The Michigan Daily - Sports Wednesday - January 6, 1993 - Page 5
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FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Crowd is small, but
Wheatley plays big
by Josh Dubow
and Matthew Rennie
Daily Football Writers
PASADENA - The Rose Bowl crowd
of 94,238 was the smallest Rose Bowl
crowd since 1955, when the Ohio State-
USC game drew 89,191 fans. In fact, this
was the fifth largest crowd the Wolverines
have played in front of this season.
Both Washington and Michigan failed to
sell out their share of tickets. Michigan re-
quested 21,000 tickets and as of last Tues-
day had 5,000 unsold tickets.
The athletic department gave those tick-
ets to Ticketmaster to sell in California.
The athletic department does not yet know
how many of those tickets were sold.
Michigan is responsible for all the un-
sold tickets, and at $46 each, the athletic
department could lose up to $230,000. The
money will be deducted from the Rose
Bowl payout of $6.5 million.
R ECORD SETTER: Michigan's Ty-
rone Wheatley set a multitude of records in
the Wolverines' Rose Bowl victory. 'The
sophomore tailback ran for 235 yards on 15
carries.
The 235 yards were the most ever for a
Wolverine in a bowl game, breaking Jamie
Morris' record of 234 in the 1988 Hall of
Fame Bowl. The Rose Bowl record for
most yards rushing is held by Charles
White of USC, who ran for 247 yards in
the 1980 game against Ohio State.
Wheatley also had three touchdown runs
covering 56, 88 and 24 yards respectively.
The 88-yarder, on the first play from
scrimmage in the second half, set a record
for the longest run in Rose Bowl history.
Wheatley's four career Rose Bowl
touchdowns ties the Rose Bowl record held
by Eric Ball of UCLA and Sam Cunning-
ham of USC.
Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac's 17
completions set a Wolverine bowl record.
Grbac also now holds Michigan's career
records for touchdown passes (seven), pass-
ing yards (601) and completions (46) in
bowl games.
Michigan's five touchdowns against
Washington gave the Wolverines 59 TDs
on the season, which is the most ever by a
Michigan team.
CLOSE SHAVE: After ending a five-
year college football career with a victory
in the Rose Bowl, Chris Hutchinson did
the natural thing. He got his hair cut.
Hutchinson emerged from the locker-
room after the gune with a cigar in hand
and a block 'M' shaved in the back of his
head. Corwin Brown got out his clippers to
do the honors for Iutchinson, who made
good on a promise made four months ago.
"Back in August, I shaved my head for
the pre-season and Corwin said, 'Aw, man,
why didn't you let me do that for you?' So
I told him, 'Corwin, if we win the Rose
Bowl, I'll let you do whatever you want to
my head,"' Hutchinson explained.
Brown wavered as to how exactly he
would celebrate the victory.
"Yeah, I gave him a block 'M'. I was
going to cut it all off, but it took him so
long to grow it back last time, I felt bad,"
he said.
LONG-LOST FRIENDS: Brown con-
ducted his post-game interviews clad in a
Washington jersey, a gift to him from
Husky running back Beno Bryant.
Bryant and Brown became friends after
being involved in an altercation in last
year's Rose Bowl. Brown wanted to talk to
Bryant after the game to apologize for the
incident, but he was unable to find him.
Through a Washington public relations rep-
resentative, Brown gave Bryant his phone
number and asked him to call.
Bryant did call, and the two talked for
nearly two hours. The two were looking
forward to seeing each other this year.
"After the game, we were in the locker-
rroom, and the guys came up to me and
said, 'There's a Husky here to see you.' I
went outside and saw it was Beno," Brown
said. "He gave me his jersey as a gift."
BOWL GRIDDES WINNER: Greg
Williainson won Bowl Griddes by guessing
14 of the 18 games correctly... on one of
his thirty entries. There was some contro-
versy surrounding the victory,. however.
Apparently a Daily staffer claimed to have
spotted Williamson submitting the win-
ning entry on Jan. 3, after all bowl kamnes
had been played. Willianson denied the ac-
cusation. "That's impossible," he said. "I
haven't left my house since 1984."
Brunell
McGee scoots into the endzone, scoring the first
ens tied a Rose Bowl record.
