48 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 27, 1997
GAME STATISTICS Irvin gives Michigan State
0
i
PASSING
Player
Griese
Totals
C-A
10-17
14.17
Yds
102
102
TD
0
0
mnt
0
0
some offensive firepower
RUSHING
Player Aftt
Howard 21
C. Williams 9
Thomas 12
Floyd 3
Griese 3
Shaw 1
Kapsner 1
Totals 50
RECEIVING
Player No.
Streets 3
Howard 3
Tuman 2
C. Williams 1
Shea 1
Totals 10
UNTING
Player
inson
Yds
110
33
22
11
-1
-1
-1
173
Avg
5.2
3.7
1.8
3.7
-0.3
-1.0
-1.0
3.5
Yds Avg
30 10.0
21 7.0
14 7.0
26 26.0
11 11.0
102 10.2
No. Yds
6 236
Lg
51
10
7
5
2
0
0
51
Lg
20
16
11
26
11
26
Avg
39.3
16
D16
9L9
J)
3)
3 g
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds
C. Williams 2 28
Totals 2 28
PUNT RETURNS
layer No. Yds
haw 1 5
oodson 2 2
otals 3 7
EFENSE
Player Solo
Sword 11
Jones 6
eathers 6
Ray 5
Woodson 3
J. Williams 2
Hendricks 2
Steele 2
Johnson 2
Hall 2
G. Brooks 1
Gold 1
Copenhaver 0
ikson 1
rBrooks 1
Holtry, 1
Bryant 1
Whitley 1
Taylor 1
Brown 1
Peterson 1
Patmon 0
PASS DEFENSE
Player Int Yds
eathers 1 10
Ray 2 36
oodson 2 4
Johnson 1 37
Hendricks 0 0
Hall 0 0
otals 6 87
Avg
14.0
14.4
Avg
>5.0
1.0
2.3
TD
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
rL9
51
g TD
5 0
6 0
g TD
5 0
1 0
5 0
Tot
12
7
7
6
4
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
By Danielle Rumors
Daily Sports Editor
EAST LANSING - A dejected
Sedrick Irvin was dressed in a green
suit and a green print tie when he
walked into the players' press room.
Numerous reporters and television
cameramen backed Irvin into a cor-
ner and badgered him with the same
questions over and over again about
Michigan State's loss to Michigan on
Saturday.
'Are you disappointed?"
"How do you move on from this
loss?"
"How good was that Michigan
defense? "
The sophomore tailback stood in
the corner and took it all in. He
couldn't sneak away.
As one of the best offensive play-
ers on the Michigan State team, the
role of spokesperson is one he must
play, week in and week out.
Saturday's game, the Spartans' sec-
ond loss of the season, destroyed
their Rose Bowl hopes.
But as a team leader and a Spartan
to the very end - the green suit said
it all - Irvin accepted much of the
responsibility for the loss, despite
leading the Spartans in rushing and
receiving with 158 yards of total
offense.
"I'm in that position, I have to do
the things to help my team win,"
Irvin said. "(On Saturday), I had to
look at myself and say, 'We're down,
we're out; Sedrick, what are you
going to do?'
"I didn't care what defense
(Michigan) ran or nothing like that. I
just had to go out there and do the
job."
Despite Michigan's surreal
defense, which has given up just nine
points in the second half all season,
Irvin managed to put up some good
numbers against the Wolverines in
the first half - but not as good as
usual.
He was the only Spartan to gener-
ate some consistent production -
but not as consistently as usual.
Michigan State's offense is built
around Irvin and it stands or falls
around him, too. And since the
Spartans struggled against
Michigan's defense, the offense fell
on Saturday, but without Irvin, it
would have been buried.
Irvin seemed to be on the field for
every drive, and he was out there
until the very end. He carried the
ball 20 times for 81 yards and caught
nine passes for 77. That includes the
fake field goal on Michigan State's
first drive of the game, which gave
the Spartans their only lead of the
game, 7-3.
Michigan State holder Bill Burke
took the snap in field goal forma-
tion, jumped up and passed to Irvin
who broke off the line, down the left
sideline and into the end zone for a
22-yard touchdown reception.
But most of Irvin's offensive pro-
duction happened in the first half.
"1t just so
happened that I
was a marked guy
out there "
- Sedrick Irvin
Michigan State tailback
He had 14 carries for 66 yards and
caught six passes for 75 yards head-
ing into the lockerroom; he was
almost invisible in the third and
fourth quarters.
Michigan's defense came alive in
the second half. The Wolverines
picked off Michigan State quarter-
backs Todd Schultz and Burke five
times (in the second half) and held
the Spartans to just 83 yards of total
offense and Irvin to just 17 yards in
the third and fourth quarters.
"It's frustrating in a way because
you always want to win," Irvin said.
