Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 46

12D The Detroit News Sunday, September 27, 1998 Michigan 29, Michigan State 17 Michigan State Report Scoring summary Spartans are on a treadmill JOE FALLS Michigan Stat 10 7 Michigan 10 10 0 0 3 FIRST QUARTER MICHIGAN STATE Paul Edinger 43 field goal with 13:20 left. Drive: 22 yards, 6 plays. Time of possession: 1:13. Key play: Aric Morris' interception at U-M's 48. MSU 3, U-M 0.

MICHIGAN Jay Feely SI field goal with 10:01 left. Drive: 21 yards. 8 plays. Time of possession: 3:19. Key play: Marcus Knight 21 pass from Tom Brady on second-and-28 to U-M's 49.

U-M 3. MSU 3. MICHIGAN STATE Plaxico Burress 12 pass from Bill Burke with 5:44 left. Edinger kick. Drive: 74 yards, 9 plays.

Time of possession: 4:17. Key play: Irvin 40 run to U-M's 20. MSU 10, U-M 3. MICHIGAN Anthony Thomas 69 run with 2:36 left. Feely kick.

Drive: 78 yards, 2 plays. Time of possession: 0:36. U-M 10, MSU 10. SECOND QUARTER MICHIGAN Tai Streets 5 pass from Brady with 6:58 left. Feely kick.

Drive: 63 yards, 11 plays. Time of possession: 3:35. Key play: Jerame Tuman 22 pass from Brady to MSU's 41. U-M 17, MSU 10. MICHIGAN Feely 45 field goal with 4:32 left.

Drive: 2 yards, 4 plays. Time of possession: 1:26. Key play: DeWayne Patmon recovered fumble at MSU's 30. U-M 20, MSU 10. MICHIGAN STATE Burke 1 run with 0:48 left.

Edinger kick. Drive: 34 yards, 7 plays. Time of possession: 1:43. Key play: Aric Morris recovered mishandled punt return at U-M'S 34. U-M 20, MSU 17.

THIRD QUARTER MICHIGAN Feely 38 field goal with 9:11 left. Drive: 71 yards, 9 plays. Time of possession: 2:56. Key play: Streets 24 pass from Brady, plus personal-foul penalty, to MSU's 23. U-M 23, MSU 17.

FOURTH QUARTER MICHIGAN Brady 1 run with 10:55 left. Pass failed. Drive: 80 yards, 6 plays. Time of possession: 2:13. Key play: Knight 48 pass from Brady to MSU'S 1.

U-M 29, MSU 17. Attendance 111,238. TEAM STATISTICS this season. Or let's put it this way: The critics can let Lloyd Carr and his staff come up for a little air. Maybe they'll lose four games again, but maybe not.

If the Wolverines keep up this kind of improvement, they could wind up in a halfway decent bowl game. Experience is everything and the Wolverines are getting it, in winning and losing. It can't hurt them. They've also got four softies coming up, and if they go to 6-2, it will ease some of the earlier misfortunes. Now a word about Tai Streets.

He made a catch in this game, leaping high in the end zone for a touchdown with an MSU defender all over him, and darned if he didn't look like Charles Woodson in his best moments. Couple that with the fact that flanker Marcus Knight made a sensational catch to set up a touchdown and you sensed the Wolverines might develop a passing game yet that well, that would make Brian Griese proud. Wrife to Joe Falls at 615 W. Lafayette Detroit 48226. ANN ARBOR If this is the best Nick Saban can do, maybe he'd better start over again.

Or book a doubleheader against Central Michigan next Saturday. But there'd be no guarantees there, eh? You can say Michigan looked the best it had all season in Saturday's 29-17 victory over Michigan State, but that wouldn't be saying a lot. If all the Wolverines laced up their cleats right, that would be an improvement over the first three games, when they tripped all over themselves. A larger issue is the lame performance by Michigan State. Come on, guys.

