S 0
r a r'W.J V
i
I
*Victory 1s no
consolation
after subpar
.8-4 season
S AN DIEGO - Here's what
this football game means to
this city: The Holiday Bowl
parade made the front page of the
San Diego Union-Tribune. The
game itself chewed up a large
portion of the sports section.
Billboards around the city
advertised the game, which was
*early sold out.
Clearly, this Holiday Bowl
business is a big deal in San Diego.
Yeah, well, some people made a
big deal about New Kids on The
Block, but that doesn't mean they
deserved it.
The fact is, the Holiday Bowl is
not an important bowl. All the game
did was stretch Michigan's streak of
consecutive
bowl
appearances to
20. The game
;:fc is a*
consolation
e * prize for those
____________who couldn't
MICHAEL even get the
ROSENBERG Big Ten's real
Roses are consolation
*Read prize -a
Citrus Bowl
bid.
For the second straight year, the
Wolverines beat a minor team in
another minor bowl game. This
year, ColoradoState played the part
of North Carolina State quite well,
lying down for the Wolverines.
Michigan ended the season
icely, showing some of the talent
veryone knew was there in a 24-14
victory. But that doesn't hide the
fact that the Wolverines had a
second straight 8-4 season. And at
Michigan, that's a huge
disappointment.
Mention the word
"disappointment" to any of the
Wolverines and they'll look at you
like you just suggested showing
Onemas on pay-per-view. No way,
they'll plead. And then they'll be
ready with all the excuses for this
season.
Injuries really held the team
back this year.
This has some merit. Tailback
Tyrone Wheatley was robbed of the
healthy senior season he richly
deserved, and key players like
inebacker Matt Dyson and guard
Joe Marinaro were hurt for much of
the season. These were key injuries,
no doubt. But this is football. Every
team has injuries. The best teams
learn how to deal with them.
Most teams would be'thrilled to
finish 8-4.
We're holding the Wolverines to
a higher, "Michigan standard."
Well, what other standard should
Ove hold the them up to? Colorado
State's? Slippery Rock's? The
University of the Socially Inept's?
This is the worst of all the
excuses, because it goes against
what the players and coaches tell us
every September. We're Michigan,
they say. We expect to be the best.
Nobody else expects that
anymore.
If coach Gary Moeller wants to
say his team shouldn't be held to a
higher standard, fine. We'll say
Michigan isn't any better than any
other football program in the
country - as long as he tells
recruits the same thing.
We had a tough schedule.
True, the schedule was difficult.
But playing tough opponents early
- like Boston College and
Colorado - don't account for
Michigan stinking like yesterday's
lunch in losses to Wisconsin and
Ohio State, and even in a win over
Minnesota. There are only eleven
football Saturdays each year.
Michigan came out ready to play on
eight of them, tops.
We finished on a high note.
The Wolverines played well
*gainst Colorado State. But is it so
impressive that there's more talent
in Todd Collins than in Fort
Collins? Is this what this program
has come to? Michigan is better
than Colorado State. So what? You
Who holds the Michigan
football record for individual
total offense in a career?
(Answer, page 2)
Insie POTS .rda
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AP Top 25
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Blue ends year with happy Holiday
'M' knocks off Colorado
State, 24-14, for bowl win
By RACHEL BACHMAN
Daily Football Writer
SAN DIEGO - After the Michigan football team's season of improbabili-
ties, the Holiday Bowl was a fitting end.
In it, a slow-starting team attacked early (Michigan scored 10 pointsin the first
quarter). A previously weak defense grounded a high-flying WAC offense (the
Wolverines held Colorado State to two scores).
And a lower-ranked favorite came away victorious:
No. 20 Michigan 24, No. 10 Rams 14.
Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick said, despite the
loss, "It was a season of dreams," in which the Rams made
their third bowl appearance in school history. For the
Wolverines, the game marked their 20th bowl appearance
in a row.
And, on a day of reversals, credit was due an unlikely source.
"We're just dumbfounded by the performance of our defense," Michigan
quarterback Todd Collins said of a squad that had given up an average of 23 points
per game.
Collins, named co-offensive MVP with Colorado State quarterback Anthoney
Hill, made an impression himself with two touchdown passes. Collins finished his
career as the most accurate passer in Wolverine history.
"We're going to miss him," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said.
Moeller avoided a negative milestone in San Diego: his first five-loss season.
The last time the Wolverines finished with more than four losses was after their
last Holiday Bowl appearance - 1984, when they lost to BYU to finish 6-6.
Michigan concluded 1994 with an 8-4 record; WAC champion Colorado
State ended up 10-2.
Besides Collins, others making their final encores included linebacker Matt
Dyson and tailback Tyrone Wheatley.
Wheatley had one touchdown and 80 yards on 16 carries. Having begun the
year as a Heisman hopeful, he recovered from a preseason shoulder injury to
finish with 1,144 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 10 games.
"He's been a special guy because of how he contributed and how he stayed
around (for his senior year)," Moeller said.
