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8 - The Mian Daily - Rose Bowl! Saturday/ Sunday, Nov. 22-21.997
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-- IGHLIGHTS - urdy/Sunday. Nov. 2 97 - Rose Bowl! -
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On
the
way
up
Game No. 3: Notre Dame
Michigan Stadium
Coverage f e Micigan Daily
Survival
of the
fittest
Gan
Coverage
Morn
Michigan comel
drowns Hawke)
Quotable
"That was a
win and that's
all it was"
Quarterback
Brian Griese
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
Daily Sports Editor
As linebacker Sam Sword squeezed the
football to his chest with less than a minute
remaining in the fourth quarter Saturday.
three hours of mayhem came to an appro-
priate end. Swkord's interception iced No. 5
Michican's 28-
[fJ Michigan 28 24 victory over
No. 15 Iowa on
OINowa 24 a day the
Wo I y er i n e s
defense saved them from themselves before
106.505 at Michigan Stadium.
Sloppy play on offense and special teams
put the Wolverines behind, 21-7. at halftime.
Two of quarterback Brian Griese's three
interceptions led to Iowa touchdowns. and
the Wolverines watched Tim Dwight return
a punt 61 yards for a touchdown as time
expired.
But none of that mattered in the end
because of a defense that allowed a lone
field goal in the second half - a defense
that put Griese in position to throw\ the
game-winning touchdown pass to tight end
Jerame Tuman with 2:55 remaining.
The Hawkeyes' field goal was just the
third the Wvolverines have given up in the
second half this season. No team has scored
a touchdo\w n in the second half. No team has
scored a point in the fourth quarter.
"Most of the reason we were down was
because of me. and I knew I had to come
back and play well," said Griese. who
rushed for a one-yard touchdown and fin-
ished I5-for-23
touchdo% ns. Th
half of football
never lost confi
I know %%hat w
Except for t
yard touchdow
in the second c
the season give
been allo\in{
game - the W
overall) shut dc
in a battle of be
The Wolveri
the nation's top
ing up 5.2 poin
ond in total defi
and allowed th
league's top oft
Banks. the I
ished with 99
one of the leagt
pass for seven
All-America co
Matt Sherman.
back in the leak
and finished 8
touchdo\w ns.
Iowa coacl
Wolverines "pr
they have one
We just didn't
lose like that."
"Our defens
beginning to
coach Lloyd C
Jerame Tuman, Michigan's All-America tight end, eluded Iowa defenders
The senior made seven catches for 85 yards, but none were bigger than
WARREN ZINN/Daily
all day in Michigan's 28-24 victory over Iowa.
his touchdown catch with 2:55 to play.
Blue settles score with 'Cats
Game No. 5: Noi
MichiganStad
Coverage fr z e M
Monday, O:. ia
SARA STILLMAN Dai;,
Tailback Clarence Williams outruns Notre Dame cornerback Ty Goode in the first quarter of Michigan's 21-14 victory over the Fighting Irish.
Blue defense steps into spotlight against a familiar foe
By John Leroi
Dally Sports Fditor
It was almost as ifthe Wolverines wanted the test.
They started sluggish, they ended sloppy. They
looked good in the middle.
Beaten by the Fighting Irish through the first two
quarters. Michigan had its doubts at halftime. But
the Wolverines perse-
Michigan 21 vered, thanks to a "gut-
checked" defense, after
Notre Dame 14 nearly giving the game
away.
But, No. 6 Michigan held on for a 21-14 victory
over Notre Dame on Saturday despite fumbles in its
own territory on three consecutive possessions in
the fourth quarter.
"It was very disturbing," Michigan tailback Chris
Howard said. "We'd get one good play and make
something happen, and then the next play, we'd
make a mental error and fumble the ball.
"That's something you can't do to yourself or
your defense. We could really have sustained a drive
and put this team out of the game, and we didn't"
Instead, the Wolverines left it to their defense. All
three times, the Michigan defense, burned for two
long drives in the first half, stopped the Irish short
of the end zone.
Free safety Tommy Henricks picked off a Ron
Powlus pass in the end zone after the first fumble
and the Wolverines stuffed Autry Denson on a
fourth-and-two dive with 3:30 left in the game.
Notre Dame didn't look like a 1-2 team that was
pummeled by Michigan State and Purdue in the two
preceding weeks. Instead, the Irish proved to be the
first real test this season for the Wolverines - 10-0
in non-conference games under coach Lloyd Carr
- after dominating victories over Colorado and
Baylor.
"That was a win, and that's all it was," said
Michigan quarterback Brian Griese, who completed
16 of 22 passes for 177 yards and one important
touchdown. "But offensively, we cannot play like
that. "Not every win is going to be like Baylor or
Colorado. It's not always going to be easy with all
the starters out in the fourth quarter.
