. C irrlnv /Cimrinxr Nntt 7'?_'Y A907 - Rnto RAWlI - 6 -- The I higan Daily - Rose Bow!Ar Saturday/ Sunday, Nov. 22&. 1997 HIGHLI ITS -A- -p 1 PHIGHLIGHTS , Wraay/ 5unaay, ivov. LL-Ll , "l - nose Down: Z11 Udy! QUI lUdy, INUV. ~ W' - ~ 5WWUE~ - ,w Wl wql lql * 0 For starters Game No. 1: Colorado Michigan Stadium Coverage fr TWMichigan Daily Mort ;-Sops ' ~1997 The sky's the limit Game No. 7: Spa" Coverage fro(W Quotable "We were practicing all week and during two-a- days, saying that we wanted to be vicious, to hit their quarterback hard and stop them all." Cornerback Charles VWoodson Quotable "They did some talking in the first quarter and a little bit in the second, but in the second half, what was there to talk about?" Strong safety Marcus Ray Above right: Michigan defen- sive linemen James Hall and Josh Williams (91) bring down Michigan State running back Sedric Irvin. Left: Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson intercepted this Todd Schultz pass in the third quarter with one hand. Woodson got one foot down just in time to stay in bounds. WARREN ZINN/Daily Woodson never ceases to amaze us Defense Spartan. By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Editor EAST LANSING - For the hype and there was trash talkin halftime. As'has been the case all seas+ steel clamp on its opposition it a close battle for 30 minutes tur tory for the Wolverines before ate ~jjMichigan 23 Sto but >:Michigan St 7 I gar were singled out for theirI Wolverines deemed excessiv defense not only attacked the b as well. "They did some talking in th in the second." Michigan safet second half, what was there to The talk in the second hal defense, which held the Spartai time while intercepting. six Mib And the Spartans had diffi offense after Michigan bottled t Irvin. After burning Michigan on the ground and in the air, In the break as the Spartans tur attack in an attempt to erase thi Shutting down Irvin allowec on the ground. The team with won 28 of the last 29 meeting convincingly, 173-95. "It was a good defense," Ir credit away from Michigan. TI defense." Michigan State didn't even I. quarter, when Andre Weathers off two Todd Schultz passes. With Michigan up 3-0, late i State lined up for an apparent3 er Bill Burke took the snap at lined up wide left, out of the vi Burke lobbed the ball up for Ir) yards away from the closest Wv an easy touchdown, an oversig the blame. And even though Michigan up only six points, its defense s the 50-yard line until the ga. Michigan victory was well in h "This was a big win for us b, for the Big Ten championship, said. WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan running back Chris Howard dives into the end zone for a touchdown against the Buffaloes in the Wolverines' 27-3 victory. Michiga sflawless goame leaves Buffs wi'thout, a prayer By Nicholas J. Cotsonika D~aily Sports Editor No last-gasp, Hail Mary pass was needed Saturday. With Michigan playing vicious defense and methodical, mostly mistake-free football, Colorado hadn't a prayer to end the game like the previous two between these teams, and the 14th-ranked Wolverines rolled over the eighth- '§i L Michigan 27 ranked Buffaloes, 27- Colordo 3 3, before 106,474 at _____________ Michigan Stadium. Quarterback Brian Griese, a fifth-year senior who wallowed in a backup role most of last season, nearly opted for real life after graduating in May. But he came back, and after he won the starting job from junior Scott Dreisbach this fall, he got the chance to complete 21 of 28 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns while his father, Bob, announced the game nationally on ABC Sports. His lone interception, which deflected off wide receiver Tai Streets' hands in the first quar- ter, was Michigan's only turnover of the game. "I'm very proud of our football team," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Our defense was outstanding, and offensively, considering we have four young guys in there starting, we made some typical first-game mistakes. But we showed signs that we can have a pretty good offense." Most of Griese's success came behind a young - and much-penalized - line on high-percent- age passes to tight end Jerame Tuman, who had a career-high five receptions for 126 yards. Michigan's dominant defense provided plenty of support, hassling Colorado quarterback John Hessler so badly that he threw four interceptions and was close to throwing more. The Wolverines "could have had eight," said Michigan All- America cornerback, Charles Woodson, who intercepted Hessler to kill the Buffaloes' second drive of the game. "We got our tails whipped," Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Things didn't go well, and (the Wolverines) played their butts off. Griese played well, they got the running game going, and the play-action stuff with the tight ends just killed us." Neuheisel said earlier this week that "nerves were a factor" for Hessler in a 3 1-21 victory over Colorado State last weekend. And Saturday, before the seventh-largest crowd in Michigan Stadium history, Hessler seemed to buckle. Three of his interceptions led to a combined 1 7 points for the Wolverines. "It was a frustrating day," said Hessler, who was 15-of-40 for 141 yards and was sacked three times. "They were all over me." As Hessler was interviewed after the game, Neuheisel