The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - September 22, 1997 - 5B
0D
g ground game runs
shod over Bears' defense
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player
Watson 1
Totals 1
RUSHING
Player A
Watson
Overstreet
Burkins
Douglas
Totals
C-A
12-24
12-24
1 that after Brian
ig game last week
i was about to
n oto a ... gulp,
i the options are a
?9
liscouraged by a
week ago, where
on the ground, nor
ack Chris Floyd,
Ir drew up a game
i imarily on the
erday.
> o total offense,
affirming that the
main cog in the
lorado, we didn't
ng game," said
sward, who rushed
ouchdowns. "The
ig a good ground
ame and a good
to do different
ichigan to do was
Rarely could one
vould pass or run,
t third and 11 with
their own 7-yard
line, Howard's number was called on what is
often a passing down. Sure enough, the
Baylor defense was thinking pass and Howard
scampered up the middle for 17 yards and a
first down.
Three plays later, on a third and three from
its own 31, Michigan opted to throw, and
Griese hit Tai Streets over the middle on a
slant for six yards and another first down.
This is not to say that Michigan went
against conventional wisdom on every third
down play (the Wolverines ran on 30 of 42
first-down plays), but it did so enough to
force Baylor to think twice on nearly every
play.
Not surprising, partly because Michigan's
offense was so unpredictable, the Wolverines
were able to average 5.6 yards per carry, a
rate that nearly guarantees victory.
Also keeping Baylor on edge was the num-
ber of resources Michigan had in its back-
field. Along with Howard, freshman Anthony
Thomas' 122 yards gave the Wolverines their
first duo of 100-yard backs since Tyrone
Wheatley and Tshimanga Biakabutuka ran
roughshod over Purdue on Nov. 5, 1994, for
148 and 100 yards, respectively.
But the options did not end with Howard
and Thomas. Clarence Williams served as an
excellent complementary scatback to the
power games provided by the other two.
The 5-foot-9 Williams, who contrasts the
220-pound bruisers Thomas and Howard,
rushed for 77 yards to go along with his five
receptions out of the backfield, giving
Michigan a relentless attack no matter who
was the featured back.
"Whenever one of these guys got tired, we
brought in a new one," Griese said. "It was
just like reloading."
The reloading job was in the hands of assis-
tant head coach Fred Jackson and offensive
coordinator Mike DeBord, who did a good job
divying up the carries for the trio.
"Anybody that's a running back wants to
get the ball," Howard said. "And the way we
were spreading the ball around, Fred Jackson
and Mike DeBord are doing an excellent job
at giving us all opportunities to get the ball."
And with the absence of Floyd, two of the
three were often in the game at the same time
forcing Baylor to guess yet again as to who to
key on.
"When you have three guys who almost run
for 100 yards each, a defense can't key on any
one guy," Howard said.
But Michigan has shown in the past that its
overload of backfield talent has been any-
thing but a hindrance to its development.
When Wheatley was nagged by injuries
early in the 1994, season Biakabutuka
received plenty more carries in Wheatley's
absence and then shared the workload when
the incumbent returned.
So despite Griese's high quarterback rating
(14th in the nation), don't look for Michigan
to go away from its bread and butter anytime
soon.
Att
6
6
4
12
28
Yds
42
Yds
Yds
62
62
s Avg
7.0
3.3
3 4.5
2 1.0
2 3.3
s Avg
) 7.3
5 3.8
L 3.7
7 7.0
2 5.2
RECEIVING
Player No.
Thompson 4
Overstreet 4
Mo.Anderson 3
Cogdill 1
Totals 12
PUNTING
Player
Atteberry
TD
0
0
Lg
18
13
12
7
18
Lg
14
5
8
7
14
Avg
42.9
'g L4
3 22
0 1E
0 z
No. Yds
9 386
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
Burkins
Douglas
Total
No.
3
1
4
WARRN Z INN'/Daily
This Charles Woodson touchdown catch was called back because he lined up in
the wrong place. The All-American said he'd like to see the ball more on offense.
-DEFENSE
Player
Codie
Smith
Ma. Anderson
Johnson
Micheaux
Henderson
Sampy
Snow
Coy
Mallory
Littleton
Neal
Arroyo
Parker
AI-Amin
Armistead
Atteberry
Baxter
Bowie
Foster
Hamilton
Jackson
Yds
52
16
68
Solo
12
10
10
6
5
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Avg
17.:
16.C
17.
