4F - The Michigan Daily - Footbal Saturday - November 6, 1999

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November 6, 1999 - Fo



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Michigan 34, Indiana 31
Late field goal saves 'M' from repeat collapse

By Andy Latack
Daiy Sports Editor
BLOOMINGTON -This time when
Michigan was on the ropes, it managed
to avoid getting knocked out.
For the second straight agonizing
week, the Wolverines surrendered a huge
chunk of unanswered points to an
unranked Big Ten team, found them-
selves trailing in the fourth quarter and
facing the possibility of a crushing
defeat. But unlike the loss to Illinois, the
Wolverines were able to strike last
against Indiana last Saturday.
Behind a career day from running
back Anthony Thomas, Michigan (3-2
Big Ten, 6-2 overall) snapped out of its
offensive trance just in time to hold off
Indiana, 34-31. The Wolverines came
alive for 17 fourth-quarter points, and a
20-yard field goal by Hayden Epstein
with 18 seconds left in the game provid-
ed Michigan with its margin of victory.
The Hoosiers (3-3, 4-5) had a last-
gasp Hail Mary attempt to win the game,
but quarterback Antwaan Randle El's
bomb fell incomplete in the end zone as
time expired.
"I'm very proud of the character we
showed in the fourth quarter," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said. "When you give
up a lead like that, it takes a lot to be able
to come back."
Thomas was nearly impossible to
stop, setting career highs in rushing
attempts and yards, carrying 42 times for
a mammoth 197 yards and three touch-
downs. In addition to setting personal
career marks, Thomas tied the Michigan
record for carries in a game - a remark-
ably blue-collar effort, especially consid-
ering the unseasonably warm 70-degree
temperature.
"He was one tired guy, Michigan
quarterback Tom Brady said of Thomas.
"When you're not used to playing in hot
weather and then you have to play in the
heat, it wears on you."

Brady got a workout against the
Hoosiers as well, with Carr trashing his
two-quarterback rotation and opting to
play the senior the entire game with
Drew Henson remaining on the side-
lines. Brady was effective, completing
17 of his 29 passes for 226 yards and a
touchdown.
But Thomas was the focal point, as the
junior showed no ill effects from the
injured finger that kept him out for much
of the tumultuous second half against
Illinois. But despite his Ironman-like
effort, the Wolverines' offense continued
to have difficulty producing points when
it needed them most.
Michigan built a 17-0 first-half cush-
ion behind two Thomas touchdowns, but
then proceeded to take a two-quarter
nap.
After Thomas' 15-yard touchdown
run with 7:44 left in the second quarter,
the Wolverines were unable to get on the
board until they began their furious
come-from-behind rally in the fourth
quarter.
But while Michigan was keeping
Hayden Epstein's punting leg busy -
Epstein took over all punting and field
goal duties in the game - Randle El was
positively maddening for the Michigan
defense.
Randle El threw for four touchdowns
on the day, including two within ninety
seconds of each other in the fourth quar-
ter. After Randle El found fullback
Jeremi Johnson on a play-action pass on
a fourth-and-goal from the one, the
Hoosiers received a gift when Thomas
fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Indiana
recovered at the Michigan nine. Four
plays later, Randle El's lob to wide
receiver Jerry Dorsey put the Hoosiers
up, 24-17.
Just as the situation appeared haunt-
ingly like the disaster against the Illini,
Brady led the Wolverines back and wast-
ed no time in doing so. He marched

DANA UNNANE/Daily
Uoyd Carr looks on in frustration as his Michigan football team struggled against
Indiana on Saturday. The Wolverines eked out a 34-31 victory in the final minute.