"It just so happened that I was a
marked guy out there and I tried, and
I tried."
Defenses will crack down on one-
man offensive shows, and that was
certainly the case with Irvin on
Saturday.
He was shut down in the second
half along with the rest of the
Spartans.
Irvin had one run for 21 yards
early in the first quarter, but if that
::
AP
Michigan State tailback Sedrick Irvin was left asking what happened after he
rushed for 81 yards and caught 20 passes for 77 yards.
run is subtracted from his rushing
total, he averaged just 3.0 yards a
carry. That was 2.2 yards below his
average coming into the game.
Despite Irvin's struggles, his work
was still enough to keep the few pro-
ductive Michigan State drives alive.
Michigan's defense held the
Spartans to 4-of-15 third-down con-
versions in the game, including three
of eight in the first half, and Irvin
was responsible for converting all
four.
But his work alone was not enough
to put numbers on the board for the
Spartans on Saturday.
"I thought Sedrick competed well
in the game," Michigan State coach
Nick Saban said. "I think he played
hard.
"He didn't have a lot of opportuni-
ties to do things, but he caught some
balls and had some good runs. We
tried to utilize him in different for-
mations today, and he did a good
job."
Last season, Irvin set the
Michigan State freshman rushing
record with 1,067 yards, and h*
ranked eighth in rushing (88.9 yards
per game) and ninth in all-purpose
yards (121.8) in the Big Ten.
He is an All-Big Ten candidate this
season, averaging 98.5 yards per
game, tops on Michigan State, prior
to Saturday's game.
He was ranked 12th in all-purpose
yards (167.2), 16th in punt returns
(13.6 average) and 23rd in the nation
in rushing (98.5 yards per game). 4,
I
1
Asst
1
1
1
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
CONFERENCE
Iowa humiliates Indiana, 62-0;
Illinois continues losing streak
X11
Lg
10
30
4
37
0
0
37
ich
5
173
a2
Brk-up
1
0
0
1
1
1
4
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
leam Stats
First Downs
Rushes/Yards
'assing Yards
ffensive Plays
rotal Offense
Return Yards
Mk
50/1
10
Mich St.
14
29/95
177
67
272
78
IOWA CITY (AP) - Randy Reiners ran for a touchdown
and threw for two in his first start and Tim Dwight scored on
a 92-yard punt return on Saturday to pace No. 18 Iowa to a
62-0 victory over Indiana.
The. Hawkeyes (2-2 Big Ten, 5-2 overall) broke a two-
game losing streak while keeping Indiana (0-5, 1-7) at a
mere six points in four games in October. The Hoosiers, who
have lost 20 of their last 21 Big Ten games, haven't scored a
point in 10 quarters and have gone without a touchdown in
the last 18.
Reiners, a sophomore, filled in for fifth-year senior Matt
Sherman, who had started the previous 32 games but is out
of action for at least two weeks after hurting his right hand
last week at Michigan.
Reiners, who was 8-of-16 for 148 yards, also gave the
Hawkeyes another running threat. He ran well on a variety
of scrambles and option plays, scoring on a 7-yard dash that
made it 42-0 with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter.
No. 9 OHIO STATE 49, NORTHWESTERN 6
Joe Germaine threw three touchdown passes, two to Dee
Miller, in No. 9 Ohio State's 49-6 victory over Northwestern.
Pepe Pearson also scored twice for the Buckeyes, who put
the game away by dominating the third quarter.
Ohio State scored on each of its three possessions in the
quarter, covering a combined 176 yards in 23 plays.
Northwestern had the ball for nine plays in the period, gain-
ing 5 yards.
The victory kept Ohio State (3-1, 7-1) in the running for
the conference title and Rose Bowl bid, although the
Buckeyes remained in fifth place behind Michigan, Purdue,
Penn State and Wisconsin. The defeat eliminated
Northwestern (1-4, 3-6) from postseason contention after
two straight years in bowls.
WISCONSIN 22, MINNESOTA 21
Wisconsin rallied in the fourth quarter for a 22-21 victory
on Saturday, with Ron Dayne's one-yard touchdown with
7:40 remaining accounting for the winning points.
The winning score came two plays after a questionable
28-yard catch by Donald Hayes. Hayes went well out of
bounds while jostling with cornerback Craig Scruggs, then
caught the ball at the Minnesota seven-yard line, apparently
without re-establishing himself inbounds.
The call seemed similar to a bad pass-interference penal-
ty that hurt Minnesota in a 16-15 loss at Penn State last
week. The Big Ten admitted after that game that the official
had made the wrong call.
Wisconsin's rally, its fourth fourth-quarter comeback of
the season, also included Mike Davenport's 38-yard field
goal after Dayne apparently had fumbled the ball away, only
to have an official rule that he was down on the play.
