4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 20, 2000 GAME STATISTICS Team Stats First Downs Rushes/Yards Passing Yards Offensive Plays Total Offense Return Yards Comp/Att/Int Punts/Avg Fumbles/Lost Penalties/Yards Te of Poss MICH 16 43/88 303 68 391 86 14/25/1 6/38.3 1/O 6/59 oSu 22 34/149 251 82 400 198 21/48/3 5/33.4 2/0 28:36 -AN C3, M i C H I G A N PASNG Player Player Thomas Bellamy. Perry Navarre Askew Total" RECEIVING Player Terrel Thomas Waler C-A Yds 14-25 303 14-25 303 Att Yds Avg 29 60 2.1 1 13 1 . 1 5 5.0 1 3 3.0 43 88 2. TD 3 3 Lg 8 13 7 5 3 1 13 Lg 32 70 25 40 5 70 No. 5 1 Player I Epstein Totals KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Perny 1 Orr 1 Tota's 5 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Belamoy 1 Totals 2 DEFENSE Player Diggs Curry Patmon Whitley Hobson Spytdk Howam Rumishek Wilson Dubuc Seymour Hutchinson Carr LeSueur !Stevens PASS DEFENSE Yds 99 89 70 40 5 230 No. 6 6 Yds 58 17 13 se Yds O -2 -2 Salo 8 6 6 7 4 4 4 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Avg 19.8 40.0 23s 3N 230 38 Avg 13.0 17.6 Avg "1.0 Asst 2 0 0 0 0 O O O 8.3 ;.3 Lg 13 24 Lg 0 0 Int 1 t TD 0 0 TD 2 0 0 3TD 3 0 7 0 4 0 t 0 3 T 20 0 0 To 9 1 8 1 THE NAKED BOOTLEG PHOTOS BY DAVID KATZ M Y By David Den Herder Daily Sports Editor COLUMBUS - Michigan coach Lloyd Carr called Saturday's battle with Ohio State "a typical, hard- fought, hard-hitting football game." Hard-hitting it was. But typical it was not - at least in terms of play- calling. Both Carr and Ohio State coach John Cooper brought their bag of tricks into the newly-renovated Horseshoe, and both had the occa- sion to use them. Trickery was put to its usual task in several key play-action passing plays as well as the game-ending bootleg to Drew Henson. "When I'm laying on the ground, I look over and I see Drew crossing the goal line," Michigan offensive line- man Steve Hutchinson said of the roll-out. "It is a great feeling." But' true gimmicks on special teams - especially two fake field goals and one fake punt -- may have ultimately decided the outcome. Ohio State got the drop early when Nate Clements faked a reverse on the opening kickoff, returning the ball to the Michigan 20 and setting up Ohio State's first touchdown. But after two Michigan touch- downs, the Buckeyes were down 14-9 and forced to answer in the second quarter. Facing a foutth-and-three on his own 38, Cooper called for the fake punt -- snapping to punter B.J. Sander for a forward pass. Sander did his job, but Ohio State's Donnie Nickey dropped the pass, yielding the ball to Michigan on downs. Despite such great field position, the Wolverines could manage to advance the ball to only the 21-yard line before the field-goal unit was called on. But leading by five with six yards to go for a first down, Carr employed what Michigan players call the "fire" play. The ball was snapped to holder John Navarre, who placed it for the swinging leg of Hayden Epstein. A split-second before Epstein made contact, Navarre tucked the ball away and rolled out as if he were scrambling for a loose ball, which appeared to have been blocked on its way to the goalpoast. In reality, Navarre was scrambling for the first down. Unfortunately for him, the Buckeyes figured it out one yard before he reached the marker. Sometimes with trick plays not all offensive players know the fake is on, but Michigan long snapper Jeremy Miller said that on that play, all 1 Wolverines knew the drill. "We have to have communication with the tight ends," Miller said. The failure of Michigan's first spe- cial teams gimmick did not deter Carr from pulling another rabbit out of his hat. On Michigan's first possession of the second half, the Wolverines were faced with a 47-yard field goal option or a pooch punt on fourth- and-two. The coaches chose neith instead calling a highly unorthodo fake that caught everybody in the sta- dium off guard. Navarre was again back to hold, but a second after he extended his arm to accept the long snap, Navarre sprinted up to the line and took an I- snap from Miller, handing off to the B.J Askew, who bullied his way for two yards and the first down. "I had made up my mind if we he a situation (where we needed) two yards or less I wanted to use that play," Carr said. The ensuing play was a 32-yard strike to David Terrell for Michigan's third touchdown. Two fake field goals in one game is unusual for the traditionally conserv- ative coach, who said he was wary of the way Michigan matched up defen- sively with the