4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, September 16, 1996
44
GAME STATISTICS
Unsung 'M' individuals
PASSING
Player C-A
Dreisbach 13-23
Totals 13-23
Yds
108
108
I
RUSHING
Player Att
Williams 25
Howard 13
Floyd 3
Woodson 1
Dreisbach 8
Totals 50
RECEIVING
Player No.
Streets 5
C. Williams 2
Shaw 2
Howard 1
Floyd 1
Tuman 1
Campbell 1
Totals 13
PUNTING
Player
Peristeris
Griese
Yds
79
54
10
5
-9
139
Yds
65
15
9
9
6
3
1
108
No.
4
1
Avg
3.2
4.2.
3.3
5.0
-1.
t2.9
Avg
13
7.5
4.5
9
6
3
1
6.3
Yds
190 4
37
TO
1
1
Ai
47,
D
1-
1.
Int
make up team effort
Lg TD
1 1
L2 0
7 0
5 0
2 0
12 1
Lg TD
17 0
8 0
8 0
9 0
6 0
3 1
1 0
17 1
Ng Lg
'.5 56
37 37
Lg TD
25 0
Tot
8
8
7
7
7
6
6
6
4
3
2
1
1
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Daily Sports Editor
BOULDER, Colo. - In a game
where nearly everything seemed to go
right for Michigan as a team, several
players hit their highs in the Rocky
Mountains.
On special teams, punter Paul
Peristeris stood out. He punted for 43,
45, 46 and 53 yards, racking up a 47.5-
yard average. Brian Griese, who han-
dles pooch punting, also performed
well, kicking his one punt 37 yards.
And with Remy Hamilton hitting two
field goals from over 35 yards out,
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr had to be
happy. He considered his kicking game
the Wolverines' biggest problem enter-
ing the season.
"I was very pleased with our special
teams today," Carr said. "Those hidden
yards can win or lose football games, as
we found out last year, and that's
becoming less of a concern."
At running back, Chris Howard came
off of his one-game suspension for aca-
demic trouble with a solid performance.
Showing Tyrone Wheatley and
Tshimanga Biakabutuka flashes,
Howard was powerful up the middle
and quick laterally.
He rushed for 54 yards on 13 carries.
Clarence Williams also put in a good
day, gaining 79 yards on 25 carries. He
also scored a touchdown.
Both Williams and Howard fumbled,
however.
"They are going to be a good tandem
this year," Carr said. "I'm glad to have
Howard back, because he's going to be
a big part of our offense."
Tai Streets showed some panache as
wide receiver, catching five passes for
65 yards. His catch in the fourth quarter,
however, earned him a lot of attention.
Michigan quarterback Scott
Dreisbach threw to Streets over the
middle, and Streets, mired in tight cov-
erage, tipped the ball several times until
he could grab it.
"Instincts, all instincts," Street said.
"Oh, and a little luck. You need luck to
play this game."
Sam Sword, Daydrion Taylor, Clint
Copenhaver and Woodrow Hankins
didn't use luck, they used muscle to
help Michigan's dominant defense. As
the more obscure defensive players,
they don't get a lot of attention.
But they were there Saturday. Sword
had eight tackles total. Taylor had eight,
too. Hankins had seven, and so did
Copenhaver.
"It's a team effort," said Michigan
linebacker Jarrett Irons, who had six
tackles himself. "You can't have one
guy doing it all. You've got to have
everybody contributing, and we did."
Marcus Ray chipped in a bit, too. He
had seven tackles, and almost picked
off a Koy Detmer pass early in the first
quarter that he probably would have
turned into a touchdown and a 10-0
Michigan lead.
Did the impressive showing help
Michigan keep its claim as a bastion of
talent and a national power? It probably
helped.
"There's no greater football tradition
in the nation than Michigan," Carr said.
"Look at the wins. Look at the records.
We have some good football players
here, and they've been criticized lately,
because we've had trouble winning."
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds
Butterfield 1 25
DEFENSE
Player
Sword
Taylor
Copenhaver
Ray
Hankins
Bowens
Carr
Irons
Feazel I
Swett
Woodson
Weathers
Winters
Solo
6
6
7
6
5
4
2
1
1
1
1
0
0
Avg
25
Asst
2
2
0
1
2
4
5
3
2
1
1
1
Michigan tailback Chris Howard gained 54 yards on 13 carries Saturday in
Boulder. He and fellow running back Clarence Williams looked quick and powerfu
against the Buffaloes.
