Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 37

i mm tx 1 1 i a Martin anves on: aim not wun uaio- i Michigan 41, Wash. St. 14 Texas 24, LSU 0 N. Dame 27, Northwestern 2 Nebraska 76, N. Texas 14 's Miami 23, Bos.

Coll. 7 i Washington 31 Stanford 14 Iowa 26, Tulsa 25 S. Carolina 23, Georgia 21 Ohio State 34, Rice 7 Clemson 24, UNLV 14 Penn State 38, Minnesota 20 Virginia 43, Maryland 29 Wisconsin 35, Nevada 17 College report, 8-1 0E rade 200 Busch Grand National win. 2E Rice boils King: State's top-ranked squad decimates PSL power, 27-0. 7E.

1 if- 1 COLLEGE FOOTBALL -''l Ai Section Sunday Dorte TVRADIO 21 HORSE RACING 131 SEPTEMBER 5, 1993 Bob WOJNOWSKI Moeller message to Notre Dame loud and clear: Plenty of passes will fill Blue sky next week Abbott Indians I- NN ARBOR Gary Moeller, you Here it was, a brilliant afternoon, an ideal opportunity to loosen It's first for Yanks in 10 years: Former Michigan "star" walk strikes out three. III Felix Fermin then hit a long drive that center fielder Bernie- Williams ran down in left-center, and the game ended on Baerga's routine grounder; "The defense was outstanding behind me," Abbott said. "I really wasn't thinking about a no-hitter until the ninth inning." The second-place Yankees, who had lost five of seven, were looking for a big effort from Abbott He entered the day with a 4.31 ERA and had beeA hit hard of late. "The Indians are a good-hitting team," Abbott said. "They have a lot of tough outs." Abbott (10-11) walked five and struck out three for his third complete game and first shutout.

In his previous start last Sunday at Cleveland, Abbott gave up sever) Please see Abbott) 4B 1 1 to the crowd. "I never expected to throw a no-hitter." The crowd, held down by morning rain, remained on its feet until Abbott came out of the dugout to take a bow. He then brought catcher Matt, Nokes out with him. (' "Matt called a great game," Abbott said of the former Tiger. "He deserved credit, too." Chris Bosio of Seattle pitched the season's only other no-hitter, April 22 against Boston at the Kingdorae.

Dave Righetti of the Yankees pitched a no-hitter against Boston on July 4, 1983, at Yankee Stadiiim. Kenny Lofton led off the ninth inning and tried to bunt, but fouled the ball off. He then bounced out to second base. .1 ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Jim Abbott re-' gained his touch at a crucial time and pitched New York's first no-hitter in 10 years Saturday, leading the Yankees to a 4-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians. I Abbott completed his gem when Carlos Baerga grounded out to shortstop Randy Velarde, who made the easy throw to first baseman Don Mattingly.

Abbott, the former Michigan standout! from Flint, was mobbed by his teammates as a crowd of 27,225 stood and cheered, "I was just thrilled to death," said Abbott, who acknowledged "the cheers by tipping his cap and waving I reuter Jim Abbott stops Cleveland 4-0 for the season's second no-hitter, and he gave much of the credit to catcher Matt Nokes, a former Tiger. Co I1M we first test U-M rolls, 41-14: Quarterback throws': for three TDs vs. Washington State. i. 4 i I I tiff a few legs, to get the new kids acclimated to live competition, sort of.

More than 100,000 people wandered in for the scrimmage, hoping to catch clues about Michigan's quarterback, expecting to see Tyrone Wheatley carry the ball 45 or 50 times. So what does Moeller do, in full vie of a regional TV audience, in full view of Notre Dame? This is what he did against Washington State: He unloaded, and instructed quarterback Todd Collins to do the same. If this was a warm-up, uh, I think young Todd is warm now. In a striking reversal of accepted meteorological principles, Collins Went straight from cold to hot, and should be warm for the Fighting Irish next week. This was no contest, primarily because Collins made it so.

By half-time, the junior, in his third career start, was 15-for-24 for 218 yards. As Wheatley, Heisman expectations strapped to his back, labored behind an inexperienced offensive line, Collins fired and fired, and never tired. U-M's 41-14 victory was hardly unexpected. The Cougars run a pro-style offense, which works well when they have a pro-style quarterback. On this day, they had an untested quarterback, which doesn't work at all against a good defense.

Mike Pattinson had no chance, and neither did the Collins, meanwhile, took every chance, and suddenly, U-M's chances for a national title look a tad brighter. Moeller had moaned with sin' cerity about his offensive line, his linebackers, his team's complacency. But under Moeller, the Wolverines have become no-huddling, quick-striking, free-throwing fools, which is how you win titles these days. They could live without Wheatley. They have about six more backs.

They could live without Derrick Alexander. They have about 27 more receivers. They could not live without Collins, and if Saturday's tune-up showed anything, it showed the Wolverines have a confident, poised quarterback. Moeller suspected as much, but I doubt he expected so much, so soon. Collins had thrown well in fill-in victories against Oklahoma State and Houston last season.