Seconda
dyefense u/I
B LOOMINGTON -Hayden
Epstein's 20-yard field goal
sailed through the uprights
with 18 seconds left on Saturday,
securing Michigan's 34-3 1squeaker
over Indiana
and snapping , JOS
the Wolverines'
two-game los- Kleinbaum
ing streak.
But the victo-
ry hides a fact,
that has become'
readily apparent
over the last t r e w e s
three weeks;
Michigan's APOCALYPS
defense, partc- ow -
ularly its sec-
ondary, is in
deep trouble.
Slowly but surely, the Wolverines
are putting together one of the
worst defensive stretches in
Michigan history.
Consider this:
Before this season, in the 119-
year history of Michigan football,
the only quarterback to throw four
touchdown passes against Michigan
was Purdue's Eric Hunter in 1989.
In the past two weeks, Illinois' Kurt
Kittner and Indiana's Antwaan
Randle El both accomplished the
feat.
The 20-point lead Michigan
blew against Illinois is the third-
largest such margin in program his-
tory, and the largest since 1982.
Twice, Michigan blew 21-point
leads.
By allowing 34 points to
Michigan State, 35 to Illinois and
31 to Indiana over the last three
weeks, Michigan has allowed 30 or
more points in three straight games
for the first time ever.
The 100 total points allowed
over that three-game span is the
second-most Michigan has ever
allowed in three straight games. The
first? In 1991, Michigan, who won
the Big Ten title, allowed 104,
including 51 to top-ranked offen-
sive juggernaut Florida State.
In its first five games, the
Michigan defense allowed just over
13 points a game as the Wolverines
steamrolled to a 5-0 record and a
top three ranking.
In two straight weeks, they shut
down a top Heisman candidate.
They started drawing comparison's
to the great 1997 defense that won
a national title, even though the '97
team allowed just 26 points in its
first five games, 40 less than the
'99 squad.

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David Terrell
Cato June
Brandon Kornblue
Todd Howard
Marquise Walker
Tommy Jones
James hitley
Victor Hobson
Jonathan West
Drew Henson
Walter Cross
Ran Parini
DiAllo Johnson
Tom Brady
Brandon Williams
Mike Kaselitz
Jason Kapsner
Brian Smalls
Andy Mignery
Dan Williams
DeWay ne Patmon
Travis DeMeester
John Navarre
Rudy Smith
Larry Foote
Tyrece Butler
M ark Bergin
Ronald Bellamy
Tad Van Pelt
Ian Gold
Jeremy LeSueur
Kevin Bryant
Greg Brooks
Cory Sarent
CharlesrDqrake
Hayden Epstein
MichaeluManning
Julius Curry
Anthony Jordan
Scott Panique
Aaron Richards
Ryan Beard
Jon Shaw
John Spytek
Anthony Thomas
Brent Cummings
Justin Fargas
Phil Brabbs
B.J. Askew
Blake Nasif
Aaron Shea
Bob Fraumann
Kurt Anderson
Dwight Mosley
Evan Coleman
Eric Rose)
Tommy Hendricks
Tate Schanski
Carl Diggs
Dave Armstrong
Jeff Del Verne
Phillip Brackins
Andy Sechler
Matt Johnson
Kirk Moundros
Jeff Smokevitch
Eric Brackins
Chris Ziemann
Shantee Orr
Maurice Williams
Dhani Jones
James Hall
Dave Pearson
Rob Renes
Grady Brooks
Joseph Sgroi
Grant Bowman
Cyle Youn
CourtneyMorgan
Brodie K illian
Eric Warner
P.J. Cwayna
Steve Frazier
Stephen Baker
Andy Brown
Kyle Froelich
David Brandt
John Wood
Todd Mossa
Jerem Miller
Ben Mast
Joe Denay
Demeterious Solomon
Adam Adkins
Steve Hutchinson
Tony Pape
Jonathan Goodwin
Jeff Backus
Tommy Huff
Bill Seymour
Joe Ghannam
Bennie Joppru
Shawn Thompson
Marcus Knight
Ga ry Rose
Deitan Dubuc
Norman Boebert
Josh Williams
Dan Rumishek
Jason Ptak
Eric Wilson
Patrick Kratus
Dave Petruziello
Shawn Lazarus
Jake Frysinger

AYER

Pos.
WR
DB
PK
CB
WR
WR
CB
ILB
DB
QB
RB
FS
WR
QB
DB
QB
DB
QB
CB
FS
QB
WR
ILB
WR
QB
WR
DB
I LB
DB
WR
DB
P
RB
P/PK
DB
SS
LB
FB
WR
RB
RB
LB
RB
RB
RB
PK
RB
WR
FB
LB
DT
LB
FB
OLB
SS
FS
LB
DE
PK
DB
OLB
S
FB
ILB
ILB
OL
LB
OL
I LB
RLB
DL
NT
OLB
LB
DL
NT
OL
OLB
OL
I LB
OL
LB
OL
OL
OL
DL
OL
OLIL
OL
OL
OL
OL
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P
TE
P
TE
TE
WR
DT
TE
DL
DT
RLB
OL
NT
DE
DE
DE
DE

