The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday,October4,1993-5
I
0
W
A
7
s don't dig field's divots
les cause concern for coaches, grounds crews
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player C-A Yds TD
Burmeister2l-34248 1
Totals 21-34 248 1
Fielding Hawkeye Nick Gallery's
punt at the 29, Alexander dug into the
grass to make a cut and peeled off a
piece of sod from the ground.
The restof the game provided simi-
Larepisodes, none of them revealed as
raphically as arun by Michigan full-
back Ch6 Foster, who tore up the field
-literally. As he lined up for a snap
The god thing Is It
as just as bad for
Ichlgan as It was for
owa'
- Hayden Fry
Iowa football coach
y in the second half, Foster set
imself over some loose turf and re-
lved the problem by picking up the
ffending sod and flinging it toward
e sideline.
"There's big divots coming up and
it's half a foot down deep with dirt
where the sod was," Collins said. "But
the fact of the matter is, there's noth-
ing you can do about it. It's not going
to get a lot better, either."
Neither side seemed to think that
the field condition was much of a
factor.
"The good thing is it was just as
bad for Michigan as it was for Iowa,"
Fry said.
"You can't complain about stuff
like that," tailback Tyrone Wheatley
said. "It was loose in some parts, but
you just have to pick up your feet and
keep going."
If the plan to replace the section
works out, Wheatley may not have
anything to complain about. The cur-
rent section - which was installed
after the Notre Dame game to replace
loose turf put in during preseason -is
scheduled to be removed this week.
Roberts said the sand base of the
special Prescription Athletic Turf -
designed to drain more efficiently than
a regular field -was too thin and did
not allow the sod to take root.
"We're going to put some wider,
thicker sod in and that should do the
trick," said Todd Williams, who spent
the afternoon helping Roberts try to
keep the field playable.
Penn State, which is trying to re-
place its entire field before its show-
down with Michigan Oct.16, is using
strips of sod longer, wider and thicker
than the ones Michigan originally used.
Roberts said he will try the same strat-
egy with 4-by-100-feet pieces of two-
inch thick turf.
"It's not necessarily going to take
root," he said, "but we're hoping that
being that big, it'll hold down, just the
weight of the sod itself."
The schedule will help the Michi-
gan Stadium sod. The Wolverines are
on the road for two consecutive weeks.
"It'll cost a lot, but it's got to be
taken care of," Roberts added. "Foot-
ball makes a lot of money, so it's got
to be done."
t
1
RUSHING
Player Att Yds Avg Lg
Terry 16 40 2.5 13
Shaw 4 24 6.0 13
King 1 3 3.0 3
Burmeister 9(-)19(-)2.111
Totals 30 48 1.6 13
OUNDIJ Penn State, Ohio State
~aUELAYED O. 29teemolisn opponents
"I think this is the best football
eam we've ever had," Ohio State
oach John Cooper said. "I like the
hemistry."
Northwestern (0-1,2-2) was seek-
ts first three-game winning streak
ince 1971. The Wildcats came in
veraging 335 yards a game, but were
imitedto 162 yards-86rushing and
6 passing. It was the third game in a
o that an opponent didnothave 100
rards rushing against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had 428 yards of
otal offense.
linois 28, Purdue 10
4Foph omoreJohnny Johnson threw
or three touchdowns in his first colle-
iate start as Illinois beat Purdue, 28-
0, Saturday.
Johnson completed scoring passes
f 32 yards to Ty Douthard, 24 to
ason Dulick and 28 yards to Kevin
ackson. Johnson was named the start-
ng quarterback to replace freshman
cott Weaver after Illinois lost its first
games for the first time since
972.
The elusive Johnson consistently
rustrated Purdue defenders while
shing for 32 yards and passing for
66.
Illinois (1-0,1-3) turned two con-.
utive fumbles by Purdue (0-1,1-3)
nto touchdowns in the third quarter.
diana 23, Minnesota 19
ohn Paci passed for 255 yards
d Jermaine Chaney rushed for 109
ards, both career highs, and Indiana
eld Big Ten total offense leader Tim
chade to 62 passing yards as the
oosiers beat Minnesota 23-19 Sat-
day night.