The victory allowed the Badgers (4-1, 7-2) to qualify for
a bowl bid and kept first-year Minnesota coach Glen Mason
(0-4, 2-6) winless in the conference.
No. 22 PURDUE 48, ILLINOIS 3
Billy Dicken threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as
No. 22 Purdue won its sixth straight game and extended
Illinois' losing streak to 13 with a 48-3 victory.
The win guaranteed the Boilermakers (4-0, 6-1) their first
six-win season since 1984, when they finished 7-5 and went
to the Peach Bowl. That was also the last time the team was
nationally ranked.
The Fighting Illini (0-3, 0-7), meanwhile, are still search-
ing for their first win under new coach Ron Turner. The 13-
game losing streak is the second-longest in school history.
The Boilermakers capitalized on numerous mistakes by
the Illini, who turned the ball over seven times. Seventeen of
Purdue's first 24 points came after recovered fumbles or
interceptions thrown by first-time starting quarterback Kirk
Johnson, who finished 14-of-27 for 128 yards with four
interceptions.
The Purdue defense also sacked Johnson seven times,
while Dicken was sacked once.
I,
I
67
275
35
Pomp/Att/Int 10/30/021/38/6
aunts/Avg 6/39.3 6/39.3
umbles/Lost 0/0 0/0
enalties/Yards' 11/75 10/96
ime of Poss 33:22 26:38
ICHIGAN SCHEDULE
ept. 13 COLORADO W 27-3
Sept. 20 BAYLOR W 38-3
Sept. 27 NOTRE DAME W 21-14
ect. 4 Indiana W 37-0'
ct. 11 N'WESTERN W 23-6
ct. 18 IOWA W 28-24
ct. 25 Michigan State W 23-7
ov. 1 MINNESOTA 12:30 p.m.
ov.8 Penn State TBA
ov.15 Wisconsin TBA
bv. 22 OHIO STATE Noon
r '
b
Michigan's six interceptions kept the Spartans off-balance all through Saturday's gant *
Woodson grabs his second interception of the game. His first interception was a one-hi
bounds before falling out-of-bounds.
-OME GAMES IN CAPS
Scorng Summary
Frst Quarter
Mich - Baker, 30-yard field goal,
8:24'
MSU - Irvin, 22-yard pass from
Burke (Gardner kick), 3:39
Second Quarter
Mich -= Griese, one-yard run (Baker
kick), 0:47
Third Quarter
Mich -' Baker, 30-yard field goal,
5:58
LEROI
Continued from Page IS
who picked off two Michigan State
passes (one of which I would say God
had to help him with if I didn't believe
that he was God) and caused another.
How good is Michigan's defense?
The Spartans had no first downs in the
third quarter and by the time
Michigan State could move the sticks
twice, there was just four minutes left
on the clock, and Michigan led 23-7.
The Wolverines still haven't
allowed a point in the fourth quarter
all season and have allowed just three
field goals after halftime.
After Michigan found a way to shut
down Sedrick Irvin, the Spartans did-
n't have a chance. Without Irvin, who
caught a touchdown pass from Burke
on a fake field goal in the first quarter,
Michigan State would have amassed
less than 150 yards of total offense.
For some reason, it takes this
defense a series or two to warm up.
But Michigan's defense is simply phe-
nomenal in the second half. The
Spartans gained just 83 yards after
halftime, and 41 of those came on the
last drive of the game. Attribute that to
defensive speed and a strong desire to
shut out every team they play.
"The defense is playing as good as
you want them to play," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said.
Maybe better.
So even with a predictable offense
that isn't ever going to put 40 points
on the scoreboard, Michigan feels like
it has a shot at the Big Ten title, which
is a convenient way to say "Rose
Bowl" without actually saying it.
If Michigan's defense is good
enough to win games all by itself, it's
good enough to ... well, you know.
"If our defense keeps playing like
this, we can get there," Ray said.
Somebody had to say it.
- John Leroi can be reached via e-
mail atjrleroi@umich.edu.
-7 -..
WOODSON
Continued from Page 1B
junior almost certainly had this game cii
endar as far back as two years ago.
In 1995, as a freshman, Woodson A
a less-talented Michigan State team on i
last trip to East Lansing, 28-25.
The loss hurt Woodson particularly?
Spartans were driving the field for the te
touchdown, the usually sure-handed and1
ing Woodson uncharacteristically
let an interception slip through -
his hands and into the Spartans'
Derrick Mason's.
Instead of trying to knock the
fourth-and-li pass down and
allow Michigan to take over on
downs, Woodson tried to boost
his ever-expanding ego and went
for the interception.
His gaff led to a 22-yard gain
and kept Michigan State's final
drive alive.
"Two years ~ao. we came un here aiun
..... :. e 0.. .U Y.....