4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 20, 1997
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player
Griese
Thomas
Totals
C-A
15-26
0-1
15-27
RUSHING
Player Att
Thomas 21
Howard 13
C.Williamsl1
Griese 8
Totals 52
RECEIVING
Player No.
Tuman 7
C.Williams 3
Shaw 2
Streets 2
Howard 1
Totals. 15
Yds
12c
81
4:
25
Yds
85
31
26
24
-1
165
No.
6
1
Yds
165
0
165
s Avg
9 6.4
1 6.2
3 3.9
9 -3.6
9 4.3
Avg
12.1
10.3
13.0
12.0
-1.0
11.0
Yds
271 4
0
S
s Avg
4 17.0
8 18.0
8 8.0
0 15.0
s Avg
0 11.7
0 11.7
TD
3
0
3
Lg9
58
28
15
1
58
Lg
20
17
16
15
0
20
Avg
15.2
0.0
Lg
26
18
8
26
Lg9
17
17
Int
3
0
3
TD
Same old song: Def ense
earns ue another win
PUNTING
Player
Vinson
Team
KICKOFF RETURN!
Player No. Yd
C.Williams 2 31
-Bryant 1 1
Schanski 1 E
Totals 4 6{
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yd
Woodson 6 7(
Totals 6 7t
0
0
0
1
1
TO
1
0
1
1
0
3
Lg
54
0
gTD
30
30
30
30
gTD
70
70
Tot
9
6
6
5
5
4
3
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan linebacker Sam Sword
shuffled forward and stepped in front
of Iowa receiver Tim Dwight.
Pressured quarterback Matt Sherman
had already launched the ball into the
air when Sword raced in and picked
off the pass. He fell to his knees,
cradling the ball like a baby, and
spelled the end of the game.
"I was under a lot of pressure,"
Sword said. "I knew I had to come up
with that for this team."
Sword's interception was the most
important of Michigan's three in
Saturday's game against Iowa. It
spelled the end of the Iowa drive that
could have won the game for the
Hawkeyes in the final two minutes.
Sherman had guided the Hawkeyes
into Michigan territory with plenty
of time remaining to steal the lead,
and the game, but the interception
allowed the Wolverines to hold on to
a hard-fought 28-24 victory as the
clock ticked away.
As has been the case all season,
Michigan's defense played better and
more consistently than its offense.
And this time, the defense won the
game for the Wolverines while the
offense sputtered and struggled all
afternoon, especially in the first half.
Prior to Saturday, the Wolverines
had the second-best total defense in
the nation, and it helped save the
game from almost slipping away due
to offensive mistakes. The
Wolverines' three interceptions and
one fumble marked their worst offen-
sive performance of the season, and
almost single-handedly gave the
game to the Hawkeyes.
"Coach Carr told us to keep fight-
ing and believe in one another, and
that's what we did," Sword said.
"When the offense wasn't doing
well, the defense picked up the slack.
(At halftime), we just knew we
played good defensively. We knew
once we cut down on turnovers, that
our offense was going to get the ball
in the end zone."
Iowa had similar offensive strug-
gles, matching Michigan with three
interceptions and one fumble. Iowa
failed to put together a convincing
offensive surge, yet managed to hold
a 21-7 halftime lead, courtesy of
three Michigan mistakes which
largely overshadowed Michigan's
defensive stranglehold.
The 24 points that the Hawkeyes
put on the board will not help
Michigan's defensive statistics -
especially scoring defense - but the
defense was not responsible for the
scores. The Hawkeyes' three touch-
downs in the first half came off
offensive turnovers or special teams
mistakes.
"It was very frustrating," Michigan
safety Marcus Ray said. "We knew
that we couldn't. afford that same
thing happening in the second half if
we wanted to win."
The Hawkeyes' went up, 7-0, after
Plez Atkins intercepted a Griese pass
intended for receiver Tai Streets early
in the second quarter. The Hawkeyes
took over deep in their territory, but
four plays later, Iowa's star running
back Tavian Banks broke out of the
backfield and up the sideline for a
53-yard touchdown. Four plays and
83 yards later, the Hawkeyes had
their first touchdown and the
Michigan defense had its lone faux
paux of the game.
Later in the second quarter after
the Wolverines tied the game, Ray
intercepted his first ball from
Sherman, intended for Chris
Knipper. On the next snap, Griese
gave it right back to the Hawkeyes
after Ed Gibson picked off the pass
intended for receiver Russell Shaw
and ran the ball 64 yards downfield
to the Michigan one-yard line. On
the next play, Michael Burger
jumped into the end zone for the
score, 13-7.
And with 0:18 remaining in the
half, the Wolverines were forced to
punt to Dwight, Iowa's deadly punt
returner. He started right and then
with nowhere to go, cut left, scam-
pered between and over a few
Michigan defenders and raced rela-
tively untouched into the end zone
for a 61-yard touchdown run.
