The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 21, 1996 - 58
Midway through the season, Michikan
still isn 't showing signs of improvement
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player
Rodgers
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Smith
Surface
Rodgers
Spear
Totals
C-A Yds TD
10-18 124 0
10-18 124 '0
mprovement is key for every col-
lege football team.To accomplish
pre-season goals, teams must be
better each game, each week.
The Michigan Wolverines are no
different. They, too, must continue
to improve this season if they want
to achieve their primary pre-season
goal - a Rose Bowl berth.
So are the Wolverines improving
at a rate that will help them fulfill
that goal ?
Not by a long shot.
Witness Saturday's game against
Indiana, the worst team in the Big
Ten. The Hoosiers haven't won a
conference game this season and
aren't likely to win one the rest of
the way.
And yet Michigan was only seven
points better than them Saturday.
"I don't think we improved in this
game," Michigan quarterback Scott
Dreisbach said. "We made a lot of
mistakes."
Enough mistakes, in fact, to keep
the game in doubt until late in the
fourth quarter. The Hoosiers weren't
finished until quarterback Jay
Rodgers was stopped for no gain on
fourth-and-one at the Michigan 29
with under two minutes left.
Was this the same Michigan team
that won at Colorado a month ago
and destroyed UCLA on Sept. 28'?
Of course not.
"I think we're awfully banged
up," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
said. "We're not playing with the
same kind of emotion we played
with earlier in the year."
Emotion isn't the only thing the
Wolverines are
lacking. The
passing game.
running game
and defense
are missing,
too.
Quarterback
Scott
BARRY Dreisbach cer-
SOLLENBERGER tainly isn't
Sollenberger improving. His
in Paradise receivers need-
ed to be about
10-feet tall to
catch his passes against Indiana. He
constantly overthrew them en route
to a 17-of-35 day.
"I missed a lot of wide-open
guys," he said. "I overthrew guys
that I usually wouldn't have in prac-
tice. "I didn't improve this week. I
went backwards."
In fairness to Dreisbach, he took
a hit to his left shoulder early and
played the entire game in pain. But
it's no excuse.
"We don't have any choice but to
get better for Minnesota," Dreisbach
said.
Michigan's running game also
went the wrong way against the
Hoosiers. The Wolverines did gain
171 yards on the ground, but 48 of
that total came on a Charles
Woodson reverse. Other than that.
Michigan's longest run was 1I
yards.
"We're not running the ball the
way I think we need to in order to
be a good football team," Carr said.
"Our problem offensively is that
we're not making any big plays."
Surprisingly, the Wolverines'
defense was missing in action
against Indiana. The defensive unit
- the strength of the team -
allowed the Hoosiers to march up
and down the field, especially dur-
ing the first half.
Indiana led, 17-7, at one point and
could have led 20-7 if an early
field-goal attempt hadn't sailed
wide.
"I think a lot of (the problems)
had to do with tackles," Michigan
cornerback Woodrow Hankins said.
"We may have been able to tackle
better. I can't really put my finger
on it."
In fairness to Michigan's defense,
it is not injury-free either. A number
of linebackers, including captain
Jarrett Irons, are nursing foot
injuries.
But there's one thing about
injuries.
Everybody has them.
And Carr has said a million times
that they are not an excuse for poor
performances.
So what's the problem'?
"I don't know why we didn't
improve," Dreisbach said. "We had
great practices in the two weeks off.
We really came together. It just did-
n't come together today."
Through it all, the Wolverines did
survive the Hoosiers to remain in
the run for the roses. But they'll be
out of the race in a hurry if they
play like that again.
"Whatever it is, we need to get it
figured out," Carr said. "Because
right now, we're not a very good
football team, offensively or defen-
sively."
Minnesota is next up for
Michigan, and the Golden Gophers
are bad. But so was Indiana. If the
Wolverines don't improve on
Saturday's performance, something
bad will likely happen to them.
sooner than later.
They'll lose.
Barr -so/enberger can be
reached oi er e-mail at
jsOl/@uiicflhi(h.edu.
Att
34
1
10
6
51
RECEIVING
Player No.
Smith 1
Wilkerson 2
Ward 3
Yds
99
29
11
1
140
Yds
47
35
18
16
7
124
No.
