The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 9, 1995 - 7B ,',,:- s a' li 'a Despite the r-, Beabufta shines with careerbest effort GAME STATISTICS By Antoine Pitts Daily Sports Editor When Michigan tailback Tshimanga Biakabutuka darted through the line for seven yards on the game's first play, it was a sign of things to come. Biakabutuka carried the ball 33 more times and amassed a career-high 205 yards in Michigan's 19-13 loss to North- western. The Wolverines needed Biakabutuka's rushing yardage because nothing happened in the air for Michi- gan. In previous games this year it has been the opposite --Michigan was able to gain yardage by passing and had trouble moving the ball on the ground. Quarterback Brian Griese com- pleted just' 14 of 34 passes for 96 yards against the Wildcats. With the rainy weather conditions contribut- ing to Griese's inability to connect with receivers, the ground game was the only way to move the ball. On their first drive, the Wolverines drove 52 yards to the Northwestern 24-yard line. The possession stalled when Griese threw two incomplete passes from the 24. A drive that lasted 5:27 ended with a Remy Hamilton 41- yard field goal. The Wolverines did not threaten to score again until early in the second quarter. That score was set up by Biakabutuka's longest run of the game. Biakabutuka took the handoff and dashed through the middle of the line. He cut right to get outside, then cut back to the middle. Northwestern's Rodney Ray caught him from behind at the Wildcats' 14-yard line, but not before Biakabutuka racked up 47 yards on the play. Two more Biakabutuka runs of five and eight yards gave Michigan the ball, first-and-goal, on the one. The North- western defense held the Wolverines, though, out of the end zone as Biakabutuka failed to get through twice and a Griese pass fell incomplete. Michigan settled for another field goal by Hamilton. Two lengthy drives deep into Northwestern territory net- ted the Wolverines just six points. "I'mnotacoach, I'mjustaplayer," Biakabutuka said. "My job is to carry the ball and that's all I know. I don't know what's going on up front. My job is to score regardless of what's happening up front." Biakabutuka finally reached the end zone in the third quarter only to have the score nullified by a penalty. Michigan took over following a fumbled kickoff at the Northwestern 23-yard line. Two plays later, Biakabutuka scampered around the left end all the way to the end zone. However, a holding call upfield on tight end Jay Riemersma brought the play back to the 26. The touchdown and extra point would have made it a 20-6 game mid- way through the third quarter. Instead, Hamilton missed a 37-yard field goal three plays later, leaving the score at 13-6. Biakabutuka's career-best mark was attributed to the blocking he received from the offensive line. He averaged six yards a carry and had the best rush- ing total by a Michigan back since Tyrone Wheatley ran for 235 yards in the 1993 Rose Bowl. Biakabutuka's effort ranks as the 15th-best single- game total in Wolverine history. "The line was blocking great," Biakabutuka said. "I decided that I was just going to hit the hole as quick as I could. "I told the line that and they did their job blocking. The hole was open- ing really big. All I had to do was hit the hole and I was in the secondary with the (defensive backs)." The 205 yards gave Biakabutuka his third game with at least 100 yards his season. His previous high was 143 yards four weeks ago against Mem- phis. Biakabutuka couldn't give enough credit to the line as he sur- passed the 1,500-yard mark in career yardage. "The guys did a great job today," Biakabutuka said. "I don't think I would have gained as many yards as I gained without them." PASSING Player Griese Totals C-A Yds TD Int 14-34 96 0 2 14-34 96 0 2 RUSHING Player Att Yds, Avg LgTD 6.0 47 0 B'butuka34 205 C. W'iams8 Griese 4 37 4.6 29 0 8 2.0 9 1 Totals 46 250 5.4 47 1 