howard, Eric Riley and
Jimmy King - a guard much taller
than Walters and Adonis Jordan.
Howard finished with 19 points,
Webber had 16, while King chipped
in 11. Riley scored four in mainly a
defensive effort. Rose led the Wol-
verines with 25 points.
"The difference was size,"
Jayhawk coach Roy Williams said.
"We inust conldn't match un inside.
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