The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - September 5, 2001- 21A
"I FELT LIKE WE COULD HAVE BEAT MICHIGAN TODAY.
I DON'T THINK THEY WERE ALL THEY WERE HYPED UP TO BE."
- EDDIE TILLITZ, MIAMI (OHIO) WIDE RECEIVER
Walker quiet after first catch;
'M' has chance at all-time No. 1
Mi A M
I (O H IO )
PASSING
Player
Roethlisberger
Hawk
Totals
C-A
18-35
4-9
22-44
Yds
193
30
223
TD
2
O
2
Int
3
3
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Editor
Coming into the season, senior
wide receiver Marquise Walker was
expected to be an All-America can-
didate, or so the Michigan media
guide would have you believe.
Walker, who had 49 receptions for
699 yards last season, was All-Big
Ten Honorable Mention and was
expected to fill in for the departure
of All-American David Terrell.
And, after all, Walker's first three
catches from Navarre last season
went for touchdowns, and his 39-
yard first quarter reception in last
Saturday's game set up B.J.
Askew's one-yard touchdown.
The play came on a bootleg by
Navarre, and allowed Walker to use
his 6-foot-3 size to outjump the
shorter defensive back.
But after the catch, Walker was
relatively silent the rest of the day,
finishing with only two more catch-
es for five yards.
When asked what his thoughts
were about Michigan struggling
offensively, he said "We need to
look at our mistakes and correct
them.
"I think everyone was a little off
their first game. Once we get the
first game out of the way, I'm sure
we'll shape up."
While the Wolverines weren't
sharp, they tend to play better
against good teams. This will need
to be the case against No. 15 Wash-
ington.
"I think we have a had a lot of tra-
dition down through the years,"
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"The tradition here is that you play
with pride and you play your best
games in the big games. That has a
lot to do with the players we have
had here as well as the coaches. It is
a team thing and when you have
people with great pride and togeth-
erness, as well as leadership, then
you have a chance to be successful
... and we have had that."
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?: If Michi-
gan beats the Huskies Saturday, it
would obviously be a great win.
But it would be a monumental win
as well.
If Michigan wins, it will take the
lead for all-time victories in college
football. Michigan and Yale -
which hasn't started its season yet
- are currently tied with 806 wins.
The two schools will likely com-
pete all season for possession of the
record, as Yale, who was 7-3 last
year, is expected to challenge for the
Ivy League title.
Michigan already owns the record
for most wins by a Division I
school, as the entire Ivy League
plays in Division I-AA.
The Wolverines' game with
Washington could be coach Lloyd
Carr's 60th career win at Michigan
as well. Carr, who is 59-16, also has
the highest winning percentage by a
Michigan coach, with his .787 per-
centage.
This past Saturday's game was the
450th game in Michigan Stadium,
and put Michigan over 35 million
fans. The Wolverines are 334-101-
15 in their 75 seasons in "The Big1
House."
THANKS FOR STOPPIN' BY: With the
NFL regular season still one week
away, former Michigan stars and
current Chicago Bears' rookies
Anthony Thomas and Terrell made
their way back to Ann Arbor for
their former teammates' first game.
What was their impression? "They
looked good," a polite Terrell said.
After the game, the duo couldn't
move without fans asking for pic-
tures and autographs, but the'two
found timeto celebrate, going into
the lockerroom and singing "The
Victors" - a post-win ritual- with
the team.
RUSHING
Player Att
Clemens 14
Murray 2
Hawk 4
Roethlisberger 9
Totals 29,
RECEIVING
Player
Branch
Tillitz
Henry
Clemens
Hawk
Murray
Kirkpatrick
Totals
No.
4
4
4
4
3
2
22
Yds
63
23
23
18
127
Yds
66
50
42
23
15
21
6
223
Avg
4.5
11.5
5.8
2.0
4.4
Avg
16.5
12.5
10.5
5.8
5
10.5
6
10.1
Lg
33
15
14
9
33
Lg
30
21
18
11
6
17
6
30
TD
~0,
0
a0
0
TD
1-
0
0~
a
0
T2
PUNTING
Player
Wafzis
Roethlisberger
Totals
No. Yds Avg Lgl
6 233 38.8 48
1 27 27.0 27
7 260 37.1 48
Yds Avg Lg TD.
15 15 15 0
114 22.8 36 d.
129 21.5 36 0
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Kirkpatrick 1
Bowen 5
Total 6
PUNT RETURNS
Player No.
Tillitz 3
Totals 3
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daly
J. Askew made his debut as a starting tailback Saturday against Miami (Ohio).
DEFENSE
Player
Bowen
Jones
Robillard
Pusateri
Adams
Clark
Smith
DiGiandomenico
Petrovic
Edwards
Ruoff
Monroe
Clayton
Terry
Clemens
Branch
Mester
Sagehorn
Tripp
Sterling
Sprauge
PASS DEFENSE
Player1
Robillard
Pusateri
Clark
Totals
Yds
28
28
Solo
7
9
8
8
6
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Yds
0
0
Avg Lg
9.3 19
9.3 19
Asst
3
0
1
1
2
1
0
0
0
2
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Tot
10
*9-
9
7 .
4. .
3,
3,w
2
2
2"
1-.
1
1"
TO
0
w
Quarter bquarter: Michigan vs. Miami Ohio)
FIRST QUARTER: left. on the Miami two yard line. Askew a Miami timeout, LeSueur intercepted >
failed to find the end zone after two a fade intended for Jason Branch.
In typical fashion, Michigan ran tail- Michigan 10, Miami 0 tries. On fourth down, Navarre found
back B.J. Askew on the first four . Joppru for the touchdown. Navarre starts the new possession
Int
0
0
0
0
Lng
0
0
Brk-up
2
4
0-
o.
plays for a total of 11 yards. Navarre
then completed passes of five and
one yards that ended in an Epstein
nt that pinned the RedHawks on
eir own 10.
