Big Ten Roundup : Schembechler Talks Michigan Into a 42-15 Win

Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler, calm in defeat last week at Iowa, unleashed his fury on the Wolverines Saturday at halftime.

The Wolverines responded with a 27-point outburst in the second half while shutting down Indiana for a 42-15 Big Ten victory at Ann Arbor, Mich.

“It was his toughest halftime talk of the year,” middle guard Billy Harris said. “He had every right to get on us.

“When we have low intensity and aren’t playing up to potential, he comes in and goes berserko. No one wants to get Bo mad, so we go out and try to please him.”

The score was tied, 15-15, at the half, but Michigan (6-1, 3-1)--behind the running of Jamie Morris and passing of Jim Harbaugh--dominated the second half to hand the Hoosiers (4-3, 1-3) their third straight loss.

Morris rushed for a career-best 179 yards and two touchdowns.

“In the second half, we couldn’t do anything,” Indiana Coach Bill Mallory said. “Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going and the defense stopped containing. Against a team like this, we have to be as productive as we can.”

A 31-yard field goal by Mike Gillette put Michigan ahead for good 3:52 into the third quarter. Harbaugh hooked up with tight end Eric Kattus on a 34-yard scoring pass play at 9:40 of the third period to put the Wolverines ahead 25-15.

Michigan fullback Gerald White scored on a 19-yard run at 2:31 of the fourth quarter, Gillette added a 34-yard field goal at 7:50 and Phil Webb scored on a one-yard run with 2:15 remaining in the game.

“He (Schembechler) said, ‘You’re going to blow your whole season today--against Indiana!’ ” Harris said. “All the work we did, everything we accomplished, was going to go right out the window.

“It started to sink in. People looked at each other and said to ourselves, ‘We are blowing the whole season.’ ”

The Hoosiers shocked fourth-ranked Michigan with nine points within an 11-second span in the first quarter after two Wolverine turnovers.

A fumble by White set up a 25-yard field goal by Indiana’s Pete Stoyanovich at 5:54, and a fumble by Morris led to a three-yard touchdown run by Damon Sweazy at 6:05 of the first period.

“We must have had six major mistakes in the first half,” Schembechler said. “I had suspicions we might have difficulty after Iowa. And the mistakes early in the game could have put us out of it.”

An eight-yard touchdown run by Morris still left Indiana on top 9-7 at the end of the first quarter to the disbelief of 105,629 homecoming fans in Michigan Stadium.

In the second quarter, Morris sandwiched a 17-yard touchdown run between field goals of 48 and 43 yards by Stoyanovich.

Illinois 38, Wisconsin 25--All-American David Williams caught 9 passes for 129 yards, including 2 for touchdowns as the Illini overcame the Badgers at Champaign, Ill.

Williams has 217 receptions at Illinois--second all-time to Tulsa’s Howard Twilley (261).

Jack Trudeau threw the first scoring pass to Williams and ran for another score as Illinois (4-3, 3-1) handed Wisconsin (3-4, 0-4) its fourth straight defeat.

Illinois took a 14-0 lead with less than five minutes gone. Trudeau, who passed for 233 yards, scored from one yard out three plays after Badger freshman Steve Vinci fumbled the opening kickoff. Ray Wilson scored from a yard out on Illinois’ next possession.

Trudeau hit Williams on an 11-yard score late in the first quarter, and Wilson scored early in the second half on a short run for a 28-6 lead.

Michigan State 28, Purdue 24--Quarterback Dave Yarema, making his first appearance since being injured in the season opener, hit Butch Rolle on a five-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds left and the Spartans beat the Boilermakers at West Lafayette, Ind.

Yarema completed 16 of 25 passes for 166 yards, but the bulk of the Spartans’ offense came from sophomore tailback Lorenzo White, who carried the ball a school-record 53 times for a career-high 244 yards and 2 touchdowns.

White, the conference rushing leader with 1,077 yards for the season, pulled the Spartans within 24-21 on his second touchdown, a seven-yard run with 9:47 to go.

The Spartans’ victory overshadowed the passing of Purdue quarterback Jim Everett, who hit 34 of 51 attempts for 315 yards and 1 touchdown, and set up a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs by Rodney Carter and James Medlock.