6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 4, 1999
-..WOOL
GAME STATISTICS
PASSING
Player
Brady
Henson
Totals
RUSHING
Player
A. Thomas
Cross
Terrell
Askew
Brady
Henson
Drake
Walker
Team
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Knight
Shea
Walker
Terrell
Cross
Johnson
Thompson
Totals
PUNTING
Player
Sargent
Epstein
Team
M I C H I G A N
Offense pulls its
share of weight
C-A
15-25
3-3
18-25
1
Att
23
11
1
4
2
2
2
47
No.
S
4
3
2
1
1
18
N
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Thomas 3
Drake1
Totals 4
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Knight 2
Johnson1
Bellamy 1
Totals 4
DEFENSE
Player
Whitley
Patmon
Gold
Howard
Hendricks
Williams
June
Terrell
Renes
Brooks
Hobson
Foote
Wilson
Rumishek
Jordan
Schanski
Thompson
Sargent
PASS DEFENSn
Player Int
Foote 1
Howard 0
Williams 0
Patmon 0
Hendricks 0
Brooks 0
Totals 1
Team Stats
First Downs
Rushes/Yards
Passing Yards
Offensive Plays
Total Offense
Return Yards
Comp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fiumbles/Lost
Penalties/Yards
Time of Poss
P U
PASSING
Player C-A
Brees 20-4
Segard1-
Totals 21-5
RUSHING
Player Att
Lowe 10
Crabtree 8
Shyne 2
Sutherland 2
Edgerton 1
Brees 5
Totals 28
RECEIVING
Player No.
Daniels 7
Lane 3
Stratton 3
Sutherland 2
Jackson 2
Dawson 1
Tolbert 1
James 1
Crabtree 1
Totals 21
PUNTING
PlayerN
Rogers
Totals
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Shyne 4
Total 4
PUNT RETURNS
Suterland 2
Toals2
Yds
116
38
16
4
2
0
0
-3.0
-2.0
171
Yds
136
52
48
44
11
20
7
318
No.
4
5
Yds
67
21
88
Yds
4
8
7
19
Solo
8
5
5
5
4
2
2
2
1
2
2
0
1
1
1
0
0
Yds
250
68
318
A
5.
3
16
1.
1.
0.
0.
-3
-2
3.
27
13.
16
22.
5.
20.
7.
10.
Yds
150
42
192
A
2
2
t2
A
S4.
TD
2
0
2
.0 391
.5 6
.0 16
.0 10
.0 6
.0 0
.0 3
.0 0
.0 0
.6 39
.0 36
.0 25
.0 26
.5 7
.0 20
'. 7
.2 .56
Avg
f 37.5
42.0
! 38.4
1.0 21
'2.0 28
Ivg L1
2.0
8.0 8
7.0 7
.75 8
Asst
0
2
2
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
int
0
0
0
TD
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
TD
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
39~
42
42
TD
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
0
Tot
8
7
7
5
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
TD
0
0
0
0
0
1 0
3 0
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Editor
Whether or not they had the nick-
name, before Saturday, Michigan's
offense was just as suspect as its sec-
ondary was held up to be. Their rush-
ing game was 80th-best in the nation
after the Wisconsin game, and aver-
aged 117 yards per game -- the
amount they put up in the first half of
Saturday's victory over Purdue.
Tailback Anthony Thomas - who
doubled as Michigan's ground attack
until B.J. Askew and Walter Cross
pitched in Saturday - scored two or
more touchdowns for the third time
this year. Askew scored in the fourth
quarter. And Michigan's offense rarely
faltered, save for a few three-and-outs
early in the second half.
"We went in thinking Purdue was
very good up front,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "If
you would have told me that we were
going to run as well as we did, I
wouldn't necessarily believe that."
But what might be even more
important, the Wolverines didn't try to
force the issue on the ground this
time. When they found holes plugged,
they went to the air..Twice in the first
quarter, Michigan scored on touch-
down passes - the second when Tom
Brady, not known for his mobility,
rolled to his right unprotected and
found Marcus Knight coming across
the field with him.
While the ground game is still con-
sidered dogma in Schemebechler
Hall, it seems that the forward pass is
no longer considered the heresy it
once may have been.
"I think we've got great talent at
wide receiver," Brady said. "They go
out and make plays. If we continue to
do that, we'll be in good shape."
Michigan went to a four-wideout
set several times during Saturday's
game. The package is nothing new,
but may have been prompted by
Michigan's greater depth at wide
reciever than at running back.
