4 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 21, 1994 " 0 H I 0 S T A T E 2 GAME STATISTICS PASSING Player C-A Hoying 11-18 Totals 11-18 CHAD A. SAFRAN Safrancisco Treat Blue defense shows up, but offense fizzles IV- Yds 125 125 TD Int 0 0 0 0 I L 1 RUSHING Player Att Yds Avg LgTD George 27 71 2.6 11 1 Sualua 2 14 7.0 13 0 Pearson 4 12 3.0 6 0 Jackson 1 (-)1(-)1.0 0 0 Hoying 11(-)11(-)1.0 9 1 Totals 45 85 1.913 2 RECEIVING Player No. Yds Galloway 4 46 Sanders 4 38 xSualua 2 35. Tillman 1 6 -Totals 11125 Avg 11.5 9.5 17.0 6.0 11.4 LgTD 18 0 15 0 21 0 60 210 Cf OLUMBUS - It was the one part of the Michigan football team that coach Gary Moeller could count on - the offense. The defense had been lousy for the good part of 1994. So why wouldn't Moeller figure on his big guns - Tyrone Wheatley, Todd Collins and Amani Toomer - to help the Wolverines put points on the board? After all, Wheatley had just become the school's all-time leading scorer while Collins to Toomer was becoming as fine a connection as Elvis Grbac to Desmond Howard. Michigan had failed only once this season to score more than 24 points. But in the biggest game of the season, the offense made like Little Bo Peep. The Wolverines did not lose any sheep but they did lose their offense somewhere along the way at Ohio State. The defense showed up for the first time all season, allowing the Buckeyes a mere 210 total yards. And the offense? An all-points bulletin just went out asking all concerned parties to check into its sudden disappearance. If you find it before the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30, let Moeller know, because he'll need Collins and Co. to return should the Wolverines want to avoid their worst season since 1984. "Our offense was just terrible, bad, bad, bad," Moeller said. "We just did not get the execution we needed." How bad was it? Try only 271 total yards. Try less than four yards per rushing attempt. The Wolverines appeared to be on their way to a terrific scoring day after receiving the opening kickoff. They were all over the Buckeyes, marching to the Ohio State 30-yard line in six plays. It was all Moeller and the Michigan offensive staff could ask for. However, something was looming in the distance. It was red, friendly to some but intimidating to others. No, it wasn't the hairy monster with tennis shoes from the Warner Bros. cartoons. Nor was it the Buckeye defense. It was - THE RED ZONE. That infamous piece of territory between the 20-yard line and the goal line in which success means touchdowns and a fine season. Failure is having to kick field goals and ending up like the Michigan football team of 1994. "A good, powerful offense gets the ball in the end zone consistently," Collins said. The Wolverines did not pass the 20 on this occasion, failing on fourth-and-one from the Ohio State 21-yard line. But they did get there several other times. And they didn't get a single touchdown. Throughout the year, something always happened on the way to six points, like ridiculous penalties, and nothing changed Saturday. Sure enough, the Wolverines had the ball on the Ohio State 13-yard line, and as a Collins pass attempt to Toomer was in the air, two penalty flags fell to the ground. One was for an illegal receiver downfield. The other was for holding. "We always get the holding call inside the 20," Moeller said. "We know that." If Moeller had a dime for every Michigan miscue inside the red zone this year, he could retire today. The Wolverines ended up turning the ball over on downs that series, sealing the loss as the Buckeyes took possession for good. What happened the other times Michigan came near the end zone? If you guessed field-goal attempts, you win an all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego. As has been the case throughout this lost season, Remy Hamilton trotted out on the field because the offense could not cross the goal line. In the second quarter, the Wolverines had the ball first-and-10 at the Ohio State 11. They proceeded to gain a grand total of six yards on the next three plays, forcing Hamilton to kick a 22-yard field goal. Oh, the majesty of it all. On its first possession of the second half, the mighty Michigan offense made like a Xerox machine and duplicated its other foray inside the 20 - a Hamilton 22-yard field goal. Instead of being up 14-12, the Wolverines trailed, 12-6. And the next time Michigan saw the red zone the outcome typified the season. A Collins completion to Mercury Hayes from the Ohio State 19-yard line resulted in no gain. Ed Davis ran for four yards. Third down ended with an incompletion, which meant, "Come on down, Remy Hamilton." But the ensuing high snap resulted in a blocked kick. No touchdown. No field goals. No points. No season. And you wonder why"the Wolverines will be landing at a California airport other than Los Angeles International in late December. [ 4 N PUNTING Player Terma Totals No. Yds AvgLg 5 220 44.0 59 5 220 44.0 59 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Yds Avg LgTD