A peak at the stat sheet reveals that
the Hawkeyes were not an offensive
juggernaut on Saturday. Michigan's
defense stymied Iowa's aggressive
offensive charge and its usually
potent trio of Sherman, Banks and
Dwight.
Banks came into the game as the
nation's top rusher, averaging 184
yards a game. On Saturday, he only
rushed for 99 yards, 53 of which
came on his lone touchdown drive in
the second quarter. Essentially,
Banks' afternoon consisted of 46
yards on 18 carries.
Dwight was Iowa's leading receiv-
er coming into the game with 23
catches for 441 yards and five touch-
downs. On Saturday, he was Iowa's
worst receiver and was limited to one
reception for seven yards. Most of
his offensive production came on
special teams where he returned
three punts for 80 yards, including
the 61-yard run, and two kickoff
returns for 82 yards, including a 72-
yard run in the third quarter.
And Sherman, the 10th most effi-
cient passer in the country prior to
the game, struggled all afternoon. He
completed eight of 21 passes for 86
yards and was sacked and picked off
three times apiece.
Iowa converted only two of its 13
third down opportunities, once of
which came on its first touchdown
drive. A telling statistic: Iowa pro-
duced 220 yards on special teams
compared to its 187 yards of total
offense; the Wolverines had 389
yards of total offense.
"I don't know how we won it,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"Our defense played tremendous
football from the beginning of the
game until the end."
,
DEFENSE
PlayerS
Jones
Sword
Woodson
J.Williams
Renes
Copenhaver
Peterson
Steele
Gold
Whitley
Howard
Tuman
Feazel l
Swett
McCall
Jackson
Patmon
Ray
Taylor
Quinn
Hendricks
PASS DEFENSE
Player Int1
Ray 2
Sword 1
Peterson 0
Hall 0
Woodson 0
Totals 3
Team Stats
First Downs
Rushes/Yards
Passing Yards
Solo
7
5
2
5
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
Yds
0
0
0
0
0
0
Asst
2
1
4
0
2
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
The Charles Woodson watch continued Saturday at Michigan Stadium with lesst
nerback failed to make this interception but continued to to return punts, totaling
L9
0
0
0
0
0
0
Mich
21
52/224
165
4
Offensive Plays 79
Total Offense 389
Return Yards 70
Comp/Att/Int 15/27/3
Punts/Avg 7/38.7
Fumbles/Lost 1/1
Penalties/Yards 7/80
Time of Poss 35:18
MICHIGAN SCHEDULE
Sept. 13 COLORADO
Sept. 20 BAYLOR
Sept. 27 NOTRE DAME
Oct. 4 indiana
Oct. 11 N'WESTERN
'Oct. 18 IOWA
Oct. 25 Michigan St. 12
Nov. 1 MINNESOTA
Nov. 8 Penn State
Nov. 15 Wisconsin
Nov. 22 OHIO STATE
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
Brk-up TO
0 0
0 0
2 0
1 0
1 0
4 0
Iowa
7
31/101
86
52
187
194
8/21/3
8/43.3
1/1
7/56
24:42
W 27-3
W 38-3
W 21-14
W 37-0
W 23-6
W 28-24
2:30 p.m.
TBA
TBA
TBA
Noon
EVANSTON (AP) - Adrian Autry burned the
nation's fourth-ranked rushing defense for 175 yards
and Northwestern blocked a 28-yard field goal with 5
seconds left as the Wildcats dealt No. 12 Michigan State
its first loss, 19-17 Saturday.
Northwestern (1-3 Big Ten, 3-5 overall) snapped a
four-game losing streak and earned its first conference
victory after winning back-to-back titles.
Michigan State (2-1, 5-1) had feasted on mediocre
opponents, outscoring them 185-54.
The Spartans entered the game allowing an average
of only 64 rushing yards but the Wildcats, ranked 10th
in the conference in rushing, almost doubled their aver-
age with 208 behind Autry's career-high performance.
Still, the game came down to the last play, when a
leaping Anwawn Jones blocked Chris Gardner's kick.
The Spartans had almost effortlessly moved the ball
from their 24 to Northwestern's 9, but coach Nick Saban
Spartans become upset victim; Penn State survives
decided to play for the field goal by Gardner - who had
missed only once in 26 attempts from 29 yards and in.
No.1 PENN STATE 16, MINNESOTA 15
Chris Snyder's fumble recovery set up Curtis Enis'
10-yard touchdown run with 3:59 to play and No. I
Penn State escaped with a 16-15 victory over Minnesota
to keep alive its hopes of a national championship.
The Nittany Lions (3-0, 6-0) turned mistakes into the
touchdowns it needed in the fourth quarter to overcome
the 15-3 lead that Minnesota (0-3, 2-5) built on field
goals of 52, 23, 32, 50 and 33 yards by Adam Bailey.
Minnesota's Crawford Jordan was called for pass
interference on a third-down pass, giving Penn State a
first down at the Gophers' 6. Enis, who ran for 112
yards, scored on the next play to make it 15-10.