pulled him into a secluded area and spoke with him for five minutes. Hessler emerged with tears in his eyes, and Neuheisel, who once played quarterback for UCLA, defended him. "I threw four interceptions against Georgia back in 1983 and ended up com- ing back and having a decent year," Neuheisel said. "He'll bounce back." The Wolverines (1-0) rotated several players into their strong secondary, giving Hessler dif- ferent looks. Carr said he didn't have a great defense last season because of its inability to create turnovers and "negative plays." But Saturday, that defense swarmed all around the Buffaloes (I-I), allowing just 49 yards rush- ing and 175 passing while limiting them to their lowest point total since they were shut out by Nebraska in 1988. Michigan ran for 142 yards and passed for 284. "We were practicing all week and during two- a-days, saying all the time that we wanted to be vicious, to hit their quarterback hard and stop them all,"said Woodson, who also returned three punts for 13 yards and had a 29-yard reception. "The defense on this team wants to make things happen." Woodson 's first-quarter interception spawned the Wolverines' first touchdown. After Woodson picked off Hessler, Griese hit Tuman for 53 yards, setting up a first-and-goal situation. Two plays later, fullback Chris Floyd punched in the ball from one yard out to give Michigan a 7-0 that it would never relinquish. "It's been a great series," said Neuheisel. "I wish we could have given them a better game. They are a fine football team, a fine football pro- gram. It's a shame that these games are becom- ing a dying breed, because certainly they are By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Editor EAST LANSING -- Charles Woodson's head was spinning so quickly it was amazing that he had time to stop and talk. Then again, talking has never been much of a problem for the All-America cornerback, whose gift for gab competes pretty darn well with his gift for grabbing opposing quarterbacks' passes. Woodson completely stole the show, not only on the field with his two interceptions - one that was legendarily acrobatic, the other as a result of his impeccable pass coverage - but off the field as well, with his talented mouth after the game. Woodson was dishing out verbal blows to the Spartans' collective ego that were almost as vicious as some of his four solo tackles on the field. But the tackles somehow lacked the comi- cal aspect of Woodson's postgame chatter. " I think their coaches ought to keep a better tab on what they say to the press;' said Woodson, -referring to Michigan State's trash-talking in the tweek leading up to the game. "They, were saying a lot of things this week and we were just taking it all in. This is the type of game where you don't need any extra fuel to the fire." But even without the trash-talking, there was already a red flag surrounding this game for Woodson as a result of his last visit to Spartan Stadium. The junior almost certainly had this game circled on his calendar as far back as two years ago. In 1995, as a freshman, Woodson and Michigan lost to a less-talented Michigan State team on the Wolverines last trip to East Lansing, 2 8-25. The loss hurt Woodson particularly because as the Spartans were driving the field for the eventual winning touchdown, the usually sure-handed and timely playmaking Woodson uncharacteristically let an interception slip through his hands and into the Spartans' Derrick Mason's. "Two years ago, we came up here and it was one of those things that you can't describe, the feeling after the game, the loss;' Woodson said. "I had a play in that game where had I came down with the interception, we would have had the vic- tory. I didn't make that play "Today, I wasn't going to let that happen to myself, I wasn't going to let that happen to the team."~ To see to it that there would be no catastrophic ending for Michigan, Woodson simply took the game over on defense in the second half. His first interception, a historic one-handed grab that resembled someone plucking a frisbee out of the air, truly silenced the predominantly pro-Spartan crowd simply out of awe. "I think that has to be the best interception I've ever made;' Woodson said. "Especially coming against Michigan State, it was a big play for me." Then, on the first series of the fourth quarter, Woodson thwarted a Michigan State drive with another interception as he snuck up from behind Spartans' receiver Octavis Long on his left and picked off his second pass of the day. "They threw the same play to the other side and I was kind of insulted that they tried to get me on the same play twice;' said Woodson, in true fonm. In fact, it was the first time since Michigan's season-opening victory over Colorado that a team actually challenged Woodson through the air, to which he responded, "I think so and I think it was the wrong move. " Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said that the sec- ond pickoff was responsible "for a big momen- tum shift" in the game, as Michigan went ahead and scored five plays later to take a 20-7 lead. "The greatest players have their greatest games in their biggest games;' Carr said. "Charles Woodson was motivated because two years ago, he had the worst game of his career here. He was motivated to play the best game of his career."