This was the big one. Except for a flash or two, the Spartans looked like a sandlot team, or certainly a second-division team, which is where they might wind up if they can't handle the candy kisses that will be handed to them in the next month. This is Saban's fourth year on the job, and the Spartans don't seem any further ahead than when he started. They just don't have enough quality players, and this became obvious as they wore out as this game wore oa They could do almost nothing in the second half. MSU: Notebook David Gurufnidc The Detroit News (90) and Sam Sword (93) MSU Mich.

FIRST DOWNS Total 14 16 Rushing 5 6 Passing 8 8 Penalty 1 2 3rd-down eff. 216 616 4th-down eff. 23 00 RUSHING NoyYds 42110 41206 Avg. rush 2.6 5.0 PASSING AttCmps 3417 2615 Interceptions 2 1 Avg. per pass 0.0 0.0 SackedAds lost 11 654 Passing yards 158 208 Total yards 268 414 PUNTS NcAvg.

747.3 640.5 Kick returnsyds. 5128 374 Punt returnsyds. 555 44 Int. returnsyds. 10 10 Penaltiesyds.

857 667 Fumbleslost 11 42 Time of poss. 33:28 26:32 Ait 7 4 Example: They played well enough in an entertaining first half, trailing 20-17. Bu when they came back out, it was like the first day of practice. They made more mistakes than a kindergarten team, and Michigan took control of the game even if it didn't have much control of the ball. After committing no penalties in the first half, the Spartans were called six times in the third quarter, with the Wolverines declining a seventh penalty.

The referees were making more yards than the Spartans even if they were walking backward. Well, there's one good thing about this mess. Except for Sedrick Irvin, nobody on the Spartans is good enough to leave after their junior year. And for $64 or $64 million can anyone tell us the last time Michigan State had a top-quality quarterback? Whoever thought these old I 'it Lm MSU STATISTICS rivals oh, my, all the buildup would ever bore us? But that's just what they did for most of the second half. You could see nobody was going anywhere, and all the 111,238 got was a nice sunburn on this fourth straight 80-degree Saturday.

Oh, I'm sure the U-M zealots loved it. You take anything you can get in this game. All that counts is the final score. But even though their team settled down, especially on defense, Michigan fans have to be glad that Ohio State is still two months down the road. A key for the Wolverines is that Drew Henson didn't get into the game.

Not that he couldn't have done the job, it's just that he wasn't needed. Tom Brady handled the job very well, thank you. He was what he has wanted to be calm and composed, as before, but with more direction in his playmaking. As for Anthony Thomas and that blinding 69-yard run that tied the score at 10 for Michigan, don't you get the idea he can only get better? He looks like a runner and it's permissible to envision what he'll be like in another year, if not at the end of lames Borchuck The Detroit News in the second quarter. Grounded The Spartans were held to no yards rushing on 42 attempts.

Sedrick Irvin had 107 yards on 21 carries. "We were unable to run the football," Saban said. "When you do not run the football real well, it is hard to get the ball down field in terms of your passing game. "Michigan's defense played welL They frustrated Bill Burke in the second half with its pass rush. I Ic didn't have time to make decisions." Quotable Jason Strayhorn, on U-M: "(ESPN's) Lee Corso called them out about not being tough, and they took that to heart.

They came out with some emotion today." Irvin: "We didn't play the game we know we can play. But it ain't over. My goal is to play Jaa 1. We have to regroup and get it back on the right track." U-M's DeWayne Patmon causes Plaxico Burress to fumble Michigan's Juaquin Feazell wrap up Leroy McFadden. Irvin shadowed MSU running back Sedrick Irvin said at times he felt as if it were one against 11.

Irvin still managed to rush for 107 yards on 21 carries. He also had three catches for 48 yards. It was his 12th career 100-yard rushing game, moving him into fifth place on MSU's career rushing list with 2,749 yards. "Ask the (U-M) defense to tell the truth," Irvin said. "All 11 were looking at me.

Wherever I went. It was frustrating because you want to make the plays. "We had a chance to win. It hurts when you know you're the better team. But we got outplayed" I'm open That was the cry of Plaxico Bun-ess and Michigan State's other receivers during the 29-17 loss to Michigan.

