0 - Tl ichigan Daily - Fam a dy - October 18,19* E M' defense, Iowa offense ready for weekend clash 0 6 IEEK *tober 18, 1997 - a*otbAaturday - The Michigaraily - 3 - NaCTr Sy PanteD. Rumoro Daily Sports Editor Iowa was being touted as the real deal as it rolled to a 4-0 start after playing - and destroying - four lesser opponents. But then the first real test came two weeks ago when the Hawkeyes traveled to Columbus to take on then-undefeated Ohio State. The Buckeyes dismantled the Hawkeyes, 23-7, courtesy of a stifling iefense led by linebacker Andy :atzenmoyer. The Buckeyes shut down the lawkeyes' offense, arguably the back- aone of their team, and their star running sack Tavian Banks. Banks, the nation's rushing leader with 919 yards and an 8.1 average per carry, was held to just 84 yards on 22 carries two weeks ago. The Hawkeyes had last week off to #ecuperate and prepare for tomorrow's game against Michigan. "We certainly needed the week off," Iowa coach Hayden Fry said. "Ohio State shut us down as well as we've been shut town in a long while." A clash between Banks and the rest of the Hawkeyes' offense and Michigan's defense, ranked second in the nati seems inevitable this weekend and sho make for a hard-fought hattle. "We don't have a lot of time to; ready for a team that I think is the b team that we've played this ye Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. IO RUSHING DEFENSE: The Wolverines have sputtered off sively this season, especially onI ground. Last week against Northweste they managed 141 yards on the gro but tailback Chris Howard was the o Wolverine to rush for more than 20 yar The Hawkeyes are dealing with loss of linebacker Vernon Rollins, w has been out for the last three games. was replaced by Raj Clark, whoI recorded 13 tackles in his absence. Iowa defensive tackle Jared DeVrir 266 yards in tackles for loss surpas the Iowa career record of 241. HeI been selected one of 12 semi-finalists the Lombardi Award. Michigan's ground game has b unpredictable and the weak link in overall game. Iowa's defense proba RESTAURANT V SPORTS TAR Sports Bar The Michigan Daily Readership Poll 1195-199W -3 Big Screen'TV's -8 additional large TV's -Satellite Coverage of College & Pro Football Games -13 Beers on Tap Come oin us fo. uthe excitement of the game and much more! 1220 S. UNIVERSITY 665-7777 on, won't help matters tomorrow.# uld EDGE:I owa get rest ar " .w wA MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE S.. IOwA PASSING DEFENSE en- Last week, Griese threw a few more1 the passes to tight end Jerame Tuman, who in, has gone widely unused the past three .nd, weeks before the Northwestern game. nly Opposing defenses just don't feel the 'ds. need to cover him, and he has proven that the he can make big plays when he needs to. ho If Iowa can keep the Wolverines' He ground game at bay, Griese will have to SASSLL055/Davy has throw a little more. He'll keep the passes Michigan's running game has been inconsistent this season so Clarence Williams short, and as long as Tuman and receivers may find it difficult to find running room against Iowa's defense. es's Tai Streets and Russell Shaw can get sed open, the Wolverines should have no stuffed opposing banks around the line of for 441 yards, leading all Iowa receivers, has problem in the air. scrimmage and up the sidelines consis- and has benefitted from having Sherman for EDGE: Michigan tently this season. in the pocket. The Wolverines are ranked fifth in the Sherman is ranked 10th in the nation een nation in rush defense (68.2). Two weeks with a pass efficiency rating of 156.3 and its ago against the Buckeyes, the Hawkeyes has a big arm that can get the ball down bly had problems against Katzenmoyer, who field. Ie has passed for 993 yards and I I is the centerpiece of the Buckeyes' touchdowns. The problem is that IOwA RUSHING OFFENSEVS. MICHIGAN defense. The Wolverines have more than Michigan's secondary is the fourth-best RUSHING DEFENSE: one weapon, starting on the line and fil- in the country. Maybe Dwight should re- Iowa's strength is its offense, which tering down to the linebackers. think looking forward to going up against starts with Banks, who is 81 yards shy of EDGE: Michigan Woodson. 