4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 19, 1998

Michigan
N'western

12

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
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1

Michigan player of the game: Justin Fargas
Although he's from Encino, Calif,, Fargas had no problem running through
the slop on Ryan Field. He only gained 74 yards on 15 carries in his first five
games, but had a breakthrough game in the victory over the Wildcats.

6

Stat line:

Att. Yds.

Avg.
3.9

Long
27

TD
0

31

120

0

MICH IGAN

Fargas goes far to help 'M'

cut through the mud

PASSING
Player
Brady
Totals,

GA
12-20
1220

Yds TO
139 1
139 1

RUSMING
Player Aft
Frgas 31
Shea 2
Cross 1
C~Williams 3
Brady 7
Totals 44
RECEIVING
Player No.
Tuman 3
Streets 2
0. Terrell 2
Knight 2
C. Williams 2
M.Campbell 1
Totals 12
PUNTING
PlayerI
Vinson
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Schanski 1
Fargas 1
Totals 2

Yds
120
6
3
-9
118
Yds
27
41
26
22
14
9
139
No.
3
3
Yds
12
28
40
Yds
12
3
15

Avg
3.9
3.0
3.0
-0.7
-1.3
2.7
Avg
9
20.5
13
11
7
9
11.6
Yds
141

L9
27
4
3
4
3
27
L9
10
30
18
14
13
9
30

t
0
0
TO
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
1
0
0
0
0
1

Avg ig
47.0 52
47.0 52

By Sharat Raju
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON - Late in the fourth
quarter, with Northwestern within strik-
ing distance, Michigan had the ball
around midfield. It was third down and
one yard to go and 3:41 left in the game.
The Wildcats had just used their final
time out and trailed by just six points.
If they could just hold the Wolverines
on this play, they would have an oppor-
tunity to go for the victory on a final
drive.
Michigan tailback Justin Fargas took
the same spot he had for most of the
night, about five yards behind quarter-
back Tom Brady in the backfield with
his hands on his knees.
The snap and the give to Fargas up the
middle. Fargas in the air. Fargas hit
while in the air. Fargas upside down.
Fargas flipping. Fargas landing.
Measurement ... first down, Michigan.
Gain of two.
"Sometimes when you're running the
ball, your instincts take over," Fargas
said. "That's all that was."
The play virtually crushed
Northwestern's chances for winning the
game. The freshman tailback did similar
all game long - he crushed the
Wildcats with his rare combination of
death-defying feats running and blazing

speed. Fargas sprinted for 120 yards on
31 carries through the quagmire that was
Ryan Field on Saturday.
"We needed a guy that can run the
football without turning it over"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Justin
had some opportunities earlier in the
season and he's getting better. And in
those conditions, that kid showed a lot."
Fargas had only carried the ball 15
times for 74 yards all season before
Saturday's game. He was not even sup-
posed to be the primary or secondary
tailback, but third on the depth chart.
But Anthony Thomas did not make
the trip to Evanston, sidelined with an
ankle problem, bumping Fargas to No. 2
on the depth chart. Starting tailback
Clarence Williams was unproductive in
the mud early in the game, bumping
Fargas to the No. 1 guy.
The mud did not seem to effect
Fargas. Although he's from Encino,
Calif., Fargas said the slop did not both-
er him. He managed to get up to top
speed in a matter of seconds. He also
held on to the slippery pigskin, never
fumbling, though there were 10 fumbles.
"I enjoy all the (weather) conditions,"
Fargas said. "This is Big Ten football.
This is why I came out here from
California to play in all sorts of condi-
tions and play physical football.

Whether it's dry or rainy, I want to be
ready to run."
The 6-1, 185-pound tailback has
shown that he is perhaps one of the most
durable players for the Wolverines. Not
only did he carry the ball 31 times in dri-
ving rain, taking repeated licks from
Northwestern linebacker Barry Gardner,
he returned kicks and played on kickoff
and punt coverage teams.
As a kick returner, Fargas fielded the
only one that reached him - after bob-
bling it a little bit - and ran 28 yards,
the best Michigan return of the day. He
was even in on a tackle on kickoff cov-
erage.
Get this guy an oxygen tank.
"He made a statement and I think he's
proven that he can be part of our offense
as we head down the stretch," Carr said.
Fargas, regarded as the best tailback
recruit in the country before the season
started by several recruiting magazines,
might prove to be another in a long line
of standout Michigan running backs. If
so, then Saturday's game was a coming-
out party for the freshman.
"If you've been here for any length of
time you'll realize that a lot of great run-
ning backs came through here,"
Michigan senior offensive lineman Jon
Jansen said. "And he compares right up
there with the best of them."