'M' STIFLES HUSKIES' BRUNELL IN THE CLUTCH
Defense holds tight in final minutes
e Rose Bowl:
cm scrimmage: 88 yards
,ns; career: 4 (tie)
eptions, game: 2 (tie)
ards, bowl game: 235
owl game: 17-
ses in bowl games,
owl games, career: 601
howl games, career: 46
59
s- over:
in style
3ly a high draft pick in April, who
11 be remembered for something
ceptions against Notre Dame. He
itermined to avenge the loss to
year earlier. He started watching,
lanuary.
an obsession," Grbac said, pinned
[. by a group of reporters. "I just
.Oe and win."
iee had something to prove, too.
go, he was the tight end who no-
>ur. catches he had caught since.
hlea-lded prep star. Six receptions
e.though -two going for touch-
Moeller saying, "I don't know if
tight end in the nation,"
linebacker Steve Morrison stood
A lockerroom, a few steps away
d Grbac and a mass of reporters.
d- such an unbelievable Ijob,
,-e said. "They were just great."
ore the jersey of Beno Bryant,
nIjured running back, as he talked
.r. the game. It was the subject of
,It was a trade, he said. A sign of
e is what he wanted to talk about.
ut the thrill of seeing Dwayne
ier senior - stop Washington
lark Brunell on fourth down,
. the victory, on the Huskies'
rive of the game.
I a day hadn't passed in the last
n't thought about the last trip to
ne day.
the rest of his veteran cohorts on
ne : Joe Cocozzo, Doug Skene
y had a score to settle as well.
incoln Kennedy got all the media
ason, while they were busy each
ge-holes for Wheatley and Co.
rna all the hroken hones and
by John Niyo
and Matthew Rennie
Daily Football Writer
PASADENA - Michigan's traditional defen-
sive philosophy has been, "Bend, but don't
break." But for the first three quarters of the Rose
Bowl, the Wolverines did nothing but break. And
then in the game's final period, they didn't even
bend.
After surrendering the lead three separate times
in the first three quarters, Michigan's defensive
unit put the clamps on Washington's high-pow-
ered offense. The Huskies came up empty on
their last five possessions of the contest.
Washington quarterback Mark Brunell had baf-
fled the Wolverines all afternoon long, bringing
the Huskies back with both his running and
throwing. Brunell bought himself enough time
to connect with tight end Mark Bruener and split
end Jason Shelley for touchdown plays.
"In the first quarter, I was hurting worse than
anybody because I hate big plays in the sec-
ondary," Michigan free safety Corwin Brown
said. "We just needed to step it up a notch, and I
think we did in the fourth quarter."
The key to stopping Brunell proved to be not
an increase in aggression, but rather just the op-
posite. Michigan's pass rushers were so eager to
get a shot at Brunell that their enthusiasm re-
sulted in overpursuit. Consequently, Brunell was
able to get to the outside and find room to run.
"It's a tribute to him that he was able to get
away so many times. I thought our rush was
pretty good," defensive tackle Chris Hutchinson
said. "We knew he was a very mobile quarter-'
back, but we wanted to make him do his running
up the middle and not allow him to get around
the corner."
Brunell, who now holds four career passing
marks in the Rose Bowl record books, was at his
best on third down, making the game even more
demoralizing for the Wolverine defense.
"All scrambling quarterbacks make you frus-
trated," strong safety Shonte Peoples said. "When
he would hit a big play on third down, that takes
the air out of you. But those are the things that
great defenses can overcome."
However, while Michigan was giving up
points at a wholesale rate, the Wolverine offense
was keeping pace. For a while, it looked like
whoever had the ball last would win the game.
The Michigan defense welcomed the chal-
lenge. With five minutes left in the game, the
Huskies had the ball first-and-goal on the
Wolverine four-yard line. Michigan turned away
three Washington rushing attempts, and Travis
Hanson missed the chip-shot 22-yard field goal
attempt.
"We knew before the game that it would come
down to the fourth quarter,"'linebacker Steve
Morrison said. "As a defense, we knew that we
were going to have to make a stop. We got the
job done."
That defensive stand gave the Wolverines the
momentum they needed. After the Hanson miss,
Michigan scored on the ensuing possession to
take a 38-31 lead, the game's final margin. But
the victory was not without one last scare.
With 1:03 left, Michigan was forced to punt,
and the Huskies partially blocked Chris Staple-
ton's kick and took over on the Michigan 44-yard
line.
"That didn't change anything," Morrison said.
"It just enhanced what we had to do."
The Wolverines did it, stopping Brunell on
four straight pass attempts, and Michigan had a
38-31 victory. In the lockerroom after the game,
Brunell had nothing but compliments for the
Wolverine defenders.