Wheatley, who plans to compete on Michigan's trackteam again this year,
See HOLIDAY, Page 4
VAN''IE''a'y
The Michigan defense came up big against Colorado State,
offense to 14 points. Thanks to the defensive effort, coach
capturing two interceptions and holding the Rams'
Gary Moeller improved his bowl-game record to 44.
Nechigan ing sofGLIan
Wolverinels capture seventh straight tournent titles
By SARAH DeMAR
and DARREN EVERSON
Daily sports Writers
The Michigan hockey team, at-
tempting; to win its seventh straight
Great Lakes Invitational, appeared to
have its toughest test yet at the annual
tournament. In order to extend the
streak, the Wolverines would have to
defeat an improved Michigan Tech
club and perhaps archrival Michigan
State.
But, despite the opposition and
some key per-
, sonnet losses,
Michigan beat
LIYI both clubs,
claiming yet an-
other GLI title.
After trouncing the Huskies, 13-0,
the Wolverines overcame a two-goal
deficit to defeat the Spartans, 5-4, in
the championship game.
"Michigan is not going to win this
every year. I feel fortunate," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "This
is the best team (Michigan State) has
had here in a while.
"They played well enough to win."
The Spartans had a chance to do
just that, after Steve Suk tied the
title game at four eight minutes into
the third period. After some scoring
opportunities on both ends,
Michigan's Bill Muckalt took a pass
from Rick Willis and beat goalie
Mike Buzak high glove-side for the
game-winner.
"We scored a lot of goals up top
(on Buzak). That's been the secret,"
Muckalt said. "Willis made a great
play intercepting the puck and he saw
me coming across. Then I just did
what I do best, which is shoot the
puck."
Michigan forward Brendan
Morrison, who also had an assist on
that goal, played a major role in the
Wolverines' success at the tourna-
ment.
After an attempt to play in the
World Junior Hockey Championships
with teammates Kevin Hilton and
Jason Botterill didn't work out, the
sophomore center came back in time
to play in the GLI - and to be named
the tournament MVP.
"It would've been nice to repre-
sent (Canada), but I'm excited to be
here," he said. "I thought our five-on-
five outplayed (Michigan State's) all
game. We came back after the first
goal and took it to them in the sec-
ond."
The Spartans were at the top of
their game in the first, twice shut-
ting down Michigan's power play
and scoring a shorthanded goal of
their own. Though theeWolverines
outshot Michigan State 31-18 the
rest of the way, coach Ron Mason
found little fault with his team's
performance.
"I have no apologies for the way
we played," he said. "We played about
as well as we can."
In the Wolverines' first match,
Michigan gained a spot in the
tournament's record book with a
13-0 slaying of Michigan Tech. The
tally set marks for both the number
of goals scored by a team and the
margin of victory during a GLI
game.
Good things came in pairs for the
Wolverines as a number of Michigan
players racked up two goals. Left wing
Matt Herr notched two in the first
period, defenseman Blake Sloan
scored his pair in the second stanza
and Muckalt netted one in each of the
final two periods.
John Arnold, Mike Knuble, Tim
Hogan and Robb Gordon also added
goals for the Wolverines, but the
star of the night was Mike Legg.
The sophomore scored his first ca-
reer hat trick while substituting in
the center position for Hilton and
Botterill.
"Mike's a much improved player,"
Berenson said. "He came in last year
with that great freshmen class. We
really needed him to step up, and he
did."
The lopsided score signified the
dominance of the Michigan offense,
See GLI, Page 7
JOSE JUARENSpOcial to the Daily
Ron Sacka hoists the GLI championship trophy after Michigan defeated
Michigan State, 5-4, to win its seventh consecutive tournament title.
Maurice Taylor
dunks over
Purdue's Roy
Hairston in the
first half of
Michigan's 71-61
defeat of the
Boilermakers.
Taylor and Jimmy
King led the
Wolverines with
18 points apiece.
Purdue was
'M' drops Purdue in Big Ten opener
By ANTOINE PITTS
Daily Basketball Writer
Following a long search, the
Michigan basketball team finally
found an answer to its shooting woes.
It came in the second half Tuesday
night against Purdue.
The Wolverines (1-0 Big Ten, 7-5
overall) sank 61 percent of their shots
in the final 20 minutes and outran the
Boilermakers, 71-61.
the half until 4:52 remained in the
contest..
"For this early in the season, they
play great team defense," Purdue guard
Matt Waddell said. "They're very ath-
letic and they cover a lot of ground on
the floor."
The Wolverines pounded the ball
down low trying to take advantage of
the Purdue big men. All three frontcourt
starters for Michigan finished in double
you have to execute on every posses-
sion."
The Michigan defensive effort in-
cluded shutting down the Boilermak-
ers' biggest offensive weapon.
"It starts with our seniors," Fisher
said. "Ray Jackson made things aw-
fully tough for Cuonzo Martin."
The Wolverines held Martin,
Purdue's leading scorer coming into
the game with 16.4 points per game, to
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