Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 29

Who makes the next move? The heat is on for someone either Kirk Gibson or the Tigers to make a move. Gene Guidi's baseball column, Page 6C. Sports Phone, 1-976-1313 Today's television highlights; CBS 1:00 p.m. NFL: Detroit at Tampa Bay CBC 1:30 p.m. CFL: Hamilton vs.

B.C. Lions CBS 4:00 p.m. NFL: Philadelphia at Dallas NBC 4:00 p.m. NFL: Denver at LA Raiders Sunday, Nov. 24, 1905 NBANHL LIONS OUTDOORS PRESS Call with tportt news: 222-6660 LJ DETROIT FRFF Hitch ffcz Albom Fiesta Dowl Orange Bowl Itose Bowl Sugar Bowl Cotton Bowl Ail-American Cherry Bowl Maryland (7-3) vs.

Syracuse (7-3) WHEN: 1 p.m., Dec. 21. WHERE: Silver-dome, Pontiac, Mich. TV: Mizlou Penn State (10-0) vs. Oklahoma (8-1) WHEN: 8 p.m., New Year's Day.

WHERE: Orange Bowl, Miami, Fla. TV: NBC, Channel 4 in Detroit. SEC champ vs. Miami (8-1) WHEN: 7 p.m., New Year's Day. WHERE: Super-dome, New Orleans.

TV: ABC-TV, Channel 7 in Detroit. UCLA or Ariz. St. vs. Iowa (10-1) WHEN: 5 p.m., New Year's Day.

WHERE: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. TV: NBC-TV, Channel 4 in Detroit. Michigan (9-1-1) vs. Nebraska (9-2) WHEN: 1:30 p.m., New Year's Day. WHERE: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.

TV: NBC, Channel 4 in Detroit. MSU (7-4) VS. Ga. Tech (7-2-1) WHEN: 8 p.m., New Year's Eve. WHERE: Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala.

TV: WTBS cable. Texas or Tex. vsuburn (8-2) WHEN: 1:30 p.m., New Year's Day. WHERE: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Tex. TV: CBS-TV, Channel 2 in Detroit.

Harbaugh harasses su jr sy'jJ -7 4 A4 A Cy 'a -) I reft. wv. tm H- This image will last: Harbaugh back to pass ANN ARBOR I hope you were watching. I hope you were glued to your TV set and had all your relatives over and you videotaped the whole darn thing. Otherwise, I don't know if you'd believe me when I tell you how Michigan beat their archest of arch-rivals, Ohio State, to cap their season Saturday: They passed them to death.

Over the middle, down the sidelines, in between defenders, a short touchdown lob and a long touchdown bomb. Three touchdowns by air, 230 aerial yards all told. Yes, the team that had worn its defense like an amulet to ward off evil spirits all season won their annual blood feud by outscoring the enemy. And in so doing, they convinced a lot of people, me included, that they may indeed be the finest college football team in the country, polls or no polls. But we'll get to that in a minute.

First, savor Saturday. It was not orthodox. But there it was. Michigan 27, Ohio State 17. And long after the celebration had fizzled, after the band had played the school's alma mater on a darkened field, after the goal posts had been left for dead, and the 106,102 who witnessed this affair had gone home with their souvenir piece of the turf long after all that, it was the way this game will be remembered that brought the biggest grin.

For the biggest memory will not be a crunching goal line stand or some last second squeaker of a field goal. Nope. The image that repeats will be that of Jim Harbaugh dropping back in the fourth quarter and uncorking a soaring sprial that rose high and long as flanker John Kolesar ran underneath it, his steps seemingly in sync with the revolutions of the ball, so when it fell, it fell right into his arms, almost gently, and he lifted his legs and simply outsprinted the Ohio State defender to the promised land. It didn't end the game. But it broke Ohio State's back "Took the starch out of their sails" is how Bo Schembechler put it.

One play, 77 yards. Touchdown. Victory. Pass more? Bo started fast Yes, there have been more important games in this rivalry. After all, the Big 1 0 championship and Rose Bowl invitation sailed away in the middle of the third quarter Saturday, when the announcement that Iowa had beaten Minnesota came over the loudspeakers.

There was no prize anymore for Michigan and Ohio State, who were tied at 10-10 at that moment. No tangible prize, anyhow. Iowa had won the conference. The damsel in distress had taken off with some other guy while the heroes were fighting the dragon. But in this series, the battle is the thing.

So with the Rose Bowl gone, all that was left was 84 years of two-fisted tradition and the right to smile for the rest of the month. Plenty to fight for. And they did. Michigan opened its offense with a first-down pass. "How about that?" Schembechler said with a laugh.

"I did it for all you guys (reporters). You always say I should pass more." That statement is consistent. The laughter is not. Schembechler had bristled at criticism that he holds down the passing in the big games before. Not Saturday.

From a 40 yard strike to tight end Eric Kattus in the second quarter to that 77-yard bomb in the last, the passing was the key. And the star of this game would be a young man who never played against Ohio State before, who sat out last year's showdown with a broken arm Harbaugh. He showed confidence, he showed accuracy, and he showed speed under pressure. He completed 16 of 19 passes. And he showed that when he's on, you may be watching the No.

1 team in the country. The offense took off Now, this is not the rambling of someone caught up in a victory. Think about it. Michigan lost its only game of the year to Iowa because its offense stumbled (some say it was simply squeezed too tightly by a conservative Schembechler). But that offense has spread its wings in recent weeks (mostly behind Harbaugh's passing) and, when matched with the incomparable defense, it makes for the best 1-2 combination in the college football ranks.