Avg t9
12 12
28 28
20 28

TD
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0

PUNT RETURNS
Player
K~night
Patmon
Totals
DEFENSE
Player
Sword
1. Gold
Hendricks
Hall
J. Williams
Patmon
Renes
A. Jordan
W. Peterson
Whitley
M. Campbell
Feazell
G. Brooks
Weathers
Totals
PASS DEFENSE
Player
Sword
Weathers
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.
2
s
3

Avg
6
3
6

L9
7
3
7

Solo
9
6
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
2,
1
1
1
38

Aest
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4

Tot
10
7
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
42

WARREN ZINN/Daily
Justin Fargas became Michigan's primary rusher against Northwestern with
Anthony Thomas out of the lineup. Fargas carried 31 times for 120 yards.

Vinson' s best game' wins
field position for Michigan

106

lEM
0
0
0

Yds
0
0
0

i
0
0
0

Brkup
1
1
2

TD
0
0
0

MICH
18
44/118
139
64
257
55
12/20/0
3/47.0
5/2
5/31
31:56

NU
9
31/71
156
55
191
102
X3/24/0
6/36.3
5/1
8/89
28:04

NORTHWESTERN

PASSING
Pla r
Holtman
0. Bates
Totals
RUSHING
Player
0. Anderson
B: Marshall
S. Bennett
0. Bates
Team
Hoffman
Totals

C-A
13-23
01
13-24

Yd 70
50 0
156 0

Aft
17
2
1
4
1
6
31

RECEIVING
Player No.
0. Bates 8
S. Bennett 2
Tante 1
Burden 1
0. Anderson 1
Totals 13
PUNTING
PlayerI
Standning
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
S. Bennett 1
S. Simmons 1
Fordenwalt 1
Totals 3
DEFENSE
Player
Gardner
Blackmon
Dyra
N. Harris
Emmerich
M. Nelson
Letts
Missouri
Buck
M. Jones
J. Collins
T. Schmidt
S. Simmons
Hodge
Wilkerson
Totals
PASS DEFENSE
PlayerhIt
Wilkerson 0
Blackmon 0
Totals 0

Yds
52
3
2
1
.5
16
Yds
112
9
22
8
5
156
No.
6
6
Yds
22
52
18
92
Sobo
14
6
5
4
4
4
2
2
1
2
1
1
0
0
47
Yds
0
0
0

Avg
3.1
1.5
2.0
-.3
5
-2.7
11
Avg
14
4.5
22
8
5
12

L9
2
2
4
-5
0
17
L9
40
7
22
8
5
40

lnt
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TO
0
0
0
0
0
0

By Jim Rase
Daily Sports Editor
Coaches say it all the time, but to be honest,
nobody really believes them.
Lloyd Carr says it all the time, but it's usually
dismissed by most who hear it.
Carr and others in his profession love to harp
on the importance of the punting game - but to
the average know-it-all fan, to the Monday morn-
ing quarterback, punts are little more than a frus-
trating necessity that serve as proof of bad play-
calling (or bad offense).
And this year, against Michigan, a 30- to 40-
yard punt has often been the opposition's best
offense.
But on Saturday, the punting game - the punt-
ing game, not the punt-return game - was huge
for the Wolverines.
One punt, in particular, went a long way toward
winning the game. Jason Vinson's 52-yard fourth
quarter bomb dropped the Wildcats to their own
one yard line and eventually resulted in a safety.
Three feet farther, and it would have been a
touchback. And Northwestern would have had
some much-needed breathing room on what
turned out to be its final possession of the game.
But as it played out, Vinson's boot was the
defense's best friend, the offense's worst night-
mare, the oh-so-rare Perfect Punt.
Vinson, whose athleticism has bailed the
Wolverines out more than a few times in the past
two years, received high praise from Lloyd Carr.
"Jason Vinson probably had his best game
since he's been at Michigan," Carr said. "And he's
been very consistent this year, too. But under
those conditions, with the mud and all, and at that
point in the ballgame - Jason did a great job."
For the game, Vinson averaged 47 yards on
three punts.
WE DO NOT DEFER: The general rule, in foot-
ball, is that you defer. That's just the way it's usu-
ally done.
If you win the coin toss, you defer your choice
until the second half. The result is, most often,

