0
0
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Kickoff '93
Friday, September 10, 1993
4
Let the Chase Begin
The Wolverines seek a sixth consecutive conference
title, and the biggest prize, a national championship
by Adam Miller
Michigan
Team Preview
Z. V
CHA
championship.
Michigan and Penn State have
already been described by Col-
lege Football Scene as turning
the Big Ten into the "Big Two,
Little Nine," in reference to the
"Bo vs. Woody" days of the 1970s
when Ohio State and the Wolver-
1992 Michigan Statisi
1992 SeasOn
Dat
9/1
9/19
9/2E
10/
10/1
10/1
10/2
10/3
11/
11/1
11/2
1/1
;e Opponent
2 Notre Dame
9 OKLAHOMA ST.
6 HOUSTON
3 IOWA
10 MICHIGAN ST.
17 Indiana
t4 MINNESOTA
31 Purdue
7 Northwestern
14 ILLINOIS
1 Ohio State
1 Washington
(home games in C
9-0-3
Result
T 17-17
. W 35-3
W 61-7
W 52-28
W 35-10
W 31-3
W 63-13
W 24-17
W 40-7
T 22-22
T 13-13
W 38-31
APS)
GP COM ATT YDS PCT TD INT % EFF
Grbac 10 129 199 1640 64.8 17 12 150.2
COLLINS, T 7 66 101 693 65.3 7 3 139.9
RIEMERSMA 12 3 3 43 100.0 1 0 330.4
CARR 2 1 2 10 50.0 0 0 92.0
T he chase is on.
Saturday's 41-14 vic-
tory over Washington
State began the 1993 campaign
for the Michigan football team,
and started it on a quest for an-
other championship season.
Specifically, the Wolverines
are chasing six - six consecutive
Big Ten titles, that is. Since the
1988 season, Michigan has ei-
ther won outright or shared in
the Big Ten championship every
year, and has gone'to the Rose
Bowl four times. The low point in
that stretch was the 1990-91 cam-
paign, when Michigan finished
6-2 in the Big Ten (9-3 overall)
and headed south to Jackson-
ville, Fla., where the Wolverines
thumped Mississippi, 35-3, in the
1991 Gator Bowl.
But no one's talking about low
points now. Instead, all the talk
is on making history. The only
Big Ten football team that has
ever won or shared in six con-
secutive conference titles is Ohio
State. The Buckeyes' streak was
primarily a shared one, with their
sole outright title coming in 1975.
Michigan, however, has only tied
for the title once in the past five
years.
"We're more concerned with
winning three outright champi-
onships, as well as the six con-
secutive championships," senior
center Marc Milia said. "That's
our goal; we don't want to share
with anybody, we want it all our
own."
That would be a true first, as
no Big Ten football team has ever
won three consecutive outright
championships. So the chase is
for six, but it's also for three.
And it's for one: the national
title. But we're getting ahead of
ourselves.
Back to the streaks. There are
few teams in any sport that can
put them together. A number of
factors work against such domi-
nance - injuries, the schedule,
the opposition's strength, chance
- and it takes just the right
combination of skill, hard work,
determination and luck to pull it
off.
Do the Wolverines have this?
Yes, say the players.
"I think we have the potential
(to succeed)," starting quarter-
back Todd Collins said. "That's
our first goal - winning the Big
Ten Championship."
"I think we've got a lot of
talent on our team, and we've got
the tools to (win the Big Ten),"
linebacker Steve Morrison said.
"All that really remains is that
we've got to go out and do it. Go
out and win every game, be ready
every week. There's no doubt in
my mind that we've got the tal-
ent to accomplish our goals."
The so-called "experts" tend
to agree. All eight of the major
preseason polls pick Michigan
first in the Big Ten, and at least
No. 3 (some have the Wolverines
as high as No. 2) in the nation.
The Sporting News concluded
that the Wolverines "should have
no trouble" winning the confer-
ence, Athlon Really Big Ten
stated that the conference has
gone from Big Ten to "Big One"
(though this was also a commen-
tary on the troubles of the rest of
the conference), and USA Today
deemed Michigan "heavy Big Ten
favorites."
The pattern is clear: most ex-
pect Michigan's catch to be bet-
ter than the chase, and for the
Wolverines to be soaking in the
rays in Southern CaliforniaJanu-
ary 1, 1994. But the chase won't
be an easy one. Several obstacles
stand in the Wolverines' path.
