The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - September 29, 1997 - 5B

GAME STATISTICS

Floyd sparks
victory in return
from suspension

PASSING
Player
Powlus
Totals
RUSHING
Player
Denson
Barry
Driver
Powlus
Spencer
Totals

C-A
20-27
20-27

Att
25
4
10
3
2
44

Yd5
7'd
31
4

Yds
205
205
s Avg
2 2.9
1 7.8
1 2.4
4 4.7
8 4.0
9 3.4

TD
1
1
Lg
11
22
6
10
5
22
Lg
34
16
14
15
3
34

By Danielle Rumor,
Daily Sports Editor
Chris Floyd doesn't play the
cheerleading role well. For the past
three years, he has been an instru-
mental part of Michigan's backfield,
starting 12 games during that the
past two seasons. At 6-foot-1, 227-
pounds, he is a bruising fullback
who is as comfortable running
through a defender as he is running
around one. He blocks, he catches,
he runs.
Missing last
week's game
against Baylor
was difficult for
Floyd, so diffi-
cult in fact that
he opted to stay
away from the
stadium.
Last week,
Floyd sat at
home to watch Floyd
Michigan's game
against the Bears. He was suspended
for violating team rules and decided
that staying at home versus standing
on the sidelines unable to play would
be less painful.
"I sat at home last week. I didn't
want to come to the game because I
was hurting so bad," Floyd said.
"(This week), I wanted to show the
world what I can do and show the
coaches what I can do."
This weekend against Notre Dame
was his chance to make up for miss-
ing the second game of the season
and show that he had a role in the
backfield, even though the rest of
Michigan's backfield racked up 342
yards on the ground against the
Bears. Floyd said he felt that he had
something to prove against the
Fighting Irish.
And he did make a statement. He
rushed for 41 yards on seven carries,
including a 14-yard touchdown run,,
and was Michigan's leading receiver
with four catches for 35 yards on
Saturday.
He showed that he is a versatile
fullback and one of the more talent-
ed ones in the country. His numbers
weren't stellar against the Irish, but
he made timely plays, including
blocks, which helped the Wolverines
hold on to their 21-14 win.
In the first half, the Wolverines
didn't have many offensive opportu-
nities because the Irish controlled
the tempo and topped the Wolverines
in time of possession. In fact, at the
half, the Irish edged out the
Wolverines 19:11 to 10:49 in time of

possession and held a 14-7 lead.
So entering the third quarter, some
of the Wolverines said that they felt
an urgency to score whenever they
had an opportunity. Floyd was
instrumental in one scoring drive
and some of the Wolverines' other
drives, even those ending in a punt.
"He ran the ball hard, blocked
hard," Michigan quarterback Brian
Griese said. "If he's not the most
valuable player on offense, I don't
know who is."
Floyd gave the Wolverines the go-
ahead touchdown and their first lead
of the game on a 14-yard touchdown
run with 9:21 remaining in the third
quarter. His score came on the drive
immediately preceeding the one that
tied the game at 14, just 24 seconds
into the second half.
At second-and-one on the Notre
Dame 33-yard line, Floyd raced up
the middle for a three-yard gain and
the first down.
Five plays later at second-and-
seven at the Notre Dame 14-yard
line, Floyd moved left, got a block
from tight end Jerame Tuman that
allowed him to continue left
untouched into the end zone for the
score. The extra point put the
Wolverines up, 21-14.
"It was great blocking, just great
blocking," Floyd said of the run. "It
was a sweep play. I thought of cut-
ting inside but I saw that they had
good blocks. So I ran around the
edge. (Wide receiver) Russell Shaw
had a block on the goal line. It was
all there."
Although the Wolverines entered
the fourth quarter with the lead,
three fumbles in eight minutes
almost let the game slip away. Floyd
was responsible for the last one on
third-and-five when he fumbled the
handoff from Griese with 7:12
remaining in the game.
But with the exception of the fum-
ble, Floyd made some big plays on
second-and-third down opportunities
throughout the game, such as on the
ensuing drive after his touchdown
run.
Floyd ran a similar route for a 14-
yard gain and a first down on a sec-
ond-and-10 situation. On the next
play, Griese rolled right and passed
to Floyd, who hit a defender but
drop-stepped for the first down.
"He played hard. He caught the
ball, blocked," Michigan receiver Tai
Streets said. "He's a great fullback.
He is probably the best fullback in
the Big Ten. I'd put him up against
anyone in the country."

RECEIVING
Player No.
M. Johnson 7
Nelson 5
Denson 4
Brown 3
Spencer 1
Totals 20
PUNTING
Player h
Smith
KICKOFF RETU
Player No.
Driver 1
Total 1
DEFENSE
Player
Guilbeaux
Friday
Bryant
Minor
Legree
Irons
Nicks
Dansby
Cooper
Harper
Rossum
B. Williams
Edison
Mitoulas
Ferrer
Stokes
Covington
Lafayette
Sanders
NOTRE DAME

Yds Avg
106 15.1
45 9.0
20 5.0
3110.3
3 3
20510.3

Int
1
1
TD
0
0
1
0
0
1
TD
0
0
0
1
0
1
L9
57
TD
0
0

No. Yds Avg
7 321 45.9

URNS
Yds
49
49
Solo
10
6
3
5
3
3
2
3
3
3
2
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
0

Avg
49.5
49.0
Ass

1
1
t

Lg
49
49

t Tot
0 10
1 7
3 6
0 5
1 4
1 4
2 4
0 3
0 3
0 3
1 3
1 2
1 2
2 2
0 1
0 1
0 1
1 1
1 1
W 17-13
L 28-10
L 23-7
L 21-14
TBA
TBA
TBA
3E TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA

ts somewhat with a solid performance against the Wolverines. He was helped significantly by his young offensive line,
irst time all season and gave him ample protection for much of the game.
ne' 1 r'etui to Big House
'front; Woodson's defensive prowess could cost him Heisman

