The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 20, 1997 - 5B Griese shows poise, tsafter terrible 1st half GAME STATISTICS PASSING Player Sherman Totals RUSHING Player A Banks Burger Dwight Sherman Totals C-A 8-21 8-21 Att 19 4 1 7 31 By John Leroi Daily Sports Editor Two months ago, people groaned when he was named Michigan's starting quarterback. Last week, he was a hero. Last year, after leading the Wolverines' to a 13-9 win over Ohio State, everybody loved him. In 1995, lots of people hated him. After throwing for two second-half touchdowns and running for another in Michigan's 28-24 come-from-behind win over Iowa, Brian Griese was Michigan's savior. But, in the first half, Griese's three interceptions had at least one person wishing he was dead. That's right - three interceptions after throwing just one in the Wolverines' first five games. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr must have had thoughts of yanking Griese after such a poor performance. "Are you crazy?" Carr snapped at the question. "But, I was going to kill him." Death threats and all, it was just anoth- er day at work for Griese. He's pretty much seen it all in his five years at Michigan. He's played well and he's played poorly. The first half certainly was not Griese's best performance. Two of his three interceptions turned into Iowa touchdowns. At least two other passes were poorly thrown. Michigan was moving the ball on the Hawkeyes, but could muster just seven points thanks to stupid penalties, a fumble and Griese's three mistakes. Nothing was going really well for the Wolverines and they found themselves down, 21-7, at halftime. Forget an unde- feated season. Forget a Big Ten title. Forget the Griese for president cam- paigns. "Absolutely my worst half of football since I've been here,' Griese said. But with the fans on his back and his coach planning his funeral, he didn't fold. A younger Griese may have. Three interceptions and a devastating first half make even the steadiest of quarterbacks lose their confidence. But Griese has been around the proverbial block, and much to Carr's delight - but not surprise - Griese showed the poise that made him Carr's choice as the Wolverines' starter. Griese orchestrated two third-quarter touchdown drives to even the score at 21. He tossed a nifty 10-yard pass to Russell Shaw on third down to cap the first drive, then dove into the end zone himself from a yard out on fourth down after his running backs couldn't quite make it. Then, he lead the Wolverines on a 77- yard clock-eating drive capped by a two- yard touchdown toss to tight end Jerame Tuman. No matter how dazzling Griese was in the third, the game-winning touchdown drive was most impressive. "That's why Brian Griese returned to school," Carr said, "to lead us on drives like that." Griese looked like a leader, shaking off a terrible first half and playing a phe- nomenal second. Not many quarterbacks could have pulled that off, and they are RECEIVING Player No. Banks 2 Gibson 2 Burger 2 Knipper 1 Dwight 1 Totals 8 PUNTING Player Baker Yds 134 Yds 84 Yds 86 86 s Avg 5.2 2.5 2 -2.0 3 -0.9 4 3.3 sAvg 5 17.4 L 15.5 4 2.0 ) 9.0 L 7.0 610.8 TD 0 0 Lg 53 7 0 4 53 L9 30 22 6 9 7 30 No. Yds Avg 8 346 43.3 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds Dwight 2 82 Carter 1 26 Gibson 1 10 Total 4 118 PUNT RETURNS Avg 41.0 26.0 10.0 29.5 Avg 26.6 13.0 9.0 29.5 7 71 2E 1C 72 L4 6 7i lrt 3 3 TD 1 1 0 0 2 T 0 0 0 0 0 0' Lg 52 9 TD 2 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 g TD 1 1 3 0 9 0 2 0 Tot 12 11 10 8 8 7' 6 3' 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 i WARRENI- NN/D Michigan quarterback Brian Griese saw only one way into the end zone on this fourth-quarter drive - and that was over the top of the defense. Griese's touch- down tied the game at 21 and sparked Michigan to the 28-24 triumph. the ones who are able to usually end their seasons on New Year's Day. "That was the toughest game that I've ever had to play," Griese said. "But I knew sooner or later I was going to have to play in one of those games. Everything wasn't going to always go right for me." Forget playing like a good quarter- back, Griese proved he was much more: an effective leader. He accepts blame when he messes up. He learns from his mistakes and for the first time in his career, nothing is rattling him, not even the worst half of his life. "I knew at that point it was up to me," Griese said. "We were down because of me and I knew I had to lead us back. Nobody else was going to do it but me. "I was tested and anytime somebody's in that situation, you learn something about their character. But I said to myself that I was I was never going to get down. I know I can play this game" Player Dwight Slattery Collins Total DEFENSE Player Cooks Thigpen DeVries Hughes Kramer Clark Klein Gibson English House Boilers Peterson Atkins Bowen Knipper No. 3 1 1 4 Yds 80 13 9 118 Solo 9 6 10 8 7 5 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Asst 3 5 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 McCormick Dull Miller Thein LaFleur 0 ,railI) PASS DEFENSE Player Int Yds Atkins 1 13 Gibson 1 64 Cooks 1 15 IOWA SCHEDULE Lg Brk-up 13 1 64 0 15 0 TD 0 0 0. Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 18 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 15 Nov. 22 NORTHERN IOWA TULSA Iowa State ILLINOIS Ohio State Michigan INDIANA PURDUE Wisconsin NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA W 66-0 W 45-16 W 63-20 W 38-10 L 7-23 L 24-28 ',falling 19-17 to Northwestern in igan vs. 6-0 Michigan State matchup. 4r. "It's the state championship," No matter what their record is, ie a good team." The Wolverines won ' prevailed on Michigan's last trip to s were ranked, No. 5 Michigan edged ng. Starting today, No. 15 Michigan Volverines. blocked punt. There was a fumble by. C Howard, who sustained a rib injury ofue play and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. And there were problems with the offense line, which allowed five sacks for the game. And after Dwight, the nation's leading punt-returner last season, snaked through a-field of blue for his touchdown, the Wolverines left the field to a hearty round af boos. "Coach Carr asked us, Is there any man here who doesn't think we can 4"' Ray said. "Nobody said a word." j The formula for a comeback was sim- ple, said Tuman, who had seven recep- tions for 85 yards. "We know what we're apable of doing when we execute," he said. "No matter what the score, we're tll in the game." So after halftime, Carr grabbed Griese n the sideline. Tuman said no one was iown on Griese, who had thrown one n rception all season previously, 'tause you can't expect perfection very time out.' But Carr made it simpler hatr that- "This is why you are here," Carr told 3riese. "This is your time. Bring us back. Fave fun,.but bring us back." Griese then hit wide receiver Russell Thaw froni 10 yards out for a touchdown HOME GAMES IN CAPS Much to Michigan's chagrin, Iowa wide receiver/kick return- er Tim Dwight proved elusive throughout the entire game. Dwight returned a punt for a touchdown at the end of the first half and returned a second- half kickoff for a 72- yard gain. SARA STILLMAN/Daily Hawkeyes 'teabroken' ater tough loss At a glance Key Performers For Michigan, Anthony Thomas car- ried 21 times for 129 yards to lead the Wolverines. Tight end Jerame Tuman caught seven passes, includ- ing two for touchdowns and safety Marcus Ray intercepted two passes. For Iowa, wide receiver Tim Dwight totaled 162 yards in punt and kickoff returns, including a 61-yard return for a touchdown as the first half expired. Key Play With Iowa up, 24-21, in the fourth quarter, Michigan drove from its own 30-yard line to the Iowa two-yard line. On third-and-goal, Brian Griese faked a hand-off and rolled right, connecting with Jerame Tuman in the end zone. Kraig Baker's kick put the Wolverines up by four with 2:55 remaining in the game. Big Ten Standings Team Conf. Overa Michigan 3-0 6-0 Penn State 3-0 6-0 Purdue 3-0 5-1 Wisconsin 3-1 6-2 Ohio State 2-1 6.1 Michigan State 2-1 5-1 Iowa 1-2 4-2 Northwestern 1-3 3-5 Minnesota 0-3 2-5 By John Leroi Daily Sports Editor So what if Michigan buried the Hawkeyes statistical- ly? So what if Michigan's defense played better than Iowa's? The Hawkeyes still felt they should have won. They capitalized on Michigan turnovers and had a 24- 21 lead in the fourth quarter. After blowing a 14-point lead, Iowa was devastated. "Frankly, I don't know what to say to my players because they're just heart-broken right now," Iowa coach Hayden Fry said. "Its just a shame to lose like that. I guess it just wasn't meant to be." Michigan shut down the Hawkeyes, holding them to 101 yards rushing - with 53 coming on one play - and 86 yards passing. But the Hawkeyes converted two Michigan turnovers into touchdowns and Tim Dwight returned a punt for a score and setup Iowa's go-ahead field goal with a 72-yard kickoff return. Iowa's special teams outgained their offense, amass- ing 220 yards in punt and kick returns and 92 more on interceptions returns. The Hawkeyes' offense could muster just 187 --53 which came on one run by Tavian Banks and 47 on Iowa's last drive. Dwight set up two and Iowa field goal and scored a touchdown on the last play of the first half with a 61- yard punt return. Both times, Michigan blew its kick coverage, a fact that doesn't please Carr. "Obviously we have some things to work on from that standpoint," Carr said. Bic TEN'S BEST?: The final score would indicate the Michigan defense didn't play as well in its first five games., but that wouldn't paint an accurate picture. The Wolverines defense may "The offensive line didn't execute," Banks explained. "The tight ends were jumping offsides. Its tough, but guys got to show up to play on Saturday. "You can talk the talk in practice, but you have to be ready to play on Saturday." No DICE: Michigan held up its end of the bargain, but Michigan State ruined the chance for two undefeated teams meeting in East Lansing next weekend. Anwawn Jones blocked Chris Gardner's 28-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left, earning Northwestern a 19-17 upset of the No. 12 Spartans. So the intra-state matchup of undefeateds is history, along with all the excitement, but don't think that means the next week's game is now meaningless. "I don't know what Michigan State is doing right now," Griese said after Michigan's win at about halftime of the Michigan State game. "But its going to be a great game no matter what their record is"