The Wolverines put pressure on Bill Burke, who was sacked six times for a loss of 54 yards. The pressure also caused Burke to miss open targets. He completed 17 of 33 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. Burress caught six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown, but he thought he could have had more receptions. When asked why he didn't get the ball when he was open, Burress said: "I don't want to answer that.

The quarterback has to have time to pass. But sometimes I was wide open. Maybe a guy was in his (Burke's) face. I don't make excuses. But it does get frustrating." No excuses "We just got outplayed today," Burke said.

When asked why the Spartans ran certain plays, he said: "Ask the offensive coordinator." As for his performance, Burke said: "To be honest, I played my heart out. But Michigan put on a lot of pressure and you don't have time to make good decisions. You have to make decisions in split seconds. "It's very disappointing. But you win as a team and lose as a team." Saban, on Burke "Bill got pressured a lot and he wasn't able to always make good decisions," MSU Coach Nick Saban said.

"They (the Wolverines) played eight-man fronts, and we had some people open at times, but we weren't able to take advantage. "(But) I'm proud to be a Spartan. I'm proud of my players." Morris stands out Junior safety Aric Morris did his part and then some for the Spartans. He had an interception, recovered a fumble and was fourth on the team in tackles with seven, including two for a combined 9 yards in losses. His most daring play was when he ran off a fake-punt formation for a 21-yard gain.

"Coach Saban said for me to In a rush Sedrick Irvin moved into fifth place among career Spartans rushers. The top 10: Player Yards Lorenzo White 4,887. Tico Duckett 4,212 Blake Ezor 3,749 Duane Goulbourne 2,848 Sedrick Irvin 2,749 Steve Smith 2,676 Eric Allen 2,654 Marc Renaud 2,331 Levi Jackson Rich Baes 2,234 look for it if it was there, and it was there," Morris said. Van Dyke update Freshman quarterback Ryan Van Dyke didn't play for the second straight game because of a sprained left shoulder. "I can't say when he'll be ready," Saban said.

"Until he's safe, we're not going to play him. I le has to rehabilitate himself." What intensity? Michigan-Michigan State is usually a heated rivalry, but it cools things down a bit when both teams bring in 1-2 records. "It wasn't all the hype the media put out," Morris said. "It wasn't intense as it has been." A lot was riding on last year's game when unbeaten Michigan played once-beaten Michigan State. But it will take a major improvement for either team to be playing on New Year's Day.

Harm, but no foul MSU's Paul Edinger sprained his right ankle when U-M's William Peterson ran into him on his first missed field-goal attempt. An official ruled that Peterson was blocked into Edinger by MSU's Chris Baker, and no penalty was called. Edinger said the ankle injury didn't affect his second miss. "I hit the middle of the ball," Edinger said of the miss in the first quarter. "I didn't hit it clean.

It was a bad kick. The last kick I hit as good as I could. I just didn't have the right direction. "My ankle hurt at first, but it didn't bother me after that. It's blown up (swollen) right now.

But it's usable." Basketball victory MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo was spotted on the sideline with his mustard-colored cowboy boots. The MSU football team was disappointed Saturday, but Izzo is still beaming over out-recruiting Michigan for Saginaw Arthur Hill forward Jason Richardson, regarded as one of the top five players in the country. Jim Spadafore ill's mistakes costly FOSTER Continued from Page iD In four weeks, we will be calling each of the Spartans Mr. October because a cupcake buffet awaits them. If the Spartans play anywhere close to their potential, they should waltz through Central Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota and Northwestern without breaking a sweat.

They will be full of spit and vinegar, hope and confidence, after finishing the month with a respectable 5-3 overall record, 2-1 in the Big Ten. "The easy thing to do would be to cash it in and chalk it up to a bad season," quarterback Bill Burke said. "But good teams and teams with character and integrity, they don't do that. You take the positives out of everything in life, not just football. That is what it is all about, getting knocked down and getting back up." But this impending power surge could be nothing more than fool's gold.