One concern is the schedule.
Though it looks friendly at first
Total 12 199 305 2386 65.2 25 15 148.2
Opponents 12 228 395 2574 57.7 11 13 115.1
GP NO YDS AVG TD LG AG
ALEXANDER 12 50 740 14.8 11 57 61.7
McGee 12 38 467 12.3 6 49 38.9
SMITH 12 25 320 12.8 1 43 26.7
TOOMER 12 16 238 14.9 1 65 19.8
WHEATLEY 11 13 145 11.2 3 50 13.2
HAYES 12 10 136 13.6 2 43 11.3
JOHNSON, J 11 17 107 6.3 1 21 9.7
MALVEAUX 12 11 101 9.2 0 20 8.4
Legette 11 7 58 8.3 0 24 5.3
POWERS, R 9 6 50 8.3 0 12 5.6
DAVIS, E 12 3 11 3.7 0 9 .9
FOSTE R, C 12 1 7 7.0 0 7 .6
BURKHOLDER 12 2 6 3.0 0 4 .5
Rose Bowl Champions
Total
Opponents
12
12
E
199
228
2386
2574
Scorin~
Touchdowns
Rush Pass Other
12.0
11.3
25 65 198.8
11 94 214.5
Todd Collins
The Wolverine's defense returns two Butkus Award-candidates in Matt Dyson
(91) and Steve Morrison (36). Michigan led the Big Ten in total defense in 1992.
Punt Retrns
NO AVG TDI
ALEXANDER26 14.3 2
GP
WHEATLEY 11
ALEXANDER 12
ELEZOVIC 12
McGee 12
JOHNSON, J 11
POWERS, R 9
DAVIS, E 12
HAYES 12
FOSTER, C 12
Legette 11
SMITH 12
COLLINS, T 7
TOOMER 12
Grbac 10
LOVELL 3
Team 12
LG
80
16
19
13
1
0
0
4
3
3
0
2
2
1
1
0
1
0
0
3
11
0
6
1
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
F
PAT SAF
0-0 0
0-0 0
52-55 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
0-0 0
2-3 0
0-0 1
FG
0-0
0-0
7-12
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-1
0-0
0-0
102
84
73
36
30
18
18-
12
12
12
12
6
6
6
2
2
2-PT PTS
Rusi
GP AT YE
WHEATLEY 11 185 13
JOHNSON,J 11 155 7
DAVIS, E 12 61 3
POWERS, R 9 67 3
Legette 11 43 1
FOSTER, C 12 14 1
SMITH 12 5 11
ALEXANDER 12 5
RIEMERSMA 12 2
BUFF 11 4 f
HAYES 12 1
COLLINS, T 7 10 -
Grbac 10 15 -
Total 12 567 32
Opponents 12 412 10
Pun
GP NO
STAPLETON 10 39
Azcona 3 7
Total 12 47
Opponents 12 75
Kicking
M A M A
ELEZOVIC 7 12 52 55
LOVELL 0 0 2 3
Total 7 12 54 57
Opponents 11 20 14 16
FVeld Goal Distnce
ELEZOVIC Opp.
10-29 4-5 1-3
30-39 2-6 8-10
40-49 1-1 2-4
50+ 0-0 0-3
Long 41 44
scoringI
1 2
Michigan 101 154
Opponents 44 36
University Health serv
UUS 207 Fletcher
Ann Arbor M48109-1050
Attention
husbands, wives, significant o
dependents* of U of M stud
The University Health Service
Health Plan is available tc
For a one time payment, the health pla
most ambulatory health care (including o
lab work and x-rays) provided at
University Health Service during the
There are additional fees for
Pharmacy, Eye Care Clinic, orthop
appliances and immunizations
Costetric care is not available.
*over the age of 10 years.
glance, with five straight weeks
athome to start the season (three
non-conference games, an off
week, and the Big Ten opener vs.
Iowa), it is anything but. After
the match with Hayden Fry's
club, Michigan spends two weeks
on the road - two weeks that
may determine whether this
chase ends in championship or
capture.
October 9 sees Michigan visit
Michigan State, and like the
cliche says, anything can happen
during that matchup. Witness
the 1990 contest in Ann Arbor,
which had the Wolverines enter
No. 1 nationally, and the Spar-
tans enter winless. Michigan
State won, 28-27, as Desmond
Howard's late attempt for a two-
point conversion reception was
ruled incomplete.
