16 - The Michigan Daily - Kickoff '95 - Thursday; September 7, 1995 I . - 4 It 4 Z '. # i - " " I I . . I , , I a 9 , , - i 4 , . i , T Ss Michigan 18, Virginia 17 Final Statistics . . , . TBeMichiganDucly- Biakabutuka continues legacy of 'Wol V f A PASSING Player C-A Dreisbach 27-52 PASSING Yds TD Int 372 2 2 Player Groh Sherman C-A Yds TD 16-25 138 0 3-4 53 0 Int 0 0 RUSHING Player Att Biaka. 7 Yds 36 13 Avg 4.7: 2.2 LgTD 20 0 5 0 Howard 6 RECEIVING RUSHING Player Att Yds T. Barber12113 K. Brooks18 64 RECEIVING Player No. Yds Neely 6 73 Owen 2 35 Avg 9.4 3.6 LgTD 81 1 15 0 By Antoine Pitts Michigan has been blessed with many good running backs over the years. This season is no excep- tion. With Tyrone Wheatley off running now in the NFL, the Wolverines have quite a gap to fill. In Slakabutuka his place starts junior All-America candidate Tshimanga Biakabutuka. Last season, Biakabutuka ran for 6.2 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns. When Biakabutuka needs to be rested or is out due to injury, there are plenty of good candidates to carry the ball for him. Ed Davis, who has backed up Michi- gan tailbacks from Ricky Powers to Wheatley, returns for another season. Davis has proven to be a valuable addi- tion off the bench whenever the Wolver- ines need him. Sophomore Chris Howard and fresh- man Clarence Williams will also carry the ball for Michigan. At fullback, the Wolverines have a couple of players converted from other positions in sophomore Chris Floyd and junior George Howell. "He's a guy that came to Michigan as a highly touted tailback," coach Lloyd Carr said. "He's got the size, he's an ex- cellent blocker and he seems very ex- cited about the move because he wants to play." Howell previously was a linebacker for the Wolverines. "He gives us a heavy duty blocking back," Carr said. "He does a good job catching the ball. He is a factor in there." The Wolverines were left low af full- back following Jon Ritchie's transfer to Stanford and Che' Foster leaving a year early for the NFL Draft. Michigan's depth at the Wolverines the abilit a fullback in some situati Running bad Name T. Blakabutuka Chris Howard Ed Davis Chris Floyd George Howell Player No. Hayes 7 Riemer. 7 PUNTING Player I DeLong Yds 179 Avg LgTD 25.6 43 2 71 10.1 14 0 Avg LgTD 12.2 24 0 17.5 22 0 No. Yds Avg Lg 7 27238.9 48 PUNTING Player Brice MARK FRIEDMADsy Michigan celebrates its last-second, game-winning touchdown over Virginia, along with the Michigan Stadium fans. No. Yd: 7 27E sAvg LE Offensive line helps Dreisbach get settled DEFENSE Player Irons King Swett Thompson Horn Zenkewicz Feazell Ray 639455 'M' leaves Virginia in a Hayes Ast Tot Receiver's catch with no time left completes Pigskin comeback spo 1. Ib Solo 9 7 7 6 4 4 3 2 Ast 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 Tot 11 8 7 7 5 4 4 3 DEFENSE Player Farrior Sharper Crocker R. Barber S. Jones Harris London Sol lo 9 2 11 8 2 10 6 1 7 5 0 5 4 1 5 4 0 4 3 14 By Ryan White One could forgive Virginia coach George Welsh if he sounded a little like baseball philosopher Yogi Berra after the Aug. 26 Pigskin Classic at Michigan Stadium. "It's never over until it's over, and it wasn't over," Welsh said. There wasn't much else Welsh could say after watching his No. 17 --, Cavaliers lose a 17-point lead, and then the game, on the final play of the con- test. With four seconds left, and No. 14 Michigan trailing by five, 17-12, Wol- verine quarterback Scott Dreisbach connected with receiver Mercury Hayes, who barely kept a foot in bounds, for the winning score. The pass capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive that consumed the final 2:35 of the game. It was an amazing end to what was the first game for both Lloyd Carr as coach and Dreisbach at quarterback. It was also the biggest comeback in the Wolverines' history. The largest margin Michigan had ever overcome was 14 points, the last time being in 1981 when they came back from a 21- 7 deficit against Illinois to win 70-21. With 12:55 to go in the game, Michigan trailed 17-0 but closed the gap on a 2-yard Ed Davis run and a 31- s s | " yard touchdown pass to Hayes. A defensive stop by the Wolverines late in the fourth quarter led to a Vir- ginia