No. 11 OnIo ST. 31, INDIANA 0
Michael Wiley ran for one touchdown and threw for
another and Ohio State's defense did not allow Indiana
inside the Buckeye 30 in a 31-0 victory.
Clinton Wayne added a 38-yard interception return
for a touchdown as I11th-ranked Ohio State (2-1, 6-1)
bounced back from its loss last week to Penn State.
Ohio State, which piled up 432 yards of offense, held
Indiana (0-4, 1-6) to 179 total yards, including 35 yards
on 32 rushes.
PURDUE 45, No.24 WISCONSIN 20
Ed Watson ran for 'three touchdowns and Billy
Dicken threw for three as Purdue defeated No. 24
Wisconsin 45-20, extending its longest winning streak
since 1980 to five games.
Purdue (3-0, 5-1) took control early while accumulat-
ing 353 yards in the first half. Dicken completed two
scoring strikes in the first half as the Boilermakers built
a 28-3 advantage.
Wisconsin (3-1, 6-2) was seeking to win a seventh
consecutive game for the first time since 1912.
Scoring summary.
First Quarter
No Scoring
Second Quarter
Iowa - Banks, 53-yard run
(Bromert kick), 1:31
Mich - Streets, 15-yard pass from
Griese (Baker kick), 10:07
Iowa - Burger, one-yard run
(PAT failed), 12:33
Iowa - Dwight, 61-yard punt return
(Knipper from Sherman for
two-point conversion),
15:00
BOMBER
Continued from Page 113
This was a team that was faced
with legitimate adversity and a criti-
cal deficit against a tough opponent
for the first time all season.
Not only that, but this team - not
the offensive juggernaut that it was a
few years ago - was 14 points in the
hole to an Iowa bunch that Carr indi-
cated earlier in the week as the "most
explosive team we've faced" and
playing uncharacteristically sloppy
ball for the first time all season.
And to top it all off, a potential
dagger-in-the-heart was delivered by
Tim Dwight's punt return for a
touchdown on a play that as sup-
posed to be just a running out of the
clock.
In recent years past, when down a
significant amount to a ranked team,
Michigan typically rolled over and
played dead. Never did the
Wolverines come out of lockerroom
like a team possessed and on a mis-
sion.
"Coach Carr told us to keep fight-
ing and believe in one another," said
linebacker Sam Sword, whose inter-
ception in the final minute sealed the
son don't have the same effect as
hearing a graduating Michigan class
never going to a Rose Bowl.
And while on a mission of this cal-
iber, a team needs to show it has the
three characteristics of a champion
and Michigan showed that by shrug-
ging off adversity Saturday.
"Adversity is part of being," Carr
said. "It's part of life. This experi-
ence with dealing with it in a posi-
tive way has to help us."
The test for the third component of
a champion will come next week, in
Michigan's "Biggest Game of the
Year" of the week. That component
is maintaining focus.
There's no doubt that the
Wolverines will be prepared both
emotionally and physically to play
Michigan State. But they could very
easily come in overzealous and not
focusing on the job at hand.
"There's a lot going on during the
game, a lot of trash talking," Charles
Woodson said. "There's a lot of peo-
ple who know each other because a
lot of them are from the Detroit area.
So there's going to be a lot of people
talking noise."
We will know if Michigan is
focused coming into East Lansing if
Up next
Who: Michigan State (2-1 Big Ten, 5-
Where: Spartan Stadium, East Lansin
When: Oct. 25, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Series: Michigan leads all-time 58-26-
The Spartans were upset victims Satu
Evanston, ruining a chance for a 6-0
The game will be far from meanins
Michigan quarterback Brian Griese sa
they're going to be ready to play. The
last years' game, 45-29, but the Spar
Spartan Stadium. The last time both t
No. 21 Michigan State, 10-7 in East L
State will be gunning for the fifth-rank
HAWKEYES
Continued from Page 1B0
Dwight, one of the league's to
receivers, caught one pass for seve
yards under the coverage ofAll-Americ
cornerback Charles Woodson. Mat
Sherman, the most efficient quarterbac
in the league, threw three interception
and finished 8-for-21 for 86 yards and n
touchdowns.
Though Banks was held to just 8
yards rushing by Ohio State and star line
backer Andy Katzenmoyer two Ak
ago, he said the Wolverines' defense wa
"definitely a lot faster. They have guy
flying all over the place. Ohio State ju
has Katzenmoyer.
"We could have killed them. Our lin
and tight ends made some mistakes. W
really let this one slip away."
Iowa coach Hayden ,Fry said th
Wolverines "proved in the second hal
that they have one of the best co g
defenses. We just didn't execute. Yo
shouldn't lose like that."
The Hawkeyes, who lost a fumble -
addition to Sherman's three interception
could muster just seven first downs to th
Wolverines' 21 and converted just two
12 third-down plays. Michiganline
backer Dhani Jones had nine tackle
rrn ~' 1