The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, September 11, 1994 - 5B

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Michigan's offense fails to click
Fumbles and costly penalties defy Carr's goal of improvement

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By Darren Everson
Daily Sports Editor
It didn't take long for the Michigan offense to start misfir-
ing Saturday.
On the fourth play of the game, the Wolverines had a 67-
yard reverse called back because of a holding call. And in
case anyone disagreed with that penalty, Michigan was guilty
of illegal procedure, too.
That possession ended like so many others did for Michi-
gan - with a punt. And that's been an all-too-common
occurrence in the Wolverines' first three games.
"Offensively, we certainly did not improve," Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr said.
Against Virginia and Illinois, the Wolverines couldn't
consistently run the ball, and quarterback Scott Dreisbach
was largely ineffective. Those problems arose again, but this
time Michigan sputtered in yet another way.
After committing two turnovers total in the first two
games, the Wolverines fumbled the ball away four times
against Memphis. Michigan hadn't even lost a fumble before
Saturday.
"We can't go (to Boston College) turning the ball over,"
Carr said. "You can't improve when you turn the ball over."
There's a reason Carr speaks so much of improvement.
It's because in his eyes, no one has consistently played up
to their potential yet- including Tshimanga Biakabutuka.
Michigan's star tailback rushed 25 times for 144 yards
Saturday. However, Biakabutuka spent most of the fourth
quarter standing on the sidelines, and that wasn't because he
was hurt. .
"I don't think he ran with the intensity that he had earlier
in the game," Carr said. Carr tried Chris Floyd and Chris
Howard, among others, but they had limited success.
Floyd carried eight times for 24 yards. Howard struggled
as well, rushing four times for 9 yards. And like Biakabutuka,
Howard also fumbled trying to receive a handoff from
Dreisbach.
"We have got to establish some other running backs," Carr
said. "Our intention was to play as many guys in the backfield
as we (could) because we're going to need them down the
road."

"He s a guy (that) every
time he goes on the field-
you know he'rs going to give
you everything he's got"
- Lloyd Carr
Michigan football coach
on Wolverine running back Ed Davis
Having extra running backs to spell Biakabutuka is a sound
idea. But what good does it do to try everyone in the student
body if no one else can find a hole?
"We've got to work hard as running backs to read the line
better," Biakabutuka said.
Not everyone was in the coach's doghouse. Ed Davis, who
was running in place of Biakabutuka in the fourth quarter,
drew praise from Carr.
"Mr. Dependability," as Carr called him, picked up 52 yards
on 10 carries in the fourth quarter. For the game he had 70
yards rushing, and he scored on a three-yard run in the third
quarter.
"He's a guy (that) every time he goes on the field, every time
he gets the football," Carr said, "you know he's going to give
you everything he's got."
Carr may never be worried what kind of effort Davis gives,
but he had some concern about the rest of his team. He said that
unlike the Virginia and Illinois games, he was worried about
the team's focus coming into this one.
"I don't know about the other players," Biakabutuka said,
"(but) for me, maybe I wasn't focused enough."
Still, Michigan managed to score 24 points against another
stingy defense. And for the third consecutive week, the
Wolverines showed the ability to score points off of turnovers
(14 of their points came that way) and strike quickly (Michi-
gan had a 63-yard scoring drive in 50 seconds).
So, Carr has reason to be optimistic about his offense.
"We'll get this offense straightened (out)," he said.

GAME STATISTICS

PASSING

Player
Oden
Borich

C-A Yds TD Int
11-21 67 0 0
2-4 10 0 0

Totals 11-25 77 0 0
RUSHING

Player
Oden

Att
13

Yds
8
4
0

Avg
.6

LgTD
11 0

Sp'Iding 11
Blevins 7

.4 3
.0 3

0*
0

Fletcher
Borich
Reeves
Totals

3

8 2.7 7 0

1 (-)2(-)2.0
1 1 1.0

0
1

0
0

36 19 .511 0

RECEIVING

Player No.
Sp'Iding 6
Blevins 3
Peschke 2
Carr 1
Roskelly 1
Totals 13

Yds
35
15

Avg LgTD
5.8 20 0
5.0 6 0

10 5.0 6 0

nipr wide receiver Todd Richards returned to the Michigan lineup making three
tches for 21 yards. Richards missed the first two games with a knee injury that
Wfred in spring practice.On the day, Wolverine receivers caught 13 passes for
2 yards.

