4 - TheMichigan Daily_-_SPORTSWednesday - Wednesday, January 5, 1994 M I C H I 0 A N 4 2' GAME STATISTICS PASSING Player C-A Collins 11-22 Carr 1-1 Totals 12-23 Yds TD 189 1 12 0 201 1 RUSHING Player Att Wheatley 18 Davis 7 Biakabutuka 5 R.Powers 4 Buff 3 Ritchie 3 Foster 2 Collins 1 Carr 1 Totals 47 RECEIVING Yds 124 36 22 33 26 9 10 4 1 179 Avg 6.8 5.1 4.4 8.2 8.6 3.0 5.0 4.0 1.0 3.8 Int 0 0 0 Lg 26 10 19 16 22 4 8 4 1 59 FOOTBALLNOTEBOOK olverines enter 1994 on our-game streak By ADAM MILLER DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER TAMPA, Fla. - The Michigan football team (8-4 overall) may have stumbled early in the season, but it definitely finished in style. While only 4-4 after its 13-10 defeat at Wisconsin Oct. 30, the Wolverines put together a four-game winning streak that saw them outscore their opponents 153-24. "It was very important," junior quarterback Todd Collins said. "If we had lost another game, we knew we'd be one of the worst teams ... We knew we were a lot better than what we had showed." Some players said that the streak helps Michigan build momentum for the 1994 campaign. "We go into next year on a high note, especially with a lot of guys coming back," freshman free safety Clarence Thompson said. The Wolverines lose only five defensive and three offensive starters to graduation. However, Michigan coach Gary Moeller said he preferred to concentrate on the present. "It helps us for next year, but I didn't play this game to help us for next year," he said. "I played the game for the guys I thought needed to play." ALL NosrRADAmus: At a press conference two days before the game, senior cornerback Alfie Burch made statements that turned out to be semi-prophetic. "If we contain their big plays, and stop the run, we'll be successful," Burch said. N.C. State had none of its trademark "big-plays" Saturday, and only tailback Gary Downs (102 yards) made any significant headway against the Wolverine defense. Not impressed? Consider Burch's remark on how the Wolverines would have to deal with All-ACC split end Eddie Goines. "There will be some opportunities to make some plays for (sophomore cornerback) Ty Law and on the corners," he said. With 3:37 left in the third quarter, Wolfpack quarterback Geoff Bender looked long for Goines and instead found Law. Believe it or not. SHATTERING THE RECORDS: The Wolverines set no less than 13 records Saturday (five Hall of Fame, eight Michigan). Hall of Fame: Most Touchdowns (six); Most points (42); Longest Punt Return (senior split end Derrick Alexander's 79-yard TD dash - also the longest by 'M' in a bowl); Most PAT kicks made (six by Pete Elezovic); Longest interception return (Thompson, 43 yards - also sets Michigan records for longest INT return in a bowl and first INT return to score). Michigan: Most Career Rushing Touchdowns (36 by junior tailback Tyrone Wheatley); Most TD's in Bowls, cumulative (six by Wheatley); Most Points in Bowls, cumulative (36, Wheatley); Most Passing Completions and At- tempts, season (Todd Collins was 189-296 on the year); and the records listed above that were also Hall of Fame-records. By KEN SUGIURA DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER TAMPA,Fla. -It was the Michi- gan defense, Tyrone Wheatley ex- plained. It was the defense that pro- vided the offense with good field po- sition that allowed him to charge through N. C. State's defense for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Also, all kinds of credit was due for the offensive line that opened up the holes in the Wolfpack defense. And for the coaching staff that came up with the game plan. It seemed as though Wheatley would have every- one gathered at the Hall of Fame Bowl press conference that he had nothing It Wheatley takes MVP trophi Junior tailback's two-touchdown performance spars to do with his wonderful performance. "I just ran," Wheatley said, after earning bowl game mostvaluable player honors for the second straight year. Yeah, and Captain Ahab "just fished." Wheatley, the 1993 Rose Bowl MVP, took home the Hall of Fame Bowl MVP trophy after leading Michigan to a 42-7 demolishing of the Wolfpack New Year's Day at Tampa Stadium. At least Wheatley thought enough of his performance to not decline the award on the spot. Indeed, in addition to terrorizing the Wolfpack, the junior wrought more havoc on the Michigan record books to cap an historic season, and perhaps career. Neither Wheatley nor coach Gary Moeller had any comment about Wheatley's impending decision to skip school for the NFL or stay for his senior season. It was just as well, because his performance spoke plenty. After collecting a quiet 25 yards in the first quarter, Wheatley amassedn awesome 78 in the game-brekig secon quarter. He earned 26 of them when he tookapitchfromquarterbackToddCollins and sprinted around the right end on the rain-slicked turf for a 7-0 Michigan lead. He added another score in the third period, Michigan's fifth touchdown, an easy 18-yard scoot around the left side. "Both my scores, I went in un- touched," Wheatley said. "The team :i c, Player W.Smith D.Jones Toomer Hayes Davis Richards Totals No. 3 2 2 2 2 1 12. Yds 48, 65 44 27 5 12. 201 Avg Lg 15.624 32.548 22.031 13.510 2.5 4 12.012 16.748 EVAN PETRIE/Daily last they will see of Tyrone Wheatley in a Wolverine uniform. Michigan fans hope the Hall of Fame Bowl was not theI Thompson, Blue defense stand out in shutting down Wolfpack attack 10 Moeller PUNTING Player Stapleton Totals No. 6; 4r Yds Avg Lg 282 47.0 60 157 39.3 47 PUNT RETURNS Player N Toomer Alexander Totals KICKOFF R Player N Alexander Hayes Totals DEFENSE Player Morrison Dyson Hankins Irons Burch B.Powers Henderson Law King Denson W.Smith Thompson Freedman Buff Stanley Evans Horn Dudlar Johnson Peoples Pryce o.Yds 2 13 1 79 3 92 Avg 30A ETURNS o.Yds Avg 1 28 28.0 1 20 20.0 2 48 24.0 Tac 8 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1. 