4 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday. September 27, 1993
GAME STATISTICS
M
I-
C
H
I
0
A
N
4
Cougars' mistakes allow Wolverines to
PASSING
Player
Collins 21
Tot. 2
RUSHING
Pl ayer
Wheatley
Davis
Ritchie
R. Powers
J. Johnson
C-A
?0-34
:0-34
Yds
267
267
TD
1
1
o take advantage, score easy points
D. B IhC KEN I SU IRA
Att Yds
26 171
7 44
4 23
6 23
2 14
2 4
3 2
1 1
1(-)11(
52 271
Avg Lg
6.6 25
6.3 17
5.8 10
3.8 11
7.0 12
2.0 3
.7 4
1.0 1
-)11.00
5.2 25
Foster
Biakabutuka
Hayes
Collins
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Hayes
Toomer
W.Smith
Wheatley
Foster
Borkholder
Ritchie
Totals
No.
6.
5
3
2
2
1
1
20'
Yds Avg
127 21.2
9418.8
16 5.3
13 6.5
9 4.5
8 8.0
0 0.0
26713.3
Lg
43
40
8
11
5
8
0
43
Dy nc ulm
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER
With a Pepsi in his hand, defeat on
his face and tired written all over him,
Houston coach Kim Helton was in no
mood to put a pretty face on his team's
42-21 thumping at the hands of Michi-
gan.
"The bottom line is we just didn't
execute well," he said. "No matter what
you coulda done, shoulda done, woulda
done, it don't matter. You didn't do it,
so ..."
Helton's Cougars didn't do it early,
and that cost them dearly.
A slew of Cougar miscues and the
inability to stop the Michigan offense
early on left them in a hole that would
compare favorably with the Grand
Canyon. Before the first half had ended,
Helton's squad found itself on the
wrong end of a 28-0 score.
On their first four possessions, the
Wolverines scored touchdowns. On
Houston's opening four drives, two
came within 10 yards of the Michigan
end zone, but both yielded nothing.
Field position did Houston no fa-
vors, either. On their first four posses-
sions, as they fell behind by four touch-
downs, the Cougars' beginning field
position averaged their own 13-yard
line. No Michigan drive began from
behind its own 20, and its first com-
menced at Houston's 35.
The poor start overshadowed a com-
mendable career debut for Houston's
freshman quarterback, Chuck
Clements, and left him lamenting what
could have been.
"I think it would have been a differ-
ent game if we could have converted
some of those routes into some touch-
downs but they just stopped us,"
Clements said.
The Cougars got a head start on
their error-filled first half on the open-
ing kickoff, which Helton termed "an
unpleasant experience." Tommy Guy
hauled in Remy Hamilton's kick at the
two. The momentum carried him to-
wards the end zone, and Guy downed
- ~ ~1. . .~. L .! l.,WI.-
i was not impressed with
our defense at all.
Whether it was in the first
quarter, second quarter,
or any other point in the
game.'
- Kim Helton
the ball in the end zone, expecting a
touchback.
However, the officials ruled the
Cougars were to start at the point of
reception, the two-yard line. The drive,
which included two false starts and a
near safety, traveled a grand total of
one yard. Backwards.
Michigan started its drive 35 yards
from the Houston end zone, and it took
the Wolverines only four plays to hit
pay dirt. When Tyrone Wheatley
bounded into the end zone, his team
was on the board with less than four
minutes gone by.
Seven possessions later, despite
deep penetration by Houston, the game
was over. On the Cougar series follow-
ing Wheatley's first score, Clements
marched the offense 77 yards before
the drive stalled, and Houston went for
a field goal. Cougar long snapper, Tho-
mas McGaughey, sent the ball sailing
over holder Clay Helton's head.
On their fourth series, the Cougars
moved from theirown 23 toMichigan's
three-yard line in only six plays. Guy
capped off the drive by fumbling the
football at the three.
A respectable 222 yards of offense
in the first half yielded seven points.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines were
not only moving the ball, but scoring as
well, with four touchdowns and 320
yards of total offense at the conclusion
of the first thirty minutes of play.
"I was not impressed with our de-
fense at all," Kim Helton said. "Whether
it was in the first quarter, second quar-
.ter, or any other point in the game."
DOUGLAS KANTER/OaiI
Houston holder Clay Helton attempts to recover a botched field goal-snap during the first quarter of Saturday's 42-21 Michigan victory
Cougar mistakes helped the Wolverines to their second win of the season.
DE KORTE
Hayes
Continued from page 1
The Wolverines understood that
they had to improve after their weak
perfromance against Notre Dame, and
they figured they could.
Now, who knows?
No one can explain what is happen-
ing. Moeller continually stresses the
fundamentals that are lacking. But as
he will tell you, he has been doing that
for the previous three seasons as well
as this year's first three contests.
No matter who you asked, perplexed
facial expressions gave unsatisfying
replies concerning the way the defense
performed.
"I thought about (defensive play)
after the Notre Dame game, and I'll
think about it tonight," linebacker
Bobby Powers said. "Why we haven't
played better I don't know. It doesn't
feel good. This isn't Michigan foot-
ball. Michigan football is three (downs)
and out."
Knowing conference play begins
Saturday against Iowa brought forth
the most forlorn responses of all.
"We're not playing Michigan de-
fense," senior nose tackle Tony
Henderson said. "This is the worst
shape the defense has been in going
into the Big Ten in the three years I
have been playing."
While the doom and gloom may be
on the money for the soggy perfor-
mance Saturday, the fact that the de-
fense helped win the last two outright
conference titles left more room for
demise than development.
Fortunately for the Wolverines, the
team philosophy has kept any criticism
from crossing the line of scrimmage.
