4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, September 30, 1996
GAME STATISTICS Fouruarter collapse
ASSIN C-A Yds TDcon
. V.... A 1* AAlayer C-A' Yds TD lit
P
Schnur
Totals
RUSHING
Player
D. Autry
Bates
Brown
Beaziey
Burton
Schnur
Totals
20-35
2035
246
246
Aft
30
1
1
1
1
7
41
Yds Avg
107 3.6
11 11.0
3 3.0
-6 -6.0
-11-11.0
-16 -2.3
88 2.1
Q
0
11
11
3
-6
-11
14
14
RECEIVING
Player No.
Bates 8
Musso 5
D. Autry 3
Drexler 2
McGrew 1
Waterman 1
Totals 20
PUNTING
Player
Burton
Yds AvgLg
11814.75 28
7214.4 26
25 8.3 13
23 11.5 18
4 4.0 4
4 4.0 4
246 9.4928
No. Yds Avg
5 235 47.6
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds
ismaeli 2 30
Totals 2 30
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds
Sanders 0 0
Totals 0 0
Avg
15
15
Avg
0
0
L9
L9
0
0
0
TD
0
0
I
0
0
0
1
YO
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Lg
71
gTD
5 0
5 0
g TD
0 0
Tot
16
12
9
8
7
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
i
1
0
By Ryn Whke
Daly Wrater
EVANSTON - How did Michigan
blow a 16-point lead in the final quarter
of Saturday's game?
Did the defense let up?
Did the offense become too conserv-
ative?
"It all depends on what you call con-
servative,' Michigan offensive coordi-
nator Fred Jackson said. "As long as
you can gain yards on first and second
down running the ball, and run the
clock down, you're doing well."
The numbers don't seem to suggest
that Michigan was doing very well,
however.
The Wolverines managed just 28
yards in total offense in the final quar-
ter. Quarterback Scott Dreisbach was
20-for-28 on the day for 214 yards, but
he threw only four passes in the crucial
final stanza.
Michigan had 15 first downs after
the third quarter, six on the ground and'
nine through the air. The Wolverines
threw the ball only five times in the
game's final 15 minutes, and recorded
only one first down - on a six-yard
pass play to Tai Streets.
Dreisbach was 5-of-7 for the day
throwing on first down, but all seven
throws came in the first three quarters.
On the day, Streets caught 12 balls
for 150 yards, his best game ever in a
Michigan uniform.
According to Jackson, however,
Michigan' plan was to run the ball and
keep the clock going. The Wolverines
didn't want to leave eneough time for a
comeback.
"1 think we mixed things up pretty
good for what we were trying to do,"
Jackson said.
As for whether the offense let up
with a 16-point lead, Jackson said that
wasn't the case. What may have been a
problem, however, was the fear of mak-
ing a mistake. He said the backs looked
tentative, not attacking the holes the
way they should.
"We played hard," Jackson said. "The
thing that hurt us is we were playing
hard but careful, and when you do that
you hurt the team."
According to Michigan tackle
Thomas Guynes, the blame falls squar-
ly in the laps of the Wolverines.
"Their defense didn't really pose us
any big obstacles, Guynes said. "We
pretty much just killed ourselves."
What the Michigan offense failed to
do in the fourth quarter, Northwestern
more than made up for.
The Wildcats piled up 172 yards of
total offense in the fourth, and made
three key plays to keep scoring drives
going.
Northwestern quarterback Steve
Schnur hit receiver Brian Musso for 26
yards on a third-and-l1 play early in the
quarter. That drive ended in the
Wildcats' only touchdown of the day.
Two drives later, with Michigan lead-
ing 16-11, Schnur hit receiver D'Wayne
Bates for 18 yards on a third-and-10.
I thinkwe
mixed things up
pretty good for
what we were
trying to don
- Fred Jackson
Michigan offensive coordinator
The play moved Northwestern to the
Michigan 28 and set up Brian Gowins
second field goal.
Finally, with the game on the line,
Schnur hit Musso for 12-yards on a
fourth-and-nine play. That kept the
final drive alive and ended in Gowins'
final field goal.