Buckeyes. "I was not sure how we would pla. defensively," Carr said. "What wanted to do was steal a couple pos- sessions. The Wolverines succeeded in steal- ing one possession. And one victory on the road. From traditionalist coaches, a dose of special teams trickery 0 On 4th-and-goal with 1:18 remaining, Lloyd Carr called for a fake handoff and left-side rollout from Ohio State's one-yard line. Player Int Yds Lg Brit-up TO Curry 1 50 50 1 1 Foote 1 20 20 2 0 Rumishek 1 O O 1 0 Howard O 0 O 2 0 Totals 3 70 50 6 1 O H I O S T A T E PASSING Player C-A Yds T Int Bellisari 21/47 251 1 3 Sander 0/1 v A O Totals 21/48 251 1 3 RUSHING Player Att Yds Avg Lg TD Combs 14 55 3.9 24 0 Bellisari 10 47 4.7 26 O Wells 9 29 3.2 11 2 Cooper 18 18.0 18 O Totals 34 149 4.4 26 2 RECEIVING Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD Provitt 6 81 13.5 19 1 Rambo 6 64 10.7 18 1 Wells 2 34 17.0 25 O Carter 2 27 13.5 17 O Cacchio 2 20 10.0 14 1 Sanders 2 19 9.5 10 0 Combs 1 6 6.0 6 Totals 21 251 12.0 25 1 PUNTING Player No. Yds Avg Lg Sander 3 131 43.7 36 $tultz 1 36 36.0 51 Totals 5 167 33.4 51 KlaCKer EUNo. Yds Avg Lg TD Cletents 0 80 0 10 0 Total 5 160 32.0 80 O PlayrETRNNo. Yds Avg Lg TD Clements 5 38 7.6 14 0 Totals 5 38 7.6 2 0 DEFENSE Player Solo Asst Tot Doss 11 5 16 Cooper 4 6 10 Wilhelm 4 5 9 Nckey 4 0 4 Bullard 3 O 3 Picket2 1 3 BJohnson 1 2 3 Ceents 2 2 Bon 0 2 2 Duls 1 O 1 Grant 1 0 1 Bare 1 0 1 Reynolds 0 1 '1 McNutt 0 1 1 PASS DEFENSE Clemnents 0 O 0 1 0 Nickey O 0 0 1 O PLAYEFR OF TH GA ME: After Ohio State linebacker Courtland Bullard (58 above) missed his assign- ment, quarterback Drew Henson had the open look to the endzone. Michigan defenders picked off Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari three times on Saturday, they said partially because he looked at his target "the whole game." 'M' earns unlikel share of title . Defense stuffs Buckeyes' attempt at game-winning drive By Stephanie Offen Daily Sports Editor COLUMBUS -- The hats were already produced. Unfortunately one team had to throw its supply out. Michigan was all smiles yesterday as the Wolverines quickly filed into the press conference donning their newly- manufactured Big Ten Championship hats. At the same time, the Buckeyes' hats were being disposed of as they walked out of the lockerroom, heads down -no caps to cover them. This year, those caps were a little hard- er to earn for the Wolverines than in the past. This season's seniors may have three rings to their name - but none were as tough to get as this one. "Our expectations are always high. When you meet the kind of adversity we had, it's easy to fall apart and make excuses, point the finger or quit trying," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "To their credit they never did that." Prior to the Penn State weekend, Carr admits that his team felt it had little chance of a championship. It would need both Purdue and Northwestern to lose to a large underdog to even claim part of the trophy. But the unthinkable came true. Northwestern lost to Iowa and Purdue lost to Michigan State, causing the enthu- siasm to be at an all-time high for the Wolverines. Coming into this past week- end, they had the opportunity to be one of three Big Ten champions with a victory over Ohio State. "When Northwestern and Purdue both got beat we had something to fight for," Carr said. "We had a tremendous week of practice. We were outside in the snow and it was as cold as it was today. We had a tremendous week of practice because of the enthusiasm that was generated by the chance to win the Big Ten chanpi- onship.E FoURTH AND ONE: Even though Hayden Epstein ran out onto the field with 1:18 left in the game, there was no doubt in Carr's mind that the Wolverines were going for a touchdown. "From the moment we took over after our defense made a great stop on fourth down, in my mind I was not going to kick a field goal," Carr said. "I knew they would have no timeouts left, and even though I would have liked the three points, my thinking was that they would have it awfully deep down in there. You also risk a block and Ohio State has great field goal defense team" Instead of a field goal, quarterback Drew Henson ran the ball on a naked bootleg, faking out the Ohio State defense and scrambling for the game- clinching touchdown. But Henson was only able to clinch the game afterthe Buckeyes failed to convert on their own 4th-and-one situation. With little over three minutes left in the game, on their own 18-yard line, the Buckeyes went for it on