The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 22, 1993 - 5 0 H I 0 S T A T 0 Bowl pictur starts to clarify 'M', Badger victories shed light on New Year's matchups GAME STATISTICS PASSING Player C-A Hoying 11-24 Powers 3-6 Tot. 14-30 Yds TD 134 0 20 0 154 0 Int 1 3 4 By RYAN HERRINGTON DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER While the number of rumored des- tinations regarding Michigan's postseason locale seemed to grow more plentiful than Kennedy con- spiracy theories, the Wolverines are now almost certain where to book their flight come New Year's Day. Almost. With an impressive 28-0 victory over Ohio State, Michigan all but wrapped up the Big Ten's bid to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Nick Fond, one of two representatives from the Hall of Fame at Michigan Stadium Saturday, said he would rec- ommend giving the Wolverines an invitation to their Jan.1 game when he meets with his bowl's selection com- mittee today. An official announcement may come early this week. "I think things look pretty good right now," Fond said. "It was a great win and a great game. It made us happy." For the last few weeks, representa- tives from the Hall of Fame said they would be willing to take a 7-4 Wolver- ine squad, even if it were not in fourth place in the conference. Unlike the three other bowls aligned with the Big Ten - Rose, Citrus and Holiday - the Hall of Fame is not required to take any specific team and can choose from the remaining teams in the conference with above .500 records. If Michigan gets the bid, it will most likely come at the expense of Indiana. Despite an 8-3 overall record and a top 25 ranking, the Hoosiers lack of national prominence might come to harm them. Fond said the most likely oppo- nents for the Wolverines would be North Carolina State, Clemson or Vir- ginia. Thebowl is obligated to take the fourth choice from the ACC. Fond and the Hall of Fame were not the only postseason players hop- ing to get a chance at the resurgent Wolverines. Representatives from the Citrus, Alamo and Aloha Bowls all were watching Saturday's game in the Michigan press box in anxious antici- pation. Fond admitted that in addition to the improved play of a traditional pow- erhouse, the large Michigan alumni base is something no bowl selection committee could overlook. "You look at a team like Michigan and you have to ask how many times are they going to be available to you," Fond said. "I hope when it comes to the Big Ten we can possibly say some- thing (today)." When asked what bowl they pre- ferred to go to, several of the players reacted indifferently. "As far as bowl wise, you know we can't control that," defensive back Alfie Burch said after the victory. "Whatever bowl we go to, we're go- ing to play hard because from the middle of the season to now, you guys have seen that we're a totally different team." "It doesn't matter to me (what bowl the Wolverines go to)," co-captain Buster Stanley said. "As long as we beat Ohio State, because I'm from Ohio, that's all I care about." The Wolverines last played in the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1988 when they defeated Alabama, 28-24, behind three touchdown runs by Jamie Morris. Ironically, it was Gary Moeller who also coached that game for Michigan, albeit in an interim capacity. Then head coach Bo Schembechler had un- dergone quadruple heart bypass sur- gery the previous December and was still recuperating come game time, giving Moeller the responsibility to prepare the team. Moeller was then Michigan's offensive coordinator. As for the rest of the Big Ten, there remains still more uncertainty as to where they might be bowling. Michigan's defeat of the Buckeyes, coupled with Wisconsin's 35-10 vic- tory over Illinois gives the Badgers one last shot at securing their first Rose Bowl invitation since 1962 when they face Michigan State, Dec. 4 in Tokyo. With a win against the Spartans, the Badgers and Buckeyes would have identical 6-1-1 conference and 9-1-1 overall records, respectively, giving. each a share of the Big Ten champion- ship. Since the two dueled to a 14-14 tie two weeks ago in Madison, the decision on who would go to Pasa- dena would come down to the final tiebreaker - eliminating the team which most recently played in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State last went in 1985. With the odd team out of the Wis- consin-Ohio State battle going to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., that leaves third-place Penn State with a probable invitation to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego if it defeats Michi- gan State next week. The Spartans and Hoosiers will also receive bowl bids, with MSU rumored to be the favorite of the Lib- erty Bowl. However, if the Spartans win their final two games, they will finish alone in third place and make the trip to San Diego. RUSHING Player Harris By'not'e Cothran Team Hoying Totals Att 14 4 3 1 6 28 Yds 65 29 9 -15 -30 58 Avg 4.6 7.3 3.0 -15.0 -5.0 2.0 Lg 16 11 6 -15 7 16 RECEIVING Player Saunders Galloway Stanley Sanders Harris I No. 6 3 2 1 1 1 Yds 65 47 25 12 6 -1 Avg Lg 10.816 15.7 23 12.520 12.012 6.0 6 -1.0 -1 I Here is the bowl outlook for the for postseason play: Michigan: Wisconsin: Ohio State: Penn State: Michigan State: Indiana: Iowa: seven Big Ten teams in the running Hall of Fame, Alamo, or Aloha Rose or Citrus Citrus or Rose Holiday or at-large Holiday or Liberty Hall of Fame or Alamo Alamo or at-large By'not'e Totals PUNTING Player T.Williams Totals KICKOFF Player By' not'e McGuire Totals 14154 11.0 23 No. Yds Avg Lg 5197 39.456 5:19739.456 DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily ry over Ohio State. e key to aominance STANDING ROOM ONLY: Despite