4B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, November 13, 1995 MICHIGAN 5, PnuE EL Players agree: The weather made conditions unbearable By Scott Burton GAME STATISTICS Daily Sports Writer It really wasn't that long ago that Michigan was playing in front of a searing late-summer sun, with the mere thought of PASSING movement inducing gallons of sweat. But it must have been hard for the Wolverines to remember that their season began Player C-A Yds TD Int in August after what they went through in Saturday's contest Gries 11-4 10 0 1with Purdue. Griese 11-24 101 0 1 Michigan Stadium did its best imitation of Soldier Field Toomer 0-1 0 0 1 after subfreezing temperatures and a pregame shower/snow- storm made game-time conditions downright nasty. The Totals 11-25 101 0 2 perimeter of the playing field was surrounded by a moat of water while the field itself was a sod-pit. Throw in a game-long hail storm and you can begin to RUSHING understand why forward progress was such a tricky task in the Wolverines' 5-0 victory. The two teams combined for only Player Aft Yds Avg Lg TD 396 total yards, and players from both teams complained that the weather had as much to do with the offensive struggles as B'batuka 14 84 6.0 37 0 either of the defenses. Davis 14 37 2.6 6 0 "(That was) without a doubt the worst, as far as weather conditions, that I've ever played in," quarterback Brian Griese Hayes 2 26 13.0 14 0 said. "It was just hard to stand up out there, for the offensive lineman to get blocks and push off, for me to take drops, for C. Williams 9 24 2.7 7 0 the backs to make cuts." Howard 4 12 3.0 11 0 The conditions created particular problems for the two quarterbacks - Michigan's Griese and Purdue's Rick Floyd 2 3 1.5 3 0 Trefzger. The football collected mud and water on its surface, making it a challenge to throw with any sort of accuracy. W. Carr 3 2 0.7 1 0 Gusts of wind also played havoc with passes. Griese 6 (-)6(-)1.0 8 0 Griese completed only 11 of 24 passes for 101 yards while Trefzger was 11 of 19 for 84 yards and one interception. Totals 54 182 3.3 37 0 "What you try to do is try to make good plays, safe plays and get first downs," Griese said. "That game was definitely a "It was just hard to stand Ups - Brian Griese, Michigan quarterback on Saturday's weather and field conditions game of field position." As a result, the two teams ran the ball more frequently than they probably would have. Not that a ground attack was a safer venture - the broken field made traction precarious and sharp cuts nearly impossible. That's part of the reason that Boilermaker Mike Alstott - who had averaged 135.2 yards per game - could only muster 20 yards on 11 carries. What made scoring evenharder was that the tarp covering the field prior to the game did not extend past the 20-yard line on either side of the field. That meant that the red zone was especially roughed up, even before the players stepped on the field. And it also meant that the lack of traction and the difficulty in moving the ball was doubly amplified. On four separate occasions, Michigan had the ball within Purdue's 15-yard line and failed to score. "I am not concerned about our offensive production in the red zone," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "We knew before the game that it was hazardous from the 20-yard line in." There was some fun to be had on the day, though. Michigan wide receiver Mercury Hayes took a spill onto his belly as he burst towards the sideline and slid 10 yards towards the stands. That prompted a few Boilermakers to give him the "safe" call. RECEIVING Player Hayes Toomer Howard R'mersma Totals PUNTING Player Peristeris Delong Totals No. Yds Avg Lg TD 4 42 10.5 22 0 3 25 .8.3 9 0 2 23 11.5 18 0 2 11 5.5 8 0 11 101 9.2 22 0 No. Yds Avg Lg 4 117 29.3 47 1 29 29.0 29 5 146 29.2 47 PUNT RETURNS No. Yds Avg 1 10 10.0 Lg TD Michigan defensive back Clarence Thompson pressures Purdue quarterback Rick Toomer Totals 10 0 1 10 10.0 10 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Yds JUNATIHAN LURI/Ufady Michigan tallback Ed Davis had to wade through both a pile of bodies and a few inches of mud on this play. Temperatures dropped to around minus-8 with the windchill Saturday. Avg Lg TD Hayes 1 Totals 1 DEFENSE Player Irons Sword Horn Thompson Woodson W. Carr Feazell Copenhaver Steele Bowens Huff Mayes King Sanders Weathers F; S;n 5 A s s.o s o PURDUE Continued from Page 1B run wide, we couldn't run up the middle, we couldn't throw." Michigan quarterback Brian Griese, Solo Ast Tot who was able to connect on only 1 1 of 6 1 7 24 passes for 101 yards, tried to not let the weather conditions affect his play. 5 3 8 "You can't really think about it at all," Griese said. "You go back and 4 1 5throw the way you've been throwing 4 0 4 the whole game. You can't try to fac- tor in the wind, the snow or the rain 4 0 4 because then you'll overcompensate, 3 1 4 undercompensate." The Wolverines racked up 182 yards 3 1 4 on the ground - 84 of which came from Biakabutuka before he left the 3 0 3 game in the first half with a pulled 3 0calf muscle. Purdue had a chance to get on the 1 2 3 board just before the half. Aaron Hall intercepted a Griese pass at the Michi- 1 1 2 gan 43. The Boilermakers moved to the 34 but had to attempt a long field 1 0 1 goal as their drive stalled. 