Shaky in the beginning, Dreisbach grows under
pressure, gains confidence in Michigan's victory
6
Team Stats
First Downs
Rushes/Yards5
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Return Yards
Mich
18
50/139
108
73
247
1
Colo
15
22/70
287
61
357
21
Comp/Att/Int 13/23/0 23/39/1
Punts/Avg 5/45.4 5/38.2
Fumbles/Lost 3/1 3/1
Penalties/Yards 3/25 14/99
Time of Poss 34:30 25:30
MICHIGAN SCHEDULE
Aug. 31 ILLINOIS W 20-8
Sept. 14 Colorado W 20-13
Sept. 21 BOSTON COLLEGE
Sept. 28 UCLA
Oct. 5 Northwestern
Oct. 19 INDIANA
Oct. 26 Minnesota
Nov. 2 MICHIGAN STATE
Nov. 9 Purdue
Nov. 16 PENN STATE
Nov. 23 Ohio State
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
Scoring summary
Mih- Ham itw 37-yrd FG, 4;27
Second Quarter
Coo- Henry, 8-yardi run (Lesley
kick), 3:29
Mich - C. Willams, 7-yard run
(Hamilton 'kick), 11:39
Coo-Savoy, 5-yaird pas$ Irom
Oetmer (ktc$ blocl'ed),
14:09
third Qunrter
Mich - Hamilton, 42-yard FG, 8:58
Mich - Tman 3-yard pas from
Oreisbach (Hamilton kick),
14:01
Poirth Quarter
No scoring
Michigan 3. 7~ 10 0 - 20
Colorado 0 13 0 0 -13
0t Fohsom Field, Soulder, Cob.,
A - 53, 788
Continued from Page lB
knows that the clock stops on every
change of possession.
But by whatever means, the
Wolverines won the ballgame. They
beat the No. 5 team in the nation on its
home turf. They stuffed one of the
most potent offenses in the nation. And
they exorcised at least some of the
... ... ... . .. .. .. . ... ... ... .. ... . .. ... . .. .. . .. .. n.. . ..
By Barry Sollenberger
Daily Sports Editor
BOULDER, Colo. - Statistically,
Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer out-
shone his Michigan counterpart
Saturday.
Detmer, a preseason Heisman candi-
date, completed 23 of 39 passes for 287
yards and a touchdown. He was inter-
cepted once.
By comparison, Dreisbach was 13-
of-23 for 108 yards and a touchdown
with no interceptions. Detmer equaled
almost half of Dreisbach's yardage on
one play - a 52-yard completion to
Rae Carruth.
And yet, one could argue that
Dreisbach outplayed Detmer. Or at
least, made fewer mistakes.
Because after Saturday, Michigan (2-
0) still hasn't lost this season, and the
sophomore Dreisbach still hasn't lost a
game as Michigan's quarterback (6-0).
"Our passing game was good, and
our play calling was excellent,"
Dreisbach said. "Our main goal as a
team was just to play together as a
team."
Michigan's passing game was any-
thing but good at the onset Saturday.
Dreisbach was just 1-of-5 in the first
quarter, and his only completion came
on a screen pass.
But when a quarterback is struggling,
he can normally find solace in the fact
that his coach remains confident in him.
With Dreisbach, even that wasn't the
case early Saturday.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr called
two running plays on third-and-long
during his team's first two possessions,
including a third-and-II1 and a third-
and-seven, respectively.
On their next possession, the
Wolverines were in business again in
Colorado territory. They had taken
advantage of a poor punt to move the
ball to the Colorado 28, where they
faced third-and-six with the score still
13-13.
As the Colorado sideline urged the
partisan crowd to its feet, Dreisbach
stood over center.
And once again he looked to Streets.
In perhaps the play of the day,
Dreisbach threw high to Streets. But the
receiver was able to tip the ball with his
left hand over a defender to make the
catch for 14-yard gain to the Colorado
14.
First down, Michigan.
Silence at Folsom Field.
The Wolverines scored their winnin
touchdown four plays later.
"That was a huge play" Colorado
coach Rick Neuheisel said. "It looked
like it was going to be an interception.
That's what happens in games like this."
While Streets caught five passes for
65 yards, he and Dreisbach were hardly
the only Michigan heroes Saturday.
Much credit must go to the offensive
line, which gave Dreisbach ample time
all day, allowing only one sack.
"They have one of the best offensi
lines I've seen since I've been here,
Colorado linebacker Matt Russell said.
"They did everything they had to do,
kept their mouths shut, and I have a lot
of respect for them."
The Buffaloes must certainly have a
lot of respect for Dreisbach, too. In just
his third career start away from
Michigan stadium, Dreisbach helped
deal Colorado its first nonconference
home loss since the 1993 season.