1. 1 1 1 0 0 Ast. 0 1 0 0 1. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1I _L9 5 9 ) 79 >79, 9g 28 )20 )28 Tot 8 6 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1I 1I By ADAM MILLER DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER TAMPA, Fla.-Clarence Thomp- son had a feeling Saturday would be special. As the members of the Michigan football team settled back into their rooms at the Wyndham Harbour Is- land Hotel on New Year's Eve, the players' thoughts turned to the next morning's game against N.C. State. But Thompson, a true freshman free safety from Detroit, didn't just think in general terms about the Wolfpack, or the wavy-stadium, or the ESPN audience. He thought about the end zone. Thompson had only intercepted one pass previously this season, in the Minnesota contest, and he had no re- turn after the catch. But Saturday, with 11:05 remaining in the third quar- ter, Thompson stepped in front of a Terry Harvey pass in the left flat that was intended for receiver Kevin Hinton and returned his snatch, untouched, 43 yards for a touchdown. "I had a feeling I was going to score today," the 6-foot-1, 176- pounder said. "I thought about it last night. I told (senior tailback) Ricky Powers before the game I was going to score. (When I did) I was just so ec- static. I ran out of the end zone before (my teammates) caught me." Perhaps the rest of the Wolver- ines' defensive effort wasn't as dra- matic as the longest scoring intercep- tion return in Hall of Fame Bowl his- tory, but it was effective. As the of- fense rolled up 42 points (counting Thompson's contribution), the defense contained the Wolfpack to a solitary touchdown. Michigan forced six N.C. State turnovers (four interceptions, two fumbles), and it was the third con- secutive four-interception game for the Wolverines. They sacked the Wolfpack quarterbacks three times, and senior Buster Stanley and com- pany applied constant pressure. N.C. State could only manage 117 yards rushing (with a 3.2 per rush average), and 312 yards total. Twenty-five players notched at least one tackle, and the group was led by junior linebackers Steve Morrison (eight tackles) and Matt Dyson (six). "We had an idea we could do well against them," said Stanley, whose sole tackle dropped All-ACC split end Eddie Goines for a five-yard loss in the second quarter. "We got good pen- etration, put pressure on their quarter- back, and we did well." Michigan's containment of Goines particularly stood out. Known as a big-play threat, Goines entered the game with 10 touch- downs to his credit, and an average of over 19 yards each time he caught the ball. In the Wolfpack's 36-34 comeback victory at Texas Tech this year, Goines caught three touchdown passes, including one on the final play of the game to give N.C. State the victory. During the week, his "Goin', Goines, Gone" nickname, candid dis- cussion of his feats and hometown status (he hails from Lakeland, Fla.) had made him quite the localfavor- ite. However, senior cornerback Alfie Burch and freshman cornerback Ty Law shadowed Goines all game, as they had done against Ohio State's Joey Galloway, and the Wolverines found similar success. Goines had only 72 yards on seven receptions and no touchdowns. His longest reception went for 21 yards, and on two longer passes thrown his way, one was bro- ken up by Burch and Law intercepted the other. When reminded after the game that he was usually a proficient deep-threat, Goines sighed "I know" and then, surprisingly, hinted that N.C. State's game plan didn't figure him in enough. "We only called one or two deep plays the whole game," Goines said, "and if we don't call them, I can't catch them." Michigan coach Gary Moeller sa& it less as a Wolfpack coaching guffaw and more a Wolverine success. "I'm not sure there's any one se- cret (in how to stop big-play receiv- ers)," Moeller said. "We just played more aggressively on defense the past two games." Thompson concurred. "It's just our style of defense - aggressive," he said. "Others may tall4 a lot or play for others, but we're playing for ourselves." In addition to Thompson and Law, sophomore free safety Steve King and Morrison grabbed interceptions. Morrison, who missed part of the sea- son with a foot injury, said he particu- larly relished his, which he returned 19 yards in the middle of the third quarter. "Sure we're disappointed that W didn't get into the Rose Bowl, but this was a great trip and I got an intercep- tion," Morrison said. "Ten years from now when I think of this bowl, I'll think of that interception." EVAN PETAIE/DalHy Senior Ricky Powers scored one final touchdown on a 16-yard run in the third quarter of Michigan's 42-7 victory over N.C. State in the Hall of Fame Bowl BAND, TAKE THE FIELD: Actually, the Michigan Marching Band had a hard time taking the field after the game. While, traditionally, the losing team's band yields to the victors' so that the post-game celebration can commence, the N.C. State band came on first and played its entire concert show, over 20 minutes. This despite most Wolfpack fans had left by the fourth quarter and there were some 15,000 Wolverine faithful waiting for the 'M' band. When the Michigan band finally came on, the N.C. State percussion section showed that it did have some class. The entire percussion corps stayed on the field to watch the Michigan band play "Temptation" and "Hawaiian War Chant" and saluted them afterwards. WE THINK THEY WENT TO MiAmi: The Hall of Fame Bowl sold 52,649 tickets to the game, and announced the crowd as such. However, a combination of the plethora of other bowls in the state, including the national championship game being played five hours away at the Orange Bowl, the soggy conditions, and the vnicmate4h 1 macePthe crowdnIseem more like 40.000.