4 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 10, 1994 GAME STATISTICS M I C H I G A N 4 Wolverines'rushers overnower State defense PASSING Player C-A Yds Collins 16-23211 Carr 0-1 0 Totals 16-24 211 TD 1 0 1 Int 0 0 0 RUSHING Player Wheatley Biak'tuka Davis Howard Floyd Collins Totals Att Yds 23153 15 141 7 26 3 12 3 10 1 7 52349 Avg 6.7 9.4 3.7 4.0 3.3 7.0 6.7 Lg 24 47 13 6 4 7 47 RECEIVING By RACHEL BACHMAN Daily Football Writer Michigan coach Gary Moeller is always happy to see one of his run- ning backs rush for 100 yards. So you can bet he was grinning from ear- phone to earphone when Tshimanga Biakabutuka racked up 141 yards against Michigan State Saturday. Yes, the coach was quite pleased. But - and this is what a Michigan coach dreams of - Biakabutuka was not even Moeller's leading rusher. Tyrone Wheatley was. "Tim complements me really well," said Wheatley, who rushed for 153 yards himself. Almost 150 yards is complement- ing? That's like calling ground beef "one of the ingredients" in a ham- burger. Wheatley's and Biakabutuka's feat - each rushing for over 100 yards - had not been done by the Wolverines since Ricky Powers and Jesse Johnson did it against Illinois in Nov. 1991. "I think the two complement one another and I'm sure they keep heat on one other. That's important as well," Moeller said. Moeller said that the running game, balanced with the passing game, which accounted for 211, is begin- ning to show its potential. "All running backs, the last week and a half, ran better," Moeller said. "Were they terrible before? No." Wheatley and Biakabutuka led the way. But with the ground gained by quarterback Todd Collins (seven yards), backs Chris Floyd (10), Chris Howard (12), and Ed Davis (26), Michigan finished with 349 rushing yards. What can explain the offensive explosion? Wheatley offered an an- swer for his own performance, and perhaps for that of his team as well. "It's not so much revenge (for last year's 17-7 loss to the Spartans)," Wheatley said. "It's just (what I needed to do) for me to get to where I need to go, and that's Pasadena." Last week against Iowa, Wheatley returned to last year's form, when he rushed for 182 yards on a personal- record 35 carries. It was his first 100- yard game this season. Wheatley missed the year's first two games with a shoulder injury. He left Saturday's game several times, after what he called, "a little pile on here, a little poke there, little silly things." On a third-quarter pitch play, he was shaken up and had to replace the pads he wears under his uniform to protect his shoulder. But he emerged from the game with no permanent injury. "I think it meant a lot for our team," Moeller said of Wheatley's showing. "I know he stumbled a little bit early with his injury. Tyrone's one of those guys who's got to lather up. You know that horse who's got to get lathered up to roll? I think he's that." However, much of the ground- game success had to be attributed to the Wolverines' domination on the front line, which opened huge holes for the runners as well as allowing Collins plenty of time to pass. "Our linemen don't like to just hear about how great Michigan State's line is all the time," Moeller said. "They like to be recognized as well." k ' ;Vi i ::: l':i' } ''f: ?:". V Player I Hayes Toomer R'mersma S. Smith Wheatley Biak'tuka Totals PUNTING Player I Baker Totals No. 4 4 4 2 1 1 16 No. 2 2 Yds Avg Lg 96 24.0 33 67 16.821 30 7.512 16 8.012 5 5.0 5 (-)3(-)3.0 0 211 13.133 Yds Avg Lg 58 29.0 35 5829.035 DOUGLAS KANTER/Dail Tyrone Wheatley led the Michigan running game with 153 yards and two running touchdowns. He also caught a scoring pass from Todd Collins. PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg Lg Toomer 3 (-)3(-)1.0 5 Totals 3 (-)3(-)1.0 5 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg Lg Hayes 2 2311.512 Ultimately, two statistics decide the majority of games, and Moeller recognizes that. "Same-old, same-old," Moeller said. "It gets down to turnovers and rushing