4- The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 7, 1994
Evi
M
I
C
H
I
G
A
H
45
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player C-A Yds"
Collins 15-18 191
Totals 15-18 191
TD
2
2
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Roses are Read
it
o Blue digs deep, finds
JI
RUSHING
Player Aft Yds,
Wheatley20148
B'butuka12100
Davis 8 41
Ritchie 1 24
Collins 2 (-)6
Totals 43307
Avg LgTD
7.4 34 2
8.3 43 1
5.1131
24 24 0
(-)3 00
7.143 4
RECEIVING
Player No.
Hayes 5
Toomer 3
B'butuka 2
Wheatley 1
Davis 1
R'mersmal
Yds
88
38
32
9
9
8
5
2
Avg LgTD
17.6
12.7
16.0
9.0
9.0
8.0
5.0
2.0
12.7
31
16
20
9
9
8
5
2
31
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
Cooper
Foster
1
1
Totals 15 191
PUNTING
Player No. Yds Avg
Baker 2 65 32.5
Totals 2 65 32.5
reasons compete
W EST LAFAYETTE -- Michigan and Purdue took the field
Saturday. They played football. Michigan won, 45-23.
Nothing much else to say there.
No great stories. No big shockers. Mostly, this game just reconfirmed
what we already knew.
The Wolverines showed that they are better than they were in a 31-19
loss to Wisconsin last week. But we knew that. The Boilermakers showed
they're not quite as good as their 4-2-2 pregame record indicated. But we
probably knew that, too.
What could we tell from this game? Tyrone Wheatley is one of the best
players in the country. Tshimanga Biakabutuka is as capable as any backup
you could find. Todd Collins is efficient. The Michigan defense is average.
The grass is green. The rain is wet. Etc., etc.
Still, this game mattered.
The fact is, Michigan needs a few more boring games. Games where
nobody carries the team. Games where the Wolverines aren't firing on all
cylinders, but still manage to win. Games where just being the better
football team is enough.
"This was old-time, grind-it-out football," Collins said. "A lot of the
lineman were looking forward to it. We wanted to have fun out there."
The season is simply too long to expect something special in every
game. Some games just come down to old-time, grind-it-out football, and
those are the games Michigan has to win.
This game mattered because the season doesn't matter any more. Isn't
that what so many people said after Michigan lost to Penn State? The
season doesn't matter any more. Isn't that what everybody said after
Michigan lost to Wisconsin? The season doesn't matter any more.
The Wolverines heard it all. They'll tell you they didn't, but they did.
The season doesn't matter any more.
They heard. And they stopped. And they looked around. And they
discovered something obvious, something they may have forgotten: here,
amid all the waste, beneath all the criticism, in the middle of this season
that doesn't matter, is a football team.
To the bone, they are players. Players play. At some point, beyond the
attention, beyond the hopes of any kind of title, beyond any dreams of
glory, you need a reason to get up and go to practice every day. You need
to love football.
After the game and before the showers, almost 100 players, coaches,
trainers and equipment managers stood in the locker room and had a few
words. Familiar words.
Hail! To the victors valiant!
They were victorious.
Hail! To the conquering heroes!
They had conquered the Boilermakers.
Hail! Hail! To Michigan ...
You know the rest.
It is simple, this game. Some say it's not important. Some say
Michigan's win didn't matter. Fine. It may not matter to everyone. But
there were 100 men in the visiting locker room in Ross-Ade Stadium
Saturday, and they were all singing their school's fight song, because this
game mattered to them.
This was about football. Nothing more.
Who needs anything more?
0
MARK FRIEDMANIDaily9
Ed Davis ran for 41 yards on eight carries during Saturday's Michigan win over Purdue. He was part of a Wolverine
ground attack that gained over 300 yards for the second time this season.
M'-finds time for now-heremen
Lost backs Davis, Ritchie see substantial action in rout
Lg
33
33
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD
Toomer 2 7 3.5 4 0
Totals 2 7 3.5 4 0
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.Yds Avg Lg'
Hayes 3 50 16.7 20
Smith 1 28 28.0 28
B'butuka 1 20 20.0 20
Totals 5 98 19.6 28
TD
0
0
0
0
By MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Daily Football Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - Search
crews finally located Michigan run-
ning backs Ed Davis and Jon Ritchie,
and the helicopters were able to bring
them to Purdue in time for Slturday's
game.
Davis, a junior tailback, ran for 42
yards on eight carries, his second-
best output of the season. Ritchie, a
sophomore fullback, played a signifi-
cant amount for the first time in 1994.
He ran for 24 yards on his only carry
of the afternoon.
"It was a must-win for us," Davis
said. "We had to get a tough victory,
and we did."
Davis started the opening game
against Boston College in place of
starter Tyrone Wheatley. But he ran
for only 41 yards on 20 carries. The
next week, at Notre Dame, Davis car-
ried the ball seven times for nine
yards. Over the next six games, he
carried the ball only 25 times.
But Davis did not lose his focus.
"My goals are basically the team's
goals," Davis said. "Everyone made a
conscious effort (this week) to bust
their butt in practice."
Davis waited almost two months
to get another chance. Ritchie waited
almost a year.
The fullback saw extensive play-
ing time as a true freshman last sea-
son, but his uniform has stayed clean
for most of this year. Saturday, he got
an opportunity to show that his rookie
season was not a fluke.