1 0 1 Brad Bobich slipped as he kicked the ball and it fell short despite the 0 1 1 wind. 0 1 1 "I tried to slow down a little bit and get my footing," Bobich said. "It still didn't help, though." In the second half Michigan con- trolled field position once again. The ball did not leave Purdue territory until three minutes into the fourth quarter. That possession came only as a result of a free kick after Michigan scored a safety. The Wolverines drove deep into Purdue territory looking for a touch- down. They could not convert on fourth and one from the five and turned the ball over on downs. On the next play Michigan's de- fense provided some points. Trefzger went back to throw but was hit in the end zone by Clarence Thompson for a safety to make it 5-0. "The biggest play of the game was when we got stopped down there and (defensive coordinator) Greg Mattison made a tremendous call," Carr said. "lie brought Clarence Thompson off the corner and got the sack that gave us a safety. I thought that play changed the entire complexion of the game because from then on Purdue would have been forced to get a touchdown to win." After keeping control of the ball for so much of the game - Michigan had possession for 37:22 to Purdue's 22:38 - the Wolverines needed to get some points on the board somehow. "It gave us a lot of momentum of- fensively and defensively," Thomp- son said. "The offensive team held the ball a lot so they gave us the field position to go out there." Purdue couldn't muster much of- fense on the day. The Boilermakers were held to just 29 yards on the ground. Alstott, who could have be- came Purdue's all-time leading rusher with 35 yards, gained just 19 yards. "I think it made them run the ball more than they really wanted to." line- backer Jarrett Irons said. "It gave us the ability to stack up on the run. "Anytime you have to go against a great player like Mike Alstott you have to have some emphasis on him. We call the defense, the coaches call the defense, we executed and we stopped him today." The win was certainly welcome re- lief to the Michigan players following last week's loss at Michigan State. "We were hurt after the Michigan State loss - it was a tough loss," Irons said. "The only way to get that feeling out of your system is to go back and win. The score really doesn't tell how the game really was. It was a tough and a hard-fought win." Late in the first quarter, with no score, Michigan had a fourth- and-8 from its own 42. Punter Paul Peristeris came in and booted the ball high and deep toward Purdue's Craig Allen, who was back near the Boilermaker 10-yard line. Allen mishandled the punt, and Michigan's Sam Sword pounced on his fumble at the 2-yard line. Although the Wolverines lost five yards over the next three pays, the fumble recovery led to a 25-yard Remy Hamilton field goal, which gave Sown . m stillidn'thelp though,. F' George runs wild o0 Ohio State tailback rushes for school-rec INTERCEPTIONS Player No. Woodson 1 Totals 1 MICHIGAN SCHEDULE A27 VIRGINIA WHITE Yds TD Continued from Page 18 15 15 0 0 5-0 just isn't a football score. A baseball score, yes. Hockey, sure. Curling, well, no one really knows how that's scored so maybe, but definitely not foot- This one was going to come down to the running games - Purdue's power fullback Mike Alstott against Michigan's slick and speedy Tshimanga Biakabutuka. That, like any other resemblance of offense never developed. Alstott rushed for only 19 yards on 11 carries and Biakabutuka, while rushing for 84 yards, did it all by the halfway mark of the second mance it put up Saturday. The Wolverines needed it for the win and they needed it for the rest of the season. "It was tough to think that as well as we had played, we could still be 8-4," Michigan nose guard and utility fullback William Carr said after the game. The Wolverines could still finish 8-4, but it is not as likely as it was a ball. I 8-17 Actually, the only thing funnier