South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 26

8C Sun-Sentinel, Wednesday, January 2, 1991 COLLEGE GATOR BOWL 11 Michigan rolls up Rebels, flags i 4 IW Hli 75 record 51-yard field goal. After the game, questions centered on the Wolverines' hard-luck season. Michigan, which finished 9-3, lost to Notre Dame, Iowa and Michigan State by a combined six points. The Wolverines would have preferred playing in Pasadena or last night in Miami. "It makes you think 'What but we're tired of looking back on the season," Everitt said.

Mieaieaippi 0 10 03 Michigan 7 Q35 Mich Howard 67 pass Irom Grbac (Carlson kick) Miss FQ Lee 51 Mich Bunch 7 pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) Mich Howard 50 pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) Mich Bunch 5 run (Carlson kick) Mich Alexander 31 pass from Grbac (Carlson kick) A 68,027. 1 1 touchdowns were Wolverine bowl records. "They had the best blocking up front I've seen since I came to Ole Miss," linebacker Shawn Cobb said. "When the holes are that big, heck, I might even be able to pick up some yards." For their efforts, Michigan offensive linemen Tom Dohring, Matt Elliot, Steve Everitt, Dean Dingman and Greg Skrepenak were named Most Valuable Players. The honor was deserved but could have been spread even thinner to include Grbac, receiver Howard, tailbacks Ricky Powers and Jon Vaughn or fullback Jarrod Bunch, who scored twice.

Vaughn, who didn't carry the ball in the first quarter, and Powers rushed for 128 and 112 yards respectively. Howard's six receptions for 167 yards and two touchdownss were reminiscent of Anthony Carter in his Michigan glory days. The totals broke Carter's 141-yard Gator Bowl receiving record which had stood as a team bowl mark. The first was set up by a play fake and a Grbac pump fake that froze defensive back Dwayne Amos and left Howard 10 yards clear of any defender. "It was kind of like catching a punt," Howard said.

The second, a 50-yard scoring play in the third quarter, was a shorter pass and longer run. Howard caught a quick pass at the 45-yard line, spun past safety Todd Sandroni and was gone. "I just heard the crowd go, Howard said, describing the move. "It's nice when you've got a No. 21 out there and you throw a 5-yard pass and it turns into a 50-yarder," coach Gary Moeller said.

Meanwhile, as Grbac settled into the pocket untouched, Powers and Vaughn raced through gargantuan holes and Howard enjoyed ample time to slip free in the secondary, the Wolverine line maneuvered the Rebels at will. "We weren't expecting to roll them over, but we knew we could move them," Everitt said. Said Brewer, "We knew we were going to have to play awfully well, and anything less we would be going in the opposite direction." For all the offensive flash, Michigan dominated on the defensive side as well. The Rebels were held to 93 yards rushing, lost two fumbles and threw four interceptions (all in the second half). Ole Miss' only points came with eight minutes left in the half when Lee kicked a Gator Bowl By ROBES PATTON Staff Writer JACKSONVILLE If nothing else, Mississippi coach Billy Brewer proved to be a pretty fair prognosticator.

"I said earlier that when we found out we had to play Michigan, we felt like this was the toughest draw of any team playing in a bowl," Brewer said after the No. 12 Serines steamrolled his 15th-ranktd Rebels 35-3 in the Mazda Gator Bowl Tuesday. In a performance that had Ole Miss fans rolling up the Rebel flags early in the second half, Michigan amassed 715 yards behind a dominant line. It was Ole Miss' most lopsided bowl loss. The Wolverines established Gator Bowl and Michigan bowl records as well.

Michigan set Gator Bowl records for most yards (breaking Florida State's 1985 record by 146 yards), first downs (35), and most points in a third quarter (21). After the game, many Michigan players were unaware of the grand yardage total, but they did recognize utter domination. "If you get so much time, like I did, I think anybody can pass for 300 yards," said quarterback Elvis Grbac, whose 296 yards and four AP photo Coach Gary Moeller congratulates defensive back Leon Morton after the Wolverines' 35-3 Gator Bowl victory. Mis 20 36-93 240 50 18-32-4 5-38 4-2 4-49 First downs Rushes-yards Passing Return Yards Comp-AM-Int Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Mich 35 53-391 324 23 20-32-2 2-25 2-1 6-69 36:23 MICH. MASH Possession 23:37 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Five Gator Bowl records set during Wolverines' rout: RUSHING Mississippi, Baldwin 8-53, Thlgpen 6-32, Billings 2-6, Courtney 1-6.