Schnur finished the game 20-for-35
for 246 yards, with a consistent, but usu-
ally late, Michigan rush coming at him.
"There at the end our guys did a
great job picking (the rush) up," Barnett
said. "Schnur just kept making play,
after play, after play."
So did Michigan simply relax after
rolling out to a 16-0 lead? No, accord-
ing to Michigan defensive end David
Bowens.
"Our coaches kept us focused," he
said. "Northwestern really held on
defense.
"Defensively we let it slip away."
spells doom for Blue
DEFENSE
Player
Fitzgerald
Gardner
Scharf
Collier
Ismaeli
Barnes
Dailey
Nelson, Jr.
Rice
Leary
Conoway
Lozowski
Janus
Russ
Gooch
Morrison
Reiff
Buck
Schmidt
Sol%
9
9
5
5
2
4
1
2
2
2
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
Asst
7
3
4
3
5
0
2
1
0
0
1
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
Northwestern's Damell Autry fights for crucial extra yardage during the fourth quar
for the second year in a row. The Junior running back gained 107 yards on 30 carrie
before Saturday. Autry has now topped the 100-yard mark in 18 consecutive gamei
Ohio State deals Pen
PAUS DEFENSE
Player int Yds
Barnes 0 0
Conoway 0 0
Schmidt 0 0
Totals 0 0
g
0
0
0
0
Brkup
2
1
1
4
TD
0
0
0
0
Team Stats Mich
First Downs 16
Rushes/Yards 40/116
Passing Yards 214
Offensive Plays 68
Total Offense 330
Return Yards 15
Comp/Att/Int 20/28/0
Punts/Avg 3/38.0
Fumbles/Lost 5/3
Penalties/Yards 6/41
Time of Poss 29:51
NW
21
41/88
246
76
334
0
20/35/0
5/47.6
3/1
5/48
30:09
NORTHWESTERN SCHEDULE
Sept. 7 Wake Forest L 27-28
Sept. 14 Duke W 3&13
Sept. 21 OHIO W 28-7
Sept. 28 Indiana W 35-17
Oct. 5 MICHIGAN W 17-16
Oct. 12 MINNESOTA
Oct. 19 Wisconsin
Oct. 26 ILLINOIS
Nov. 2 Penn State
Nov. 9 Iowa
Nov. 16 PURDUE
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Northwestern's Brian Musso recovers his own fumble late in the fourth quarter Saturday. Earlier on the play, Musso has
hauled in quarterback Steve Schnur's pass on fourth-and-nine. The crucial reception gave the Wildcats a first down in
Michigan territory and also put them in position to kick the game-winning field goal.
WILDCATS
Continued from Page 18
three-yard run by Levelle Brown.
Northwestern quarterback Steve
Schnur hit receiver D'Wayne Bates
in the back of the end zone for the
two-point conversion to make the
score 16-8.
On Michigan's next play from
scrimmage, Howard fumbled the ball
and Northwestern recovered at the
Michigan 20. Six plays later, Gowins
hit a 23-yard field goal to bring the
Wildcats to within five.
Michigan failed to gain a first
downing the ball inside the 10, the
Wolverines got greedy, trying to kill
it on the goal line, and allowed the
ball to bounce into the end zone for
a touchback.
The Wolverines forced
Northwestern to a fourth-and-nine
situation on the ensuing drive, but
Schnur hit receiver Brian Musso for
12 yards. Musso fumbled the ball,
but recovered it.
"We feel that if we get third-and-
long, we should stop it," Michigan
defensive end David Bowens said.
"That fourth down really hurt us."
Northwestern picked up one more
Without a game next week,
Michigan has two weeks to think
about how to get back on the Rose
Bowl road. A road that now leaves
the Wolverines very little room for
error.
"There wasn't any room to begin
with," center Rod Payne said.
Slip Slipping away
Saturday's loss to Northwestern
tied the the third biggest comeback
by an opponent in Michigan football
history. Here's the list:
Year Opponent Lead Lost
1912 Penn 21 27-21
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