RT.
6-3
6-1
5-10
5-10
6-3
5-8
5-11
61
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5-10
6-1
6-1
6-0
5-11
6-3
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6-2
6-2
6-0
6-0
6-0
5-8
5-10
6-0
6-4
6-2
5-11
6-1
6-2
6-3
6-0
6-5
6-3
6-4
6-1
6-0
6-3
6-2
5-11
62
63
5-11
6-3
6-1
5-10
6-2
60
6-2
6-7
6-1
6-5
6-2
6-3
6-3
6-1
6-2
5-10
6-3
6-0
6-2
6-3
6-5
5-11
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6-1
6-3
64
6-4
6-4
6-3
6-0
6-4
6-7
6-7
63
6-5
6-7
6-4
6-6
6-2
6-3
5-11
6-4
6-4
6-1
6-4
64
6-4
6-3
6-3
6-2
6-4
6-3
6-4
6-3
64

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RBW 32 Anthony Thomas
8 Walter Cross

MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

When Michigan has

SE

QB 10 Tom Bra
or 7 Drew

I David Terrell RT RG C LG
9 DiAllo Johnson
72 Ben Mast 52 Chris Ziemann 67 David Brandt 76 S. HutcNnson
54 M. Williams 78 1 Goodwin 64 Steve Frazier 69 Todd Mossa
.............-....- .......-.-.-.....- ..-.------.....-.- ...- ....-.-.- ....-..-. -.-... --......-..-........-..-.-- ..- ..--

SR


DE

DT

DT

95 Dwayne Missouri 92 Javiar Collins 78 Darryl Hodge

93 Pete Konopka 98 Pete Chapman 45 Jeff Baer


CB
6 Harold Blackmon
33 Chasda Martin


LB
8 Napoleon Harris
11 Regis Eller
5J
34 Rashad Morton
31 Kyle Sanders

LB
44 Billy Silva
47 C. Emmerich

FB


Michigan on a methodical four-play
scoring drive, eventually finding tight
end Bennie Joppru for a seven-yard
touchdown pass, ending the Wolverines'
27-minute scoring draught and tying the
score at 24. With that play, it seemed
Michigan had recaptured the momentum
it had surrendered in the second quarter.
But Randle El still had a few more
tricks up his sleeve. After Thomas had
leaped into the end zone four minutes
later for his third score of the game to put
Michigan up, 31-24, Randle El led a
four-play scoring drive of his own.
On a first-and-10 from the Indiana 30,
the quarterback found wide receiver
Jerry Dorsey - as he did with consider-
able success on Saturday, throwing to
Dorsey five times for 154 yards and two
scores - open behind the Michigan sec-
ondary for a 70-yard scoring strike, mak-
ing the score 31-31.
But after Michigan got the ball back
with 1:28 remaining and all three time-
outs left, Indiana shot itself in the foot.

On a first-and-ten at the Michigan 48,
Indiana defensive tackle Jason Czap
pulled Brady down by the face mask
after he had released the ball, resulting in
a 15-yard personal foul penalty.
Two plays later, Indiana cornerback
O.J. Spencer dragged Michigan wide
receiver David Terrell down from
behind. The ten-yard holding penalty
gave Michigan a first-and-10 at the
Indiana 28- already in range for one of
Epstein's booming field goals. -
But Thomas sealed the game by scam-
pering 23 yards down to the five, setting
up Epstein's second - and most crucial
- kick of the day.
With just 18 seconds to work with, all
Randle El could manage was a 55-yard
Hail Mary attempt to Dorsey, which
appeared to be complete for a split sec-
ond before the ball bounced to the turf.
"I knew Dorsey had a chance, just by
the way he jumped," Randle El said. "I
thought he caught it for a minute, but
then I saw it hit the ground."



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