The week after this year's
Spartan challenge, Michigan
makes its first-ever visit to Penn
State, for the first-ever meeting
between the two football pro-
grams. Mo vs.' Joe (Paterno),
played out before 95,000 Happy
Valleyers and a national televi-
sion audience, is the game pointed
to by most everyone as the con-
test that decides the Big Ten
ines made the Big Ten the "Big
Two, Little Eight." This game
could decide who the Big One is.
Former Michigan coach Bo
Schembechler said that, whilehe
'There's no doubt in
my mind that we've
got the talent to
accomplish our goals.'
- Steve Morrison
Michigan linebacker
believes the Wolverines "defi-
nitely" can win the conference
title this year, the schedule will.
be Michigan's greatest challenge.
"Michigan State will be tough,"
he said. "Penn State will be tough.
Ohio State will be tough. And
Wisconsin is always trouble."
Bo wasn't exaggerating when
he said the Badgers could be spoil-
ers. After a 23-6 victory over
Washington in the 1981 Rose
Bowl, Michigan went to Wiscon-
sin to start the 1981-82 season
with a No. 1ranking from Sports
Illustrated.The Badgers won, 21-
14, and Michigan wound up 6-3
in the Big Ten that year, tying for
third and defeating UCLA, 33-
14, in the now defunct Bluebon-
TOOMER
HAYES
2
8
11.0
9.3
0
0
Total 36 13.0 2 80
Opponents22 7.3 0 19
Kickoff Returns
NO AVG TD LG
WHEATLEY 12 23.5 1 99
ALEXANDER2 21.5 0 30
HAYES 13 19.5 0 30
B'KHOLDER 1 12.0 0 12
MALVEAUX 2 11.5 0 13
SMITH 1 11.0 0 11
McGee 1 7.0 0 7
FOSTER, C 1 -2.0 0 -2
Total 33 19.1 1 99
Opponents68 18.0 1 88
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|.. .|.. .||||.. . .. .
.. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .
NO
PEOPLES 3
MORRISON 2
Ware 1
BURCH 1
Brown 1
DYSON 1
AGHAKHAN 1
WALKER 1
Maloney 1
JOHNSON, D1
Total 13
Opponents 15
YDS
5
14
35
23
14
10
5
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
LG
2
14
35
23
14
10
5
0
0
0
Total 12
Opponents 12
:T.
MORRISON 83
Brown 48
PEOPLES 49
Ware 49
Hutchinson 46
WALKER 37
DYSON 38
HENDERSON 25
LAW 37
STANLEY 20
BURCH 23
Wallace 22
DOBREFF 18
POWERS, B 16
Davis, M 15
AGHAKHAN 12
Maloney 17
HORN 10
ZENKEWICZ 8
COLLINS, S 12
JOHNSON, D 9
DUDLAR 5
31
8
41
34
23
15
17
25
21
28
12
24
11
10
14
13
13
15
9
12
9
4
7
8
25 3
11 1
.........................................
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Udkt s < ><
..............................................
............................................
S
11
0
2
1
11
1
7
2
0
3
2
1
0
1
3
1
0
3
5
1
TOT
124
82
72
64
63
62
59
53
49
44
34
32
32
29
28
27
26
22
17
16
16
13
CHARLES
BUFF
Steuk
Holdren
McThomas
Foster, B
54-58
14-16
BLANKENSHIP8
SMITH 7
REKOWSKI 4
ELLIOTT 3
ELEZOVIC 2
GRAVES 1
VANDERL'ST 0
McGee 1
JAECKIN 1
BURKHOLDER 1
Legette 1
Grbac 1
Azcona 1
ALEXANDER 1
Doherty 1
DAVIS, E 0
1
0
7-12
11-20
a
2
T
3
7
9
6
5
8
A
9
4
1
4
5
1
1
2
4
1
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
-1 431
-4 171
S TOT
0 12
0 11
0 10
0 10
0 10
0 9
0 9
0 9
0 8
0 4
0 3
0 2
0 2
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
106 0 35
127 0 51,
Senior running back Ricky Powers is among four strong tailbacks the Wolverines can call on in 1993.
0
0
1
1
i.il