After completing only eight of 21
asses, Schade was benched with
innesota trailing, 20-3, early in the
quarter. Backup Scott Eckers
w two touchdown passes to Omar
uglas. The second, a 12-yarder with
:42 to go, came one play after Paci
as intercepted by Juan Hunter.
ButIndiana (1-1,4-1), stopped the
Gophers (0-2, 1-4) on downs with
1:39 to play. Alfonzo Thurman and
Jason Orton broke up passes for the
Hoosiers, who entered with the Big
Ten's top-ranked defense. Earlier in
the fourth quarter, Lance Brown inter-
cepted a pass by Eckers in the end
zone.
Paci was 18-of-32 to surpass his
previous best of 204 yards, set against
Minnesota last year in his first career
start. His favorite target was Thomas
Lewis, who caught five passes for 123
yards.
MI'ULL" UY/Uay
The Michigan grounds crew was busy at work repairing the tom-up turf on the
south end of the field Saturday. Several times during the game, pieces of sod
were ripped from the field by scrambling players.
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Is Heisman Trophy still
in cards for Wheatley?
By RYAN HERRINGTON
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER
Are 202 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns good enough to stay in
Heisman contention?
While Tyrone Wheatley continued his crusade for the coveted award
Saturday against Iowa, the junior tailback's numbers were ordinary by his
personal standards. Wheatley - who was second in the country in rushing and
first in all-purpose yards prior to Saturday's contest - ran for only 113 yards
on 28 carries, taking two into the end zone on the ground. He had been averaging
144.7 yards per game.
Despite such "paltry" statistics, Wheatley was the Wolverines' main offen-
sive threat in their 24-7 victory over the Hawkeyes. Using a more conservative
game plan than in previous weeks, Michigan coach Gary Moeller relied
heavily on Wheatley's running abilities. Suffice it to say, he was pleased with
his star's performance.
"This game today was him," Moeller said. "He's something special."
In addition to his rushing output, Wheatley had a career-high 60 yards
receiving, including an impressive 48-yard TD reception from Todd Collins.
On the play, Collins threw a short pass over the middle to Wheatley, who
proceeded to elude two Iowa defenders and sprint 40 more yards for the score.
It was the longest Michigan passing play this season.
Afterward, Collins thanked Wheatley for his effort.
"He's a big luxury," Collins said." I probably threw the ball three yards and
he made it into a 48-yard touchdown. It helps my statistics (to throw to him)."'
Having a big game against Iowa is nothing new for Wheatley. Last season,
he rushed for224 yards and three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 52-28 victory.
Wheatley's accomplishments thus far this season have gone a long way to
making him a permanent fixture in the Michigan record books. His three-yard
TD run in the third quarter was his 35th career score as a Wolverine, moving
him past Rick Leach to third on the all-time Michigan touchdown list.
It was also Wheatley's 30th rushing TD, putting him one shy of Steve Smith
and Billy Taylor for second in career rushing touchdowns. Smith and Taylor
each have 31.
With the Heisman spotlight growing evermore intense, Wheatley said he is
focused on but one thing - the team.
"I look at every game being tough, but I don't look at every game for the
Heisman," Wheatley said.
FLAGS A FLYING: With 138 yards on 16 plays, referee Ron Winter was the
game leader in yards on the ground during Saturday's penalty-mired contest.
When he was not explaining a call to the 105,432 in attendance, Winter was
either throwing his flag or marking off yardage.
The Wolverines almost doubled their season average of 5.7 penalties per
game when they were flagged nine times for a total of 72 yards.
"I'm not happy with it," Moeller said after the game. "I don't care what the
reason is. You've got to cut it out. You can't self-destruct. It's something we
work on hard, but we'll work on it harder."
Moeller was particularly critical of a second-quarter penalty by right tackle
Mike Sullivan. The Wolverines had a first-and-goal situation on the eight-yard
line when Sullivan was called for holding on a Wheatley' draw. The penalty
pushed the ball back to the 18. Michigan would have to settle fora 39-yard field
goal attempt by Pete Elezovic, which was wide left.