"Today was a satisfying day for
me," Ritchie said. "I've been working
hard in practice and I've been work-
ing hard watching films."
It wasn't hard to figure out why
Davis hadn't gotten the call. Wheatley
and fellow tailback Tshimanga
Biakabutuka are averaging more than
200 yards per game combined. With
two players doing that well, coach
Gary Moeller had little reason to use
Davis.
On numerous occasions, Moeller
went to lengths to avoid any tailback
controversy.
"Ed Davis is a good kid," the coach
said more than once. "He'll help us
before the season's over."
For his part, Davis avoided moan-
ing about his lost playing time and
worked to get another chance.
"I just thank God for giving me the
opportunity," Davis said. "I'm happy
I was able to take advantage of it."
Ritchie is a different story. Che
Foster has been Michigan's only reli-
able fullback this season. Nobody re-
ally knew why Ritchie had disap-0
peared from the rotation.
"The coaches didn't tell me,"
Ritchie said. "It troubled me some-
what but I wasn't about to ask them
about it. I just tried to improve my-
self."
Like Davis, Ritchie concentrated
on helping the team instead of com-
plaining. Even Saturday he said his
main contribution was not the 24-
yard run but his blocking.
"My role is as a blocker," Ritchie
said. "Today was my best blocking
day by far. I think that today really
helped me with my confidence, and if
that helps me play more, then great."
Davis
PURDUE
Continued from page 1
fans in attendance. Wheatley showed
why he talks the talk. With 7:48 left in
the third, he capped an 80-yard, nearly
eight-minute drive by jogging seven
yards to the end zone to make it 31-17.
The Wolverines continued to roll in
the fourth quarter. Inside linebacker
Rob Swett's interception with 13:38
to go led to Davis' two-yard TD run,
which made it 38-17.
At the 4:49 mark, running back
DEFENSE
Player
Morrison
Thompson
Johnson
Irons
Law
Pryce
Horn
Mondry
W. Carr
Powers
King
Henderson
Anderson
Zenkewicz
Winters
Hankins
Huff
Steele
Hamilton
Floyd
Howard
Howell
Denson
Solo
4
5
6
3
5
5
4
3
2
3
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
0
0
0
Ast
5
3
1
4
1
1
2
2
2
0
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Tot
9
8
7
7
6
6
6
5
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
Edwin Watson provided Purdue's last
gasp, a 12-yard touchdown run. After
Bobich's kick sailed wide, it was 38-
23.
Biakabutuka finished the scoring
with 2:18 left to play. He cut down the
right side for 43 yards, setting up his
six-yard TD run. Remy Hamilton's
kick made it 45-23.
The game showed a reversal in
some negative Michigan trends. The
Wolverines scored early - four plays
into the game. They also scored often
- six touchdowns and just one field
goal - and inside the 20-yard line -
seven of seven attempts from the red
zone.
In addition, the Wolverine sec-
ondary improved over recent games.
In his first career start in place of
the injured Rick Trefzger, Purdue
quarterback Billy Dicken couldn't
find many open receivers and was
forced to scramble. His 51 yards led
the Boilermakers in first-half rush-
ing.
Michigan also managed to stop
the run, holding All-American candi-
date Mike Alstott to 70 yards rushing.
"Everything seemed to be work-
ing well," Collins said. "We got off
on the right foot."
FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK:
Linebacker Waldroup calls it quits;
gridders still attracting yellow flags
Swett
By RACHEL BACHMAN
and MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Daily Football Writers
WEST LAFAYETTE - Michigan's perpetually
depleted linebacking corps took another hit this week.
But this time the Wolverines will have to deal with
more than just an injury to a key player.
Outside linebacker Kerwin Waldroup has quit the
team.
Circumstances surrounding Waldroup's decision
were unclear. He hurt his ankle last week, but told the
coaches Tuesday
and Wednesday
he would be ready
to play against
Purdue. Late last,
week, he left the
team.
Coach Gary y .
Moeller said he :Y
avoided announc-_
ing Waldroup's
decision because
of a hope that theE
player would re-
turn.
"Kerwin's a
good kid," said
Moeller, who in- Waldroup
dicated academics
may have played
"A couple of them were legit," the coach said.
THE WHEATLEY FILE: Senior tailback Tyrone
Wheatley continued his campaign to rename the Michi-
gan record book "Tyrone's Diary."
Wheatley ran for 148 yards Saturday, the 20th time
in his career he has hit the century mark.
His two touchdowns against the Boilermakers gave
him 51 touchdowns overall, 11 more than any Wolver-
ine in history. He has 45 rushing scores, also a Wolver-'
ine record.
"That is a lot of touchdowns," Wheatley said. "I'm
just glad the coaches have the confidence in me to give
me the ball at the goal line."
Wheatley now has 306 career points, one shy of the
record held by former Michigan kicker Mike Gillette.*
Was this Wheatley's best performance of the sea-
son?
p
"I still have two games left," he said.
THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE: Gillette seems to be
losing all of his records. His mark for most field goals
in a season was broken Saturday by sophomore Remy
Hamilton, who
booted his 19th of -
the year.
THAT'S WHY
PURDUE IS KNOWN Purdue scoreboard
FOR ITS ENGINEER-
ING PROGRAM:
Purdue has a cool multi-color scoreboard.
It would be nice if they learned how to use it.
One of the graphics used throughout the game read,
INTERCEPTIONS
Player No. Yds TD
Swett 1 19 0
Totals 1 19 0
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