Sept.
Sept.
Sept.
Sept.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct.
Oct. 2
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.:
Nov.:

6 GEORGIA TECH
13 Purdue
20 MICHIGAN ST.
27 Michigan
4 Stanford
11 Pittsburgh
18 SOUTHERN CAL
25 BOSTON COLLEG
1 NAVY
15 Louisiana State
22 WEST VIRGINIA
29 Hawaii

)ame's. That was a truer test than we've
ad yet"
QUICK DECISION: With 13 seconds
,maining in the fourth quarter, the
V rines had the ball and a 21-14 lead.
Ain chigan coach Lloyd Carr had a
hoice to make. It was fourth-and-three
t the Notre Dame 40. Punt or play?
Carr's call was a handoff to Chris
loward, who iced the game by gaining
ight yards and a first down against the
rish's punt-return team, which didn't
ave a timeout to burn that would have
[lowed them to get off the field.
Afterward, Carr said he was concerned
bout a possible botched punt, a bad snap
r. lock. He also had no interest in set-
ng up a Hail Mary situation, like the one
fat burned the Wolverines against
olorado in 1994. "I didn't want to give
iem the ball back with eight or nine sec-
nds left," Carr said. "We didn't want to
ike a chance."
WOODSON WATCH: ESPN and other
edia are beginning to pay closer atten-
on to All-America cornerback Charles
Up next
Who: Indiana (0-1 Big Ten, 1-3 overall)
Where: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington
When: Oct. 4, 12:30 p.m., EDT (The gam
televised, but the station will be announc
ing the Major League Baseball playoffs sc
A s: Michigan leads all-time, 42-9

Woodson as a Heisman Trophy hopeful.
But Woodson, a junior, would need more
offensive opportunities to be truly con-
sidered. And he is sometimes hard to
notice on defense now anyway.
Woodson is so intimidating, the Irish
threw just six of their 27 passes in his
direction. That leaves him with few
chances to dazzle anyone, even though
he played 88 downs - 77 on defense,
seven on special teams and four on
offense. Numbers wise, Woodson made
three tackles (one solo), returned two
punts (29 yards) and had no receptions.
MATTISON RETURNS: Notre Dame's
loss only accentuated the bitterness for
one member of the Irish. Mattison
returned to Michigan, where he had
coached the previous five seasons.
"It was tough," Mattison said. "I talked
to a bunch of the coaches. They're great
friends, and they do a great job. This is a
great bunch of kids here at Notre Dame,
and I wanted nothing more than to have
them win."
SWORD PLAY: Senior linebacker Sam
e will be
ed pend-
chedule.)

Sword played the best statistical game of
his career with 15 tackles, 13 solo. He
had one tackle for a loss and was named
ABC Sports's Player of the Game. ...
Junior wide receiver Tai Streets caught
his first touchdown pass of the season in
the first quarter, a 41-yarder from Griese.
It was just the third of his career. ...
When Notre Dame quarterback Ron
Powlus hit wide receiver Bobby Brown
with a 15-yard touchdown pass in the
first quarter, it snapped a string of 27
straight games in which the Wolverines
had not allowed their opponent a touch-
down in the first quarter. It was also the
first touchdown against Michigan this
season. ... Jay Feely kicked three of
Michigan's four kickoffs through the end
zone. He has done that five times this
season, at least once per game.

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

At a glance
Key Performers
For Michigan, fullback Chris Floyd
rushed for a touchdown and caught
a team-high four passes for 35
yards. On defense, Sam Sword regis-
tered a Michigan season-best 15
tackles, including 13 solo stops.
Sword's linebacking partner Eric
Mayes had 14 tackles and safety
Marcus Ray had 11.
For Notre Dame, quarterback Ron
Powlus ignored the harassment from
Michigan fans and completed20 of
27 passes for 205 yards. Seven of
those passes went to Malcolm
Johnson, including a 34-yard strike
that set up the Irish's first touchdown.
Key Play
With Notre Dame ahead, 14-7, at
halftime, Michigan took control of
the game's momentum on the sec-
ond play from scrimmage of the third
quarter. Quarterback Brian Griese hit
Tai Streets on a slant over the mid-
dIe. After a few nifty cuts, Streets
flew down the left sideline for a 41-
yard touchdown, tying the score at
14 a piece.
Big Ten Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Iowa 1-0 4-0
Wisconsin 1-0 4-1
Purdue 1-0 3-1
Ohio State 0-0 4-0
Michigan 0-0 3-0
Michigan State 0-0 3-0
Penn State 0-0 3-0
Minnesota 0-0 2-2
Northwestern 0-1 2-3
Indiana 0-1 1-3
Illinois 0-1 0-4

The sixth-ranked Wolverines begin the Big Ten portion of their schedule looking
to remain undefeated. Michigan has won seven straight against the Hoosiers
and 22 of the last 23. Indiana is coming off a heartbreaking 27-26 loss at
W isconsin in its Big Ten opener.

IGOLDENBACH
I*nued from Page 1B
And whether Michigan players want
> admit it, Mattison and revenge were
oth on the Wolverines' minds.
"This game was nothing personal,
nd we were never going to let it get
here," senior Marcus Ray said. "Coach
4attison is a great coach and he

get the coordinator job. He's a great
coach, and it showed today."
That was the sweetest kind of
revenge possible for Ray and his team-
mates, to show their former mentor that
their new leader can do him one better.
Running up 50 points on Notre
Dame's defense wouldn't have given
Ray or anyone on Michigan's defensive
side of the ball a feeling of revenge.


RNM D 'Amami