6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 14, 1998 Syracuse 38 hh28Michigan 28 1 1 i N 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Michigan player of the game: Walter Cross I Although he didn't get a chance to play until after the outcome of Saturday's game was already decided, the Fort Washington, Md., native scampered for a 66-yard gain, scored two touch owns and ended up with 104 yards rushing. Not bad for a freshman who hadn't ever carried the ball before the fourth quarter against Syracuse. '4 1 1 1 _.. I 1 1 1 Stat line: Carries Yards Ave. Long TDs 10 104 10.4 66 2 GAME STATISTICS PASSING Player Brady Henson Totals RUSHING Player C ross Thomas Fargas R. Jackson C. Williams Brady Totals RECEIVING Player Streets Knight Bryant R. Jackson D. Johnson Tuman Walker Thomas Totals C-A 13-24 7-20 2044 Yds TD 104 1 92 1 196 2 Aft 10 9 3 3 2 1 28 No. 5 5 3 2 1 1 1 1 19 Yds 104 33 13 13 3 -7 166 Yds 53 42 43 13 27 16 3 -3 196 No. 6 1 Avg 10.4 3.3 4.3 4.3 .5 .7 5.9 Avg 10.6 8.4 14.3 6.5 27.0 16.0 3.0 -3.0 9.8 Yds 274 13 L9 66 9 5 7 3 0 66 Lg 20 16 16 13 27 16 3 0 27 int 1 0 1 TD 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 TD 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 McNabb topples defense by himself PUNTING Player! Vinson Team KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. C. Williams 2 Fargas 5 Totals 7 Avg Ig 45.7 55 13.0 13 Yds Avg ig 33 16.5 28 96 19.2 26 129 18.4 28 TO 0 0 0 TO 0 0 PUNTRETURNS Player Whitley Totals DEFENSE Player Jordan Hendricks Whitley Sword 0. Jones Weathers Ray Brackins Feazel Patmon Kratus Howard McCall Frysinger Wilson J. Williams Miller Renes Sechler Copenhaver Schanski Foote PASS DEFENSE Player Howard Totals Team Stats First Downs Rushes/Yards Passing Yards Offensive Plays Total Offense Return Yards Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avg Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss No. 3 3 Yds 45 45 Solo 12 8 6 6 4 4 4 3 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 Avg 1,9 15.0 23 I. 23 Ast Tot 1 13 2 10 3 9 By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Editor Right now, there undoubtedly is a McDonald's representative climbing the steps of the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. As the sponsor of the Heisman Trophy, the DAC should be preparing marketing tie-ins for Donovan McNabb and the Heisman, which could come McNabb's way in early December. For McNabb, Saturday was just the first victory for his team. For the 111,012 fans who watched him torch Michigan on Saturday at Michigan Stadium, he is a man of myth- ical proportions. On one play in the first half, McNabb appeared determined to prove that he could outrun a defense - by himself. He began by taking the snap and run- ning to his right in the option formation but saw no openings. So instead he cut back to his left, in search of a hole. Seeing no open receivers and a seeming- ly dead play before him, he sprinted around the left end and created his own. Unfortunately for the Michigan faith- ful, the lone, yet valiant, attempt at a tackle was only partially successful. Instead of nabbing the quarterback, all the Michigan defense could claim on the play was a solitary shoe. It was a bartering lesson gone bad - six points for a shoe. "On that particular play, we were in a blitz," safety Marcus Ray said. "They blocked it pretty well and he had a lot of time to scan the field. Nobody was open - there was great coverage downfield. "He just turned into Superman. He looked around, nobody was there and he took off running." The only thing fictional was the idea that Michigan could contain him. One week after tearing apart Tennessee in a one-point loss, McNabb was eager to 'help' secure a victory. "We have a lot of guys who work hard and my reward to that is to give them the ball," McNabb said. Just two weeks into the seas McNabb is already in midseasW Heisman form, deflecting attention about the award and its impact. "I'm not worried about the Heisman," he said. "I'm just doing what is best for the team." What's best for the team has turned into what's best for McNabb. With his 21-of-27, 233-yard passing performance, his numbers stack up well with the non- Tim Couch portion of the country.* In addition to his suddenly-accurate arm, McNabb has been known to dance his way to a few first downs as well. When he left the game with seven minutes remained in the fourth quarter and the outcome securely in hand, he led all rushers - on either team - with 19 carries for 60 yards. "He's almost impossible to sack with a four-man scheme," Lloyd Carr said. This game took on added importance for McNabb with its proximity to3 hometown in a Chicago suburb. Fifteen of McNabb's relatives came to Ann Arbor to watch a live showing of the powerful Syracuse offense. While McNabb certainly held his own on Saturday, the entire concept of the option baffles the Wolverines. "I think the option causes us some problems," Ray said. "The past two quar- terbacks we played hurt us a little bit actually a lot. If Eastern runs the opti next week, we'll have to find a way to stop it." McNabb's proficiency at running the option offense has developed over four years at the helm of the Orangemen. "Donovan McNabb is one of the great quarterbacks we've seen;" Carr said. "I hope we don't have to see him again." The next time Michigan may see him is when it comes time for a McNabb burger at McDonald's - which,* course, comes with a little shake. 