Harbaugh and Michigan Defense Are Too Much for Minnesota, 48-7

Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh completed 13 of 18 passes for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead Michigan to a 48-7 victory over Minnesota Saturday.

“I was really worried about this game,” Harbaugh said. “I had a little trouble falling asleep last night. We knew that Lou Holtz has been a miracle worker around here.”

Holtz, the Gophers’ coach, worked no miracles.

“In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think the game would go as it did,” Holtz said. “I’m still in a state of shock. But I can’t go slit my wrists. If you want me to say I’m going to jump off a bridge or to say we aren’t a good team, I’m not going to say that. Disappointed, yes. Discouraged, yes. But it’s not fatal.”

The Wolverines, 8-1-1 overall and 5-1-1 in the Big Ten, have allowed only three touchdowns and 58 points all season.

Defensive tackles Mike Hammerstein and Mark Messner and linebackers Jeff Akers, Mike Mallory and Andy Moeller led the charge that put the clamps on Minnesota (6-4, 4-3).

Michigan retained the Little Brown Jug trophy for the eighth straight year and, under Bo Schembechler, is 16-1 against the Gophers.

Harbaugh, who set a Big Ten single-game completion percentage record with a 12-for-13 performance against Purdue last week, threw second-quarter touchdown passes of 27 yards to Paul Jokisch, 8 yards to Jamie Morris and 27 yards again to Jokisch as the Wolverines led at halftime, 31-0.