Asst
1
2
1
0
1
2
1
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
nt
1
1
TD
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
0
0
AL9
68
g TD
2 0
5 0
2 0
Tot
13
12
11
6
6
6
5
5
4
3
3
13
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Woodson getting
offensive but wants
the ball even more
PASS DEFENSE
Player Int Yds
Codie 0 0
Smith 0 0
By John Lerol
Daily Sports Editor
Exhibit One: Charles Woodson was
named a finalist for the Biletnikoff
Award, given annually to college foot-
ball's top receiver, even though he
caught only 13 passes last season.
Exhibit Two: In its preview of the
Michigan-Baylor game, ESPN ran a 30-
second commercial where college foot-
ball analyst Lee Corso called Woodson
an "All-American, two ways."
Exhibit Three:
Woodson caught
only two passes in
Michigan's 38-3
stomping of Baylor
on Saturday, but
both were huge
catches that confirm
that, although he
probably won't win
the Biletnikoff or be
' O
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
lordefenders like Tommie Black often found themsleves on the turf watching Wolverines like Russell Shaw fly by.
Ihign gained 188 yards through the air but did most of the damage on the ground, racking up 344 rushing yards.
BE ARS
Continued from Page 1B
Dave Roberts said. "For a game
between Colorado and Notre Dame,
they came out and played extremely
well, which is what great football
ns do."
he Wolverines' biggest improve-
tnent from the previous week was in
the running game. They played with-
out starting fullback Chris Floyd, who
was suspended for violating team
rules, and still managed to rack up
344 rushing yards. Last week against
the Buffs with Floyd in the game,
they managed just 142 yards.
Baylor's defensive line was embar-
gassed by Michigan's offensive front
* subsequently by the running
game all day. The Bears had the worst
rush defense in the nation last year
and it hasn't improved much.
Michigan's backs ran through
Baylor's line like it was tissue paper,
and were thrown for just 14 lost
yards..
"I think they were a little out-
matched because we had the advan-
e of size over them," said
chigan tailback Chris Howard, who
rushed for 112 yards and two touch-
downs. "Overall, the offensive line
did a tremendous job with their
blocking. Sometimes I got into the
open field and I didn't know what to
do because I wasn't use to holes as
big as they were today."
Up next
Who: Notre Dame (1-2)
Where: Michigan Stadium
When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ABC.
Series: Michigan leads all-time, 15-10-1
The Fighting Irish visit Ann Arbor reeling from a troublesome loss to Michigan
State. Notre Dame is under .500 for the first time since 1986 and, beacuse it's
not a member of any conference, probably has to win the rest of its games to earn
a bowl berth. Meanwhile, Michigan is hot. Jumphig two spots in the Associated
Press top 25, the sixth-ranked Wolverines are fre.h off of two dominating victo-
ries. ESPN Gameday will be in Ann Arbor for the second time this season.
named an All-American at two posi-
tions, Woodson is a world-class wide
receiver.
"We need for him to come in more,"
Michigan quarterback Brian Griese said.
"If the offense dictates, it would be nice
to use him more"
Woodson was only in on offense for
about half a dozen plays, but caught a
quick slant and wove through the Baylor
defense for a touchdown. His other catch
was a spectacular leaping 35-yard grab.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said
before the season that he wanted to use
Woodson on the offensive side of the
ball now that teams knew he was a
viable weapon.
Woodson has seen some time on
offense, but not much more than he did
last year. He pulls triple-duty as a punt
returner, so some argue that Woodson
might get fatigued playing more at
receiver. But the All-American corner-
back disagrees.
"I'd love to see more balls thrown my
way," Woodson said. "Whenever they
want to give me the ball, then I'll step up
and I'll take it.
"I would like to play more, but when
you're winning, you're happy to be win-
ning. You know, I don't want to cause
any problems on the offense."
As if he needed more to help his argu-
ment, Woodson also caught a nifty 29-
yard pass from Griese in the back corner
of the end zone early in the fourth quar-
ter that was called back because of an
illegal formation penalty.
"That was my fault,"Woodson said. "I
wasn't on the lime of scrimmage."
And as always, Woodson played spec-
tacular defense, making five tackles,
:rnlrl;:-tflra fr l -c Pa - > ~a
came when long snapper Jeff Holtry
messed up. After one bad snap in the
first half, Holtry followed that perfor-
mance with a hike about 10-yards over
Vinson's head.
Vinson tracked the ball back 25 yards
and somehow got off a pretty decent
kick. If Vinson didn't punt the ball away,
the Bears would have had a first down at
the Michigan 10-yard line.
"Baylor used a little bit of a stunt on
the punt rush, so I think Jeff was think-
ing about the man he had to block,' Carr
said. "Vinson made an absolutely
tremendous play. That's something you
like to see. he turned a real negative play
into something a little bit better field-
position wise."
GETTING EXPERIENCE: Michigan's
large margin of victory gave Carr the
opportunity to play a lot of freshmen and
other backups that otherwise wouldn't
have seen as much playing time.