Galloway 1 13 13.013 0 Totals 1 1313.013 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No.Yds Avg Lg TD Springs 3 71 23.7 30 0 Galloway 1 19 19.0 19 0 Totals 4 90 22.5 30 0 F -- - - Michigan quarterback Todd Collin .''defens lmits Off sWolverines allow just 210 yards In best ei Oral By CHAD A. SAFRAN Daily Football Writer COLUMBUS - Some things, like wine and cheese, take a while to reach a point of excellence. The grapes need to ferment and the milk needs to curdle before either of the two products is ready for sale. While the Michigan defense did not need to be aged for several years before being ready, it took 10 games to put forth its best effort of the season. "We just haven't been playing as a team a lot of the times," Wolverine linebacker Jarett Irons said. "I just don't think it should take all season to play (like this). We've been lacking executions." Michigan defense was not lacking much Saturday as it surrendered a season-low 210 yards in a 22-6 loss to Ohio State, holding the Buckeyes to their lowest offensive total since a 13-7 loss to Michigan State. In that game, Ohio State managed to rack up a paltry 147 total yards against the Spartans. The 22 points the Wolverines allowed was the second-fewest given up this year, following the 14 points Iowa scored in Michigan's 29-14 victory over the Hawkeyes. Although all the points count against the defense, it should not be faulted for the two points the Buckeyes earned as a result of a safety against Wolverine quarterback Todd Collins. "The defense gave us- every opportunity to win the game," Michigan coach Gary'. Moeller said. "They hung in there and always seemed to give us a chance." That was certainly true as the Wolverines held Ohio State to a meager 80 yards in the second half-the time when they really need} to step up and give Michigan any chance it had to rally for a win. The Buckeyes first three posessions of the second stanza consisted of 12 plays and 10* total yards. During that trifecta of defensive { stops the Wolverines managed to come up with a sack on each drive, including two by Trent Zenkewicz. "We made a few adjustments," said Zenkewicz, who leads the team with 4 sacks. "By bringing in Glenn Steele we were able to be more aggressive."ri Steele and Zenkewicz combined for 17 t tackles, including six tackles for losses which " resulted in -33 yards. The duo also totalled all ( of Michigan's four sacks of Buckeye quarter- ( back Bobby Hoying. A more aggressive secondary helped out* the Wolverines' defensive front in making i life difficult for Hoying. The defensive backs, in particular safeties Clarence Thompson and 7 Deon Johnson, blitzed regularly in the sec- ( ond half, forcing Hoying to scramble or mis- fire on his passes. "We thought we could throw the foot- t Cooper DEFENSE Player Styles Bellisari Paul Kerner Patillo Finkes Powell Fickell Vrabel Maag Springs Brown Howard Louis Beckman Bonhaus Solo 9 7 4 6 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 Ast 3 4 4 1 3 3 1 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 I 1 Tot 12 11 8 7 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 1 1 I 1 The Michigan defense held Ohio State tailback Eddie George to 2.6 yards per carry. Wisconsim beats Illinois, 19-13, to Fame berth; Penn State rolls overP INTERCEPTIONS Player No. Yds TD Fickell 1 0 0 Totals 1 0 0 OHIO STATE SCHEDULE A29 S10 S17 S24 01 08 015 022 029 N5 N12 Fresno St. Washington PITTSBURGH HOUSTON Northwestern ILLINOIS Michigan St. PURDUE Penn St. WISCONSIN Indiana 34-10 16-25 27-3 52-0 17-15 24-10 23-7 48-14 14-63 24-3 24-3 Associated Press Senior tailback Terrell Fletcher ran for a career-high 192 yards Saturday as Wisconsin beat Illinois 19-13, sal- vaging a season soiled by bad breaks, dashed hopes and drug busts. Darrell Bevell threw for two sec- ond-half touchdowns as Wisconsin (4- 3-1 Big Ten, 6-4-1 overall) earned its second straight bowl berth. The Badgers, last year's Rose Bowl champions, earned a bid to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 2, where they will face a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference - Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State or Virginia. Illinois (4-4,6-5) settled for a trip to the Liberty Bowl to face East Carolina (7-4) on Dec. 31 in Memphis, Tenn. Penn State 45. Northwestern 17 Ten freshman rushing records for a game and a season in Indiana's 33-29 victory over Purdue. Smith, a redshirt freshman tailback, scored on a 66-yard run in the first quarter, then added the winning touch- down on a 1-yarder early in the fourth quarter, three plays after a Purdue fumble. After the Hoosiers (3-5, 6-5) took over at the Boiermakers 24, Smith lost a yard, ran 24 yards to the 1 and scored on the next play. Purdue (2-4-2, 4-5-2), using third- string quarterback Brian Goehl after starter Billy Dicken was injured, threat- ened on its final two possessions. Iowa 49, Minnesota 42 Matt Sherman threw two touch- downs and caught one in a 49-42 sea- son-ending victory over Minnesota. f . #<,, > ..ht .::$ .