On their second play from scrim-
mage, Miami running back Luke
Clemens darted off the left end for a
33-yardgain. Quarterback Ben Roeth-
lisberger thenthrew an interception
into the hands of Carl Diggs.'
On his own 41, Navarre hit Walker
deep in the secondary for 37 yards.
Three rushes later Askew scored
from the goal line.
allowing a Miami punt, Epstein
ked a 22-yard field goal with 1:43
SECOND QUARTER:
After exchanging punts, Miami start-
ed to drive from their own 36 yard
line. Roethlisberger completes passes
of six and 30 to Kirkpatrick and
Branch. On the Michigan 21 Roethlis-
berger saves a high snap, scrambles
left, and delivers a strike to Eddie
Tillitz in the erd szone. Miami has
extra point blacked by Shante Orr.
With 3:57 left in the half Navarre
stepped under center on the Michi-
gan 30. Navarre passed to Calvin Bell
on the left for nine yards. Askew
rushed for 15 on the same side. Two
plays later, Askew caught a swing
pass and got up the left side for 30-
yard gain. That burst left Michigan
Michigan 17, Miami 6
THIRD QUARTER:
The first 10 minutes of the second
half produced a total of five punts
between the two teams.
The rest of the quarter contained a
51-yard missed field goal by Miami's
Brumberg and a turnover off a fumble
by Navarre.
Michigan 17, Miami 6
FOURTH QUARTER:
Miami started the quarter in the air,
driving to the Michigan 13. Following
by hitting Seymour twice for 25 yards
combined. A 30-yard jaunt by Askew
put Michigan at the Miami 9 yard line.
Calvin Bell scored on the third play
receiving a reverse from Perry
Michigan started wearing down the
RedHawks on the ground using a
combination of Askew, Cross, and
freshman David Underwood. The six
minute and nine second drive ended
with a Cross touchdown run from
the one.
On the next drive, Miami drove and
had a touchdown called back on a
hold. Three plays later, Roethlisberg-
er passes to Henry for a 16 yard
touchdown.
Michigan 31, Miami 13
WHO'S NEXT:
\VASHINGTON
Michigan will go into this Saturday's
game against Washington having an extr@
boost of experience and confidence after
last Saturday's win against Miami (Ohio).
The Huskies are ranked 15th heading inq
its first game of the year. The Wolverines
will test first-year starting quarterback
Cody Pickett, who replaces Marques 'Tuit
sosopo as the leader of the Huskies.
THE CONCERNS: The Huskies' strong defen-
sive line anchored by Larry Triplett; Wash.
ington is 17-3 in Husky Stadium for the
last 20 home games
s:
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Michigan running back Chris Perry is
in the backup role after B.J. Askew.
Carr won't block out mistakes
By Arun Gopal
Daily Sports Writer
With all of the personnel losses it suffered, the Michigan
qense could be excused for some opening-day jitters.
.Nevertheless, the Wolverines' performance against Miami
(Ohio) left a lot to be desired. The postgame statistics don't
look that bad- Michigan scored 31 points and finished the
game with 403 yards of total offense. Purely based on those
numbers, one might be inclined to say that Michigan had a
decent day moving the football.
But, anyone who watched the game could tell you that the
Wolverines' offense spent a fair chunk of the first three quar-
ters sputtering. To paraphrase ABC commentator Keith Jack-
son, Michigan was doing the tango - one, two, three, kick.
After three quarters, Michigan was clinging to a 17-6 lead,
if it hadn't been for several crucial turnovers, Miami
might very well have had the lead. Early in the fourth quarter,
Jeremy LeSueur's interception of Miami quarterback Ben
koethlisberger in the end zone essentially put the game away.
But afterwards it was clear - Michigan's offense has a very
long way to go.
"Offensively, we had some missed assignments up front
that we can't have happen," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"Some of those mistakes have to do with communication."
As is the case every year, Michigan's offense is predicated
a power-running game. Although B.J. Askew rushed for
95 yards on 20 carries, the Wolverines struggled at times to
establish themselves on the ground.
Part of the problem was that the offensive line was breaking
in four new starters. But, regardless, the sight of Askew being
knocked for a loss on a 4th and 1 had to have fans pining for
Anthony Thomas.
"The running backs missed some holes," Carr said. "On the
fourth down and one play, we missed an assignment. We did-
n't block a guy coming off the backside and he made a good
tackle."
hat was a buzzword amongst the Wolverines after the
game - correctable.
Virtually everyone seemed more than willing to admit that
Michigan hadn't played a particularly solid game. They all
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
John Navarre and the Michigan offense will have to perform
much better in Washington to walk away with a win.
acknowledged breakdowns throughout the offense, but at the
same time, everyone sounded equally confident that all of the
mistakes were repairable through film study and added prac-
tice.
"We have some things to work on, some things to correct,"
Michigan quarterback John Navarre said. "The good part is
that they're correctable things - we can get better."
Despite that optimism, the fact remains that Michigan's
performance against Miami won't cut it when the Wolverines
travel to Seattle this weekend to play the Huskies, who come
into the game ranked 15th in the country.
The Huskies' defense, anchored by star tackle Larry
Triplett, is big, fast and mean, and a stumbling Michigan
offense will be easy pickings.
"The team's confident that we can get better," Navarre said.
"It's not that we played horrible football. We had some first-
game cracks to fill up, but we feel good."
-1
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team
Iois
hlgan
Iowa
Purdue
Wisconsin
Indiana
Michigan State
81g Tet
0o0
0 0
a o
1 0
0a0
0 0
0 0
Overall
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 1
0 0
0 0
t