Today, one is less inclined to chalk up those performances to weak opposition. Collins did it again, did so much, you wonder what Moeller hid from the Irish. On the game's first series, U-M came out in a one-back set. On the game's first offensive play, Collins threw a 49-yard strike to Alexander' By the end of U-M's third drive, Collins had thrown 13 times and the Wolverines had 14 points. Obviously, Moeller ripped no pages from the playbook when Elvis Grbac left the building.

Collins threw bombs and fades, to the end zone and to the sidelines. Six players caught passes in the first half alone; sophomore Mercury Hayes, who seems intent on playing Desmond Howard to Collins' Grbac, caught six himself. Twice, Collins hit Hayes for scoring strikes that were vintage Grbac-Howard. On the first play of the second quarter, he found Hayes on a perfect fade in the right corner, a 3-yard score. Late in the half, he threaded a 14-yard strike to the bak of the end zone, and Hayes went high to snare it.

In U-M's system these days, the tailback grabs the show and gets the'dough, but the quarterback makes it go. It is that way through much of college football, which is why teams like Notre Dame and Ij)wa with new quarterbacks struggled to beat Northwestern and Tulsa. Collins might not end up being U-M's MVP but he looks like its MIP Most Important Player. It won't be so easy next week, when Notre Dame applies tremendous pressure with a tremendous defensive line, but truth be told, it shouldn't have been so easy this week. It was easy because Moeller flashed all his old weapons and all his new weapons, including the big weapon, the one strapped to Collins' right shoulder.

'4 i ff By Angelique S. Chsngells THE DETROIT NEWS ANN ARBOR Todd Collins spoiled the Michigan faithful last season with record-setting performances in two starts. He warned they should not expect more of the same this year in his first full season as the Wolverines' starter, replacing graduated Elvis Grbac. Perhaps he was just being ble, because his season-opening show against Washington State at Michigan Stadium Saturday was anything but. -'If Collins, a 6-foot-5 junior, did not set any records, but he came close as the third-ranked Wolverines rolled to a 41-14 victory over the Cougars before 105,512.

It was the opener for both teams. There was a supporting cast as well. Junior tailback and Heisman Trophy candidate Tyrone Wheatley rushed for 117 yards on 15 carries and the Wolverines' receiving corps provided speed and athleticism not seen here before in such quantity and quality. As he was in two starts a year ago, Collins was poised and effective. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 265 yards, including three touchdowns, before being replaced by Jay Rie-mersma in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Collins had his choice of receivers but worked mostly with sophomore Mercury Hayes, who caught twejrf the touchdown passes, while Amani Toomer had one. Hayes had eight catches for 105 yards. Most of Michigan's scoring occurred in the first half, after which it led 31-7. There was no scoring in the third quarter, but U-M added 10 in the fourth. Please see U-M, 101 I I lJiJ-'S i Mm-.

f- i I. I jj CLARENCE TABB JR. The Detroit Newi Wolverines quarterback Todd Collins started with a 42-yard heave, threw three touchdown passes and finished 19-of-29 for 265 yards. Mustered out Tigers' repeated bobbles add up to a debacle, 11-2 Lions' Sanders as quick with quip as he is on feet Eye on the East Pet GB 78 58 .574 Toronto 77 60 .562 1 New York 74 62 .544 4 Baltimore For openers What: Atlanta Falcons vs. Uons, 'C When: Tbday, o'clock.

Where: Silverdome Last year's records: Fal- 1 cons 6-10, Lions 5-11. (950); CBS (blacked out in Detroit). 1 Pfttrolt 71 66 .516 Vj Boston 69 63 .523 By Dave Dye THE DETROIT NEWS On the first full weekend of football, the Tigers responded by booting a few balls themselves. The American League's second-worst defense was charged with two errors and one passed ball in an 11-2 loss to the White Sox before 32,572 at Tiger Stadium." And the Tigers' fielding actually, was worse than the statistics showed. Here were their miscues in the first four innings alone: Left fielder Dan Gladden mis-played a single in the first that led to an unearned run.

Shortstop Alan Trammell and Please see Tigers, SB By Mike O'Hara THE DETROIT NEWS Barry Sanders can take an interview and run with it, same as he does on the football field. There is a tease and a taunt and some serious He talks about running east and west, north and south football jargon. And there is a comparison between investing in the stock mar-" ket and running pass patterns. And he will get into all of that, he promises, but first he has to lift weights. "You don't want me to dwindle away to nothing, do you?" Sanders said, bringing the needle out for a Please see Lions, 7B I SATURDAY'S RESULTS Chicago 11, Detroit 2 Kansas City 4, Boston 2 New York 4, Cleveland 0 Baltimore 6, Oakland 3 Toronto at California, late vj Roundup, 4E Dave Dye's notebook, SE ASSOCIATED PRESS Patrick McEnroe returns to 12th-seeded Thomas Muster, who eliminated him from U.S.

Open 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Stories Page 3E. O'Hara: Unhappy returns for Montana as Chiefs quarterback takes the field in Tampa. Page 6E. 'mi iu.f ijfti.