The true test comes in November, when MSU plays at Ohio State and Penn State and then entertains Purdue, a team much like the Spartans, who show us anywhere from brilliance to blowout on any given Saturday. "My goal is to play Jan. 1," tailback Sedrick Irvin said. "We are going to ask ourselves, 'What do we want to do? Do we want the season to end or do we want to play Jan. On one hot steamy day, we saw enough reasons why the Spartans could challenge for a minor bowl.

And we saw enough reasons why they could be watching the bowl parade on television. This is obviously a team that needs more consistent play from its quarterback and offensive line (six sacks given up) and must reduce mental errors. But it is very apparent that Saban and his staff lack confidence in this offense. Twice in the first half, MSU had fourth-and-one in Michigan territory. Both times Saban chose to go for field goals.

The offense is so conservative that teams now stack the box to cut off Irvin, the Spartans' best and often only option. "I look back at nothing in hindsight," Saban said. "Not a thing." If a coach is going to talk to his players about the glass being half full, not half empty, he must show faith that they can block and tackle well enough to gain 1 yard. At some point this season, Saban will have to throw away the coach's textbook and show a little confidence in his players. "I am proud to be a Spartan," Saban said.

"1 am proud of my team." Now he must show faith Leave a message for Terry Foster at (313) 222-1494, or e-mail him at RUSHING Att Yds Avg Lg TD Irvin 21 107 5.1 40 0 Morris 1 21 21.0 21 0 demons 6 19 3.2 8 0 McFadden 5 9 1.8 5 0 Burke 9 -46 10 1 PASSING Att Cmp Yds TP hit Burke 33 17 158 1 1 Irvin 1 0 0 0 0 RECEIVING No Yds Lg TD Burress 6 55 14 1 Irvin 3 48 19 0 Haygood 3 22 10 0 Scott 2 9 7 0 McFadden 19 9 0 Richardson 1 8 8 0 Gould 1 7 7 0 PUNTING No Yds Lg BL Jarrett 7 331 60 0 PUNT RET. No Yds Lg TD Irvin 4 42 12 0 Scott 1 13 13 0 KICK RET. No Yds Lg TD Haygood 2 82 67 0 TACKLES Solo Ast Sacks Tot SorieKanu 7 2 0 9 Mike Austin 8 0 0 8 L.Marshall 7 1 0 8 Aric Morris 6 1 0 7 RenaldoHill 2 4 0 6 C. Ledyard 5 0 0 5 R.Newkirk 3 1 0 4 T.J.Turner 3 0 0 3 JaceSayler 2 0 0 2 Cedric Henry 2 0 0 2 D. Thomas 11 0 2 S.

Ernsbrgr 10 0 1 PeteGovens 10 0 1 R.Newsome 10 0 1 Shawn Wright 10 0 1 R.Smith 10 0 1 H. Haygood 10 0 1 J.Peterson 0 1 0 1 MICHIGAN STATISTICS RUSHING Att Vdi Avg Lg TD Thomas 13 97 7.5 69 1 Williams 17 88 5.2 14 0 Shea 3 14 4.7 7 0 Knight 1 3 3.0 3 0 Jackson 1 3 3.0 3 0 Brady 6 1 0.2 4 1 PASSING Att Cmp Yds TD kit Brady 26 15 208 1 1 RECEIVING No Yds Lg TD Knight 4 98 48 0 Streets 4 41 24 1 Tuman 2 38 22 0 Shea 2 18 11 0 Thomas 2 0 5 0 Campbell 1 13 13 0 PUNTING No Yds Lg BL Vinson 6 243 51 0 PUNT RET. No Yds Lg TD Whitley 4 4 9 0 KICK RET. No Yds Lg TD Thomas 2 74 45 0 Brooks 1 0 0 0 TACKLES Solo Ast Sacks Tot Sam Sword 11 4 0 15 J.Whitley 6 1 0 7 James Hall 6 1 17 D.Patmon 6 1 0 7 J.Frysinger 4 0 0 4 Dhanl Jones 3 1 0 4 Larry Foote 3 1 14 G.Brooks 2 2 0 4 Nate Miller 3 0 2 3 J.Williams 3 0 13 A. Weathers 3 0 0 3 A.Jordan 3 0 0 3 Todd Howard 2 1 0 3 T.Hendricks 12 0 3 Ray Jackson 2 0 0 2 Eric Wilson 11 0 2 J.