Anthony Thomas got 21 carries and
rushed for 122 yards to lead the
Wolverines.
Freshman fullbacks Demetrius Smith
and Ray Jackson gained valuable experi-
ence playing for starter Chris Floyd, who
was serving a one-game suspension for
violating team rules.
J.R. Ford, Patrick McCall and Tate
Schanski all got carries and Schanski
scored the game's final touchdown.
ZACH IS BACK: Senior offensive line-
man Zach Adami, who didn't play in
Michigan's 27-3 win over Colorado
returned for Saturday's win over Baylor.
Adami, who started all 11 games at
guard last season, started Saturday at
center. This year, he is expected to
anchor an offensive line that starts two
freshmen and a sophomore.
Michigan runningback Clarence
Williams threw a lot of the credit for the
Wolverines' successful ground game
Adami's way.
"He's an experienced guy coming in,
so you know he was going to make the
right calls,"Williams said. "We missed a
few calls last week, but the communica-
tion was a lot better and I think that's a
direct result of him being in there."
DISAPPEARING ACr: Maybe Griese
went to the well too many times last
week, throwing five times to tight end
Jerame Tuman for 152 yards. Griese
completed just one pass to a tight end -
a 23 yarder to Tuman in the second quar-
ter - against Baylor.
INJURY UPDATE: Defensive end Glen
Steele dressed but did not play against
Baylor because of an ankle injury.
Center Steve Frazier sat out with a
pinched nerve in his neck.
Fr.P a. atyr s rnn T . r rfirne
At a glance
Key Performers
For Michigan, freshman Anthony
Thomas carried 21 times for 1
yards and a touchdown. Chris
Howard rushed for 112 yards on 19
carries, giving the Wolverines a pair
of 100-yard rushers in a game for the
first time since 1994. 4
For Baylor, Nikia Codie led the Bears
with 13 tackles, 12 unassisted.
Key Play
There were many, How about Charles
Woodson dropping Morris Anderson
for a five-yard loss on a pass play
and coming back on the next play
and tackling the receiver four more
yards into the backfield?
Big Ten Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Iowa 0-0 3-0
Michigan State 0-0 3-0
Ohio State 0-0 3-0
Penn State 0-0 3-0
Michigan 0.0 2-0
Wisconsin 0-0 3-1
Minnesota 0-0 2-1
Purdue 0-0 2-1
Northwestern 0-0 2-2
Indiana 0-0 1-2
Illinois 0-0 0-3
Last Week (HOME TEAM IN CAPS)
MICHIGAN 38, Baylor 3
Michigan State 23, NOTRE DAME 7
OHIO STATE 28, Arizona 20
Penn State 57, LOUISVILLE 21
Rice 40, NORTHWESTERN 34
PURDUE 28, Ball State 14
Iowa 63, IOWA STATE 20
WISCONSIN 36, San Diego State 10
Washington State 35. ILLINOIS 22
Lng
0
0
Baylor
Aug. 30 MiAMI, (Fla.) L 45-14
Sept. 6 Fresno State W 37-35
Sept.20 Michigan L 38-3
Oct. 4 TEXAS TECH
Oct. 11 NEBRASKA
Oct. 18 Oklahoma
Oct. 25 Iowa State
Nov. 1 TEXAS
Nov. 8 Texas A&M
Nov. 15 Missouri
Nov. 22 OKLAHOMA STATE
Brk-up
1
1
TD
0
0
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
down and penalized the Wolverines
10 yards.
In the fourth quarter at third and
22, quarterback Brian Griese hit cor-
nerback Charles Woodson in the far
left corner of the endzone. But the
Wolverines had just six men on the
line of scrimmage and were flagged
for illegal formation. Woodson was
lined up behind the line. The touch-
down was called back and the
Wolverines were penalized five
yards.
The Bears opened up the scoring
early in the first quarter. After
Michigan quarterback Brian Griese
hit Howard on a screen pass, Baylor's
left end Glenn Coy forced a fumble
. t.-. - a I .*
blocks for a 5-yard touchdown run.
Michigan guard Steve Hutchinson
pulled a Baylor defender to the right
just as Howard cut left for the score.
The Wolverines went 47 yards in five
plays to go up, 14-3.
On the Wolverines' next posses-
sion, Howard capped off a 16-play,
92-yard drive with a one-yard run.
Kraig Baker converted to give the
Wolverines a 21-3 halftime lead.
The Wolverines opened up the sec-
ond half with a rushing touchdown
from Thomas. In the fourth quarter,
Jay Feely hit a 51-yard field goal and
running back Tate Schanski ran for a
one-yard touchdown. «
"Our offense got moving in the sec-
I