He was stopped here, but Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach wasn't stopped for long. The sophomore signal-caller said he
gained confidence as the game against the Buffaloes went on in Boulder.
Both times, the Wolverines were
stuffed short of the first down.
But as the game wore on and
Michigan remained in contention,
Dreisbach gained confidence in his
play, and so did Carr.
In the third quarter, Carr allowed
Dreisbach to go to the air on third'
down, and the quarterback responded
by completing two huge passes to wide
receiver Tai Streets for first downs.
The first came early in the third quar-
ter. With the Buffaloes leading, 13-10,
the Wolverines faced a third-and-five
from the Colorado 26.
Under pressure, Dreisbach stepped
up in the pocket and lobbed the ball
over the middle to Streets, who made a
juggling catch for a 10-yard gain and a
first down to the Colorado 16.
Michigan eventually kicked a field goal
on the drive to tie the score at 13.
"Everybody became confident as the
game went on when things happened
like that," Dreisbach said.
Streets' heroics had only begun, how-
ever.
i
i
the Illini in Champaign, 55-3, last
weekend.
Many thought the Wolverines were
headed for blowout city in Colorado.
The Buffaloes appeared likely to go
11-0 or 10-1, depending on their game
at Nebraska.
Now the Wolverines will hear the
national championship chatter again.
The win vaulted them into The
Associated Press top 10 and, with a
glance at the schedule, optimistic
Michigan fans have the Wolverines at
9-0 when Penn State comes to town
Nov. 16.
But if you are Carr, that's looking
way too far ahead.
"We have a long way to go, and a lot
of improving to do," he said. "This is a
big win, and now everybody's going to
tell us how good we are."
Carr is right. to be cautious. Just
because they beat an excellent team on
the road, doesn't mean the Wolverines
deserve to be mentioned in the same
breath with the Nebraskas and
Tennessees of collese football.
ing losses. Two years ago, the
Wolverines beat Notre Dame and then
lost to Colorado. Last season, they
beat Ohio State and then fell to Texas
A&M.
And while Boston College should
pose few problems next weekend,
UCLA should be all Michigan can
handle Sept. 28. Then the Big Ten sea-
son starts for real at Northwestern on
Oct. 5.
But the Wolverines aren't worried
about any of that right now. They are
more concerned with enjoying this
victory. A victory that earned them
some new-found respect. Respect that
was lost with three straight four-loss
seasons.
A victory that was two years in the
waiting.
"This was definitely one of the
biggest wins we will have all year,"
Michigan tailback Clarence Williams
said. "We redeemed ourselves today. I
hope when we play Colorado next
year, they will show today's play (on
television)."
COLORADO
Continued from Page 1B
Neuheisel said. "So it shows you how
close things can happen. It shows you
how easily things could've happened
the other way in 1994."
Things might have gone the same
way as 1994, however, if Colorado
hadn't committed so many penalties.
In fact, Michigan's first and second
scoring drives were sustained by
Colorado penalties.
On third-and-eight in the first quar-
ter, Dreisbach overthrew his receiver,
but the Buffaloes were called for
roughing the passer. The resulting first
down allowed the Wolverines to march
on and kick a field goal.
On second-and-13 in the second,
Dreisbach threw incomplete to Tai
Streets, but Streets was interfered
with. Michigan went on to score a
touchdown.
But the fatal mistake came in the
fourth quarter. On third-and-seven,
Detmer found James Kidd down the
Colorado- off the scoreboard for two
quarters or more since Nebraska did in
1994. It was only the 14th time in
Colorado's last 135 games that the
Buffaloes didn't score more than 14
points. And while Colorado ran 61
plays, 26 went for no yardage or less.
"I'm glad it came down to the
defense," Michigan linebacker Jarrett
Irons said. "Any time a big game like
this can come down to you, you want it
to."
Colorado scored two touchdowns,
both in the second quarter. One came
on an eight-yard run by Lendon Henry
with 11:31 left, and the other came on
a five-yard pass from Detmer to Phil
Savoy with 51 seconds left. Michigan's
David Bowens blocked the extra point
attempt on the second Colorado touch-
down.
Remy Hamilton kicked 37-yard and
That was as
low as Pve ever
felt on a football
field.
- James Kid
Colorado football player
42-yard field goals for the Wolverines,
and Clarence Williams (seven-yard
run) and Jerame Tuman (three-yard
reception) scored touchdowns.
Colorado outgained Michigan. in
total offense, 357-247, and passing,
287-108. The Wolverines won t
rushing battle, 139-70.
Up next
Who: Boston College (0-1.Big East, 1-1 overall)
is