The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 25, 1993 - 5
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FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
espite I ss, records GAME)
fail in recrd quantities PASSING
Player
perimeter plays." Saturday could have featured a cel-
TALKSc : Before Ricky Pow- ebrationof the 500th home victorybut Collins 1
ers' fateful fourth-quartcrfumble lli- that will have to wait at least until the Tot.I
STATISTICS
ifichigan Stadium since 1966.
I4
hopes
ophers
career high with 118 yards rushing,
scored on runs of 11 and 3 yards in the
Stquarter, helping the Buckeyes build
a 5-0 advantage.
Minnesota 28, Wisconsin 21
Scott Eckers passed for 267 yards
and two touchdowns and Chris Darkins
scored twice Saturday night as Minne-
sota defeated previously unbeaten Wis-
consin 28-21.
The Gophers (3-2, 4-4) won their
third straight game for the first time
ce 1990 while foiling a bid by Wis-
,sin (3-1, 6-1) for its best start ever.
Wisconsin's Darrell Bevell, who had
four interceptions entering the game,
was picked off five times by Minne-
sota, the last by Craig Sauerwith 2:18 to
play. He was 31-of-48 for 423 yards.
Indiana 24, Northwestern 0
Thomas Lewis ran back a punt 58
yards for a touchdown in the fourth
carter Saturday to cap a 24-0 victory
r Northwestern.
Indianaturned two Wildcat fumbles
into touchdowns on an 11-yard run by
Brett Law and a nine-yard pass from
John Paci to Eddie Baety.
The Hoosiers (3-1,6-1) are off to their
best start since 1987. Northwestern(0-4,2-
5) suffered its fourth straight defeat.
Three times the Wildcats moved
inside the Indiana 15 but lost the ball on
rmble, an interception and once on
owns.
By ADAM MILLER
and KEN SUGIURA
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITERS
The Michigan football team saw
records and streaks fall like autumn
leaves during Saturday's 24-21 loss to
Illinois. Only leaves don't fall so fast.
Derrick Alexander's 90-yard
touchdown reception in the third quar-
ter, which gave the Wolverines a seem-
ingly comfortable 21-10 lead, was the
longest pass play in Michigan history. It
eclipsed an 83-yard strike from Rick
Leach to Jim Smith in the 1975 game
against Purdue.
The completion was also the third-
longest play from scrimmage in Michi-
gan history and the 13th-longest touch-
down in Wolverine history.
Alexander's 188 receiving yards
earned him the second spot on
Michigan's single game-receiving list
behind Jack Clancy's 197. Clancy set
the markin a41-Owhitewashof Oregon
State in 1966.
Alexander's 114 career receptions
are fifth-best for a Wolverine, five be-
hind Jim Mandich, who played from
1967-69.
Quarterback Todd Collins made
his mark as well. His 286 passing yards
are the third highest in Michigan his-
tory, and his three touchdowns gave
him 19 for hiscareer, good forseventh
in the Michigan record books.
Additionally, his 13 TD strikes this
season move him into a 10th-place tie
on that list, his 2,422 career passing
yards are ninth most at Michigan, and
his'1,591 this season are ninth best on
that list.
The 106,385 homecoming crowd
was the fifth-largest crowd in Michigan
Stadium history.
Additionally, the total put Michi-
gan Stadium over the 30million mark
in attendance, with 30,045,887 hav-
ing passed through the gates since
the Stadium opened in 1927. Over
403 games, the average attendance
is 74,556.
The loss snapped a 26-year streak
ofhome-fielddominanceoverthelllini
at the stadium. Before yesterday, Illi-
nois' last victory in Ann Arbor was a
28-21 decision in 1966.
"I thought itwasgoingtobe like last
year when we got close but didn't win
the game," Illinois coach Lou Tepper
said, in reference to last season's 22-22
deadlock. "It's great to end that losing
streak against them."
FLAG ON THE PLAY: Michigan and
Illinois combined for 144 yards in pen-
alties, and the Illini took 104 of them.
The 10 penalties often came at the
worst times for Illinois. Two came on a
first quarter Michigan drive on plays
that would have forced the Wolverines
to give the ball back to the Illini The
flags eventually led to Michigan's first
touchdown.
In the third quarter, Illinois had
marched, with relative ease, from its 31
to the Wolverine 40-yard line, where it
had first and 10. A false start penalty
snapped the momentum, and four plays
later Illinois punted.
Also consider the two offensive pen-
alties the Illini incurred that Michigan
declined, and you get an idea of the
amount of mistakes Illinois overcame
in its victory.
TwoTHUmBs up: Speaking of 1966,
the Illinois coaching staff spliced in
footage of the Illini's last victory in
Michigan Stadium as the team went
over game film. Reportedly, tears welled
up in players' eyes as they watched the
film.
"It was emotional. It was an emo-
tional game," said Tepper of the film
review. "A guy picked off a pass on the
2-yard line and ran it in and dove into a
big ol' snow bank he was so happy. It
was emotional." j
NOTRE ILLINOIS: Their helmets
weren't gold, and they didn't come
from South Bend, but a few Illinois
players seemed to think that the win
noislinebacker Sirneon Rice received
a verbal joust fr m across the line of
scrimmage.