"I'm glad this game came down to the fourth
quarter because you find something out about your
team."
In the first half, the Wolverines found that their
defense wasn't as stingy as its No. 1 ranking would
indicate. Notre Dame rolled up scoring drives of 78
and 98 yards to take a 14-7 halftime lead. Powlus
was nearly flawless, completing 11 of 14 passes for
138 yards including two beauties to flanker Bobby
Brown, one that set up the Irish's first touchdown
and the other that was good for the score.
The 98-yard drive came after a Jason Vinson punt
was downed at the Notre Dame two-yard line with
4:13 left in the half. But a 22-yard run by fullback
Ken Barry on third-and-four from the Notre Dame
21 and two deep passes from Powlus to Malcolm
Johnson kept the drive going, culminating in a two-
yard run by Tony Driver with just 18 seconds left
before halftime.
"That was a real gut check for us," Michigan
safety Marcus Ray said. "We knew we had to come
back and play much better defense in the second
half"
Notre Dame controlled the clock for.much of the
first. holding on to the ball for 19:11 and giving
Michican only four drives before the half. three of
which ended after four plays. The Wolverines
gained just 39 yards rushing and 71 passing.
But the Wolverines came out firing in the second
half. After Williams took the second-half kickoff 28
yards to the Michigan 44-yard line. Griese hit Tai
Streets in the left flat for 15 yards to move into
Notre Dame territory. On the next play, Streets got
a step on his man on a quick slant and outraced
everyone to the end zone to tie the score at 14.
The Wolverines took advantage of good field
position on their next drive, waltzing down to the
Notre Dame 17 before fullback Chris Floyd bullied
his way into the end zone to put Michigan up for
good.
After that, the defense took over, stopping the
Irish on six straight second-half possessions.
"This was the first time all season we needed our
offense to give us a spark," cornerback Charles
Woodson said. "It was our challenge to go in and
play in sudden change situations. Our offense
would've bailed usout if we needed it."
Quotable
"Most of the
reason we
were down
was because
of me, and I
knew I had to
come back
and play well."
Quarterback
Brian Griese
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor
The way the first quarter w\as going,.it appeared that the
cycle was coinc to continue. Two offsides penalties in the
first six plays of the gam~e. seven penalties overall and
trouble finding the end zone from the red zone early on
made it look like Michigan
LiL Michigan 23 was still struggling to rip its
albatross, Northwestern. from
Northwestern 6 around its neck.
But after another reliable
defensive performance. timelv third down conversions
down the stretch and a little bit of luck, the sixth-ranked
Wolverines put together a good enough game to beat
Northwestern for the first time in three attempts. 23-6, in
front of 106.048 at Michigan Stadium.
The Wildcats have given the Wolverines fits the past
two years, beating Michigan two years ago at Michigan
Stadium and last year in Evanston. The Wolverines, like in
Saturday's game, entered each of the previous two contests
with a No. 6 ranking and an undefeated record before los-
ing both games, leading to back-to-back subpar seasons.
"Yeah, it (the two losses) was brought up a lot,
Michigan wide receiver Russell Shaw said. "I'm just glad
we beat them, because they have been in our way the past
two years."
The Wolverines were plagued by another shaky offen-
sive effort, including two consecutive turnovers in the third
quarter.
The Wolverines amassed 141 total rushing yards, but
tailback Chris Howard was the only Michigan player tc
rush for more than 20 yards. He carried the ball 18 times
for 90 yards. 39 more yards than fullback Chris Floyd tail-
back Clarence Williams. running back Anthony Thoma:adqatrakBinGis obnd
and quarterback Brian Griese combined.
Griese was steady in the pocket, completing 23 of 3(
passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. But he and the
rest of the Wolverines had trouble converting in the red
zone early on. and he was sacked once.
The Wolverines' offensive sputter forced them to rely or
their defense, which turned in vet another near-perfect per
formance.
For the second-straight game, the defense held its oppo
nent to negative rushing yards at halftime. The Wildcat:
had negative-two rushing yards at the half, courtesy o
three first quarter sacks, which more than negated tailback
Adrian Autry's 27 yards on the ground heading into the
lockerroom. Northwestern quarterback Tim Hughes wa:
taken down four times overall, and the three sacks in thi
first quarter resulted in 29 lost yards.
The Wildcats were held to just 35 total yards on the
ground. 94 yards short of their 129 average entering the
game.
"Defensively, we came out and played hard," Michigar
cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We came out a littlk
flat. You got to buckle down and play more aggressively
Anytime another team's in the endzone, you buckli
down."
S Dhani Jones and the Michigan defense kel
back Tim Hughes on the run all afternoon.
with 31 tackles, -had oneof the Wolverine,