Luke 14-5, Shows 5-(minus 9). Michigan, Vaughn 15-128, Powers 14-112, Bunch 11-54, Legette 5-54, Howard 1-19, Washington 3-15, Watson 1-5, Jefferson 3-4. PASSING Mississippi, Shows 13-21-3-175, Luke 5-11-1-65. Michigan, Grbac 16-25-1-296. Sollom 4-7-1-28.

RECEIVING Mississippi, Brownies 5-71, Roberts 4-67, Owens 3-42, Baldwin 2-15, Small 1-25, Holder 1-11, Thlgpen 1-6, Courtney 1-3. Michigan, Howard 6-167, VanDyne 3-32, Alexander 2-50, Bunch 2-22, Johnson 2-7, Burch 1-12, Vaughn 1-10, Owen 1-9, Powers 1-8, Dlebolt 1-7. Most yards total offense Michigan, 715 Most first downs Michigan, 35 Most yards receiving Michigan's Desmond Howard, 167 Longest field goal Ole Miss' Brian Lee, 51 yards Most third-quarter points Michigan, 21 HALL OF FAME BOWL GATOR BOWL NOTEBOOK Moeller was afraid of player letdown HALL OF FAME BOWL NOTEBOOK I Florida's best Maybe it's Clemson By DAVID O'BRIEN Staff Writer TAMPA The way things are going, Clemson might want to consider adopting a new policy: Attend bowl games only in the state of Florida. With Tuesday's victory against Illinois, Clemson joined Florida State as the only who have won bowl games each of the past five seasons. And for the Tigers, all five vie- tories have come in the Sunshine State.

ZZ' "We've been pretty lucky," said Clemson linebacker Levon Kirkland. "I wouldn't say we're unbeatable down here, but we come Juuc-down here and prepare ourselves and expect torW' win the game." First-year Clemson coach Ken Hatfield brought the Tigers down Dec. 17 for a week of -two-a-day workouts in Orlando before arriv- 5 ing in Tampa Christmas Eve. i' 'rl With the temperature in the mid-80s Tuesday's game, Hatfield felt the extra aH Ft f. i conditioning helped the Tigers.

"We were down here in 85-degree heat for three weeks," Hatfield said, "and I think it was' evident." Illinois coach John Mackovic agreed: "I think the heat did have some bearing on the game. Especially for our defense, being on the field as much as they were." AP photo Kicking game flawless Clemson's Arlington Nunn outruns Illinois' Elbert Turner to end zone after intercepting a pass. 30-0 Clemson comes to pass Chris Gardockl, Clemson's outstanding junior punter and kicker, had three field goals -to raise his career total to 63, tying the cnVmnl ronnrH ClnrArrr alert nrao ciirtftAaaful An four extra-point attempts to raise his school record to 70 consecutive PATs without a miss. 300' Gardocki, a second-team Ail-American, is occasions. "We knew about the great people that Illinois had on defense who were finally healthy," Hatfield said.

"And we knew they had plenty of time to work on stopping our running attack. We've been throwing the ball well for two weeks in prac the only player in NCAA history to rank among UUfa the top 10 in punting average and field goals By ROBES PATTON Staff Writer JACKSONVILLE Ohio State and Brigham Young set an example Michigan didn't want to emulate in the Mazda Gator Bowl Tuesday. Both the Buckeyes and BYU were beaten badly in bowls by teams (Air Force and Texas apparently given less respect than they deserved. Michigan coach Gary Moeller said he wanted to make sure the Wolverines didn't suffer a letdown playing in a bowl without national championship implications or national network exposure. Result: Michigan 35, Mississippi 3 in record-setting fashion.