1,000 this season. He leads the Big Ten in EDGE: Michigan rushing (183.8 yards), scoring (15.6) and all-purpose yards (190.2). Banks is the Iowa backfield. Every other offensive back has rushed for less than 200 yards and only Rob Them has IOwA PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN rushed for more than 100 yards (164). PASSING DEFENSE: SPECIAL TEAMS: But the Hawkeyes have one of the Iowa senior wide receiver Tim Dwight Iowa and Michigan's punting units are nation's best quarterbacks in Matt has said that he is fired up to go against relatively equal. Iowa punter Jason Baker Sherman, who has managed to set up a Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson. is averaging 39.8 yards per punt and variety of rush plays that have thrown off His wish may come true, especially if Michigan's Jason Vinson is averaging opposing defenses Michigan neutralizes Iowa's ground 40.9. Michigan's field-goal tandem of Jay But the one thing standing in the way game. In that case, Sherman may have to Feely and Kraig Baker has settled in and of Banks running havoc on the ground is go deep with Dwight more so than usual. become more consistent. Michigan's rush "defense, which has Dwight has five touchdown receptions Iowa gets the edge in punt returns. Dwight led the Big Ten in punt returns as a freshman and junior and was second in the nation as a sophomore. But this year, teammate Tony Collins is the top punt returner, averaging 24 yards per return. The Hawkeyes' suffer in kickoff returns - they are ranked 10th in the conference (17.7) - but Michigan hasn't taken the worldhy storm in either category. EDGE: : owa ~ Restaurant 333 E. Huron+ Iowa has had an extra week to ready W~e Deliver! ~itself for this one. Whether or not the extra week has any effect on this game L(1/r remains to be sepn, but it should undoubt- edly prove to be a good battle The game should come down to Iowa's New Hours Open Late offense and Michigan's defense. After the Ohio State game, the Hawkeyes are look- Open Sun-Sat 11 am-1am Inside ing to prove that they can perform against top caliber teams and the Wolverines are Late Night Delivery Wed-Sat 1 am-3am fighting to prove that they can keep up their intensity. PREDICTION: Michigan 27, Iowa 17 What is Football Saturdaty? otball Saturday, to those who know the Michigan athletic tradition, is an institution unparalleled in excitement and spirit. From the action on the field to the flying marshmallows in the stands, the Big House becomes the center of life in Annl Arbor each fall, every time the Wolverines take the field. For the first time in its 106-year history, The Michigan Daily will try to cap- ture the feeling of Football Saturday at home games in 12-page special edi- tions. Each issue this season will feature coverage of the previous week's game, player features, a game-day preview, matchups, staff picks, rosters and statistics. Reports on Michigan sports other than football will be included, to provide a spotlight for those Wolverines whose performances aren't witnessed by more than 100,000 fans on a regular basis. Periodically, Athletic Department news and other relavent stories also will be reported. It is the }daily's hope that these issues will be fair, entertaining and informa- tive. They are not intended to be a forum for cheerleading. Rather, they should give students, alumni and fans a critical, unbiased look at the team and school they love, and the institution they revere: Football Saturday. - Nicholas I Cotsonika, Managing Sports Editor Football Saturday Staff Football Writers and Sports Editors: Editor in Chief: Nicholas J. Cotsonika Josh White Alan Goldenbach Photography: John Leroi Sara Stillman Danielle Rumore Warren Zinn Production editor: Special sections manager: John Friedberg Jamie Kribs The Michigan Daly (ISSN 0745o967) is pubished Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by s at the Universt y of M chgan Subscrptions for faer tartig ipr vi U.S. ma s r srphons for fal term are $35. Suscriptions must be preaid The MichganDaiy isa memer of the Assoated Press and t re Associated Collegiate Press. s PHONE NUMBERS (A L area code 313): News 76-DAILY Arts 763-0379; Sports 6473336; Opinion 764 0552; Circulation 7640558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Dispay advertising 764-0554; Biing 764-0550 E-mail letters to the editor to daily letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: http://wwwpub.unichedu/daily/ NEWS Jod . Cohen, Managing Editor EDITORS: Jeff Eldridge. Laurie May, Anupama Reddy. Wi Weisert HeaburSteve H,,*,, eathrsasnn ,sere Kose Ch Cs rat n oi amas Ch sMPinks K tieP le ia sanTPort.Diba Ace o aPete Romer Friedman. Ericka M Sm, , Mike Spahn. Sam Stavis. Heather igin. Kristin Wright. Jennifer Yachn o, EDITORIAL Erin Marsh, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: lack Schilaci. Jason Stoler. S EenF an ao hsao tr ,asonKorb a Yuki Kuniyuki. David Lai, Sarah Lockyer, James Mie, Joshua Rich. Megan SPORTS Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Managing Editor EDITORS: Alan Gosdenbah. 