""On that particular play, (Michi-
gan right tackle)Trezelle Jenkins said,
Hey, man, if you're big time, you're
gonna make a big-timeplay,' or some-
thing of that essence," Rice said.
Rice made a big-time play. strip-
ping Poers of the ball an 0 then recov-
ering it. Rice said he w as too happy to
reply to Jenkins after the pl ay.
Mo's HOMECOMING WO s: Former
Michigan coach Bo Schembeckler
Nov. 6 contest against Purdue.
GOING DEEP: The upset loss put a
damper on a pair of exceptional Michi-
gan receptions. Alexander's 90-yard
grab and Amani Toomer's 56-yard
TD reception increased Michigan's sea-
son total of scoring plays from over 50
yards to three.
Furthermore, the Wolverines have
43 plays of over 20 yards (seven scor-
ing), four of over 50 yards.
BAND CORNER: Michigan Marching
Band conductor Gary Lewis must think
this is Tallahassee, Fla.
Moeller
RUSHIN(
Player
Wheatley
Powers
Davis
Foster
Collins
Alexander
Totals
RECEIVING
Player I
Alexander
W.Smith
Foster
Toomer
Cooper
R.Powers
Totals
PUNTING
Player I
Stapleton
Totals
No.
7
2
2
1
1
1
14
Yds
188
16
13
56
9
4
286
Avg Lg
26.9 90
8.0 9
6.5 8
56.056
9.0 9
4.0 4
20.490
C-A Yds TD Int
14-23 286 3 1
14-23 286 3 1
Att Yds Avg Lg
15 56 3.7 25
14 31 2.2 7
4 14 3.5 6
2 5 2.5 3
2(-)27(-)13.5 0
1 (-)3(-)3.0 0
38 76 2.0 25
No. Yds Avg Lg
7 306 43.756
7 30643.756
PUNT RETURNS
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Derrick Alexander was on the receiving end of the longest pass play in Michigan history Saturday.
Player
Alexander
Totals
KICKOFF
Player
Alexander
Hayes
Foster
Totals
No.
2
2
Yds Avg
3 1.5
3 1.5
Lg
3
3
was a matter of divine intervention.
"Iwas screaming on the sidelines
(to the defense), 'Give us the ball back,'
and a miracle came," Illini right tackle
Randy Bierman said. "God gave us
the ball back. And as soon as that hap-
pened, I said, 'God wants us to win.
Someone wants us to win.' So I knew
that we could do it."
WHEATLEY GROUNDED: For the
second time in three games, Michi-
gan tailback Tyrone Wheatley was
held in check. On 15 carries, he net-
ted 56 yards on the ground, with a
long of 25.
Tepper said that his defense de-
served credit for keeping Wheatley and
the other Michigan backs from turning
the corner on runs to the outside.
"We did not feel that they could
just run the inside play against us
and bloody our nose consistently,"
he said. "We were fearful of the
never lost a homecoming game in his
21-year teire. Saturday's defeat
marked the second such loss for Wol-
verine coach Gary MoeIler.
"It's one of the most disappointing
losses we've had "said Moeler, who
saw his homecoming record slip to 2-2.
Moeiler also lost to Iowa, 24-23, in
the homecoming contest of his debut
season of 199(1.
DERRICK'S DOMINAN E: In addition
to Michigam records, Alex ander also set
personal bets Saturday afternoon. H is
seven receptions tied a career high, and
his 218 all-purpose yards (188 receiv-
ing, 30 on kickoff returns) set a career
best.
WArtING FOR ...: Since their first
home game in 1879, a scoreless tie in
Detroit against Thronto, the Wolver-
ines have won 499 home games, going
499-114-21 for a just over .800 winning
percentage.
After a particularly big defen-
sive series in the third quarter Satur-
day, Lewis led the band in "Tempta-
tion," a Wolverine stable that you
traditionally "can't have" without
the "Hawaiian War Chant," and led
the crowd in an arm motion that
suspiciously resembled Florida
State's Tomahawk Chop.
About 200 students behind the band
followed his lead, though some rhyth-
mically bowed to the defense, instead.
Will it catch on? Only time will tell,
but one can't help but think this some-
how relates to the foam Michigan toma-
hawk/hammers being sold at the souve-
nir stands.
ON THE TUBE: Saturday's game at
Wisconsin has been picked up by ESPN
and will start at 12:30 p.m. EDT. The
game against the Boilermakers and the
Nov. 13 visit to Minnesota remain
untelevised.
RETURNS
No. Yds Avg
2 3015.0
2 3417.0
1 1212.0
5 7615.2
Lg
17
22
12
22
silence that engulfed Michigan
Stadium following the game.
With the costly turnover and the
ensuing Illini touchdown, not only
did the Wolverines drop all hope of a
third-straight appearance in Pasadena,
but also much of a chance to salvage
*lready nightmarish season.
On the other sideline, however,
Klein'sjoyful emotions equaled
Powers' despair. The events that
transpired in the final ticks of the
clock were almost too good to be
true, as if scripted for a movie.
Celebrated his 22nd birthday last
Tuesday, the junior who was given a
scholarship only this past summer,
#ived the present of a lifetime -his
fst touchdown reception at Illinois.
Yet this catch, coming where and
when it did, was what makes this
,Disney-esque story extra special.
"I tell ya, when I came to the
I Tniyemritu of fllinnok I h~a three
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