4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 8, 1999 I GAME STATISTICS Team Stats First Downs Rushes/Yards Passing Yards Offensive Plays Total Offense Return Yards Comp/Attlnt Furnbles/?ost Penalties/Yards Time of Poss MICH 23 42/247 226 81 449 128 17/39/0 6/43.5 1/0 8164 31:54 NW 12 381165 79 67 200 118 11/29/1 10/43.3 3/1 9/83 28:06 Blitzing, nickel key new-look secondary By Josh Kinbaum tight secondary, but we weren't playin Daily Sports Editor likes it W ted t d t fte thi t ~ f; my a F C' to * , . .4 n*'-4. SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily Comerbacks James Whitley (5) and Todd Howard (3) help out linebacker Ian Gold sack Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok. For the first time this season, Michigan frequently blitzed its secondary. No. Yds Avg Ig 5 223 44.6 52 1 38 38.0 38 6 261 43.5 52 used a nickel package for most of the game to shut down Purdue's vaunted passing attack. It worked then, so, with the secondary struggling now, Carr went back to it. With Terrell as the nickel back, Michigan routinely used the pack- age instead of its standard 3-4 in third- and-long situations. Terrell even grabbed his first career interception, a floater right to him after he accelerated past his receiver. The third major change in the sec- ondary was the safety rotation. Hendricks, Patmon, June and Tate Schanski all saw playing time through- out the game - this was the first time all season Schanski played defense in non- garbage time. The last two weeks, the Wolverines couldn't explain their defensive collaps- es. One reason could be tired legs. With the safety rotation, Michigan had fresh legs in the secondary the entire game. Did Carr's adjustments work?,The jury's still out. While the secondary held Northwestern to just I l-of-29 passing for 79 yards, the Wildcats offense isn't too powerful and Kustok never tested Michigan's cornerbacks deep, where Michigan State, Illinois and Indiana thrived. But rest assured, a verdict is comidn just five days. Yds 57 57 Yds 53 7 60 solo 7 5 5 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 Av 28.5 30 TD 0 0 TD 0 0 0 Av 3.5 8.6 19 19 BicTzF-mu i Asst 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6' 0 0 0 1 1 1 Tot 7 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Gophers end Lions' title hopes PASS DEFENSE Player int Yds Terrell 1 11 Hendricks 0 0 Petruztello 0 0 Williams 0 0 Totals 1 11 N O R T H W E W Brk-up 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 11 4 STERN PASSING Plaer K k Kreinbrink Totals RUSHING Aneron Kustok Ayeni Totals RECEIVING Player Thompson Anderson Miller Totals C-A 8-21 3-8 11-29 Att 21 13 4 38 No 4 2 11 Yds 74 41 6 121 Yds 41 11 13 14 79 Yds 51 28 79 Avg 3.2 1.5 3.2 Avg 10.3 2.8 6.5 14.0 7.2 TD 0 0 Lg 24 28 7 28 4 7 14 15 TO 0 0 0 0 0 Int 1 0 1 TD 0 0 0 0 TO 0 0 0 0 0 The Allentown Morning Call STATE COLLEGE - Kicking the field goal never crossed their minds. The Lions figured Minnesota faced 80 yards, the wind and too much history. They never figured Ron Johnson would catch an underthrown ball on first down. They never figured Arland Bruce would slith- er his fingers under a tipped ball on fourth-and-16. They never figured an 18-year-old kicker, who already had missed an extra point, would have the chance to beat them. But with two seconds left and both sidelines drenched in prayer, Minnesota freshman Dan Nystrom made a 32-yard field goal to beat Penn State 24-23. The Lions never figured their champi- onship season would end here, at Beaver Stadium in November, instead of there, at the Sugar Bowl in January. "You work so stinking hard during the offseason, you bust your butt during the season, you're sore, you're body's about had it, and it comes to this," fullback Mike Cerimele said. "A field goal, gone, just like that." At 9-1, the formerly second-ranked Lions may have a mathematical chance at the mathematically determined cham- pionship game. Some held out hope. Others weren't sure. "It's a shame we're not going to have a shot now," safety Derek Fox said. For Minnesota, meanwhile, the victo- ry offered a measure of vindication. The Golden Gophers (6-3) had lost three of their last four games by a total of I l points. Under the circumstances that greeted their final drive, they appeared destined to add another troubling defeat. "You don't expect a program like us to win," Minnesota Coach Glen Mason said. Winning, 23-21, late in the fourth quarter, Penn State drove from its 39- yard line to the Minnesota 33, seeking to stake its defense a touchdown. But after two negligible runs and Kevin Thompson's overthrow of Chafie Fields, the Lions faced a fourth-and-10. Coach Joe Paterno opted to punt instead of allowing Travis Forney attempt a 51-yard field goal with the wind at his back. Forney had made two of his three field goals in the fourth quar- ter, both covering 44 yards. He also missed a 51-yarder in the first quarter (it was plenty long but hit the left upright). Paterno said he did it betting his defense would make the timely plays, like it had against Pitt, Miami and Purdue. "I didn't think Minnesota could do it," he said. But the Gophers, beginning on their 20 with 1:50 left, went straight for the Lions. They lined three receivers right, and went to quarterback Billy Cockerham, who was 12-for-20 to that point. Penn State countered with man- to-man coverage. Cockerham's underthrown bal n first down somehow found n Johnson, who caught the pass in front of a twisting Derek Fox. He turned a poten- tial interception into a 46-yard gain, pushing the Gophers to the Penn State 34-yard line. After an. incomplete pass on first down, Minnesota's hopes grew fainter on second down. Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington, who made a career- high 15 tackles, blew through a block to sack Cockerham for a 6-yard #s. Another incomplete pass followed. Then came fourth-and-16. Cockerham lofted a Hail Mary toward two receivers near the 15-yard line. Defen sive backs Fox, David Macklin and Askari Adams shrouded Johnson and Bruce. The ball bounced off Johnson's hands and dropped to the turf. Six inches before landing, it was scooped by B e. Mason couldn't watch the play. "I can't lie," he said. "I had my eyes closed." Cerimele only heard the play. "You're waiting for the crowd re action," he said. "Then my heart stopped." Fox, who said he tipped the ball, began running off the field, waving the pass incomplete. Then he realized what happened. "Before you know it," he said, "th e kicking the field goal." PUNTING Playerp Standring Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Thompson 2 Ania 1 arshall 1 Johnson 1 Total 5 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Thompson 4 Totals 4 DEFENSE Player Sanders Bentley Morton Harris Emmerich Cummings-John Blackmor Collins Brown Wheeler Silva Simon Missouri Miller "urr Ayeni Gooch Taylor Konopka Tant Martin Long Harnedy PASS DEFENSE Player Int Blackmon 0 Missouri 0 Morton 0 Simon 0 Totals 0 Penn State coach Joe Paterno was upset here, but his entire team had its national championship hopes halted when Minnesota upset the Lions Saturday, 24-23. No. Yds Avg 10 433 43.3 61 10 433 43.3 61 Wisconsin wins, Dayne closes in on rushing record Yds 38 18 15 12 '83 Yds 35 35 Solo 9 5 6 6 4 5 4 1 3 2 2 2 2 1 0 Yds 0 0 0 0 0 Avg 18.0 15.0 12.0 16.6 21 18 1 5 12 21 7 2 S AV 8.8 17 Asst 2 4 i 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TO 0 0 0 0 0 TD 0 Tot 11 9 7 7 6 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - One down, one to go for Wisconsin's unstop- pable Ron Dayne. With 222 yards in a 28-21 victory over No. 17 Purdue on Saturday, Dayne passed Tony Dorsett for second place in NCAA major-college career rushing, 98 yards behind Heisman Trophy win- ner Ricky Williams' year-old record of 6,279. "I was just out there having fun, doing what I had to do to help the team win," Dayne said. Now with 6,181 yards, he can break the record next week at home, where the 10th ranked (6-1 Big Ten, 8-2 overall) finish the regular season against Iowa. "I can't wait," said Dayne, who also had a 41-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter against the Boilermakers (3-4, 6-4). "As long as we're back home in front of the fans, that'll be great to break the record." Drew Brees passed for 350 yards and one touchdown and ran for a career- high 85 yards and two touchdowns for the Boilermakers. But he had two pass- es intercepted by Jamar Fletcher, including one returned 34 yards for a clinching touchdown with 4:43 to go. "It really came down to two things, turnovers and what you do with them," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "We didn't do a great job with our turnovers and they did." No..19 MICHIGAN STATE 23, No. 20 OHio STATE 7. A year ago, Ohio State was upset by Michigan State. This time, it was no upset. The Spartans were clearly superior. Bill Burke passed for 174 yards and two touchdowns as No. 19 Michigan State rolled over the 20th-ranked Buckeyes, who may have cost them- selves a shot at a New Year's Day bowl game. "You just saw an old-fashioned butt- whupping," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. The Buckeyes (3-3, 6-4) had been pointing to this game for almost a year, ever since their hopes for the 1998 national championship were dashed by a loss in Columbus last season. But they were completely outplayed by Michigan State (4-2, 7-3) which used an off week to get over a two-game losing streak. The Spartans' defense, tops in the Big Ten against the run, held Ohio State to zero yards rushing and just four first downs. "The key was to put as much pressure as possible on their quarter- back," Spartans' cornerback Amp Campbell said. "We knew he had happy feet, so we didn't want to let him get comfortable in the pocket." It was the Buckeyes' worst rushing performance since finishing with minus-22 yards rushing in a 32-7 loss to Michigan State in 1965. The last time Ohio State had less total offense was 1963 when Penn State held the Buckeyes to 63 yards. "We just didn't do anything offen- sively," Cooper said. "We came here knowing that we had to establish the running game, but we couldn't do that. We just didn't block anyone." The Buckeyes didn't cross the 50 in the first half, going three-and-out on their last five possessions before half- time. Michigan State's swarming defense held the Buckeyes to just 61 yards in the half, nine on the ground. ILLINOIS 40, IowA 24: Neil Rackers kicked four field goals and caught a touchdown pass on a fake field goal as Illinois held off Iowa. The Illini ( 2-4, 5-4) were able to move the ball early but couldn't put it in the end zone against an Iowa defense ranked last in the conference. The Hawkeyes (0-6, 1-8), who had beaten Illinois three straight times, have lost II1 straight conference games. Illinois built a 26-10 lead early in the third quarter, with Rackers account- ing for 20 points. Ln 00 0 0 0 Brk-up 4 1 1 7 TOD 0 0 0 0 0 PLAYER OF THE GAME: ....................................................................... DAVID TERRELL With a victory over Purdue on Saturday, Wisconsin took a big step towards return- ing to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row.