4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 24, 2001 MICHIGAN 38, WESTERN MICHIGAN 21 GAME STATISTICShestern's hopesndie Team~ Stats MICH W. MICH First Dawns 23 24 Rashes/Yards 39/188 25/53 Passing Yards 220 374 ,' stle :918 2593 w hen A skew enters Offensive Plays 69 3 h n A k w e tr Total Offese 472 387 w Return Yards 72 120 Comp/Att/Int 18/30/0 36/58/2 Punts/Avg 5/34.6 5/33.4 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/0 By Jeff Phillips mark. Penalties/Yards 13/111 9/7 Daily Sports Editor "You never know what exactly I Tim eof Pss 2827 31:33Y M I C H I G A N am going to do back there," Askew One of the many question marks said. "Is he going to run, is he PASSING CA Yd TO lnt for the Michigan offense coming ging to block or is he going catch Navarre 16-28 24o a into the season was how would it the screen pass?" Gnales 2 - 3 ea a replace the Wolverines' career In the past two years, Askew had rushing leader Anthony Thomas? played fullback. The majority of his RUSHING Playar Att Yds Avg La TO Three. games into the season, touches came as a receiver out of Ask 15 127.5 30 2 Michigan looks like it has found the backfield and he did not get Perry 6 25 4.2 6 0 his replacement in junior B.J. many carries. Cr 20 . - o Askew. But without a clear heir to the Bell 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 Askew and sophomore Chris position, he has found a larger role Totas 39 1ee 4. 30 3 Perry split most of the carries this in an offense that relies heavily on PaCEIVINGN. Yds Ac La TO season, with freshman David the run. Askew 5 66 13.2 41 1 Underwood and senior Walter Askew has earned the respect of Bell 4 86 21.5 ' Cos7aso tie ymou4 50 Cross also seeing time. quarterback John Navarre through Wayners 30 6 63 10.0 3 sen W~alker a 57 19 00 1 Perry looked like he had estab- three games this season and seems Bellemy 1 6 6 6 0 lished himself as the focus with to have built a good relationship Totals 1e 24 1s. 47 2 starts at Washington and against the with him - something that bodes PUNTING . Broncos, but when he went down in well for Askew. ler No 3.vgL the first quarter, Askew became the "My confidence in B.J. is 100 Totals 4 173 43.3 0 4 go-to guy in the running game. . percent all the time," Navarre said. KICKOFF RETURNS "It is an advantage to have two "When you go into a game, you Player No. Yds Avg Lg TO running backs that can run the ball don't have to worry about B.J. You Howard 115 15 1s really well," Askew said. "We are confident that when you hand Totals 2 24 12 1e o wanted to alternate all four of us - him the ball he is going to break PUNT RETURNS me, Chris, Walter and Underwood some tackles and make really good PCayer Ne. Yd Aa Lg T O - and the coach said from there we runs." Totals 1 e te 1e o will find out who is really chugging Askew's hard work has also DEFENSE away and that will be probably be played a role in his success this Player solo Asst Tot the starter from here on out. I guess season. M. Curry s .5 when (Perry) went down, the game "He always works hard," S4 1 -5 plan changed." Navarre said. "If he keeps working E. Brackins 4 0 4 Askew took advantage of the hard then good things are going to Junbn4rr4 opportunity Perry's injury created. happen, like they did today for Fote 4 0 4 He rushed for 112 yards and two him." Howard 3 , 4 touchdowns on 15 carries against With the status of Perry still caceu, 0 0 3 the Western Michigan defense. unknown, Askew's role may get Spytek 2 a 2 The versatile Askew kept the larger and he will be expected to R"mh 1 1 Broncos off guard by doing a little step up in Perry's absence. He will Mnnin 1 1 2 bit of everything. In addition to be helped by an improving offen- P. rkins 1 o 1 being the leading rusher, he was sive line, which is gaining confi- cksoy 1 O ' also Michigan's leading receiver dence by the game. with five receptions and another "I see a lot of improvement," Player Int Yds L Brk-up TO touchdown. Much of the yardage Askew said. "They feel a lot more Howard 1 0 0 1 0 was picked up in one 41-yard confident about what they are doing sikasn a o a 2 0 screen pass - a Michigan trade- --I can definitely sense that." Foote O 0 0 1 0 