Feazell 11 0 2 W.Peterson 11 0 2 Eric Brackins 11 0 2 C. Singletary 10 0 1 RobRenes 10 0 1 J.Fargas 10 0 1 Aaron Shea 0 1 0 1 JonJansen 0 1 0 1 T.Schanskl 0 1 0 1 David Guralnick The Detroit News 'We shot ourselves in the foot with a lot of Michigan State Coach Nick Saban said. On-the-job training at cornerback results in big plays for U-M. By Dave Dye The Detroit News ANN ARBOR Renaldo Hill is learning on the job. But the lessons are getting tough.

They're right out there for everyone to see. Hill, in his first season as a starting cornerback for Michigan State, gave up more big plays Saturday in a 29-17 loss to Michigan. But it was an interference penalty against Hill that upset Coach Nick Saban the most. On second-and-9 at U-M's 22 early in the second half, Hill was called for interferring with U-M receiver Tai Streets, which led to a field goal. It appeared from one angle that Hill's left hand might have glanced off Streets' face.

But Saban didn't see it that way. "That was as bad a pass interference call as I've ever seen," said Saban, a former defensive back. "If that's pass interference, you can't play pass defense. If (Big Ten commissioner) Jim Delany wants to call me on it, he can." Saban said some of the other plays that Hill gave up were because of Hill's failure to finish. On one touchdown, Hill never looked back for the ball.

"He was in good position a couple times," Saban said. Said Hill: "I've just got to make the play. That's what defensive backs have to do. I'm learning from game situations. But you have to make those plays." Saban steams Saban said he was upset with officials for allowing U-M's offense some late substitutions.

That became even more frustrating for him after MSU's offense got called for having 12 men in the huddle. U-M was never penalized for its substitution patterns. Michigan State schedule The Wolverines often kept extra skill players on the field before getting them off shortly before the snap. "College football is screwed up," Saban said. "They had guys in and out of the huddle.

You can't get lined up. There's something wrong with that. It's not fair to the defensive players." Asked if he got any explanations from the officials for his complaints, Saban said, "They won't give you any explanation for anything. They assume you're going to forget about it. Like it's none of your business." Saban said U-M's late substitutions kept MSU's defense "out of sync" in the first half because the Spartans didn't know whether a running back, wide receiver or tight end would stay in the game.

MSU adjusted to it better in the second half, Saban said. Told about Saban's comments, U-M Coach Lloyd Carr said, "Well, we never had 12 men in the huddle." Date Opponent Result Attendance Aug. 29 Colorado St 23-16 68,524 Sept. 5 at Oregon 48-14 43,634 Sept. 12 Notre Came1 45-23 74,267 Sept, 26, at Michigan 29-17 111,238 I Date Opponent Time Series leader Oct.

Central Mich, 1p.m. CMU.2-1 Oct. 10, Indiana 1p.m. MSU, 33-13-2 Oct 24, at Minnesota 3.30 p.m. MSU 23-11 Oct.

31, Northwestern lp.m, MSU, 28-12 at Ohio lp.m OSU, 20-10 Nov. 14, Purdue lp.m. MSU 27-22-3 Nov, 21 Illinois 1pm MSU 17-16-2 Nov. 28, at Penn St. lp.m.

MSU, 9-5-1 Series history Record: U-M leads 60-26-5. Games in East Laming: U-M leads 17- 8-2. Games In Ann Arbor: U-M leads 43-18-3. Nick Saban vi. Michigan: 1-3.

Lloyd Can- vs. Michigan State: 3-1. Last MSU victory: Nov. 4, 1995 (28-25 in East Lansing). Last U-M victory: Saturday.

Current itreak: 3 by U-M. Longest MSU streak: 4 (1934-37, 1950- 53. 1959-62). Longest U-M streak: 14 (1916-1929)..