No. 1 Michigan battles Big Red to 3-3 tie
Bylan Stillman
Daily Sports Writer
Referee Roger Graff took control of
last night's game at Yost lee Arena early.
The result - a good and relatively
clean overtime thriller..
In the end, No. 13 Cornell tied No. 1
Michigan, 3-3, as the Wolverines failed
to win at home for the first time since
tying Ohio State last season.
Omell (6-3-2 ECAC, 8-4-3 overall)
played from behind throughout the
game as the Wolverines (9-1-1 CCHA,
18-1-2) took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2.
With 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the
third period, Cornell tied Michigan for
good. During a four-on-four play,
Cornell's Darren Tymchyshyn skated
down just to the right of the goal on a
two-on-one. Tymchyshyn kept the puck
and put it past Michigan goaltender
Marty Turco, rattling it off the bottom
of the crossbar.
Both teams had a couple of scoring
opportunities during the overtime peri-
od - including Michigan's Jason
Botterill, who hit the post with a shot -
but neither could convert.
The Wolverines credited Cornell with
a good performance but did not give
themselves similar marks.
"Our whole team didn't show up
tonight," Michigan captain Brendan
Morrison said. "But you got to give
Cornell credit coming in here. Yost is a
pretty intimidating place to play and
they played a great game."
Five-on-five hockey was a rarity dur-
ing the first period. But neither team
could capitalize on power plays until
Michigan scored with 3:51 remaining
in the period.
A fraction of a second after the
Wolverines' fourth power play of the
game came ended, Michigan defender
Harold Schock's slap shot deflected to
Greg Crozier right of the net. Crozier
sent it back in front to Legg, who wrist-
ed a shot past Cornell goaltender Jason
Elliott for the only goal of the first peri-
od.
Graff was quick with the whistle
early in the period on both sides,
including questionable cross-checking
and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties
on Michigan's Blake Sloan and John
Madden, respectively.
The Big Red tied the game twice dur-
ing the second period.
A little less than four minutes into the
period, Cornell defender Chad Wilson
knotted the score at one from in front of
the net. Wilson beat Turco after receiv-
ing teammate Kyle Knopp's pass from
behind the left post.
The Wolverines countered 8:14 into
the period off of a well-placed crossing
pass. Schock skated down the left side
and crossed the puck in front of the
goal, past Elliott to a streaking Brendan
Morrison who knocked it in.
But Cornell proved resilient again.
With about five minutes left in the sec-
ond, the Big Red scored the only power-
play goal of the night. Cornell forward
See CORNELL, Page 6B
#1
S. ARREN ZRNN/DadIy
Jason Elliott stopped 23 shots for the Big Red in its 3-3 tie with Michigan last
night at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan had won U1 straight at home.
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sJ, ALABAMA 17
MICHIGANi14
SAN
Aggressive 'I
By Ryan White
Daily Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. - When it was all said and done, the
Outback Bowl was nothing more than a summary of the
entire Michigan football season.
The Wolverines were hurt by u costly turnover, an
offense that failed three times to score after moving
w in the Alabama 35-yard line, and a defense that
ctdn't hold the Crimson Tide when the Wolverines
needed it most. The result was a 17-14 loss to Alabama
on New Year's Day in front of 53,161 at Houlihan's
Stadium.
Both the Wolverines (8-4) and the Crimson Tide (10-
3) came into the game with highly touted defenses, and
neither unit disappointed.
Michigan held Alabama to 247 yards of total offense
and effectively shut down the Tide for most of the game.
lama defense stymies Blue |
For their part, Alabama's defenders made stops when
they had to and turned the game around with one
fourth-quarter play.
With just 45 seconds left in the third and Michigan up
6-3, Alabama quarterback Warren Faust handed off to
flanker Michael Vaughn, and Vaughn handed to flanker
Marcell West on a reverse. After a three-yard gain, West
was smacked by Michigan safety Marcus Ray and fum-
bled.
The Wolverines took over on their own 31, and on
first-and-10, running back Clarence Williams broke
through theright side of the line for 30 yards.