spytek 0 0 0 1 0 Askew vs.Perry Totas 2 O 0 7 6 Michigan has used both sophomore Chris Perry and junior B.J. Askew as the w E S T E R N M I C H I G A N starter at running back this season and each has found success. Who should be the Wolverines starter? Here are their rushing and receiving stats this year. Player CA Yd. TO It Welsh 3658 374 2 Chris Perry Att. Yards Avg. TD Rec. Yards Avg. TD Totals 3e.se 374 2 2 vs. Miami (Ohio) 11 32 2.9 0 1 12 12 0 RSHING vs. Washingtn 24 95 4 0 2 15 7.5 0 Player N At Yds Avg Lg TO vs. Western Michigan 6 25 4.2 0 0 0 0 . Red 12 59 4.9 37 o Total 41 152 3.7 0 3 27 9.0 0 Woods 2 16 e.0 12 0 Totals 25 13 0.5 37 B.J. Askew Att. Yards Avg. TD Rec. Yards Avg. TD RECEIVING vs. Miami (Ohio) 20 94 4.7 1 2 29 14.5 0 Playe No. Yda Avg Lg TD vs. Washington 8 27 3.4 0 1 2 0 0 Aariogun e 01.0 24 0 vs. Western Michigan 15 112 7.5 2 5 66 13.2 1 Jennings 7 85 12.7 25 0 Bush 5 63 12.6 40 o Total 43 233 5.4 3 8 97 12.1 1 Mssely 5 25.8 e a Jo nson 4 36 90 1 --- Zuhl 3 37 12.3 17 1 s$' " Wovreton 2 18 9.0 12 0 /. Thonmas 1 0 6.0 6 0O C 7. Kiner 1 B 6.0 6 O 0 Totals 36 374 10A 4 2 PUNTING > Player/o NB. Yds Ac Lg .i" Player E No. Yds Avg Lg TO- Rogers 4 110 27.5 52 03 Totals 4 5 1 7 .3 3 2 ', KIUKOFFRETURNS - Player No. Yds Aa Lg TO R~ogers 4 10 27.5 62 O £ Ttala 2'110 2.6 96 0 .7 PUNT R/ETURNS Player Solo Asst Tot Ir,, Lape 6 2 85 Mally 6 0 6 Lews 5 1 6 Brownina 5 0 5 Babin 4 1 Foreste -1 3 4 Rogcrs 2 0 2 Feldpausch 2 0 2 Westgate 1 0 1r Eklund 1 0 1 eynolds 1 0 Allsbury 1 0 1l PASS DEFENSE d gg ( i Player Int Yds Lcg Brkup TO Rogers 0O 0a 0O 2 0BRENDAN ODONNELL/Daily Totals 3 After Chris Perry got hurt, BJ. Askew stepped in and dragged Western Michigan defenders all over the field en route to scoring three touchdowns. PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Beore facing Illinois, Michigan must improve This is just one of many American flags that flew at Saturday's Michigan-Western Michigan game. The pregame and half- time ceremonies paid tribute to those killed in the horrific terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. M recognZes Amenca 's fight durng victory over Broncos Front seven dominates again, finishes with 10 tackles for a loss By Jon Schwartz Daily Sports Editor For most of Saturday afternoon in Michigan Stadium, the biggest presence was not B.J. Askew or his three touch- downs and 178 all-purpose yards. It wasn't Michigan's defensive front-FooTBALL' seven, which recorded seven sacks and kept Western Michigan quarterback Notebook Jeff Welsh under pressure throughout the game. And it certainly wasn't the Michigan secondary, which' allowed Welsh 374 passing yards. For most of the afternoon, the biggest presence was the United States of America. Patriotism was everywhere, from the flags the players wore on their uniforms, to the halftime ceremony and to the chants of "U-S-A" by fans waving red and blue pom- poms. "For me personally, I just really wanted to take advantage of every opportunity I had to just play," Askew said. "A lot of people are down and I just wanted to let people know that were watching that life goes on after death. We are going to. keep on going and not going to stop." Fans were assaulted with scores of ways to support the victims and rescue workers as college football resumed for the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11. The Michigan athletic department wrapped a commemo- rative tribute around the game program, upping the price to $10. The extra $5 went to a relief fund, and the department raised $30,000 when all 6,000 programs sold out. Also, Michigan athletes circled the outer perimeter of the stadium with buckets collecting money. Inside the stadium, fans saw the Big Ten flags that nor- mally circle the stadium replaced by American flags, each of which was flying at half mast. And the pregame ceremony saw the Western Michigan and Michigan bands join together for the National Anthem, with both teams on the field. At halftime, the-two bands played "America the Beautiful." "It's special to be an American," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I know I'm proud to be an American. I think everybody has different