4
4:
Lee
Klusmeyer
Totals
2
1
10
Avg
2.9
29.0
1.1
.2
2.7
4Avg
147.0
17.5
6.0
8.0
7.0
12.4
Yds
178 4
178 4
S
s Avg
2 21.0
7 27.0
9 23.0
Lg
8
29
5
4
29
L9
47
24
8
10
7
47
Avg
44.5
4.5
2Lg
25
S27
27
PUNTING
Player
Sutkowski
Total
Int
1
1
TD
1
0
0
0
1
w
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
Lg
59
59
TD
0
70
70
Tot
12
8
8
6
6
6
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Stoner
Allen
Total
No.
2
1
3
Yds
42
27
69
DEFENSE
Player S
Warnecke
Baisley
Surface
Allen
Allotey
Robinson
Jones
Shaw
Ogunleye
Davis
Gall
King
McGrath
Glaser
Haywood
Miller
Smith
PASS DEFENSE
Player mt1
Warneke 0
Allen 2
Totals 2
Solo
S0
7
8
4
4
5
2
4
2
1
2
2
2
1
0
0
1
Yds
0
73
73
Asst
3
1
0
2
2
1
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
Indiana a forgettable game for
Dreisbach, but a win nonetheless
Lng
0
42
42
Brk-up
1
2
3
TD
0
2
2
[iink one-way
Iton moxed into fifth place on Michigan's
je scoring list, kicking two field goals and
pt-afters to record nine points. His 242
assed Heisman Trophy-winner Tom
on, who accumulated 237 points from
40. Anthony Carter is in fourth place, just
Dints ahead of Hamilton.
;nilton is also t'wo field goals short of Mike
te's all-time field goal record of 53, set
1985-88. Hamilton is third in career kick
rg.
ranwhile, Irons led the Wolverines in tack-
ith 12 and moved from seventh to fifth in
tackles. He now has 388, vaulting him
Calvin O'Neal (378, 1974-76) and
1annavino (385. 1977-80). Irons is a
is Award semifinalist.
NDREDT1 HiiowcoMING: Saturday
d Michigan's 100th homecoming game.
gan is now 74-24-2 (.750) in homecoming
; and has won 26 of its past 29. The game
marked Michigan's 133rd consecutive
I of over 100,000 fans.
I~let
Minnesota (0-3 Big Ten, 3-3 overall)
ire: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
669)
dp: Oct. 27, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN 2)
is: Michigan leads all-time 60-23-3
the annual battle for the Little Brown
when the 10th-ranked Wolverines face
esota. The game takes on added
rtance for Minnesota coach Jim
dker. Wacker agreed to resign at the
I*he season if the Golden Gophers
' win at least five games this season.
By Ryan White
Daily Sports Writer
Here's what Michigan quarterback
Scott Dreisbach will remember about
Saturday's game: it was a win.
Other than that, Michigan's 27-20
victory will be rather forgettable.
Actually, one could forgive Dreisbach
if he came down with a case of selec-
tive amnesia.
"I made mistakes; I threw bad passes:
my stats were horrible," said Dreisbach.
summing up his own performance.
It would be hard to argue with him.
On the day, Dreisbach completed just
17-of-35 passes. His 48.6 completion
percentage was the third-lowest of his
career. He threw one touchdown pass,
but he was picked off twice.
Indiana safety Eric Allen had both
interceptions. He returned the first 42
yards for a touchdown.
"I was playing a little DB, and a little
free safety," Allen said. "I don't know if'
he knew I was there or not (on the inter-
ceptions), but he was telegraphing all of
his passes."
Statistically, Dreisbach was coming
off his best game in a Michigan uniform.
He connected on 20-of-28 passes for
214 yards against Northwestern two
weeks ago.
And it may be the Northwestern
game, in part, that was responsible for
Dreisbach's performance against the
Hoosiers.
Midway through the second quarter of
Michigan's 17-16 loss to the Wildcats,
Northwestern linebacker Casey Dailey
blitzed, and blindsided Dreisbach.
Not only did Dreisbach cough up the
ball, but he also hyper extended his
elbow and partially separated his shoul-
der on the play.
The shoulder injury was re-aggravat-
ed in the first quarter against Indiana.
Dreisbach didn't tell anyone. because he
didn't want to leave the game, even
though it was affecting him.
"I think he was releasing the ball in a
way that made the ball sail on him."
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
And sail it did, right over most of
Michigan's receivers' heads.
Dreisbach overthrew receivers in
the end zone, tight ends in the flat and
running backs over the middle. He
overthrew nearly everyone, despite the
fact they were usually wide open.
Dreisbach nearly waited too long to
throw to tight end Jerame Tuman on
Tuman's 19-yard touchdown catch in the
fourth quarter.