RECEIVING Player No. R 'mersma5 Hayes 4 Toomer 2 C.W'iams 1 Tuman 1 B'butuka 1 Totals 14 Yds 33 Avg 6.6 LgTD 10 0 43 10.8 13 0 8 4.0 7 0 6 6.0 6 0 4 4.0 4 0 2 2.0 2 0 ELIZABETH LIPPMAN/Daily Tshimanga Blakabutuka's 205 yards rushing was a career high. 96 6.813 0 PUNTING Player DeLong Totals No. Yds Avg Lg 416441.046 416441.046 PUNT RETURNS Player No. Toomer 2 Yds Avg 9 4.5 LgTD 9 0 Totals 2 9 4.5 9 0 KICKOFF RETURNS Player No. Toomer 3 Hayes 1 Floyd 1 Yds Avg 5719.0 LgTD 24 0 4040.0 40 6 6.0 6 0 0 0 Totals 5103 20.6 40 AP PHOTO Ohio State exacted revenge against Penn State Saturday for last season's 63-14 loss to the Nittany Lions. Ohio State gets revenge on Penn State, drops Nittay Lions to 3-2 Associated Press DEFENSE Player King Thompson Irons Swett Ray Woodson Steele Winters Elston Horn Solo 6 6 .5 4 4 4 3 1 1 Ast 1 1 2 2 1 1 0 2 2 Tot 7 7 7 6 5 5 3 3 3 2 0 2 Chii-val Miai (M ) Stung by a49-point loss to their Big Ten rival last year, fifth-ranked Ohio State rallied to beat No. 12 Penn State Saturday, 28-25, on Eddie George's 6- yard touchdown run with 1:42 left. Penn State took a 25-21 lead on Jon Witman's 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter and stayed in front un- til Ohio State's 58-yard, six-play scor- ing drive late in the game. The key plays in the drive were a 13-yard, third-down catch by Buster Tillman and a 32-yard catch in heavy traffic by Rickey Dudley. Penn State had a final chance, but Wally Richardson's long fourth-down pass for Bobby Engram was broken up with less than a -------------- minute left r and Ohio State then ran out the 8 clock. It was the second straight home loss Roundup for Penn State (0-2 Big Ten, 3- ' 2 overall), Games played which had OCt. 7 its 20-game winning s t r'e a k nannpn I Wisconsin it week. Team Northwestern Ohio State Iowa Minnesota Wisconsin Ilicoisa Michigan State Purdue Penn State Indiana 2 I' 1 1 0( 0 0 Conference L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 '1 1 2 2 T 0 0 0 0 0 1. 0 0 Overall W L 4 1 5 0 4 0 3 1 2 1 2 -2 3 2 2 2 T 0 0 0 0 1 1> 0 0 Big Ton football standings Z enkew icz Sword M ayes Campbell Anderson Sanders B. W'ms Feazel l W. Carr 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 scrimmage and finding room after holes had closed. Michigan State (0-1-1,2-2-1) showed no consistent momentum on offense but still had two excellent opportunities to narrow the score. With the Hawkeyes up 14-7 in the fourth quarter, Spartan tailback Marc Renaud carried the ball to the Iowa 9- yard line, then fumbled. Todd Schultz later threw an interception in the end zone with 2:41 remaining. Iowa, playing its first Big Ten game of the season, took the lead in the third quarter when Matt Sherman hit Tim Dwight with an I11-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion put the Hawkeyes ahead 14-7. Shaw's touchdown with 12:48 in the fourth quarter capped a 57-yard drive. Iowa rolled up 524 yards and held Michigan State to only 31 vards rush- But in a virtual replay of the teams' last two high-scoring games, the Golden Gophers (1-0, 3-1) still needed Cory Sauter's 1-yard sneak and his 2- point conversion pass to Ryan Thelwell with 1:38 left for the deci- sive points. Purdue (0-1-1,2-2-1) then got a 45- yard kickoff return from Lee Johnson, but Brad Bobich missed a 42-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds to play, giving Minnesota a victory criti- cal to its aspirations of playing in a bowl. game for the first time in nine years. Illinois 17, Indiana 10 The Illinois defense forced four turn- overs, two of which led to touchdowns passes by Scott Weaver, as the Illini beat Indiana, 17-10. Weaver, making his first start of the season. assed 25 yards to George MICHIGAN SCHEDULE A26 S2 S9 S16 S30 07 021 028 N4 N11 N18 VIRGINIA 18-17 Illinois 38-14 MEMPHIS 24-7 Boston Coll. 23-13 MIAMI (OHIO) 38-19 N'WESTERN 13-19 Indiana 2 p.m. MINNESOTA 3:30 p.m. Michigan St. 1 p,m. PURDUE TBA Penn St. N25 OHIO ST. Noon TBA