The Michigan Daily - SportsThursday - January 4, 2001 - 5B
CITRUS BOWL VISUALS r _
F P,1005' D'VDAZD
ABOVE: Auburn quarterback Ben Leard is crushed by Michigan defenders. Leard returned
the favor by penetrating the Michigan defense for 394 yards. BELOW: Defensive lineman
Eric Wilson (94) and linebacker Victor Hobson are pumped after a crucial stop.
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GAME PROGRESSION
FIRST QUARTER:
Auburn won the toss and elected
to receive. The Tigers were forced
to punt on their first series.
Michigan moved the ball well, but
a Rob Pate sack of Drew Henson
stalled the drive. Hayden
Epstein's 40-yard field goal was
no good.
After another three-and-out by
Auburn, the Wolverines went
back to work. A screen to
Anthony Thomas and a 20-yard
Thomas rush set up a 31-yard
touchdown pass from Henson to
Terrell off a flea flicker. Terrell out
jumped two defenders to come
down with the ball.
Michigan 7, Auburn 0
SECOND QUARTER:
The Tigers responded with a
grind-it-out, 80-yard, 16-play
touchdown drive. Ben Leard's 19-
yard pass on 3rd-and-8 to Roriney
Daniels was good for the score.
The drive took 7:10.
Michigan 7, Auburn 7
Michigan punted and Auburn
punched it in again. Two recep-
tions by Clifton Robinson of 32
and 20 yards were huge on the
drive. The latter was the touch-
down catch.
Auburn 14, Michigan 7
Michigan's offense quickly kick-
started. After a 23-yard reception
earlier in the drive. B.J. Askew
got his due, grabbing a four-yard'
touchdown pass from Henson.
That capped a nine-play, 80-yard
drive that took 4:23.
Michigan 14, Auburn 14
The Wolverines forced a punt but
Ron Bellamy fumbled it away.
Auburn pressed to take the lead
but Julius Curry read Leard per-
fectly for an interception at the
Michigan 15. His return set the
Wolverines up nicely at its 46.
From there, it was Thomas' time.
His 11-yard touchdown run was
the record-breaker.
Michigan 21, Auburn 14
THIRD QUARTER:
The Tigers stopped Michigan on
its first drive and began to move
the football. An 18-yard pass to
Robinson on 3rd-and-13 kept the
drive alive.
On 4th-and-2 from the Michigan
32, Leard's pass was tipped and
DeWayne Patmon came down
with it.
A 32-yard pass to Terrell on the
ensuing drive kept things moving
for Thomas, who scored his sec-
ond touchdown of the day on a
25-yard run. Thomas broke
through the line and no one from
the secondary was around to
stop him.
Michigan 28, Auburn 14
Its back against the wall, Auburn
responded. Leard exploited
Michigan's cornerbacks again
with a 47-yard pass to Daniels. A
12-yard run by Rudi Johnson
punched it in.
Michigan 28, Auburn 21
Aided by a 52-yard pass to
Terrell, Michigan moved into scor-
ing position. This time a holding
penalty stalled things. Epstein
converted a 41-yard field goal to
make it a two-possession 9AMo
Michigan 31, Auburn 21
FOURTH QUARTER:
Big pass plays from Leard to
Marcel Willis put Auburn in
Michigan territory again. A penalty
hurt the cause, and Auburn had to
settle for a field-goal try. But the
usually reliable Damon Duval was
partially blocked from 40 yards out.
The Wolverines burned some clock
before punting to Auburn with
3:53 remaining. The Tigers moved
quickly, and Leard found Deande
Green for a 21-yard strike with
2:26 left. The lead was now three.
Michigan 31, Auburn 28
ing onside kick. Auburn had two
timeouts, but a key quarterback
draw by Henson gave Michigan
the first down it needed to kill the
clock.
Final: Michigan 31, Auburn 28
20 SAO RSL...............S....S....... ........
2000 SEASON RESULTUS
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daly
FOUR IN A ROW: Sports Illustrated calls the Michigan coaching position one of the easiest in college
football. But despite an 8-3 season, Lloyd Carr has taken the Wolverines to four-straight bowl games, and
won all of them. He is the first coach in Michigan history to do so.
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THE 2000 SEASON -
PROMISE, FRUSTRATION, SATISFACTION
NAVARRE IN, HENSON OUT
A week and a half before the season start-
ed and no one knew the name of Michigan's
backup quarterback. All eyes focused on
Drew Henson, Michigan's "Golden Boy." But
a wrong step in practice left Henson with a
broken foot and Navarre with an opportunity
of a lifetime. And after a 42-7 win over
Bowiing Green and a 38-7 victory over Rice,
people took notice of Michigan's new leader.
NO ESCAPE FROM L.A.'
A trip to the Rose Bowl wasn't enough
incentive for Navarre and the third-ranked
Wolverines to hold on to a 10-point half-
time lead. After Hayden Epstein missed
two field goals and an extra point in the 23-
20 loss, he lost field-goal and extra-point
kicking duties to Jeff Del Verne. Running
back Justin Fargas was moved from run-
ning back to defensive back after the loss.
TRACKING THE TRAIN'S RECORDS
Anthony Thomas finished his Michigan career as strong as ever at the Citrus Bowl. It was only a year ago that
Thomas contemplated leaving the Wolverines for the NFL. Now he holds almost every running back record at
Michigan. Along with racking up 4.472 career rushing yards to pass Jamie Morris for a Michigan season-rushing
record. Anthony Thomas added a few more accolades this season:
" Modern-era school record for career scoring (336 points),
School record for career touchdowns (56).