Wide receiver Tai Streets, who had 12
catches for 150 yards against
Northwestern, finished Saturday with 63
yards on only two receptions.
According to Streets, however, it was
just one of those days.
"It's there" said Streets of the chem-
istry between Dreisbach and his
receivers. "Just today it didn't click."
Without the ability to throw the ball
effectively, Michigan's offensive options
were consequently limited.
Cornerback/wide receiver Charles
Woodson was Michigan's second-lead-
ing rusher on the day. All 48 of
Woodson's yards came on a second halt'
reverse that went for a touchdown.
"I knew we were going to have trou-
ble moving the ball on the ground if we
couldn't throw," Carr said. "We have to
be able to throw the ball with more con-
sistency than we did today."
So it's back to the drawing board for
Carr, Dreisbach and the entire Michigan
offense. The Wolverines face Minnesota
next week knowing that they'll have to
play better if they want to retain any
hope of winning the Big Ten and going
to the Rose Bowl.
"We didn't play well at all, particular-
ly offensively," Carr said. "Certainly we
have to play better than that.
"We've got some improvements to
make. If we don't, we'll have a long road
to go."
Indiana
Sept. 7
Sept. 14
Sept. 21
Sept. 28
Oct. 5
Oct. 12
Oct. 19
Oct. 26
Nov. 9
Nov. 16
Nov. 23
Toledo
MIAMI (OHIO)
Kentucky
N'WESTERN
Illinois (2 OT)
IOWA
Michigan
PENN STATE
Michigan State
OHIO STATE
Purdue
W 40-6
W 21-14
L 0-3
L 17-35
L 43-46
L 10-31
L 20-27
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
At a glance
Key Performers
For Michigan, Charles Woodson was,
once again, Charles Woodson. The
sophomore cornerback/wide receiver
had a 48-yard touchdown run off of a
reverse, caught four passes for 55
yards and made two tackles.
For Indiana, running back Alex Smith
picked up 99 yards on the ground.
He also had a pass reception good
for 47 yards. Quarterback Jay
Rodgers of was 10-of-18 in his first
collegiate start.
Key Play
With Indiana driving deep into
Michigan territory late in the fourth
quarter, Michigan forced a fourth-and
-one on its own 29-yard line. Rodgers
kept the ball on an option-left and
was stuffed by Michigan's David
Bowens for no gain. The Wolverines
took possession and ran out the
remaining 1:35.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach completed this pass to tight end Jerame
Tuman for a third-quarter touchdown. It was one of the few passes Dreisbach con-
nected on all day. He finished the game just 17-of-35 and was intercepted twice.
The first interception was returned 42 yards for a touchdown by Indiana's Eric
Allen.
4
Ohio State romps; 'Cats win again
Big Ten S
Team
Northwestern
Ohio State
Iowa
Michigan State
Michigan
Penn State
Illinois
Purdue
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Indiana
Standings
Conf. Overall
4-0 6-1
3-0 6-0
3-0 5-1-
3-1 4-3
2-1 5-1
2-2 6-2
1-2 2-4
1-3 2-5
0-3 3-3
.0-3 3-3
0-4 2-5
COLUMBUS (AP) - Pepe Pearson
rushed for 152 yards, including a 64-
yard touchdown run, as second-ranked
Ohio State overcame its biggest deficit
of the season to defeat Purdue, 42-14,
Saturday.
Purdue (1-3 Big Ten. 2-5 overall)
shocked Ohio State (3-0, 6-0) with two
long touchdown pass plays in opening
a 14-0 lead.
rrti4,fr.Im 11"Pr trxA 1 A1_ d t -ll{
(2-2, 6-2) for the first time since 1983.
Banks, who also had a five-yard
touchdown run in the second quarter,
had 116 yards on 26 carries. Iowa's
Tim Dwight had an 83-yard punt
return for a touchdown, finishing with
172 all-purpose yards.
No. 14 NORTHWESTERN 34,
WisCONSIN 30
Steve Schnur took advantage of an
back Ron Dayne. He gained seven
yards on the first carry but defensive
tackle Joe Reiff disrupted the second
handoff and Dayne fumbled.
Safety Eric Collier recovered at the
Badgers 41 with 49 seconds left, set-
ting up the final touchdown.
MICHIGAN STATE 27, MINNESOTA 9
One pass and one sliver of daylight.
That was all Octavis Long needed
:.
1-r W--I, MA RAC TCAU ItJ J-xDC3' 1
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