No. 14 Michigan Upends No. 8 Colorado, 27-3

Saturday, September 13

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Michigan

1-0

Colorado

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

COLORADO

MICHIGAN

9/13/1997 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: #14 Michigan 27, #8 Colorado 3
Records: U-M (1-0), CU (1-1)
Attendance: 106,474
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Sept. 20 -- vs. Baylor (Michigan Stadium), 12:30 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- This time, Michigan made sure it didn't come to down to a final Hail Mary pass from a Colorado Buffaloes quarterback. After weeks of watching every other team in Division I college football play, the 14th-ranked Michigan Wolverines finally kicked off the 1997 football season against the eighth-ranked Colorado Buffaloes today and dominated in a 27-3 victory.

The Wolverines (1-0) scored a touchdown on their second possession of the game and never looked back. After beating Colorado State last week, the Buffaloes (1-1) struggled against the strong Michigan defense, managing just one field goal.

Already leading 10-0 at halftime, the Wolverines tore out of the gates in the second half to put the game away. Clarence Williams took the second-half kickoff 61 yards, but a holding penalty on U-M brought the ball all the way back to the Michigan 12-yard line. The Wolverines marched down the field in 11 plays and scored on a Brian Griese to Chris Howard pass to extend the lead to 17-0 with 10:26 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

On Colorado's second play following the Michigan touchdown, Clint Copenhaver intercepted a John Hessler pass and returned it 19 yards to the Colorado 14-yard line. Michigan scored three plays later as Griese found a wide-open Russell Shaw in the end zone. With 8:42 left in the third quarter, the Wolverines held a commanding 24-0 lead.

The Buffaloes only score took place later in the third quarter. After reaching the Wolverines 20-yard line, the drive stalled and Colorado settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt, which Jason Lesley nailed to put Colorado's first and only points of the game on the board.

The big question before kickoff was how the Wolverines would look early, considering the Buffaloes already had played a game. Michigan won the coin toss and deferred, so Colorado opened with the ball in the first half. After stopping the Buffaloes on three plays, Michigan got the ball at Colorado's 45-yard line following a 17-yard punt by Nick Pietsch. The Wolverines drove down to the Buffaloes 28, but Kraig Baker missed a 45-yard field goal.

On the Buffaloes next possession, All-American Charles Woodson intercepted a Hessler pass, giving Michigan possession at its own 45. On the first play following the interception, Griese found a wide-open Jerame Tuman for a 53-yard pass to take the ball down to the Colorado 2-yard line. Two plays later, Chris Floyd scored Michigan's first points of the season on a one-yard run. The kick was good and the Wolverines held a 7-0 lead with 9:28 left in the first quarter.

That would be it for the first-half scoring until the waning seconds of the half. After taking over on the Colorado 49-yard line with just 15 seconds left, Griese found Woodson over the middle for a 29-yard gain. Griese spiked the ball with four seconds to go, and Baker came on to attempt a 37-yard field goal. The kick was good and Michigan went into the locker room up 10-0.

Michigan had 426 yards of total offense in the game while holding Colorado to just 224 total yards. Griese, unsure of his start at quarterback until earlier this week, was brilliant, completing 21 of 28 passes for 258 yards. He threw two touchdowns and was intercepted once. Griese's favorite target on the day was Tuman, who had five receptions for 126 yards. Also with five catches apiece were Tai Streets (36 yards) and Howard (26 yards).

Four Michigan running backs had at least eight rushes. Williams led the team with 42 yards on 10 rushes, while Howard totaled 40 yards on 12 runs. Floyd ran eight times for 27 yards, and Anthony Thomas managed 20 yards on nine carries.

Defensively, the Wolverines were led by Sam Sword with seven tackles. Six tackles each were recorded by Marcus Ray, Dhani Jones and Glen Steele, who also had two sacks. Michigan recorded four interceptions: one each by Jones, Woodson, Copenhaver and Tommy Hendricks.

For the Buffaloes, Hessler was constantly under pressure as he completed just 15 of 40 passes and was intercepted four times. Chris Anderson had six receptions for 60 yards, and Phil Savoy caught five passes for 50 yards. Herchell Troutman led Colorado with 41 yards on the ground on 15 carries. Defensively, Ryan Sutter was Colorado's top tackler with 13, while Hannibal Navies added 11 and Mike Phillips contributed eight. Marcus Washington had the Buffaloes' lone interception.