"We kind of use it to spread the
defense out a bit, Brady said. "We've
got Dave Terrell, and Marcus Knight,
DiAllo Johnson - I just think you
want your best personnel in there."
Brady thinks the move may also be
part of a larger trend.
"In college football these days, it's
tough to run the ball, because I think
the players are getting so much faster,
and so much bigger on the inside," he
said "If you spread them out, and you
put your fast personnel in there, you
can find a mismatch and get a high-
percentage pass for first down."
No matter the reason for Michigan's
increased offensive efficiency, the fact
remains that few are crediting
Saturday's win to just the defense.
"The defense picked it up a couple
times, but when they scored we had to
go down and score," Brady said. "It
was a total-team win."
And thanks to Michigan's rushing
offense (which racked up 171 yards)
and Michigan's rushing defense
(which held Purdue's ground game to
68 yards) Michigan can be proud once
again. The skewed numbers moved
Michigan's rushing yards-per-game
average back above Purdue's - to 128
yards a game.
"We know we can throw the ball,
but the thing we have to be able to do
to be the team we want to be is to have
a run game," Carr said.
For now, having one better than
Purdue's will have to do. That, and
remembering that Brady outplayed a
Heisman candidate quarterback.
4
Whaa
Yds
0 0
S0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
MICHIGAN
23
47/201
318
75
489
107
18/28/0
5/38.4
3/2
6/40
32:26
R D U E
Brk-up
0
4
2
1
1
1
9
LOUIS BFuWN/Daily
Tailback Anthony Thomas and the rest of the Michigan ground game broke free against Purdue, amassing 171 total yards
rushing against the Boilermakers.
Blue makes statement vs.-Boilers
PURDUE
20
28/108
328,
80
396
99
21/S2/1
6/40.3
3/1
8/51
27:34
A
!9
33
Yds
44
33
7
5
-6
-13
68
Yds
59
77
32
73
31
35
14
9
-2
328
Yds
293
35
328
Avg
4.4
2.9
3.5
2.5
-6
-2.6
2.4
Avg
8.4
25.7
10.7
36.5
15.5
35.0
14.0
9.0
-2.0
15.6
TD
1
0
9
6
6
0
11
11
11
33
17
66
26
35
14
9
0
66
Int
1
0
1
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
PUR DUE
Continued from Page 1B
per game - rush for a season-high
171 yards on the ground.
"We all needed to step it up,"
Michigan fullback Aaron Shea said.
"We needed to prove that we could
run the ball and we did."
Thomas, who was suffocated by
Wisconsin in his previous game,
started off rocky, fumbling the ball
away on the game's second play.
But Thomas bounced back two
drives later, running off left tackle
for 39 yards to set up a 17-yard
touchdown pass from Tom Brady to
Marcus Knight.
That score put the Wolverines up
14-3 and helped set the tone for the
rest of the game.
"I saw the defensive backs bite on
the run fake," Knight said. "I got
open and Brady did a great job of
getting the ball to me."
Knight saw the ball often, catching
five passes for a career-high 136
yards.
Knight broke loose for a 56-yard
bomb from Brady in the fourth quar-
ter, setting up a 10-yard touchdown
run by B.J. Askew - the freshman's
first collegiate touchdown.
While Brees was getting all the
hype coming into the game, he was
outperformed by Brady.
The senior quarterback went 15-
for-25 for 250 yards and two touch-
down passes - an 18-yarder to
David Terrell for Michigan's first
score and the touchdown strike to
Knight.
Brees wasn't nearly as successful,
as a 66-yard bomb to Vinny
Sutherland in the third quarter was
his only scoring pass of the game.
Brees spent his afternoon being
hounded by the Michigan defense.
The Heisman Trophy candidate -
who was sacked once in his previous
four games - was sacked by James
Hall and Victor Hobson.
Brees also fumbled three times
and threw an interception to line-
backer Larry Foote.
"I think it was a total team effort,"
linebacker Ian Gold - who had
seven tackles - said. "We prepared
to shut them down and we pretty
much did."
The secondary had a lot to do with
holding the Boilermakers - wh6
had averaged 41 points per game
to 12 points. Cornerback James
Whitley led the team with eight tack-
les.
"I think our corners have played
consistently and got better this
week," Carr said. "We were con-
cerned about that going into the sea-
son."
