Sports Wednesday Trivia When was Michigan's last undefeated football season? G4e , YCi t tt t ttt1 Inside Sports Wednesday Football Basketball Hockey 3-5 6 7 (For answer, see page 3) W E D N E S D A Y I TheMicigaDilyWdns r-I oses are Iue, 38- I Husky defense aids Blue 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. ... .. , .. .a..s>.'£ " :s.>'s?:,' .. :fir::"::