al- sady resetting the NCAA attendance .ark for football games against Notre )ame earlier this season, the Michigan rowd did it again. By a margin of 16, se 106,867 people in attendance set the *standard. The game pushed season atten- ance to 739,560, which smashed the ingle-season mark of 731,281 set by 4ichigan in 1987. This season's seven ellouts ran Michigan's streak of home ames played in front of more than 00,000 fans to 116. The streak dates ack to a 55-7 victory Oct. 25, 1975 gainst Indiana. IG MOUTHS: Ohio State defensive an Dan Wilkinson wondered loud whether all of his teammates iere playing as hard as he was. "I don't know if our players were cused in," he said. "Looking at places, 1ey looked kind of flat. I don't think 1at everybody was focused or ready to lay." With the ever-growing Wolverine the Michigan fans emboldened to ore vocal. Having heard the Wol- erines jeered earlier in the season, 1e fans were more than willing to eturn the favor against No. 5-ranked )hio State. Loud chants of "over- ited"echoed from the second quarter irough the end of the game. AvioslyI am very lappy with this team. '.e played like we hould have all season, vith emotion. We vented our respect. We our chance at Penn a te and got it and he Ye had another one oday.' - Gary Moeller RETURNS No. Yds Avg 2 39 19.5 1 3 3.0 3 42:14.0 Lg 20 3 20 At-large bids will be determined within the next three weeks. OSU's Cooper still can't lead Buckeyes By KEN SUGIURA DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER Ohio State linebacker Mark Will- iams arrived in Columbus just as the newcomer from Arizona State, coach John Cooper, took over the reigns of this illustrious program. Five years later, both have failed to beat their nemesis. "Until he beats Michigan, he's still gonna have that monkey on his back, but so do I," Williams lamented. "I've been here just as long as he has, so I know how he feels. "It's sad. It really is sad." There may have been no game sadder than this for Ohio State, be- cause the Buckeyes, playing for their first Rose Bowl berth since the 1984 season and ranked No. 5 in the coun- try, appeared to be the much better team. Many assumed this would be the year Cooper would finally earn his stripes with the fickle Buckeye fans. But Cooper was denied again, as his team got creamed, 28-0. Despite the lopsided score, the Buckeyes left Ann Arbor heavy on regret and disap- pointment for what could have been. "If we had to play this game again next week, I think we'd come out victo- rious," Williams said. "I think what happened iswe got setback andwewere surprised that they were pounding on us like that in the beginning." There were probably a great many reasons for the loss, but in the Buck- eye locker room following the game, they did not serve to console anyone. "We feel down and out, like we betrayed ourselves, the team, Ohio State," said Dan "Big Daddy" Wilkinson, Ohio State's monster of a defensive lineman. "We feel like we let everybody down, which we did." Everywhere you looked, there were wouldas, couldas and shouldas ga- lore. Four interceptions, only 58 yards rushing, and a costly downing of the ball by punter Tim Williams on a low snap were only parts of an effort that left the Buckeyes kicking themselves. "It just hurts that we let an oppo- nent like this slip through our fingers and know we have to hope that an- other team wins for us," lamented wide receiver Joey Galloway, refer- ring to his team's dependence on Michigan State to beat or tie Wiscon- sin in order for Ohio State to earn a Rose Bowl bid. "That's not a good feeling." iast Michigan Wisconsin's victory Saturday over Illinois now means the Big Ten's Rose Bowl representative will be decided Dec. 4 in Tokyo, when Wisconsin plays Michigan State. "I mean, really, if you go out there and play the championship game like we played today, we don't deserve to be in the Rose Bowl," Wilkinson said. "I hope Wisconsin wins and goes and does what it has to do." Cooper DEFENSE Player Powell Styles Fickell Taylor M.Williams Wilkinson Paul Kerner Simmons Nelson J.Gwinn Brown Patillo Howard Kelly A.Gwinn Miller Lynch Saunders Tac 10 9 8 6 5 5 2 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ast 3 2 2 2 2 1 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tot 13 11 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 Michigan cornerback Ty Law intercepted two passes in Saturday's game. ROUNDUP Badgers close in on Roses; .. GAMES LAYEDNOV, 993 Fry gets 200th victory ASSOCIATED PRESS Wisconsin 35, Illinois 10 Darrell Bevell threw three touch- down passes as Wisconsin crushed Illinois, 35-10 Saturday and pulled within one victory of its first Rose Bowl appearance in 31 years. Before the game started, the Bad- gers (5-1-1 Big Ten, 8-1-1 overall) knew that Michigan had already beaten 21-3 victory that gave Coach Hayden Fry his 200th career win. The Hawkeyes (3-5,6-5) also kept slim bowl hopes alive as they won their fourth straight game. Minnesota (3-5, 4-7), which had defeated Iowa three times in the past four games, could not overcome six turnovers and eight penalties for 92 yards. The victory gives Fry a 200-152-9 3) and gave Purdue (0-8, 1-10) its worst finish in 86 years. Thomas, who had carried only 12 times for 13 yards this season, had 12 rushes for 54 yards against the Boiler- makers, including seven straight car- ries for his first touchdown, a three- yard run early in the third quarter. Penn State 43, Northwestern 21 Mike Archie rushed for a career- Team Ohio State Wisconsin Penn State Michigan State Indiana Michi an llflnroi w 6 5 5 4 5 5 L 1 1 2 2 3 3 T 1 0 0 0 0 Overall WL T 9 1 1 8 1 1 8 2 0 6 3 0 8 3 0 7 4 0 59)1 PASS DEFENSE Player Int. Yds Brk-Up M.Williams 1 0 1 Nelson 0 0 1 Tot, 1 0 2 I I