Two Citrus Bowl MVP awards, the first Michigan player in 55 years to be named a bowl MVP twice'.
i Four-straight bowl victories in his career, the first time the Wolverines have won four-straight bowl games.
Finished career with 924 carries and 55 rushing touchdowns. Coming into the Citrus Bowl, Thomas already held
the record for career rushing touchdowns: KOAv i y2arz
Sen ibr trib leave.s mark on Varsity
RETURN OF DREW
After sitting on the sidelines for three
weeks, Henson returned late in the first
half against Illinois. After a 14-point
k deficit early in the second, half, Henson
led the Wolverines back to a 35-31 vic-
tory. The quarterback continued his win-
nigways in Michigan's lowest-scoring
victory of the season, a 13-10 win over
Wisconsin.
-KNOCKED DOWN BUT UP AGAINg
0
Travis Dorsch had two chances to send
the Wolverines home with a loss from
Purdue. He made the second. After
Michigan took a 28-10 lead in the first half,
it suffered a devastating 32-31 last-second
loss. But the Wolverines bounced back the
next two weeks with shutouts of Indiana
and Michigan State at home.
SEASON LOW
BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
Purdue and Northwestern suff
season upsets to give the Wol
share of the Big Ten title if they
No. 12 Ohio State. In Michiga
impressive victory of the sea
Wolverines' 38-26 victory sent
the Citrus Bowl and John Coopert
with a 2-10-1 record agai
It only took four days to make
Michigan's debacle at Northwestern an
ESPN classic. Damien Anderson almost
took the role of scapegoat when he
dropped a touchdown pass with three-min-
utes to go and a two-point deficit. But just
a few plays later, Anthony Thomas took
over that role, as he fumbled, setting up a
touchdown for the 54-51 victory.
ered late-
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OFFEN
Continued from Page 18
record at Michigan before halftime of
the Citrus Bowl. He broke the record
while scoring Michigan s go-ahead
touchdown at the end of the second
quarter. Thomas and Michigan never
looked back.
With that touchdown and the
many records he broke while scoring
it, Thomas proved worthy of so
much more than a second Citrus
Bowl MVP award. In his four years.
he became a motivation for success
for the entire team.
The ever-modest running back did-
n't even realize he had broken the
rushing record with the touchdown.
He wasn't the only one.
"I didn't realize he broke the record
because the statistics on the score-
board were lower because of the
times I got sacked," Henson joked.
"But when I found out I went over the
sidelines and shook his hand... I told
him how much fun it was to play with
him."
But one can be sure that
H utchinson and Backus knew exactly
when the record was broken.
In the words of Thomas, "the offen-
sive line bragged about the record all
season." Hutchinson admitted that the
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Backus' names won't also be listed
next to that record in the history
books. Most don't remember the
names of Jamie Morris' blockers, and
sadly, in 20 years. the same will hap-
pen for Hutchinson and Backus.
But they know what they have
accomplished. This is a memory for
themselves and their teammates,
"It was special that he was
untouched walking into the endzone,"
Hutchinson said. "That is something
that we will always remember."
There is no doubt that a loss of
Terrell and Henson would devastate
next season's offensive statistics. But
the loss of three individuals will hurt
the entire team's morale.
Fans may not remember the two
offensive linemen but Thomas will -
and that's all that matters.
"I don't know a lot, but I do know
this." Carr said. "It is a team game
and those guys up front blocked hard-
er than they would if they were just
doing it for themselves."
Those three added something to
Michigan football that is often forgot-
ten with flashy touchdowns and large
contracts - teamwork. Thomas'
record will be a constant reminder of
that.
- Stephanie Offen can be r'eached at
soffen(4 umich.edu.
Date
Sept. 2
Sept. 9
Sept. 16
Sept. 23
Sept. 30
Oct. 7
Oct. 14
Oct. 21
Nov. 4
Nov. 11
Nov. 18
Jan. 1
H OW THE AP TOP 25 FARED
Associated Press Poll final regular-season rankings.
Games updated through January 4.
'M' 2001 SCHEDULE
1. Oklahoma
2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Florida State
4. washington
5. Oregon State
6. Virginia Tech
7. Florida
8. Oregon
9. Nebraska
10. Notre Dame
11. Kansas State
19 Tr2,,
beat No. 3 Florida State 132
beat No. 7 Florida 37-20
lost to No. 1 Oklahoma 13-2
beat No. 14 Purdue 34-24
beat No. 10 Notre Dame 41-9
beat No. 16 Clemson 41-20
lost to No. 2 Miami 37-20
beat No. 12 Texas 35-30
beat No. 18 Northwestern 60-17
lost to No. 5 Oregon State 41-9
beat No. 21 Tennessee 35-21
ils toNo.n 8 Oregnn 3-3
Orange Bowl
Sugar Bowl
Orange Bowl
Rose Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
Gator Bowl
Sugar Bowl
Holiday Bowl
Alamo Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
Cotton Bowl
Holiday Bowl
Date
Sept. 1
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Sept. 22
Oct. 6
Oct. 13
Oct. 27
Nov. 3
Nov. 10
Nov. 17
Nov. 24
Opoonent
MIAMI (OHIO)
at washington
WESTERN MICHIGAN
ILLNols
at Penn State
PURDUE (HC)
at Iowa
at Michigan State
MINNESOTA
at wisconsin
OHio STATE
Opponent Time-TV/Result
BOWLING GREEN W, 42-7
RICE W, 38-7
at UCLA L, 23-20
at Illinois W, 35-31
'WISCONSIN W, 13-10
at Purdue L,"32-31 x
INANa - W 58-0
MICHIGAN STATE W, 14-0
at Northwestern L, 54-51
PENN STATE W, 33-11
at Ohio State - W, 38-26
Auburn W, 31-28
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