Fellow corner Todd Howard broke
up four passes and added five tack-
les, including a brutal tackle 0
Purdue wideout Larry Shyne in th
third quarter that elicited 'oohs'
when replayed on the scoreboard.
"I didn't see it but I certainly felt
it," safety Tomm- Hendricks said.
"We definitely wanted to make a
point today and ' thought we did."
No. Yds
6 242
6 242
Yds Avg
73 18.25
73 18.25
Av L
40.3 49
* TD
25 0
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Wide receiver Marcus Knight caught five passes for a career-high 136 yards and a
touchdown.
DEFENSE
Player
Beasley
Loerzel
Fells
Rose
Mitrione
Ayodele
Odom
Nugent
Dunnigan
Dinkins
Conrad
Hawthorne
Botts
Turner
Williams
Clopton
Upshur
Tone
Doe
Starling
Dorsch
Foggio
PASS DEFENSE
Player Int
Rose 0
Dunnigan 0
Hawthone 0
Botts 0
Totals 0
5
Yds
26
26
Solo
6
5
6
6
5
4
4
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Yds
0
0
0
0
0
Avg La TD
13.0 19 0
13.0 18 0
Asst Tot
3 9
2 7
0 6
0 6
0 5
1 5
1 5
1 4
2 4
0 3
1 3
o 2
0 2
0 2
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
1 1
BIG TEN
Badgers ambush Ohio State; Spartans scary against Iowa-
COLUMBUS (AP) - Ohio State
coach John Cooper could only shake his
head.
"Guys, it's been a long time since
we've been physically whipped like that
in a game;' Cooper said.
Thirty-two years, to be exact.
Ron Dayne rumbled for four second-
half touchdowns as Wisconsin roared
back from a 17-0 deficit Saturday to beat
Ohio State 42-17. It was the worst loss
for Ohio State at Ohio Stadium since a
41-6 defeat against Purdue on Oct. 14,
1967.
"That was a good old-fashioned butt-
kicking," Cooper said. "I'm embar-
rassed by the way we played in the sec-
ond half. We didn't do anything right."
Defense and Dayne did the damage.
The Badgers (1-1 Big Ten, 3-2 overall )
didn't score on their first four posses-
sions, then rattled off 42 consecutive
points by scoring the next eight times
they got their hands on the ball.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes (0-1, 3-2)
,_-1_)- 1 1 -- -11.,.««2
No. 14 MICHIGAN STATE 49, IOwA 3:
This is as good as it can get for
Michigan State coach Nick Saban.
And he wasn't talking about Michigan
State's 49-3 victory over Iowa on
Saturday. or two weeks, Saban warned
fans and the media not to look ahead.
With Iowa brushed aside, Saban imme-
diately cast his eye on next Saturday's
showdown with No. 4 Michigan (5-0),
which beat Purdue 38-12.
"There are going to be a lot of good
players on the field and this is a big
game for both teams," Saban said.
"That's the way I like it."
The No. 14 Spartans (2-0, 5-0) were
just about as good as they can get on
Saturday. Bill Burke threw four touch-
down passes and Plaxico Burress
snagged three scoring strikes.
"That was probably our best half of
football, in the first half," Saban said. "I
think our team has progressed very nice-
ly, and I think one of the things we
haven't done well until today is execute
r-- n.. n<iz - fL?.
deficit to send the game into overtime.
Illinois (0-2, 3-2) got the ball first in the
extra period and settled for a 36-yard
field goal by Neil Rackers after Adewale
Ogunleye sacked Kurt Kittner for a 4-
yard loss on third down.
Randle El, who accumulated a career-
high 157 yards rushing and threw for
265, then dropped back and hit Levron
Williams in the corner of the end zone.
Indiana overcame three lost fumbles,
including two by Randle El, to snap a
three-game losing skid. Illinois scored
18 points after recovering Indiana fum-
bles.
MINNESOTA 33, NORTHWESTERN 14:
Minnesota will take its first Big Ten road
win in almost five years, even if it was-
n't one for the history books.
Thomas Hamner rushed for 118 yards
and scored two touchdowns, Billy
Cockerham threw for 222 yards and the
Minnesota defense was as stifling as
expected Saturday as the Golden
Gophers (1-0, 4-0) beat Northwestern
Lng Brk-up
0 1
0 1
0 4
0 4
TD
0
0
0
0
0
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
............................................... . . ...-- --- --
MARCUS
KNIGHT
I I"UWIN.