"I talked to Bo Schembechler Monday night and he said, 'I just can't believe our kids wouldn't play Moeller said. "It's easy for Bo to say that he's out of it now." But tailback Jon Vaughn said by game time, the Wolverines were anxious to get after Ole Miss. "We were frustrated because we were hitting each other every day," he said. "We were saying if we come out ready to play, we can dominate this team." Officials miff Moeller Michigan guard Matt Elliot said the Rebels may have paid too much attention to talking and too little to playing. "I think they got their mouths going too much and quit playing Moeller was unhappy with the officiating.

"I was embarrassed, mad the way the game was officiated, and I'm happy to say it after a big win," he said. The Wolverines had a touchdown nullified by a holding penalty and lost an additional 15 yards when the bench was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the holding call. As bad as the loss was for Ole Miss, it could have been worse. The Wolverines fumbled once in the end zone, had the touchdown nullified by a penalty, threw an interception inside the 10 and missed a field goal. Ole Miss kicker Brian Lm's record 51-yard field goal was his first since Sept.

29 against Tulane. Lee had missed seven straight and made only 4 of 14. Boyd thinks Vols better Ole Miss cornerback Danny Boyd, who attended Ely High, was among those unconvinced by Michigan's dominance. "I think Tennessee was better than them," he said. The Vols beat Ole Miss 22-13 on its way to the SEC title.

Michigan tailbacks Vaughn and Ricky Powers each rushed for 100 yards for the fifth time. They hadn't done it in the same game, however. Powers' 100-yard game was his fourth straight; he broke Jamie Morris' freshman rushing record as well. Ole Miss quarterback Steve Davis, who attended Boyd Anderson, didn't make the trip because of disciplinary reasons. Consequently, cornerback Chauncey Godwin was the third-string quarterback.

Gator Bowl looks ahead The Gator Bowl'i New Year's Day game was one step toward the big time. Next up is fattening its payoff through increased fees from sponsor and TV contracts. "We're talking to Mazda, but we're really not sure what's going to happen," said Charles Callaghan, the Gator Bowl's associate executive director. "We're wanting to move ahead. We want more money." The Gator Bowl is in the final year of contracts with Mazda and ESPN and "the only way to move up is more money," Callaghan said.

"It's not that Mazda is unhappy with us. It's whether they want to come up with the money we're asking for, that we feel we need to pay to remain competitive for top teams." per game for two seasons. His three field goals and 46-yard punting average in Tuesday's 7mr game were Doin nan ot ame bowl records. Tigers gave nothing ing defense kept the Illini there. Verduzco, who had thrown for almost 2,500 yards this season, went 13 of 25 for 121 yards with two interceptions.

He was sacked four times and repeatedly took hard hits after releasing passes. "I don't think they've seen as much quickness as we have on defense," said Clemson linebacker Le-von Kirkland, a junior who was a finalist for the Butkus Award. "I think that's why they had a tough time. "That was a good quarterback out there, but I don't care how good you are, if there's so much heat on him he's gonna have a tough time." "You have to take your hat off to their defense and their entire team," said Griffith, who gained 59 yards on 15 carries, about half his season average. "We just couldn't get any big plays or get any momentum going." The shutout was the third this season for Clemson, which led the nation in total defense (216.9 yards per game) and scoring defense (9.9 points per game).

"This meant a whole lot to everybody on the defense," said linebacker John Johnson. "We knew everybody around the nation wanted to see just how tough we really were, and I think we fared pretty well. "Before every game we put a zero on the chalkboard to signify that we always want a shutout." "To come Into a game of this magnitude By DAVID O'BRIEN Staff Writer TAMPA Before Wednesday, the rap on Clemson quarterback De-Chane Cameron was that he couldn't pass well enough to bring diversity to the Tigers' offense. So much for that knock. Cameron threw for 1 4 1 yards and two touchdowns, and Clemson's top-rated defense threw another shutout Wednesday as the No.

14 Tigers routed No. 16 Illinois 30-0 in the Hall of Fame Bowl before 63,154 at Tampa Stadium. Clemson (10-2) capitalized on mistakes by the Illini (8-4) and scored on three of its first five possessions. Arlington Nunn also returned an interception for a touchdown as Clemson built a 24-0 lead by halftime and coasted. Cameron, a junior, was named the game's Most Valuable Player after completing 14 of 20 passes with no interceptions.

