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PASADENA, Calif. (Jan 1, 1998 - 21:24 EST) -- With its victory in the
Rose Bowl, Michigan needed to do just one more thing to claim the
national championship: Wait for the final college football poll. The
top-ranked Wolverines beat No. 8 Washington State 21-16 on Thursday as
Brian Griese threw three touchdown passes and Heisman Trophy winner
Charles Woodson played his usual tough defense.
All that remained to validate Michigan's first national title since
1948 was balloting by the voters in The Associated Press' final poll.
The poll will be released Saturday morning, after No. 2 Nebraska plays
No. 3 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. No team entering a bowl game as the
No. 1 team has won the game and not secured the national title.
The game ended in controversy as Washington State's Ryan Leaf tried to
spike the ball on the Michigan 26 with two seconds remaining. But by the
time the play ended, the clock had run out and the Wolverines rushed
onto the field to celebrate. The Cougars stood stunned on the sidelines
as the Wolverines gathered at the 20-yard line to receive the Rose Bowl
trophy. Entering the Rose Bowl, Michigan had a commanding lead over
Nebraska in the AP poll, 69-1 in first-place votes. In the coaches'
poll, Michigan led Nebraska in first-place votes 53 1/2-8 1/2. The
Wolverines (12-0) should be no exception thanks to Griese. He had TD
passes of 53 and 58 yards to Tai Streets, and 23 yards to Jerame Tuman
early in the fourth quarter (video). Woodson
helped, too, intercepting a Leaf pass in the end zone after the Cougars
were poised to a take a 14-0 second-quarter lead (video).
With the victory, Michigan is set to give the Big Ten its first national
title since Ohio State won it in 1968 and brings to an end 52 years of
Rose Bowls exclusively featuring the Big Ten champ against the Pac-10
champ. Next year, the Rose Bowl becomes part of a four-bowl alliance.
In front of a crowd of 101,219, half in Cougars' crimson and gray, the
other half in the Wolverines' maize and blue, Griese stole the spotlight
from Leaf, the Cougars' star who was gallant in defeat, completing 17 of
35 for 341 yards, one TD and an interception. Griese, the son of NFL
Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese, was 18-of-30 for 251 yards in his
final game for the Wolverines. Washington State (10-2) played most to
the game without 1,000-yard rusher Michael Black, who left late in the
first period with a bruised right calf. He did not return until midway
through the fourth quarter and was stopped for no gain on his only play.
It was 7-7 at halftime but the Cougars took a 13-7 lead on a 14-yard
reverse by Shawn Tims with 8:33 left in the third quarter. Rian
Lindell's extra point attempt was blocked by James Hall. The Wolverines
came right back and took the lead for good as Griese, who hit Streets
with the 53-yard TD pass in the second quarter (video), connected with him
again, for 58 yards. This time, Streets streaked past Dee Moronkola,
hauled in Griese's pass at the 7-yard line and scored with 5:07 left in
the third (video). Kraig Baker's extra point gave Michigan a 14-13 lead.
The Cougars, who entered the game averaging 42.5 points per game, were
unable to respond against the nation's top-ranked defense. Michigan's
offense, though, took control in the fourth quarter, moving 77 yards on
14 plays, capped by Griese's 23-yard TD pass to a wide-open Tuman on a
play-action pass.
Lindell kicked a 48-yard field goal with 7:25 left to pull the Cougars
within 21-16, but Leaf and the Cougars fell short in the end. Washington
State took over with 29 seconds left and no timeouts from its own 7.
After two incompletions, Leaf connected with Nian Taylor for 46 yards --
a play on which Taylor appeared to push off Woodson. After a 5-yard
penalty against the Cougars, Leaf hit Love Jefferson, who lateraled to
Jason Clayton and the play went to the Michigan 26. But Leaf ran out of
time and the Wolverines had their first perfect season since their title
season of '48.
In the first half, the Cougars' defense looked more like the
Wolverines', shutting down Michigan's running game. But Griese was still
completing passes more consistently than Leaf, who had six balls dropped
in the first half. Griese overcame an interception by Lamont Thompson on
the Wolverines' first series and tied the game at 7 with his 53-yard
hookup with Streets, who beat cornerback Ray Jackson with 7:08 left in
the half. Leaf, meanwhile, survived two early blitzes from Woodson and
came back on the Cougars' second series to throw a 15-yard TD pass to
Kevin McKenzie. Leaf had the Cougars poised to score again, completing
passes of 22 yards to Shawn McWashington and 35 yards to Chris Jackson
down to the Michigan 14. But two plays later, Woodson stepped in front
of McKenzie in the left corner of the end zone and pulled in his eighth
interception of the season.
Coming off four straight four-loss seasons, the Wolverines were an
unlikely No. 1 choice when the season began. In fact, coach Lloyd Carr's
job reportedly was in jeopardy if the Wolverines weren't able to turn
things around. Carr challenged his team by using the best seller "Into
Thin Air," a nonfiction account of an ill-fated ascent of Mount Everest,
as a metaphor for the season. A strong season-opening 27-3 win over
Colorado moved Michigan into the Top 10 and the Wolverines' defense took
over. Through the first eight games, Michigan did not allow a touchdown
in the second half.
When Penn State scored one on Nov. 8, the Wolverines were already ahead
by 34 points in their 34-8 win, which bumped them from No. 4 to No. 1 in
the AP poll -- the first time in seven years the Wolverines were atop
the rankings. Two weeks later, Woodson came up with the game of a
lifetime in a 20-14 win over bitter rival Ohio State. He returned a punt
78 yards for a TD, intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop a
Buckeyes' scoring threat and caught a 37-yard pass to set up a TD. It
gave Michigan its first perfect regular-season since 1971, sealed
Woodson's Heisman Trophy and put the Wolverines in position for the
school's second national title.
At the Rose Bowl, Michigan finally conquered their own Mount Everest, the national championship.
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Attendance- 101,219
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WSU- McKenzie 15 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick)
Second Quarter
UM- Streets 53 pass from Griese (Feely kick)
Third Quarter
WSU- Tims 14 run (kick blocked)
UM- Streets 58 pass from Griese (Baker kick)
Fourth Quarter
UM- Tuman 23 pass from Griese (Baker kick)
WSU- FG Lindell 48
Individual Statistics
Rushing
WSU- Black 7-24, Gilmore 8-20, Tims 1-14, Leaf 10-6, Clayton 2-3
UM- Howard 19-70, Thomas 7-20, Floyd 5-17, Griese 7-13, Woodson 2-6,
Williams 1-2
Passing
WSU- Leaf 17-35-331
UM- Griese 18-30-251
Receiving
WSU- Jackson 5-89, McKenzie 5-78, McWashington 2-41, Tims 2-9, Taylor
1-46
UM- Shaw 6-49, Streets 4-127, Tuman 2-33, Howard 2-13
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