Polls don't show everything. Neither does a worn-lost record. So send them no roses. Who cares? The game they wanted to win the most is theirs. They had come to blow on the embers of an old affair, Michigan and Ohio State, and this time it was the Wolverines who came away unscorched.

Flying in the air will do that. Mitch Albom's NFL picks are on Page A little extra weight Ohio State's Eric Kumerow can't slow down Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. He completed 16 of 19 "ft UPI Photo passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. The Wolverines won, 27-17, and are headed for the Fiesta Bowl. Three TD passes lift Michigan, 27-17 i IT j.

Air "4: i utes and scored 10 unanswered points. The game's pivotal play, however, was a 77-yard touchdown pass from Jim Harbaugh freshman flanker John Kolesar with piay. That score came 51 seconds after Cris. Carter's leaping fourth-and-15, 36-yard TD catch that pulled the Buckeyes close, 20-17, in the final quarter. "THAT (THE Kolesar touchdown) was? play that took the startch right out of their sails," Michigan coach Bo Schembechler said.

And it was also the play that vaulted to 9-1-1, 6-1-1 in the Big Ten, and completed the Wolverines' preseason vow to make all foreget last year's 6-6 disappointment. Last season was the farthest notion from the mind of Harbaugh, who boasted, "I know it sounds a little cocky, but I think we're the best team in the country. This is a special See WOLVERINES, Page IOC By TOMMY GEORGE Free Press Sports Writer ANN ARBOR Under huge portable lights and before a frolicking crowd of 106,102, Michigan scored a rousing 27-17 victory over Ohio State Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines have relished many spirited wins in this season of redemption their successful opening victory over Notre Dame, their surprising shutout over then highly touted Maryland, their bounce-back drubbing of Indiana after the demoralizing Iowa defeat but none were more gratifying than Saturday's victory. It avenged last season's loss to Ohio State, finished a perfect home season (6-0) and secured a berth in the Jan.

1 Fiesta Bowl. Michigan returned from the locker room and a 10-10 first half, took the kickoff and rolled over the Buckeyes the entire third quarter. Michigan ran 26 plays to OSU's eight, possessed the ball for nearly 12 min Free Press Photo bv MARY SCHROEDER Ohio State's defense gets a leg up on Michigan back Jamie Morris. White's 223 lead MSU, 41-7 The Top 10 No. 1.

Penn St. at Pittsburgh, inc. Oklahoma 27, No. 2. Nebraska 7 No.

3. Iowa 31, Minnesota 9 No. 4. Miami vs. Colorado inc.

No. 5. Oklahoma 27, Nebraska 7 No. 6. Michigan 27, Ohio State 17 Iowa St.

15, No. 7. Okla. St. 10 No.

8. UCLA at USC, inc No. 9. Florida idle No. 10.

Auburn idle Other games Purdue 34, Indiana 21 Illinois 45, Northwestern 20 Bowling Green 38, Ohio 17 Details, Pages 8C to 12C. Prep report Traverse City 19, Pioneer 10 Troy 10, Redford CC 0 Wyoming Park 13, Gladstone 12 Divine Child 14, Marine City 0 Lansing CC 36, DePorres 6 But nearly everything else worked. Lorenzo bullied the tackles, deked the linebackers and ran the cutback on mis-direction plays to perfection. White surpassed Ohio State's Keith Byars as the Big Ten's all-time single-season rushing leader before the first period was over, gaining 1 35 yards in 21 carries and scoring his 1 7th touchdown of the season. The rest was easy as the bumbling Badgers, who finished 5-6 (2-6 in the conference) looked nothing like the team that upset the Buckeyes last week.

"I don't know how to explain it," grumbled Wisconsin coach Dave McClain. "We just weren't ready to play." THE BADGERS gained only 74 yards rushing and quarterback Bud Keyes, filling in for injured Mike Howard, wasn't the answer, either. Moreover, Wisconsin's defense couldn't solve the White riddle. See SPARTANS, Page 12C bowling for dollars about 750,000 of them against Georgia Tech on New Year's Eve in Birmingham. "It's a great reward for the entire program our kids are very happy," MSU coach George Perles said.

"We're very excited about the game." Georgia Tech will need all that time to engineer a defense for White, the super sophomore tailback. EVEN THOUGH the Wisconsin field looked like the Yukon Territory, White put on another Heisman-like performance as he finished the regular season with 1,908 yards. He gained more yards than the tractor driver who fought a losing battle trying to keep the yard stripes visible. "The snow dictated, to a degree, how we would play today," Perles said. "We couldn't run our tosses quite as well as we would have liked." By JACK SAYLOR Free Press Sports Writer MADISON, Wis.

Take that, Bo Jackson. A steady snow fell on Camp Randall Stadium Saturday, but Michigan State's Lor-. enzo Whitezipped through the flakes as neatly as Santa Claus' sleigh and propelled MSU to its finest football season in seven years. White rambled 223 yards in 42 carries as Michigan State drubbed surprisingly inept Wisconsin, 41-7. Thus the Spartans' seven-year itch for a big season concluded at 7-4.

Not since the Big Ten championship team of 1978 has MSU won this many games. And their 5-3 conference record earned a tie with Ohio State for third place also a seven-year high-water mark. Reward for the efforts came quickly as MSU athletic director Doug Weaver formally accepted the bid to the All American Bowl. The Spartans are Alabamy-bound to go Details, Page.