He also rushed for a game-high 76 yards on 17 carries, accounting for 217 of Clemson's 305 total yards. "DeChane Cameron had his finest game since he's been here," said Clemson coach Ken Hatfield, "and we're mighty glad he's coming back next year." The Tigers, after running the ball 76 percent of the time this season, threw 17 passes in the first half, with Cameron completing 13 for 137 yards. "They weren't disguising their coverage that much," Cameron said. "It was all pretty much black and white. I was able to pick up my leads, our offensive line blocked well and gave me time, and I just hit them (receivers! a8 thev came open." The surprising offensive strategy confused the Illini, who left Clemson rpreivers wfri open on several as on Jan.

1 and nlav that prpat in a fittlno trihnta Hlmoie 0 0 0 00 10 14 130 iui- nn I iu mis ueieuac, udiueiu saiu. certainly is the finest defense I've ever been around." tice, and we felt like we could do it today." Cameron completed four of five passes during Clemson's 16-play opening drive, which lasted almost eight minutes and culminated with an 18-yard field goal by Chris Gar-docki, the first of his three on the day. Clemson's John Johnson recovered a fumble by Illinois fullback Howard Griffith on the first play after the ensuing kickoff. And on the next play Cameron rolled right and found Doug Thomas with a 14-yard touchdown pass that gave the Tigers a 10-0 lead over the stunned Illini with 6:58 to play in the opening quarter. "The fumble was big, no doubt about it," Hatfield said.

"But it was still only 10-0, and Illinois had been able to score a lot of points all year." But not against Clemson. While Cameron was enjoying a career-best day, the Tigers' defense turned quarterback Jason Verduzco and his Illini teammates' day into a nightmare. The Tigers, who led the nation in total defense, limited Illinois to 247 total yards, including 62 rushing on 33 carries. The Illini had 84 total yards in the first half. "They're a terrific football team," coach John Mackovic said.

"I don't know if we've ever played against a better defense." After Gardockl punts (five, 46-yard average) put Illinois deep in its own territory, the Tigers' smother Clam Gardockl It Clem Thorn aa 14 past from Cameron (Qardockl kick) torn Hall 17 past from Cameron (Qardockl kick) Clam Nunn 34 Interception return (Qardockl lii'i'j THE SUNSHINE BOYS kick) Clem FQ Qardockl 20 Clem FQ Qardockl 43 A 83,154. Clemson has concluded the last five seasons with bowl victories in Florida, and Hall of Fame MVP DeChane Cameron continues the trend of Tiger quarterbacks playing well in bowl games (Yds. is all-purpose yardage) Ill Clem First downe 14 18 Ruehee-yardt 33-82 44-148 Paeslng 185 157 Return Yard) 18 109 Comp-Alt-hit 18-36-2 18-24-0 Punta 7-35 8-48 Fumble-Lot 2-2 1-0 Penallto-Yard 2-28 10-75 Poeaeeaton 27:20 32:40 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS li U.K in) i iiv i nn 'mi 'C rGt nUSHINO Illinois, Griffith 15-58, Feegtn 8-28, Be 3-14, Mutl 1-3, Leater 2-2. Kinney 2-mlnua 8), Verduzco 6-(mlnua 36) Clemson, Cameron 17-78, Wllllama 14-27, Harris 3-21, Blunt 4-10, Moncrlef 3-9. Hall 2-5.

PABSINO-llllnols, Verdutco 13-25-2-121. Kin-ney 8-11-0-84. Clemson, Cameron 14-20-0-141, Moncrlef 2-4-0-18, RECEIVINQ Illinois, Wax 6-77, Mueller 3-78, Ftnke 3-22, Griffith 2-11, Palmt 1-4, Bell t-1, Fea-gln 1-(mlnua 6). Clemson, Thomas 8-S7, Smith 3-43, Wlthetspoon 2-7, Hall M7, Blunt 1-18, Ryana 1-12, Kennedy 1-4, Williams 1-1, Harris 1-0. Quarterback Bowl Yd8.Daftat.ed DeChane Cameron Fame 217 Illinois 30-0 Chris Morocco Gator 122 West Vs.

27-7 Rodney Williams Citrus 86 Oklahoma 13-6 Rodney Williams Citrus 214 PennSt, 35-10 Rodney Williams Gator 153 Stanford 27-21.