Michigan
4-0
Indiana
1-4
Wolverines Shut Out Hoosiers on the Road to Open Conference Play
10/4/1997 12:00:00 AM | Football
Site:Â Bloomington, Ind. (Memorial Stadium)
Score:Â #6 Michigan 37, Indiana 0
Records:Â U-M (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), IU (1-4, 0-2 Big Ten)
Attendance: 42,240
Next U-M Game:Â Saturday, Oct. 11 -- vs. Northwestern (Michigan Stadium), 12:30 p.m.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. --Â It was homecoming in Bloomington, but the Wolverines were not hospitable guests, as Michigan opened the Big Ten schedule with a 37-0 win over the Hoosiers. U-M now leads the all-time series 43-9 and has won eight straight and 23 of the last 24 meetings.
Michigan and Indiana started slowly by trading punts in their opening possessions. The Wolverines would convert on their second possession of the game as placekicker Kraig Baker (Terre Haute, IN) kicked a 27-yard field goal to give U-M a 3-0 lead. The drive was aided by senior fullback Chris Floyd's (Detroit, MI) 43-yards catch-and-run off a screen pass from quarterback Brian Griese (Miami, FL).
Michigan took control of the game late in the first quarter. Senior defensive end Glen Steele (Ligonier, IN) recovered a Jay Rodgers fumble late in the first quarter led to senior tailback Chris Howard's (River Ridge, LA) three-yard touchdown run 1:30 seconds into the second quarter. The TD capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive that gave Michigan a 10-0 edge.
Howard's 16th career TD (13th rushing) was the start of Michigan's most productive offensive quarter of the season as the Wolverines would tally 28 total second-quarter points.
On the next Michigan possession, Griese hooked up with junior Tai Streets (Matteson, IL) for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Streets' TD was his second scoring reception of the season (second consecutive game) and fourth of his career. The pass gave Griese five touchdowns on the season, 21 on his career, and at least one touchdown pass in his last six games.
Michigan's defense stepped forward again, holding Indiana on a fourth-and-one run to give the offense the ball on Indiana's 41-yard line. With the aid of two pass-interference calls, the Wolverines drove to the IU 14, where freshman Anthony Thomas (Winnfield, LA) followed classmate Ray Jackson (Indianapolis, IN) around the left end for his second career score.
The defense again came through with big play as junior All-American Charles Woodson (Freemont, OH) intercepted a Rodgers pass. His second interception of the season and 12th of his career (tied for third all-time in the Michigan record book) set up freshman Patrick McCall's (Carson, CA) first career touchdown run. McCall scampered three yards into the end zone to give the Michigan a 31-0 halftime edge.
With a comfortable halftime lead, the Wolverines were able to showcase some of its future performers throughout the second half. "Everybody played and I think that's always a positive," head coach Lloyd Carr said. "We got some young guys some more experience and that bodes well for the future."
Michigan's only points of the second half came on two Baker field goals, a 35-yarder and a career-long 40-yarder. Baker is five-for-seven on field goal attempts and 15-for-15 on PATs this season.
Griese, who played only one series in the second half, was named the Player of the Game by ESPN-Plus. The fifth-year senior connected on 16 of his 26 passes for 204 yards, moving him into seventh place on the program's career passing yards list with 2,898.
"Coming off an emotional game ... I was very concerned," admitted Carr. "What we tried to do is say that we are going to perform well regardless of our emotional keel. We came on the road for the first time this year and played well enough."