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FilkysGmez, Ron White, AD PLCMNT CODNTR e hn CICULTO M NA R Crsen Kin PROJECTS MANAGER Mak Thomford SYSTEM$ ANALYSTS Knumr Baker, Todd Brohdorf, Kevin Chung, Jonathan Weft Just. like old times Blue bites back, beats Wildcats By Danielle Rumore Daily Sports Editor The way the first quarter was going, it appeared that the cycle was going to continue. Two offsides penalties in the first six plays of the game, seven penal- ties overall and trouble finding the end zone from the red zone early on made it look like Michigan was still struggling to rip its albatross, Northwestern, from around its neck. But after another reliable defensive per for - 2 Michigan 23 m a n c e, timely third Northwestern 6 down con- versions down the stretch and a little bit of luck, the sixth-ranked Wolverines (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) put together a good enough game to beat Northwestern, 23- 6, last week, in front of 106,048 at Michigan Stadium for the first time in three attempts. The Wildcats (0-3, 2-5) have given the Wolverines fits the past two years, beat- ing Michigan two years ago at Michigan Stadium and last year in Evanston. The Wolverines, as in Saturday's game, entered each of the previous two contests with a No. 6 ranking and an undefeated record before losing 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 offensive 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 to rush for more than 20 yards. He carried the ball 18 times for 90 yards, 39 more yards than fullback Chris Floyd, tailback Clarence Williams, running back Anthony Thomas and quarterback Brian Griese combined. Griese was steady in the pocket, com- pleting 23 of 36 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 on their defense, which turned in yet another near-perfect performance. For the second straight game, the defense held its opponent to negative rushing yards at halftime. The Wildcats had negative-two rushing yards at the half, courtesy of 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 was taken down four times overall, and the three sacks in the first quarter result- ed 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," Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We came out a little flat. You got to buckle down and play more aggressively. Anytime another team's in the end zone, you buckle down." The Wildcats did not have the weapons the Wolverines had, so the game plan was to control the tempo by eating the clock. And early on, the plan seemed to work to perfection. Northwestern marched 50 yards up field in 8:39 in the game's opening drive. The Wildcats faced a first-and-eight when Michigan's defense took over. A Northwestern holding penalty and two consecutive sacks by Michigan defen- sive tackle Josh Williams stymied Northwestern's drive and forced the Wildcats to settle for a 52-yard field goal by Brian Gowins, giving the Wildcats their only lead of the game, 3-0. The drive prompted a disappointed and animated reaction from Northwestern coach Gary Barnett on the sideline. "Their game plan was to use the clock and possess the ball," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Hughes did quite a job to draw us offsides. There were 11 min- utes gone, and that's not how we want to play." On the drive following the Wildcats' field goal, the Wolverines drove down to the Northwestern 28-yard line on a six- yard dump pass over the middle to tight end Jerame Tuman. But Griese's pass to receiver Tai Streets on the ensuing down was incom- plete. On fourth-and-four, the Wolverines faked the field-goal attempt. Griese, holding the snap, pitched a shov- el pass to Howard who was stuffed for a two-yard loss. Northwestern took over from their own 30-yard line. On the Wolverines' next drive, Griese hit Tuman with a perfect pass just out of reach of Northwestern linebacker Anwawn Jones. The pass had enough on it so that Tuman did not have to stop run- ning for the 37-yard reception, which moved Michigan down to the eight-yard line. But the Wolverines were held and after Griese threw an uncatchable ball to Streets in the end zone on third down, Michigan's Kraig Baker kicked an easy 19-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3. The Wildcats fumbled on the kickoff return, setting Michigan up on Northwestern's 36-yard line, but the Wolverines, once again were stymied and had to settle for a field goal. Things changed, however, on the Wolverines' next possession. The Wolverines capped off a 16-play, 90- yard drive with a touchdown to give them a 10-point lead at the half. On second-and-nine from the Northwestern 10-yard line, Griese passed right to Streets in the far right corner of the end zone. It was initially ruled a touchdown, but was reversed and ruled incomplete as Streets was pulled out of bounds by Fred Wilkerson. On the next down, Griese passed over center and between two defenders out- stretched hands to hit Tuman immediate- ly behind the plane for the first touch- down of the game. The score gave Michigan a 13-3 lead and the momen- tum heading into the second half. "I thought that drive was the best thing we did all day," Carr said. Despite the two consecutive turnovers in the third quarter, the Wolverines man- aged to convert key third downs in the second half to seal the game. "I don't think any of us wanted to be the Michigan team that lost three in a row to Northwestern," Carr said. "We have to put a game totally together, and we haven't done that yet:"