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Orange Bowl
win comes back
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TAMI - Ian Gold jogged to the Michigan sideline
this past Saturday, arm wrapped around a reporter,
face beaming, ready to be engulfed by the quickly
developing mayhem.
"Amazing," Gold said of the football game that had ended
just seconds earlier, a 35-34 heartstop-
ping Michigan overtime victory over
Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl. JOSH
"That was the best ending to a football KLEINBAUM
game ever.
Maybe it wasn't the best ever, but it
was pretty damn close. The final minutes
of the 2000 Orange Bowl included a lit-
tle of everything - a blocked field goal
as time expired in regulation, a one-play
touchdown drive for Michigan when
quarterback Tom Brady found a wide-
open Shawn Thompson, a two-play APoCALYPSE
Alabama touchdown drive when NOW
Crimson Tide quarterback Andrew Zow
took advantage of a defensive mismatch - reserve line-
backer Eric Brackins was somehow assigned to cover
Alabama wide receiver Antonio Carter - and, finally, a
missed Ryan Pflugner extra point, all of which culminated in
an incredible 35-34 Michigan victory.
In its first game of the new century, Michigan played a
game that was all too fitting to end its last season of the last
one. Not surprisingly, it was Tom Brady, the senior leader
who fought tooth-and-nail just to earn the starting job, who
delivered the win.
In a lackluster first half, Michigan forgot that the rule book
allowed for passes downfield - take away a late 27-yard
touchdown strike to David Terrell, and Brady completed 11
short passes, averaging fewer than five yards each. Combined
with a stagnant running game that mustered just 19 yards on
12 carries, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was forced to go back
to the drawing board, so he seemingly turned in his play book
for a PlayStation controller. More so than any time in his
coaching tenure, he nearly abandoned the running game alto-
gether. And it worked.
In the second half, it took two-and-a-half Michigan drives
before Carr called for a running play. In Michigan's four
third-quarter drives, the Wolverines ran the ball just four
times. The result? Twenty-one points and a 28-28 tie.
No, these are not Bo Schembechler's Wolverines. It's plain-
ly clear that these are Tom Brady's Wolverines.
The second half of this game had something for everyone,
more than making up for the bland first stanza. Thirty-five
third-quarter points - an Orange Bowl record for points\in a
quarter - for those of you who like scoring. Zero fourth-
quarter points - but with the game seemed to ride on every
possession -for those of you who enjoy defense. A spectac-
ular catch by Marquise Walker, diving backwards in front of
his defender to snag the ball at the two-yard line, for those of
you who like the SportsCenter highlight reel. A zillion penal-
ties. an Anthony Thomas fumble, a Hayden Epstein blocked
kick and the Pflugner wide right for those of you who like
sloppy play. And the foursome of Brady, Terrell, Alabama
running back Shaun Alexander and wide receiver Freddie
Milons for those of you who like brilliant play.
But more than anything, this Orange Bowl featured come-
See KLEINBAUM, Page 5B
Michigan wide receiver David Terrell breaks away from Alabama safety Marcus Spencer en route to one of his three Orange Bowl touchdowns. Terrell's Orange Bowl record setting 10
reception performance evoked cheers of "Heisman Trophy" from the hoards of Michigan fans who made the long trip to Miami.
I-errell thinking Heisman after his perfect 10
By Rick Freeman '
Daily Sports Editor
MIAMI - The chants started
before he even got his trophy. Waiting
to get his Orange Bowl most valuable
player trophy after Saturday night's
35-34 Michigan victory, sophomore
wide receiver David Terrell - and
rest of the national TV audience
heard it too.
Ebullient chants of "Heis-man Tro-
phy!" rose from Michigan's student
section, letting the country in on
something Michigan fans have
noticed all year: Dave Terrell is a fast
rising star in this game. and the
Wolverines' fortunes next season
seem to be closely tied to his own.
Terrell will not argue with this sen-
*ent. Showered and smiling after
his three-touchdown evening on
Saturday, Terrell at first tried to duck
questions about his thoughts, but
actually, he was just trying his shoe.
Bent double, he equivocated. But
standing up in the halogen glare of a
high goals," Michigan Coach Lloyd
Carr said. "And I think he's capable
of doing anything."
With a few well-placed perfor-
mances like Saturday's he might be
able to reevaluate his goals again, in
NFL terms.
After a first half in which Michigan
tried and failed to establish its run-
ning game, Carr and his assistants
devised a plan that bordered on blas-
phemy - they abandoned the run-
ning game. No one could block the
Crimson Tide's middle linebackers.
Anthony Thomas, Michigan's
back Gerald Dixon for a 57-yard
touchdown in the third quarter. He
was, simply, Michigan's game plan.
This is, of course, Michigan, home
of three yards and a cloud of dust.
The team that, while ranked num-
ber one in the nation two years ago,
had a six-point lead on Ohio State
with the Rose Bowl on the line, and
was happy to hold off the Buckeyes
with punts. Michigan coaches, who
work in a building named for Bo
Schembechler, do not lightly put a
bowl game in the hands of just any
sophomore wide receiver.
Qi.it ac An1 .-.k.-,r n d ~ rnt - ond
have an NFL destiny, also has an NFL
pedigree. His uncle, Bruce Terrell,
used his position as an assistant with
the Chicago Bears to provide the bud-
ding Huguenot High School star with
workouts he couldn't get anywhere
else. He still tries to find time to work
out with NFL corners. Before his
freshman season, Terrell stayed in
Ann Arbor in Charles Woodson's off-
campus apartment. Woodson, who
left after doing just what Terrell
intends to do next year - winning
the Heisman and a national champi-
onship - took the youngster under
his wing.
"Charles, I want to go up against
you," he said.
"Rookie, you can't go up against
me," Woodson, the fourth pick in the
1998 draft, told the recent high
school graduate. "I think we'll work
out this summer."
But he can try to be like Woodson.
While Carr says the two players are
not as similar as preseason magazines
I will no dont make ~them out to he
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