7 7 7 5 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 TD 0 0 IMt 0 0 Lg 0 0 Bmp 1 I NUCH 16 28/154 196 72 350 174 20/44/1 7/41.0 0/0 10/78 21:57 Syr 27 55/190 243 83 433 32 22/28/0 5/38.4 4/1 4/50 38:03 Photos by WARREN ZINN/Daily ABOVE: Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb left members of the Michigan defense in the dust all afternoon on Saturday, racking up 60 yards rushing and 233 yards passing, BELOW RIGHT: Wide receiver David Terrell looks back as a pass sails uncaught. PASSING Mcabb M. Williams Totals RUSHING Player McNabb Mungro McIntosh K. Johnson Brown Konrad M. Jackson Sudano M. Williams Totals RECEIVING Player K. Johnson Konrad Spotwood Brominski M. Jackson Woodcock Daniel Totals C-A 21-27 1-1 2228 Yds TO 233 3 10 0 243 3 lt 0 0 0 TD 1 0 0 1 Syracuse offense tears through Blue Att 19 11 3 5 5 1 1 2 55 No. 6 5 4 3 2 1 I 22 Yds 60 41 31 21 Avg 3.2 5.1 2.8 7.0 L9 17 13 9 9 By Sharat Raju Daily Sports Editor PUNTING Player Dunkin KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. K. Johnson 1 McIntosh I Total 2 DEFENSE Player Bullock Gibbs Poles Greenwood McIntosh Byrd Nash Coleman Dinkins Simpkins O'Neil Klaus Pettijohn Banks J.R. Johnson PASS DEFENSE Player Int TD Byrd 1 Poles 0 McIntosh 0 Nash 0 16 12 5 0 Michigan and Syracuse are as differ- 8 8.0 8 0 ent in offensive ideologies as two sides 6 6.0 6 0 -11 .5 1 0 . of a coin. 190 3.5 17 0 And when that coin fell during the opening toss and Syracuse chose cor- Yds Avg Lg TO rectly, the Orangemen didn't hesitate. 78 1. 37 1 59 11.8 26 2 They knew they wanted the ball. Why 26 6.5 10 0 defer until the second half when they 21 10.5 14 0 could go ahead and score right away? 10 10.0 10 0 That's just what they did. They scored 243 I 37 3 right away - a touchdown following a 4:56 drive. And they scored. And scored. No. Yds Avg Lg And scored again. 5 192 38.4 46 The Orangemen threw an amazing amount of offensive packages up to the Yds Avg g TD line - never the same one twice during 20 20.0 20 0 that first drive. They lined up four wide 28 14.0 20 0 receivers on one down, and put three backs in the backfield on the next. Solo Asst Tot Sometimes Syracuse would run the 9 2 19 option. Other times, Donovan McNabb 6 0 6 would drop back to pass. 3 3 6 Contrast this with Michigan's offense 4 0 4 - never known for much diversity or 3 0 3 risk-taking in play calling - which did- 2 1 3 n't score until 46 seconds left in the first 2 0 2. half. 1 1 2 hl 1 0 1 During one series at the beginning of 1 0 1 the second quarter, the Wolverines hand- 1 0 1 ed the ball off to tailback Anthony Thomas four consecutive times and Yds Liw 5rk passed to him the fifth time. The 0 0 0 Wolverines punted shortly thereafter. 0 0 2 "We're not a good offensive team," 0 0 1 Michigan coach Lloyd Carr admitted. "We can't run the ball." Again in the fourth quarter, Michigan tailback Walter Cross rushed three straight times, resulting in a punt. After a subsequent Syracuse punt, the Wolverines gave the ball to Cross six consecutive times. This time, the logic prevailed thanks in part to Cross' 66- yard gallop to the five yard line. But that was an exception to the rule Saturday. Essentially, Michigan's unimaginative offense was a big part of the entire team collapse. Syracuse, on the other hand marched up and down the field against the first- string defense, dragging along Michigan as if it were a rag doll tied to the back of a moving truck. "The offense did a tremendous job of controlling the ball and putting points on the board," Syracuse assistant George DeLeone said. The final line on McNabb was 22 for 27 with 233 yards passing and 60 yards rushing. But the biggest lift McNabb got was from his receivers. Dropped passes were few and far between. They made sure they caught the wide-open ones - which were in abundance. "I just tried to spread the wealth amongst the receivers," McNabb said. McNabb passed to seven people, hit- ting fullback Rob Konrad with two touchdown strikes. Michigan's numbers, inflated by the fourth quarter's offensive explosion, looked pretty bad midway through the game. Fans looked up at the new score- boards and saw that Michigan had fewer yards rushing than Syracuse had points, at one juncture of the game. I I THRASHED Continued from Page 18 they carried a 4-4 record. Combined with last week's loss to Notre Dame, Michigan's slippery slope began with an 0-2 record, the first time since the 1988 season, when a 31-30 loss to No. 1 Miami (Fla.) created the same scenario. In this game, Michigan scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter - garbage time as far as this outing was concerned - to make the final tally appear respectable. But respectable hardly covers the first three quarters, as the 'talented' Michigan offense mustered just one touchdown. com- blocked and tossing an interception. The offense's ineptitude troubled Carr to no end. "We're not a good offense," Carr said. "We can't run the ball." Obviously, Carr is speaking from experience. Michigan finished the first half with 37 yards rushing - total - with 25 coming from Anthony Thomas. The running attack's lack of production was hampered as Clarence Williams left early in the game with a bruised back. At quarterback, the only bruises may be to the leader's confi- dence. Carr played quarterback roulette in the game, pulling starter Tom Brady twice - the first instance coming halfway through Minor signs of life came with Carr's decision to insert Henson for the second time, with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter. Henson led three scoring drives in the final quarter - albeit mostly against second-string Syracuse defenders - to close the gap on the Orangemen and the final margin. In that final flurry, freshman Walter Cross broke out r Michigan's first long run of the season, scampering 66 yards to set up one of the scores. Cross ended the game as Michigan's leading rusher with 10 carries for 104 yards - an impressive statistic considering he didn't even touch the ball until -the fourth quarter. Despite praise for Cross and the late-minutes offense, Carr .