"I've never played a defense that's been more
disciplined," he said. "We tried to get outside and
run it outside the pocket, but there was always
their outside linebackers there containing us.
"Those guys never made any mistakes. They
were always in the right zone it seemed like.
They did leave some lanes open, but I thought
they were solid and aggressive and they hit pretty
darn hard."
Michigan's defenders, almost to a man, re-
turned the compliments, saying that Brunell
brought more to the Washington offense than the
previous Husky starter, Billy Joe Hobert, who
was suspended earlier in the season for accepting
improper loans.
"lie's a much better quarterback than Hobert,
no question," Brown said. "With his mobility he
creates a lot of opportunities for their offense."
- But Brunell's record-breaking passing day
provided some opportunities for Michigan.
"We wanted the opportunity as a defense to
win a game," Hutchinson said. "It's an unbeliev-
able feeling."
Rushing
Player Att Yds Avg L
Kaufman 20 39 2.0 5
Brunell 10 32 3.2 18
Turner 5 18 3.6 9
Thomas 2 8 4.0 4
J. Barry 4 4 1.0 3
Jones 2 4 2.0 3
Total 43 105 2.4 18
Passing
Player C-A Yds TD Int
Brunell 18-30 308 2 0
Bjornson 0-1 0 0 0
Total 18-31 308 2 0
Receiving
Player No Yds Avg TD
Bruener 4 85 21.3 1
Shelley 3 100 33.3 1
D. Barry 2 61 30.5 0
Mack 2 33 16.5 0
Kralik 2 16 8.0 0
Jones 2 10 5.0 0
Kaufman 2 -1 -0.5 0
Turner 1 4 4.0 0
Total 18 308 17.1 2
Punting
Player No Yds Ava Lg
Werdel 5 196 39.2 53
Punt Returns
Player No Yds Avg Lg
Shelley 2 19 9.5 11
Kickoff Returns
Player No Yds Avg Lg
Kaufman 2 68 34.0 47
J. Barry 3 61 20.3 22
Jones 1 14 14.0 14
Total 6 143 23.8 47
Defense
Player Tac Ast Tot
D. Hoffmann 6 2 8
Pahukoa 2 5 7
Clifford 5 1 6
Smith 4 2 6
Fields 4 1 5
Butler 3 2 5
Fountaine 3 1 4
Farr 3 0 3
S. Hoffmann 3 0 3
Reser 3 0 3
Moore 2 1 3
Killpatrick 2 0 2
Mason 2 0 2
Bailey 1 1 2
Conwell 1 0 1
Washington 1 0 1
Springstead 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER:
Turner 1-yd run (Hanson
PAT), 3:58.
Washington 7, U-M 3
SECOND QUARTER:
Shelley 64-yd pass from
Brunell, (Hanson PAT),
9:20.
Washington 14, U-M 17
Bruener 18-yd pass from
Brunell, (Hanson PAT),
3:14.
Washington 21, U-M 17
THIRD QUARTER:
Kaufman 1-yd run, (Hanson
PAT), 12:12.
Washington 28, U-M 24
Hanson 44-yd field goal,
8:42.
I
The top 25 teams in the final Associated Press 1992
college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Team
Alabama (62)
Florida St.
Miami (Fla.)
Notre Dame
Michigan
Syracuse
Texas A&M
Georgia
Stanford
Florida
Washington
Tennessee
Colorado
Nebraska
Washington St.
Record
13-0-0
11-1-0
11-1-0
10-1-1
9-0-3
10-2-0
12-1-0
10-2-0
10-3-0
9-4-0
9-3-0
9-3-0
9-2-1
9-3-0
9-3-0
How they fared
beat No. 1 Miami (Fla.), 34-13
beat No. 11 Nebraska, 27-13
lost to No. 2 Alabama, 34-13
beat No. 4 Texas A&M, 28-3
beat No. 9 Wash., 38-31
beat No. 10 Colorado, 26-22
lost to No. 5 Notre Dame, 28-3
beat No. 15 Ohio St., 21-14
beat No. 21 Penn State, 24-3
beat No. 12 N. Carolina St., 27-10
lost to No. 7 Michigan, 38-31
beat No. 16 BC, 38-23
lost to No. 6 Syracuse, 256-22
lost to No. 2 Florida St., 27-13
beat Utah, 31-28
/ mom