January 6, 1999 - SportsWednesday - The Michigan Daily - 5B
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Quotable:
"One of the most exciting plays of the season
was that touchdown. Not only because it put us
ahead but because of who caught it."
- Michigan coach Lloyd Carr on DiAllo
Johnson's game-winning touchdown catch,
regarding Johnson s up-and-down career at
Michigan.
By the way..
With Michigan's Citrus Bowl victory in its
first-ever appearance in the Orlando show-
down, the Wolverines are 15-15 all-time in
bowl games.
Lloyd Carr's bowl record is now 2-2 as a
head coach.
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Michigan
Arkansas
45
31
Vols capture first-ever BCS national championship
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - The game to
end all arguments about who's No. 1 in
college football didn't get any this time.
Top-ranked Tennessee claimned the
lisputed national championship
Monday night, capping a perfect season
with a very imperfect 23-16 victory over
Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Volunteers received all 70 first-
place votes in the final Associated Press
media poll. Ohio State was second, fol-
lowed by the Seminoles.
Under the new Bowl Championship
Series format, Tennessee was crowned
nional . champion in the USA
layESPN coaches' poll immediately
a er the game.,
"We had to prove to everybody we
were the No. 1 team in the nation," said
quarterback Tee Martin, who stepped in
for Tennessee folk hero Peyton Manning
and led the Volunteers to their best
record ever, 13-0.
"We had a chip on our shoulders. We
won all our games. We were 12-0 and we
still didn't get our respect."
They have it now. The Volunteers were
only team from a major conference
to finish undefeated, winning their first
national championship since 1951.
This one wasn't easy.
Martin threw two touchdown passes,
including a 79-yarder to Peerless Price
with 9:17 to go to put the Volunteers
ahead 20-9. But the Seminoles (11-2),
despite their own turnover and penalty
problems, wouldn't quit.
fter Jeff Hall kicked a 23-yard field
goal to extend the lead to 23-9 with 6:01
left, Florida State cut the lead to 23-16
on Marcus Outzen's 7-yard TD run with
3:42 left. The play was set up by his 39-
yard pass to Ron Dugans on a third-and-
seven.
Sebastian Janikowski's onside kick
after the score was recovered by Florida
State, but the ball hit the kicker's hand
after it traveled only 7 yards and the
Volunteers took possession.
And when it looked like Tennessee
would score again to put the game out of
reach, linebacker Brian Allen recovered
Travis Henry's fumble at the 10 to give
Florida State one more chance.
Outzen, though, was overmatched in
just his third start. On Florida State's first
play after the recovery, his long pass
intended for Peter Warrick was tipped by
Deon Grant and intercepted by Steve
Johnson, who returned it 20 yards to the
Florida State 45.
The Volunteers ran out the clock, the
sideline emptied and Fulmer ran to mid-
field with his daughters in tow.
"We congratulate Tennessee for the
national championship they deserve,"
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said.
Martin made the most of his opportu-
nity to do what Manning couldn't - win
a national title. The 6-foot-2, 220-
pounder from Mobile, Ala., was 11-of-
18 for 278 yards and two TDs, while
Price caught four passes for 199 yards
and was voted the game's MVP.
"Nobody believed us," Price said.
"I'm happy to be able to make some
plays for my team."
Florida State clearly lacked offensive
punch, and the Volunteers were all over
Warrick, who managed a 51-yard punt
return but caught only one pass for 7
yards.
Outzen was 9-of-22 for 145 yards
with two interceptions, and he was
sacked four times. He also ran 18 times
for minus 1 yard.
Florida State was penalized 12 times
for 110 yards, while Tennessee was
penalized nine times for 55 yards.
It took 15 minutes of sloppy play by
both teams before the Volunteers
warmed up briefly in Sun Devil
Stadium, where a record crowd of
80,407 - many of them in the burnt
orange of Tennessee - showed up.
After a scoreless first quarter that fea-
tured two fumbles, shanked punts, a
missed field goal by the normally reli-
able Hall and 59 yards in penalties,
Tennessee struck for two touchdowns in
25 seconds.
First, Martin hit fullback Shawn
Bryson on a 4-yard touchdown pass.
On Florida State's second play after
the kickoff, cornerback Dwayne
Goodrich stepped in front of Outzen's
pass intended for Warrick and ran 54
yards for a touchdown with 13:40 left in
the half.
Outzen, who stepped in after Chris
Weinke was lost for the season with a
neck injury on Nov. 7, was 4-of-10 for
35 yards in the first half.
Despite eight penalties for 67 yards,
the Seminoles still managed to close the
gap to 14-9 by halftime.