emotions, but it was unlike any moment in my life. Department of Public Safety director Bill Bess said he was impressed by the fans reaction to the added secuity. "Everything went very, very smoothly," he said. "I'm frankly very proud of the fans. They were very patient, they were very helpful. Everyone understood why we were doing it and people were actually thanking us for the service." ON AND oFF: Heading into the Big Ten season, with Illi- nois coming to Ann Arbor next weekend, the Wolverines are being led on the field by-the strong play of their defen,, sive front seven. Saturday, Michigan recorded seven sacks on Welsh, pin- ning him back 49 yards. The unit also recorded three more tackles for losses totaling 17 more yards. "They had a really good defensive line, very strong," said Western Michigan offensive tackle Matt Stover. "They had a really good blitz scheme. They keep coming after you and you have to give them all the credit in the world. They're very tenacious, and they're very focused as a team." Because of the Federal Aviation Administration's ruling of Michigan Stadium as a no-fly zone, the sky was void of planes, a point that Welsh must have noticed as he spent a good portion of the game on his back with nothing to look at but the sky. The unit hurried Welsh on nearly every play, often dropping him after the pass got off. "I give a lot credit to (Welsh.) He's tough," Michigan linebacker Larry Foote said. "We gave him some good shots, but he just kept getting up." "I feel fine," Welsh said. "I took quite a few hits but that's going to happen in the course of the game." The Wolverines can build off the strength of the front seven, as long as they eliminate the offsides calls that could plague the team against stronger opposition. Michigan was called for offsides four times, not counting the multiple other occasions when a linemen jumped but got back before the snap. ALL IN THE AIR: Of the 387 yards that the Broncos earned on Saturday, 374 of them came on pass plays. Welsh attempted 58 passes, compared with the 25 times that he handed the ball off. The Broncos ran predominantly short routes with their spread offense, and were often able to make the catches wide-open, with Michigan's defensive backs behind them. "The stuff we were doing didn't have a whole lot to do with their secondary," Western Michigan coach Gary Dar- nell said. "One of the best things we had early in the game was the umpire because that's how short our routes were. It wasn't that kind of a game where it was a test of the sec- ondary.' GOODSTEIN Continued from Page 1B sure was still applied. The reality is that Michigan does- n't have a cornerback who's capa- ble of defending a wide receiver for an entire game, though freshman Marlin "It's easy as 1-2-3" Jackson is beginning to look like one. Western Michigan's receivers proved this on Saturday, just as Washington's proved it in the prior game. When a team doesn't have a cor- MARORIE MARSHALL/Day nerback that can defend a receiver, OFFENSIVE - B.J. Askew: Askew had the safeties need to respect the pass a career-high 178 yards and three that much more, and all of a sudden touchdowns after taking over for Chris the linebackers need to apply pres- Perry.Esure and defend the run. ishing with three tackles for a loss. Luckily, Michigan has great line- backers. But even they are suscepti- ble to cracking every once in a while, as Western proved on a sim- ple draw. It took one block on Larry Foote for Broncos running back Phillip Reed to go for 37 yards, because the safeties were helping the defensive backs. Michigan also needs to solve its special teams problems - poor punting, missed field goals, lack of a threat on kickoff returns - as well as get a healthy Chris Perry, and start getting the ball to wide receiver Ronald Bellamy. Regardless, its nice to think about football again. Raphael Goodstein can be reached at raphaelg@umich.edu. MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily Michigan linebacker Larry Foote had another strong game against Western Michigan, recording three more tackles for loss. He nowhas nine on the season after recording a career high six against Washington.