fourth-and-one, instead of punting and hoping for a sec- ond chance on offense. "You're gambling (if you punt). Can you stop them and then go down. and score a touchdown?" Henson said. "It's a tough call and I'm glad I didn't have to make it." But whether it was the right choice is irrelevant now. What does matter is that the Michigan defensive line was able to stop the Buckeyes and get the ball back to set up the Henson touchdown. "We had a fourth-down play and we gambled," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "My thinking was if we don't get a first down, we're not going to get the ball back. So we gambled and weren't able to get the first down. After that we put a lot of pressure on our defense and of course (Michigan) scored on fourth down when their quarterback made a great play" TRASHING THE WOLVERINES: Ohio State kicker Dan Stultz, who is known for his showboating after making field goals, had some choice words to say about Michigan's sportsmanship after the game. Stultz claims that David Terrell spit in his face after he Stultz kicked off late in the fourth quarter "He not only gave me a shoulder, he did something that I think proved to he has little class and what kind of thin they teach at that program in Michigan, Stultz told the Columbus Dispatch. "He spit in my face and I feel bad for his par- ents to raise him like that. I know I was- n't brought up that way." Stultz claimed he pleaded with the official after the spitting incident but nothing catrte of his pleas. "I said something to the official,' Stultz said. "He said, 'You're not in the right place here.' He told me I was in Ak wrong ... He obviously didn't see wha happened. Even though no one saw (Terrell spitting), he did it o me. BE LLISARI wOES: Julius Curry had Michigan's first interception return for a touchdown since the Citrus Bowl against Arkansas two years ago. And nothing should be taken away from the amazing play of Curry or the rest ofthe Michigan defense on Saturday, but the Wolverines admitted that 01 State quarterback Steve Bellisari was an' easy target to intercept. "I noticed that (Bellisari looked at his target) the whole game,' Curry said. Foote confirmed Curry's accusation, saying that on his interception, Bellisari was also looking right at the receiver. The Ohio State quarterback came into Saturday's loss with nine interceptions. He finished the game with three more. 2-10-1: Cooper currently holds a l l - 41-4 record in his 13 years as coac4 the Buckeyes. He is the second-win- ningest coach in Ohio State history, behind legendary coach Woody Hayes, and the fifth-winningest coach in Big Ten history. Unfortunately, Cooper will always be remembered for his struggles against the Wolverines. After Saturday's loss, Cooper is 2-10-1 over Michigan. Henson celebrates his game-clinching touchdown in front of a national televi- sion camera and 98,568 fans. DUPREY Continued from Page 11B Rather than beat his head against the wall running against eight men, Carr went to the air Henson got Thomas involved with ' two screens one of which went for a 0 to 70-yard touchdown that cut Ohio State's lead to 9-7. David Terrell won Michigan strong safety Julius Curry his individual matchup with Clements, intercepted Steve Bellisari in the third and his five catches kept multiple quarter and returned the ball 50 yards andhisnfisahe for the Michigan touchdown, putting Michig drves alie the Wolverines up 31-12. The Wolverines finished with 303 Curry's return was Michigan's first yards passing to just 88 yards rushing. defensive score of the season, and Ohio State won the ground battle with could not have come at a more oppor- 149 yards, an indicator of victory had tune time for the Wolverines. this game been played 30 years ago. It was the finest from a Michigan The Buckeyes had more rushing DB in weeks, and his rise to the occa- yardage than Michigan in each of the sion earns him the honor. past four meetings - and lost three of those games. "I don't think anything that's hap- pened in the past has a particular impact on an Ohio State-Michigan game," Carr said. In refusing to take history at face value, Carr made certain to coach the way the game dictated. In staying focused, Carr prepared his team for everything the Buckeyes had to offer That's the mark of a coaching job well done. Whether or not Columbus callers realize it, Carr's readiness for this game had more of an impact on this game than any contrived Buckeye- related excuse. -- Chris Duprev can be reached at cdupre4.'iumic. ecdi.