.11
6
77

11.0 11 0
6.0 6 0
5.9 20 6

PUNTING
Player
Coughlin
Totals

No. Yds Avg Lg
12 400 33,353
12 400 33.353

PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg
Roskelly 2 6 3.0

Lg TD
6 0

Totals

2 6 3.0 6 0

KICKOFF RETURNS

Player
Davis

No.Yds Avg Lg TD
4 81 20.3 25 0

Powell 1 20 2.0 20
Totals 510120.2 25

0
0

DEFENSE
Player
Spann
Allen
Gary
Smith
Thomas
J. Woods
Bonner
Barnett
Willimas
Hogans
Kei. Cobb
Bowling
Sutton
Kev. Cobb
Mason
Santibanez
Stewart
Frier
Wilkens

Solo
9
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
0
0

Ast
4
4
1
3
1
6
4
4
2
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
1

Tot
13
10
7
8
6
10
8
7
5
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1

JOE WESTRATE/Daily

This fumble recovery by Jerome Woods accounted for Memphis' only score in Saturday's 24-7 loss to Michigan


Big Ten Standings
Conference
W L T Pf
Michigan 1 0 0 1
Iowa 0 0 0 .0
Northwestern 0 0 0 .0

AllGames

e score when Kinder took a handoff
om quarterback Ron Powlus at the
ish 48 and ran 52 yards for the
uchdown.
The Irish (1-1) blew a 28-13 lead
the fourth quarter, giving up two
uchdowns in less than two min-
es,' Watson's 13-yard run brought
rdue within 28-20 with 11:31 to
ay.
Penn State 24, Texas Tech 23
Brent Conway, who missed two
eld goals earlier, kicked a 39-yarder
ith four seconds remaining as No. 4
nn State came back from a 13-
>mt deficit to beat Texas Tech 24-
Saturday.
The Nittany Lions survived three
mbles, one less than the team lost
b last season, to defeat the Red Raid-
s, who were three-touchdown un-
rdogs in this season opener.
Penn State's final drive ate up six
d a half minutes as the Nittany
ions marched to the Texas Tech 11.

Northern Iowa (0-2), a Division
I-AA school, took a 3-0 lead 4:03
into the game on Matt Waller's 38-
yard field goal. The Panthers set
up the play by blocking Nick
Gallery's punt on Iowa's first pos-
session.
The Hawkeyes were out on four
downs on the ensuing possession
and Northern Iowa, keyed by a 46-
yard pass from Chris Berg to Dedric
Ward and aided by a 15-yard face-
mask penalty, marched to the Iowa
five.
Northern Iowa failed to convert
on fourth-and-2, however, and from
there it was all downhill for the
Panthers. Tyree Talton put his team
on the Iowa 39 after intercepting
Matt Sherman's pass, only to have
Berg fumble four plays later.
Talton had three interceptions in
the game.
Oregon 34,Iliinois 31
Oregon strong safety Jaiya

ct.
.000
00
)0O

Ohio St.
Penn St.
Indiana
Purdue
Minnesota
Michigan St.
Wisconsin
Illinois

0.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

.000.
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000

w
3
1
1
1
0
0
0
0

L
0.
0
0
0
0
0
2

T
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Pct.
1.000
1.000
1.000
1.000
1,000
1.000
.500
.000
.000
.000
.000

EVERSON
Continued from page 3B3
week's 10 games were just as easy to
pick. So, what you end up with is a
bunch of writers telling you that, in their
expert opinion, the Nittany Lions will
find a way to topple the Golden Go-
phers.
Whatever would you do without such
keen insight?
But after spending a year telling you
what you already know, we've wised
up. The lines make these picks worth-
while because they add difficulty. Mem-
phis vs. Michigan is no longer a no-
brainer because now, one has to decide
if the Wolverines will win by at least 20
1/2 points.
When you put that into the equation,
you get a difference of opinion. It just so
happens that we all figured Michigan
would win by 21, but on all of the other
games, there was no unanimous agree-
ment.
But besides watching us look like
geniuses one week and fools 'the next,
von aet to see the line, which is one of

TEAM STATISTICS
MICH MEM

Next Saturday's Games:
Arizona at Illinois
Miami, Ohio at Northwestern
Kentucky at Indiana
towa at Iowa St.
Michigan at Boston College

Michigan St. at Louisville
Ball St. at Minnesota
Washington at Ohio St.
Temple at Penn St.
Wisconsin at Stanford

First Downs
Third Down
Rushing
Passing
Total Offense
Plays
Turnovers
Penalties
Time

3-15 0-15

22

228
162
390

19
77
96

7


79 61
4 2
6-53 5-48
33:00 27:00

MEMPHIS SCHEDULE

S2

Mississippi St 14-28