punt which ended up in the endzone and set Michigan up for the winning drive. "When you've got kids like this, anything can happen," an exuberant Carr said. "There wasn't any question in my mind in the last seven to eight minutes that they believed they could When you've got kids like this, anything can happen." - Lloyd Carr Michigan football coach win." And while Carr lost sight of the fi- nal play, Hayes had his eye on it all the way, and said he wasn't concerned about keeping his feet in. "I just concentrated on the ball and going up and getting it," he said. In fact, the toughest part of the final play for Hayes may have been the cel- ebration when all of his teammates piled on top of him. "I was down there at the bottom and I was hurting a little," Hayes joked. In his first game, Dreisbach, a redshirt freshman, set Michigan records in both yardage (372 yards) and passing attempts (52). "I have so much confidence in my receivers," Dreisbach said. "It's like throwing a rock into the lake, they're so wide open." Hayes was named the Pigskin Clas- sic Most Valuable Player with his seven catches for 179 yards. Virginia got its scores on a one- yard run by quarterback Mike Groh, an 81-yard jaunt by running back Tiki Barber and 30-yard Rafael Garcia field goal. By Scott Burton Quarterback Scott Dreisbach has plenty of things to worry about in his first year of collegiate ball, but the pro- tection he'll get from his offensive line is not one of them. "I have so much confidence that my offensive line will protect me," Dreisbach said after the Virginia game, in which he was sacked just once. An impressive performance in- deed, especially considering one of the. Wolverines' top trenchmen - senior Mike Sullivan -- is lost for the season with back problems. But four other starters from last year's line return, in- cluding 6-foot-8, 299-pound monster Jon Runyan and team co-captain Joe Marinaro. "Offensively, the strength of the team is up front," Carr said. "Joe Marinaro and all those guys coming back up front give us the depth that we need to be a much better offensive team." Unfortunately, against Virginia, the line had some difficulty establish- ing the running game. The Wolverines compiled only 52 yards on the ground on 27 plays for a paltry 1.9 yards per carry. Carr dismissed some of the struggles as being a product of playing against a tricky, stubborn defense. However, both coach and player alike recognize that Michigan can't win un- less the offensive line can get the run- ning game going. "The thing we were concerned about was our inability to run the foot- ball," Carr said. "We've got to do a much better job running the football." Marinaro, a senior, is perhaps the anchor to the line. The 6-foot-4 right guard is coming off a knee injury that kept him out of three games last sea- son. But, when healthy, the senior is an All-American type performer. So is Runyan, who will return to Left Tackle after a year at guard in 1994. College Sports listed the junior as its second-best offensive lineman in the country and he is a two-time All- Big Ten selection. The only question is whether he'll be hampered by off-sea- son foot surgery. "I think Jon Runyan, if he comes back from his foot surgery, is an All- America candidate," Carr said Junior center Rod Payne and jun- ior right tackle Thomas Guynes are the other two returning starters, al- though redshirt freshman Jon Jansen has usurped Guynes in the starting lineup. Sophomore Zach Adami and jun- ior Damon Denson replace the NFL- departed Trezelle Jenkins at the left guard spot. Fed Ex FREE Home Or Woi Our disposable contact lens package stats at $159. examination, seven pairs of disposable con * Replacement contact lenses can be mailed l Co Col Price Includ e Walk-Ins Welcome! Designer & Fashion Frames! e Bring In Your Prescription & Save! i We Specialize in Medicare, Medicaid, & Most Other Insurances! .. Offtnlve Me: - I Name Jon Runyan Mark Bolach Zach Adami Damon Denson Rod Payne Joe Ries Joe Marinaro Noah Parker JohnPartchenko Jon Jansen Thomas Guynes Position LT LT LG LG C C RG RG RG RT RT Yr./EIg Sr./Jr. Sr./Jr. Jr./So. Jr./Jr. Sr./Jr. Jr./So. Sr./Sr. So./Fr. 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