Michigan drove down to the Alabama seven-yard
line, but on third-and-five, quarterback Brian Griese
floated a forced throw over the middle and was picked
off by Alabama linebacker Dwayne Rudd. Rudd turned
up field and ran an Outback Bowl record 88-yard inter-
ception return. The score gave Alabama a 10-6 lead, and
it never looked back.
"The guy was forced to throw the ball when he did-
n't want to," said Rudd, who was named Player of the
Game. "I got it, and I just saw a lot of green."
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr had said after the Nov. 23
Ohio State game that Scott Dreisbach would be the
starting quarterback in the bowl if he was healthy.
Dreisbach was healthy, but based on practice perfor-
mance in Florida, Carr gave the starting nod to Griese.
Griese connected on 21 of 37 passes for 287 yards
and one touchdown to go with the interception.
"I would say it was one of the few mistakes he made
all day," Carr said of the interception.
While Griese played well, the offense consistently
stalled and failed to convert.
Don't expect the unexpected;
Michigan mired in mediocrity
T AMPA, Fla. - There is so much in col-
lege football that is unexpected. For
instance, no one expected Northwestern
to win the Big Ten two years in a row. No one
expected Nebraska to lose a game this season,
much less two. No one
expected Troy Davis, a lit-
tie-known running back"
from Iowa State, to rush
for over 2,000 yards in
successive seasons.
The list goes on and on.
And you know what? This
unpredictability is what
makes college football BARRY
great. It's what brings SOLLENBERGER
excitement to the game. Sollenberger
On the other hand, there in Paradise
is much in college football
that is expected, that is
predictable.
Take, for example, the Michigan football
team and its game against Alabama in the
Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.
Before the game, most people thought that
the two teams' defenses would dominate the
action.
They did.
By the same token, most people thought the
game would be low scoring.
It was.
And many people thought that they could
predict the game's outcome. They thought it
wouldn't matter who the Wolverines started at
quarterback. It wouldn't matter which
Michigan back received the most carries out
of the backfield. It wouldn't matter how well
the Michigan defense played.
The Wolverines would find a way to blow
the game. And, indeed, they did.
It's what we've come to expect.
The Wolverines won the total-offense battle
with the Crimson Tide, 415-247. They had 22
first downs to Alabama's 13. They set an
Outback Bowl record by allowing only 65
yards passing.
But in the end, they still found a way to
lose.
How?
A complete answer would match a Russian
novel in length, so here's a shorter explana-
tion:
Alabama won despite an offense that man-
aged only a field goal through the game's first
57 minutes. And the field goal was due more
See PARADISE, Page 5B
Wolverines stumble to 1-1 Big Ten start
By Will McCahill
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON -Thank God for Louis
i "lock.
W ith the Michigan men's basketball
team desperately in need of a win against
Northwestern on Saturday, the sopho-
more guard dropped 25 points on the
Wildcats in the Wolverines' 75-57 victo-
ry.
with Northwestern (0-2, 5-8) was as cru-
cial as a matchup with the Wildcats can
be. Junior forward Maurice Taylor tied
the game at two after abusing
Northwestern forward Carvell Ammons
for a baseline jam. But then the Wildcats
began to double-team Taylor in the post,
and that's when things opened up for
Bullock.
Five minutes into the game, Michigan
1nrA 11-A wit Rfln~r'r riirn frr
a trey, but that was about it.
Four minutes later, Michigan led, 28-
16, on Bullock's fourth 3-pointer of the
afternoon, after taking advantage of sev-
eral Northwestern turnovers.
Bullock finished the half with 19
points, hitting six of nine shots from the
floor, including five threes.
In the second half, Jerod Ward came
out strong for the Wolverines, nailing 3-
nointem on r nenrtive trins tdown the
timeout with 4:43 remaining, but could-
n't hit key shots or control rebounds. The
Wolverines pulled away, and a Ron
Oliver steal led to a layup for Brandun
Hughes, providing the 18-point final
margin. Bullock took it easy on the
Wildcats in the second half, finishing
with 25 points.
"(The defenders) usually come up on
me ... but today they just hung back
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