After Derrick Gibson's 43-yard
interception return gave Florida State
the ball at the Tennessee 3, the
Seminoles needed three plays before
fullback William McRay bulled over
from the I with 8:59 left in 'the half.
Janikowski's point-after attempt was
blocked by Shaun Eland.
Janikowski's 34-yard field goal with
1:17 left made the score 14-9 at the half.
AP PHOTO
he
Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin's two touchdown
Volunteers' first national championship since 1951.
passes spearheaded th
Big Ten teams ace bowls, go 5-0
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - If it's not a
team from Michigan beating them on
the field, it's a team from Florida beat-
ing them in the polls. Either way, the
Ohio State Buckeyes keep coming up.
short in their bid for a national champi-
onship.
Two years ago, the Buckeyes pulled
out a late win over undefeated Arizona
State in the Rose Bowl, but had to settle
for No. 2 when Florida beat top-ranked
Florida State for the
national title. l1lr l
Different state,
same result. CONFERENCE
"We gave it our Roundup
best shot," coach
John Cooper said Saturday morning
after Ohio State's 24-14 victory over
Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl.
Three touchdowns in a span of 6 1/2
minutes in the first quarter almost blew
the Aggies out of the Superdome, but
the Buckeyes managed only a chip-shot
field goal the rest of the game.
"We had a fast start, but we missed
some opportunities to put more points
on the board," said Joe Germaine, who
threw an Ohio State bowl-record 38
passes trying.
The Buckeyes had 210 yards rushing,
and wide receiver David Boston, the
Sugar Bowl's MVP caught 11 passes for
105 yards.
No. 9 WISCONSIN 38, No. 6 UCLA
31
Wisconsin felt right at home in the
Rose Bowl - and really made UCLA
wish it was somewhere else.
Ron Dayne ran for 246 yards and a
record-tying four touchdowns Friday in
a 38-31 victory over UCLA, which had
to settle for playing in Pasadena after
losing its shot at the national title.
The sixth-ranked Bruins had hoped
for a trip to Tempe, Ariz., for the Fiesta
Bowl, but a loss to Miami (Fla.) on Dec.
5 gave them a game in their own back
yard instead.
"We thought we were national cham-
pions a month ago," offensive tackle
Kris Farris said.
But their last chance was dashed as
Cade McNown's shotgun pass intended
for DeShaun Foster was intercepted by
Jamar Fletcher. He ran 46 yards down
the Badgers' sideline for a touchdown
and a 38-28 lead.
Dayne showed power up the middle
and speed in the open field against
UCLA's flimsy defense. He carried 27
times and scored on runs of 54, 7, 10
and 22 yards to lead Wisconsin to its
first I I-victory season.
"I got so hyped up after our first
touchdown that I threw up," said Dayne,
who averaged 9 yards a carry despite a
sore shoulder.
PURDUE 37, KANSAS STATE 34
Kansas State really lost the Alamo
Bowl three weeks ago.
That's when the Wildcats' shot at a
national championship vanished -
along with much of their heart.
Unable to recover from the crushing
disappointment of losing in the Big 12
title game Dec. 5, the Wildcats played
most of the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30 as
if they didn't want to be there. And, in
fact, they had said as much leading up to
the game, angry at not getting an invita-
tion to a top-tier bowl.
Unranked Purdue took advantage of
Kansas State's apparent apathy and won
37-34 when Drew Brees quaterbacked
the Boilermakers to an 80-yard touch-
down drive in the final minute. Along
with the game, the No. 4 Wildcats lost
much of the respect they had earned
during the season and probably will fall
out of the top 10 in the final poll.
"Tonight was the culmination of
three weeks of disappointment," Kansas
State coach Bill Snyder said.
PENN STATE 26, KENTUCKY 14
If the Outback Bowl was Tim Couch's
final college game, he won't remember
it as his best.
The Kentucky junior, considering the
prospect of turning pro, threw for 337
yards and two touchdowns but was
unable to solve No. 22 Penn State's
defense in a 26-14 loss Friday.
Couch amassed his Outback-record
yardage total on 30 completions in 48
attempts. But he also threw two inter-
ceptions and was sacked six times after
helping his team to a 14-3 lead.
Penn State, appearing in a New Year's
game for the eighth consecutive season,
maintained its composure and scored
the game's last 23 points.
Courtney Brown led a relentless pass
rush, Anthony King had both Nittany
Lions' interceptions and the defense
only allowed Couch to throw for 107
yards in the second half.
Game progression
1st Quarter
K Jay Feely kicks 28
43 FG.
WM 3, Ark 0
2nd Quarter M 3, Ark 0
QB Clint Stoerner Ark- 10:37
throws 35-yard
TO to WR Michael Ark 7, M 3
Williams.