"That's ridiculous by the individual they called the play on," Moeller said.
"You never get called for holding on the draw play, regardless."
The sloppy play was not confined to Michigan's side of the field. Iowa had
seven penalties for 66 yards.
BOMBS AwAY7: Saturday marked the first game in which Collins has started
a game at Michigan and thrown for less than 200 yards. The junior signal caller
went 13-for-19 for 178 yards in his first Big Ten start and was not surprised that
the Wolverine strategy would be to keep the ball on the ground.
"We faced a seven-man front where (Iowa) had two corners on the line
taking away our wide receivers, so really there's no place to pass," Collins said.
"It's just indicative of the defense we faced so we tried to run the ball."
"We knew we wanted to run the football a little bit more today," Moeller
said. "I wanted to get that accomplished. I wanted to control the clock a little
bit."
Despite the change in offensive emphasis, Collins was still happy with his
passing and the outcome of Michigan's conference opener.
"I think our passing attack was effective today and got us a couple critical
third-down conversions, especially in the first half," Collins said.
"I think that even though we didn't win by a big margin, the feeling of the
team was that it was a big win. For me it was a big win because it was my first
Big Ten win."
ALEXANDER GREAT AGAIN: After sitting on the sideline for three weeks with
a sprained right ankle, senior wide out Derrick Alexander returned to the line
up against Iowa. Without missing a step, Alexander led the team in both
receptions (four) and receiving yards (72).
Player
Jasper
Roussell
Kahl
Shaw
Odems
King
Terry
Dean
Slutzker
Totals
RECEIVING
14
21248
No.
5
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
Yds
102,
34
21
26
25
15
9
12
Avg Lg
20.443
11.3 22
7.012
13.021
12.516
7.5 9
4.5 5
12.012
4.0 4
11,843
Burmeister
PUNTING
Player
Stapleton
Totals
No.
3.
3'
Yds Avg Lg
12140.343
12140.343
PUNT RETURNS
Player
Guy
Totals
No.
2
2
Yds
17
17
Avg
8.5
8.5.
Lg
13
13
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Shaw
Kahl
Totals
No.
4
1
5
Yds Avg Lg
6817.0 20
1 1.01
6913.820
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
With Gary Moeller running a more conservative game plan against the
Hawkeye Saturday, Michigan quarterback Todd Collins threw only 19 passes.
s Improved.
d. I don't think we
have. We can't self-
h penaltIes. I don't feel
now. We're a better
- Gary Moeller
Michigan football coach
Harold Jasper said he thought
is team did not need them.
"We hadchancestoscoreon them,"
asper said. "We got down the field,
but we just didn't score. It's hard to
n (trick) plays inside the 20."
it.
"I feel extremely good about my
defensive football team. Time after
time, they stopped Michigan down in
there close," Fry said. "They only had
one or two good drives that scored.
They made a lot of drives but we shut
them down. I'm tickled to death with
my defense."
Although Collins was only sacked
once and did not feel the heat as often
as Burmeister, tickled didnot describe
his feelings of the Iowa defenders.
"They took away a lot of the things
that we like to throw." Collins said. "I
think the passing attack was effective
today, and got us some key third down
conversions today.
"When you get down inside the 20,
you run out of room down there," he
added. "It's a lot more difficult to
pass, you can't run any deep routes.
The end zone is down there and it's
like a 12th defender."
Peoples' interception keyed the last
Michigan score. The senior picked off
Burmeister at Iowa's 31 and returned
it three yards. Five plays later,
Wheatley jumped across the goal line
on a three-yard run.
DEFENSE
Player
Dailey
Blue
Crain
Wildeman
Wells
Olejniczak
Diaco
Porter
Hartlieb
Sether
Hilliard
Boone
Webb
Bates
Palmer
Plate
Robinson
Tac
11
4
6
5
5
3
5
5
4
3
1
1
1
I
1
1
0
Ast Tot
0 11
48
0 6
1 6
1 6
3 6
0 5
0 5
1 5
2 5
2 3
1 2
1 2
0 1
0 1
0 1
1 1
Ft
I.