the football. Add it up any way you want to. I know that's not exciting to talk about or write about. There's no controversy in there; it's just the truth." Truth be told, Michigan was i pretty good shape in both depart. ments. Besides the ground yardO racked up, the Wolverines had n turnovers. ROUNDUP GAMES PLAYED OCT. 8,1994 Illini defeat Buckeyes in Columbus once again Biak'tuka Totals 1 3 11 34 11.0 11 11.3 12 Associated Press Illinois has found a new home at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, where the Fighting Illini won for the fourth straight time. During a conference call Monday, line- backer Dana Howard had guaranteed a victory. The Illini came through with 24-10 defeat over the Buckeyes. "They voted me captain, and last Monday I said what I thought they wanted me to say," said Howard, who had 14 tackles and an inter- ception. "It feels good to have never lost in this stadium. I have no more predictions." He set a school record by pushing his career tackle total to 512. "They completely dominated us in the fourth quarter, converting third down after third down after third down," Ohio State coach John Coo- per said. "We knew going in they had a good defensive team. They're as good as adver- tised." The Buckeyes head to East Lansing next week to face the Spartans while Illinois plays host to Iowa. State, remain as the only teams unbeaten in conference play. The Boilermakers look to keep that un; beaten streak alive next week at Wisconsin while Minnesota hosts Northwestern. Wisconsin 46, Northwestern 14 Wisconsin's Terell Fletcher scored three touchdowns and rushed for 186 yards whO Brent Moss gained 145 yards at Evanston. "I just wanted to get back to playing our brand of football," said Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, whose team is struggling after a Rose Bowl win a year ago behind a powerful running game. Northwestern was hurt by five third-quar- ter penalties. "We had total breakdowns in the second half. I'm disappointed and embarrassed.' times we looked like a junior high team there," Northwestern coach Gary Barnett said. Indiana 27, Iowa 20 Biakabutuka Purdue 49, Minnesota 37 DEFENSE Player Morrison Irons Horn Pryce Winters Henderson Thompson Law Zenkewicz Hankins Sanders Charles Noble Dyson Anderson Floyd Hamilton Lovell Swett Steele Walroup Tac 5 4 5 5 4 2 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ast 3 4 1 0 1 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Toto 5 ;. 4 4 3 Wisconsin's Brent Moss rushed for 145 yards in the Badgers' 46-14 defeat of1 2 2 2 2 1 CONFERENCE OVERALL 1TEAM W L W L T 1 PennState 2 0 5 0 0 1 Michigan 2 0 4 1 0 I Purdue 2 0 4 1 0 1 Indiana 2 1 5 1 0 1 Wisconsin 2 1 3 2 0 Purdue's Mike Alstott rushed for a career- high 183 yards and four touchdowns in West Lafayette. In two years he3has scored nine . i touchdowns and rushed for 354 yards against Minnesota. "I made a couple of moves out there today that juked them. I try to muscle people more than outrun them," said Alstott, who moved up six positions on Purdue's career-rushing list to 12th place with 1,559 yards. Minnesota' s Chris Darkins made it tough on the Boilermakers with a career-high 234 yards on 31 carries, including scoring runs of 47 and 7 yards. It was not enough as the Golden AP PHOTO Gophers fell to 0-3 in the conference. Purdue, along with Michigan and Penn Indiana's Alex Smith was compared to former Hoosier greats Anthony Thompson and Vaughn Dunbar by his coach, Bill Mallory, after Smith ran roughshod over the Hawkey with 232 yards at Iowa City. "It's early, but he's got that kind of potential. Those guys were finished prod- ucts and had great careers for us. I think Alex has the potential to get to that level.,"' Mallory said. The victory gave the Hoosiers their fifth overall victory of the year and put them above .500 in the Big Ten. Iowa coach Hayden Fry said injuries along the defensive front made it a long day for t Hawkeyes as they dropped to 0-3 in Big Te play. ss .... : ..:. < . . . :. M