TB Anthony M - 7:40
Thomas rushes
for 2-yard TD. M 10, Ark 7
LB Ian Gold inter-
cepts a pass and,- Ark -- 5:39
scores 46-yard M 17, Ark 7
TD. M__17,__Ark __7
K Todd LaTourette Ark - 2:12
kicks 42-yard FG.
M 17, Ark 10
Thomas runs for
5-yard TO.
M 24, Ark 10
3rd Quarter M 24, Ark 10
Thomas fumbles M - 11:27
on Ark. 29.
Ark - 9:10
RB chrys
Chukwuma rush- M 24, Ark1
es for 2-yardT0. M - 7:10
QB Tom Brady Ark - 548
throws 24-yard
interception to S M 24, Ark 24
Jeromy Flowers,
chukwuma scores
1-yard TO.
4th Quarter M 24, Ark 24
Stoerner com- Ark - 12:18
pletes 9.yard TO Ark 31, M 24
to TE Joe
Davenport. M - 5:49
Thomas scores M1, Ark
1-yard TD.
Brady hits WR M-22
DiAllo Johnson
with 21-yard TO M 38, Ark 31
strike.
cB James Ark-1:47
Whitley inter- M 45 Ark 31
cepts pass,
returns it 26
yards for TO.
FINAL SCORE M 45, Ark 31
The Former Top 25
How the top 25 teams in The
'Associated Press' college foot-
ball poll fared this week:
No. 1 Tennessee -beat No. 2
Florida State 23-16
No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 8
Texas A&M 24-14.
No. 4 Kansas State lost to
Purdue, 37-34
No. 5 Arizona beat Nebraska 23-20
No. 6 UCLA lost to No. 9
Wisconsin, 38-31
No. 7 Florida beat No. 18
Syracuse 31-10
No. 8 Texas A&M lost to No. 3
Ohio State, 24-14
No. 9 Wisconsin beat No. 6
UCLA, 38-31
No. 10 Tulane beat Brigham
Young 41-27
No. 11 Arkansas lost to No. 15
Michigan, 45-31
No. 12 Georgia Tech beat No. 17
Notre Dame 35-28.
No. 13 Virginia lost to No. 19
Georgia, 35-33
No. 14 Nebraska lost to No. 5
Arizona,;23-20
No. 15 Mchigan beat No. 11
Arkansas, 45-.31
No. 16 Air Force beat
Washington, 45-25
No. 17 Notre Dame lost to No. 12
Georgia Tech; 35-28
No. 18 Syracuse lost to No, 7
Florida, 31-10
No. 19 GeorgI beat No. 13
Virginia, 35-33
No. 20 Texas beat No. 25
Mississippi State, 38-11
No. 21 Oregon lost to Colorado
51-43
No. 22 Penn State beat
Kentucky, 26-14
No. 23 Missouri beat West
Virginia 34-31
No. 24 Miami (Fla.) beat North
Carolina State, 46-23
No. 25 Mississippi State lost to
No. 20 Texas, 38-11
AP PHOTO
Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne ran for a record-tying four touchdowns and 246
in the Badgers' 38-6 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Dayne was named MVP.
Michigan hog-ties Arkansas
Au daA M 0
in final seven j
RAZORBACKS
Continued from Page 1B
a 44-yard Jay Feely field goal. On Michigan's
next drive, Drew Henson took over at quarter-
back.
A bit of excitement followed - Henson
threw behind the line of scrimmage to Johnson,
who then threw back across the field to a div-
Henson - but the result was a third-down
completion and a Michigan punt.
Big tackles by Whitley, on third down, and
James Hall, on fourth down, stalled the
Razorbacks' next drive inside Michigan terri-
tory.
After the Wolverines couldn't move the
ball, Arkansas struck with a 35-yard touch-
minutes, 45-31
Clarence Williams returned the following
kickoff 40 yards, putting the Wolverines in
position for their first touchdown. Streets took
a short Brady pass 33 yards, Williams carried
for 1I on the next play and three plays later,
Thomas went two yards for the score.
Two minutes later, linebacker Ian Gold
picked off a pass and returned it 46 yards for a
touchdown to make the score 17-7.
After Arkansas added a field goal, Brady
moved the Wolverines 69 yards in 1:38. The
result was another short touchdown run by
Thomas, and a 24-10 halftime lead. The second
half was up-and-down, but the end result was
OK by the Wolverines.
"For the program, it gives us great momen-
tum going into next year," said senior Sam
n I s ,-* t: - ,. A---- NAXIDh £...... *k
The schedule
Date Team
Sept. 5 at Notre Dame (36-20, ND)
a. ..
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