Michigan
8-2 , 5-1
Minnesota
7-3 , 3-3
Michigan Retains Little Brown Jug with Win at Minnesota
11/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
| | Navarre |
The Wolverine defense collected three interceptions against the Golden Gophers. Senior/junior inside linebacker Carl Diggs (Warren, Ohio/Harding HS), senior/junior free safety Jon Shaw (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) and redshirt freshman linebacker Joey Sarantos (Portage, Mich./Northern HS) led the team with seven tackles apiece. Shaw and Sarantos picked up their first career interceptions in the game.
Minnesota gained a 3-0 lead as kicker Dan Nystrom connected on a 32-yard field goal at the 13:04 mark of the first quarter. The Gophers gained possession at Michigan's 17-yard line after a fumble by Chris Perry (Advance, N.C./Fort Union Military, Va.) on the first offensive play of the game. The Wolverine defense stuffed the Minnesota run on the first two downs and picked up a sack on third down to forced the field goal try.
Michigan grabbed a 7-3 lead as Navarre hit senior wide receiver Ronald Bellamy (New Orleans, La./Archbishop Shaw HS) across the middle for a 10-yard touchdown. The three-play scoring drive that covered 14 yards was aided by a special teams mistake by the Gophers. The Wolverines forced a punting situation at the Michigan 48-yard line after Shaw batted away a third-down pass. Minnesota snapped the punt over the head of punter Preston Gruening, who recovered the ball for a loss of 38 yards at the 14-yard line to give Michigan possession inside the red zone.
Following a defensive stop, the Wolverines scored for the second straight possession as kicker Adam Finley (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) connected on a 22-yard field goal. Navarre completed passes of 19 and 14 yards to fifth-year senior tight end Bennie Joppru (Wayzata, Minn./Minnetonka HS) during the 10-play scoring drive, with Perry rushing four times for 13 yards and Askew adding a 16-yard run.
Michigan grabbed a 17-3 lead as Perry scored on a 16-yard run with 8:02 remaining in the second quarter. Perry carried the ball three times for 23 yards and Bellamy added an 18-yard reverse during the seven-play, 76-yard drive. Navarre completed both passes on the drive, tossing a 10-yard pass to Bellamy and a 25-yard completion to Joppru.
The Golden Gophers tried to use a little trickery to cut into the Wolverines' lead but Shaw came away with another big defensive play. Minnesota punter Gruening completed a 28-yard pass to free safety Eli Ward out of a punt formation to retain possession inside Wolverine territory at the 18-yard line. After a one-yard run by tailback Terry Jackson III, Shaw collected his first career interception to thwart the scoring opportunity.
Minnesota scored on its first two possessions of the second half to tie the game, 17-17. Quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq threw a six-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Tony Patterson and, a series later, completed a 27-yard strike to wide receiver Antoine Burnes.
The Wolverines gained a 20-17 advantage with 3:26 left in third quarter as Finley connected on a 24-yard field goal. Michigan moved inside scoring territory as Navarre completed a 36-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Braylon Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallagher HS) to the Gophers 11-yard line.
The Wolverines special teams unit set up the offense with the short field as redshirt freshman defensive end Pierre Woods (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville HS) came clean up the middle and blocked the punt attempt by Gruening. The first punt block of the season for Michigan was picked up by junior wide receiver Calvin Bell (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) at Gophers 10-yard line. Michigan increased the lead to 27-17 as Navarre tossed a 10-yard fade pass to Edwards in the right corner of the end zone.
The Wolverines took advantage of another Gopher turnover as senior/junior cornerback Jeremy LeSueur (Holly Springs, Miss./Holly Springs HS) intercepted an Abdul-Khaliq pass at the Minnesota 40-yard line. Michigan moved 40 yards in six plays and scored its fourth TD of the game as Askew took the ball over the goal line from four yards out. Navarre tossed a 13-yard pass to Edwards and Askew gained 27 rushing yards on five carries during the drive.
Following a fourth-down stop of Minnesota at the Michigan 41-yard line, Askew took the handoff from Navarre and ran untouched 59 yards for a touchdown. The 59-yard run to open the drive was a team season high and the longest run of Askew's career.
Minnesota cut the final margin to 41-24 with a late touchdown.
The Wolverines close out the home schedule next Saturday (Nov. 16) against Wisconsin at Michigan Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN2 starting at 12:05 p.m. EST.
Contact: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
MICH 0, MINN 3
MINN - Nystrom, Dan 32 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 1:38
MICH 7, MINN 3
MICH - Bellamy, Ronald 10 yd pass from Navarre, John (Finley, Adam kick) 3 plays, 14 yards, TOP 1:22
MICH 10, MINN 3
MICH - Finley, Adam 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 4:14
MICH 17, MINN 3
MICH - Perry, Chris 16 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 7 plays, 76 yards, TOP 2:17
MICH 17, MINN 10
MINN - Patterson, Tony 6 yd pass from Abdul-Khaliq, A (Nystrom, Dan kick) 6 plays, 78 yards, TOP 1:43
MICH 17, MINN 17
MINN - Burns, Antoine 27 yd pass from Abdul-Khaliq, A (Nystrom, Dan kick) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:41
MICH 20, MINN 17
MICH - Finley, Adam 24 yd field goal 8 plays, 62 yards, TOP 2:40
MICH 27, MINN 17
MICH - Edwards, B. 10 yd pass from Navarre, John (Finley, Adam kick) 1 plays, 10 yards, TOP 0:07
MICH 34, MINN 17
MICH - Askew, B.J. 4 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 6 plays, 40 yards, TOP 2:24
MICH 41, MINN 17
MICH - Askew, B.J. 59 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 1 plays, 60 yards, TOP 0:12
MICH 41, MINN 24
MINN - Jackson II, T. 5 yd run (Nystrom, Dan kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:10