While running back Tyrone Wheatley
refused to say his teammates are strug-
gling, he made it clear he will do his
best to compensate for their lackluster
performance.
"If the defense is sagging, then the
offense always tries to compensate,"
Wheatley said. "If the offense isn't
playing well then the defense has to
pick it up."
This statement shows a stark rever-
sal from the preseason chatter. The
defense, with large numbers of return-
ers, planned to carry the team. The
linebacker unit has been decimated by
injuries to Butkus candidates Matt
Dyson and Steve Morrison. However,
the rest of the defense has little excuse.
The down linemen, with one sack
to their credit, have not been able to put
much pressure on the quarterback with-
out help from linebackers.The second-
ary, which wanted to be known as "The
Lynch Mob", is not worthy of any
favorable nickname.
The team lost to the Irish and de-
feated the Cougars, with both the of-
fense and the defense playing at about
the same level each week.
The loss just did not seem to regis-
ter two weeks ago. Michigan had con-
soled itself with a promise of better
performances in the future before they
left the stadium's vicinity.
The inconsistent effortSaturday left
the players unsteady. Three shaky per-
formances have led to two victories in
three games. The Wolverines knows
they need to pick up the pace. Just
being bigger and stronger than the op-
ponent will not work in conference
play. The defense needs toplay smarter.
"I think it's a confidence problem
right now," Henderson said. "I don't
think it's a matter of blowing someone
out, we kind of did that today. I think
we need to play a solid full game."
Stangely, a team that talked about
winning a national championship just
a few games ago is now worried about
having the confidence to play a com-
plete game. The Wolverines will not be
laughing if they do not find that confi-
dence and some answers before tht
Hawkeyes come in next Saturday.
PUNTING
Player No.
Stapleton 3
Totals 3
Yds Avg
90 30.0
9030.0
Lg
37
37
PUNT RETURNS
Player
Hayes
Law
Totals
KICKOFF
Player
Hayes
Winters
Totals
No Yds Avg
3 3812.7
1 4 4.0
4 4210.5
RETURNS
No Yds Avg
2 5427.0
1 1010.0
3 6421.3
Lg
26
4
26
Lg
29
10
29
DEFENSE
Player
Thompson
Law
Peoples
D. Johnson
B. Powers
Winters
Dudlar
Irons
Burch
Dyson
Freedman
Henderson
Stanley
Vanderbeek
Charles
Aghakan
Buff
Tac
5
5
4
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
As
t
t
t
t
{
{
t
{
{
t
st Tot
1 6
1 6
2 6
3 6
1 4
2 4
0 3
0 3
0 2
0 2
0 2
0 2
0 2
0 2
1 2
0 1
0 1
HOUSTON
Continued from page 1
with 5:13 left in the first half.
Then, the Cougars' offense sud-
denly came alive. On the drive after
Powers' score, Houston mounted a 9-
play drive that went from its own 23 to
the Michigan 30. The 10th play, a 30-
yard touchdown run around left end by
tailback Lamar Smith, set the tone for
the rest of the afternoon. Several Wol-
verines had a chance to stop Smith, but
he bounced off their diving tackles and
breezed in for the score.
'When you put 42 points
on the board, you're doing
a pretty good job.'
- Todd Collins
"The first half was the worst dis-
play of tackling by a defense in the
history of the stadium." defensive co-
fenders took flying leaps at their oppo-
nent. While the collision that occurs
when this tactic succeeds is quite dra-
matic, such playing invites missed tack-
les.
"The defense obviously didn't
tackle," Moeller said. "You've never
seen a good defense that can't tackle,
and that's where we're at right now.
And that's why we're not a good de-
fense."
Nevertheless, Michigan took a 28-
7 lead into halftime and pushed the
lead to 35-7 midway through the third
quarteron Wheatley's third touchdown
of the day. Then the day's most comi-
cal play - and one that typified the
Wolverines' mixed status - occurred.
On Houston's first play from scrim-
mage, Houston quarterback Chuck
Clements, who filled in for the injured
Jimmy Klingler, threw a pass deep
down the left sideline. Michigan
cornerback Ty Law intercepted at the
Michigan 31, and returned the ball 25
yards. However, as Law was tackled
'You've never seen a
good defense that can't
tackle, and that's where
we're at right now.'
-Gary Moeller
- Michigan football coach
not coming back for another 61-7,"
Wheatley said. "They came out and
they played very hard ... and they
played very well."
With 5:56 remaining in the game,
Houston scored again on another swing
pass to Smith, cutting the lead to 14.
However, on the next drive, Michigan
sealed the game, and brought some of
the remaining 104,196 fans to their
feet, as well. After driving from their
own 13 to the Houston 4, freshman
tailback Tim Biakabutuka got the call
and carried the ball through a big hole
at right end for the score.
As they did with the rest of the
game, the Wolverines said they only
Michigan tailback Tyrone Wheatley
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michigan State and Central Michi-
gan finally got it right.
The big school from the topflight
conference beat the smaller school from
the lesser-known league. That's the
way it was supposed to be for all three
of their meetings in East Lansing.
But Central Michigan (1-3) of the
Mid-American Conference won the
first two games by a combined score of
44-23 and threw a scare into the Big
Ten Snartans (0-0lBig Ten 2-1 overall
goal and a 73-yard Tunpf TD run
The Chippewas also threw
scare into the Spartans. .i
Three Michigan State defenders gc
their hands on Timpf but couldn't keel
him out of the end zone on a 17-yar
draw early in the fourth quart &
Selinger's kick tied the game at 27-2
and quieted the near sellout crowd a
66,533 at Spartan Stadium.
Tunpf hit 16-of-26 passes for 21.
yards and no interceptions.
Michitznn State quarterback:t
1