that you end up kicking off, but at the start of the
second half, you get to choose - and you usual-
ly choose to receive. Right? Wrong.
The Wolverines won the toss yesterday, but
Lloyd Carr elected to start the game by kicking to
Northwestern. That's different than deferring the
choice - because by choosing to kick, the
Wolverines gave the second-half choosing right*
to the Wildcats.
As a result, the Wildcats received to start both
halves.
"1 debated all day long about what to do if we
won the toss," Carr said. "Normally, I like to
defer, because I like the ball at the start of the sec-
ond half. But in this game, the way it was. raining,
and the way our defense has played - I just made
up my mind that it was gonna be a field-position
game.
"So I decided to kick off, and I think it was the
right decision."
THE JURY'S STILL OUT: One of the less visible,
indirect matchups of Saturday's game involved a
pair of linebackers - on opposite teams.
Sam Sword has led the Wolverines in tackles in
each of the past two seasons. He's a fifth-year
senior, a co-captain, the leader of his defense.
Barry Gardner has led Northwestern in tackles
in each of the past two seasons. He led the Big Ten
last year, and leads it again this year. He's a fifth-
year senior, a two-time captain, the leader of his
defense.
So Saturday offered an interesting opportunity
to chart two of the Big Ten's top linebackers in the
same game.
"As a whole, I thought our defense played a
heck of a ballgame," Gardner said. "Hats off to
Michigan, they played well too, but that game
could have gone either way. You have two teams
out there playing in the same elements."
No, Sword and Gardner never really played
against each other, since they were never on th
field at the same time, but it's fun to pretend these
things matter.
Gardner won, 15 to 10.

Yds Avg ig
218 36.3 41
218 36.3 41

Avg
22
82
18
30.7

L9
22
52
18
52

MAt
1
2
0
1
1
0
2
1
2
0
0
0
0
1
1
12

TD
0
0
0
0
Tot
15
8
5
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
59
TD
0
0
0

WARREN ZINN/Daily
Michigan quarterback Tom Brady played a sound game against Northwestern, making sure the football
got to the Wolverines' running backs safely.

c

Michigan punches out another muddy Big Ten victory

I

I J l , N.

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Lag
0
0
0

rkUp
2
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Want to voice your opinion about
NMichigan football or the Daily's
coverage? E-mail the football writers
at dazy.football@umich.edu.
Big Ten Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Wisconsin 4-0 7-0
Ohio State 3-0 6-0
Michigan 30 4-2
Penn State 2-1 5-1
Iowa 2-2 3-4
Michigan State 1-1 3-3
Indiana ' 1-2 3-3
Purdue 1-2 3-4
Illinois 1-3 2-5
Minnesota 0-3 3-3
Northwestern 0-4 2-5

WILDCATS
Continued from Page 11
15 times for a season total of 74 yards.
"I just wanted to go out there and do well,' said Fargas, who
seized the opportunity presented by an injury to Anthony
Thomas. Thomas didn't travel with the team to Evanston.
"I just want to play, no matter what the conditions are,"
Fargas said.
The conditions were less than ideal, but they didn't stop
Northwestern's Bates from shining. The Wildcats had 191
yards of total offense - Bates had 128 by himself.
He caught eight passes for 112 yards, but gave the crowd a
bigger thrill by taking five snaps at quarterback to start the
second half. With Bates under center, though, Michigan's
defense was able to stack the line. Bates ran the option four
times for six yards, fumbled once and threw an incomplete
pass. Then he went back to receiver.
Despite the problems presented by Bates, Michigan's
defense set the tone. Sam Sword, as usual, led the way with 10
tackles. Coach Lloyd Carr said Michigan's defense, finally
.-n/, h~alth after etrilclino throuih iniuries. was "imDres-


I1

I ~-