BIG TEN ROUNDUP : No. 3 Michigan Primed to Move Up After 41-3 Victory Over Wisconsin

No. 3-ranked Michigan, in line to move up to No. 1 because both Notre Dame and Florida State were beaten, breezed to a 41-3 victory over Wisconsin Saturday at Madison, Wis.

The Wolverines outgained the Badgers, 534 yards to 189, and Elvis Grbac threw three touchdowns passes in a Big Ten opener at Madison, Wis.

“We wore them down,” said first-year Michigan Coach Gary Moeller. “This (Wisconsin) is a young team. This is not to knock their program, but we’ve got the better players.”

The Wolverines improved to 3-1 overall, and Wisconsin, which had only 18 rushing yards, is 1-3.

News that Notre Dame had lost and Florida State was losing had already spread to the Wolverines’ locker room soon after they’d beaten Wisconsin.

“I think we all knew deep down Notre Dame was going to lose (sometime),” Grbac said. “We were just waiting for our shot. We’ll keep plugging away.”

Michigan took a 17-0 halftime lead when Grbac threw two touchdown passes and then simply wore down the Badgers in the second half with its enormous offensive line, scoring on its first four possessions.

Michigan, shooting for a third consecutive Big Ten title, has beaten Wisconsin nine consecutive times, dating back to 1981.

Michigan’s Jon Vaughn, averaging 193 yards rushing per game, gained 94 yards in 15 carries. Grbac completed 15 of 20 passes for 154 yards.

Iowa 12, No. 18 Michigan State 7--The Hawkeyes, with a reputation for high-powered offense, used defense to stun the Spartans in a Big Ten opener at East Lansing, Mich.

Linebacker Melvin Foster, who had 20 tackles, intercepted a pass that Iowa turned into a touchdown and made a key fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter. Iowa’s linebacking corps had 31 tackles.

The Hawkeyes (3-1) have never lost a game at East Lansing under Hayden Fry, going 5-0-1 at Spartan Stadium in his 12 years as coach. Michigan State is 1-2-1.

Matt Rodgers, who completed 20 of 38 passes for 236 yards, tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Nick Bell, and Jeff Skillett kicked field goals of 31 and 34 yards for Iowa.

Michigan State’s lone score came on a seven-yard run with 4:06 left in the game.

The Spartans’ Tico Duckett rushed for 123 yards in 23 carries, and quarterback Dan Enos completed 17 of 34 for 199 yards.

But Enos also threw two interceptions, and John Langeloh missed field-goal attempts of 19 and 42 yards. Langeloh’s one point-after, however, tied him with Morten Andersen as Michigan State’s leading scorer for a career with 261 points.

The Spartans drove to the Iowa two-yard line with the opening kickoff but came up empty with the first miss by Langeloh, who had been perfect on six previous field goal attempts this season.

Then early in the second quarter, Josh Butland’s shanked punt traveled only 24 yards and set the Hawkeyes up at their own 46. Rodgers passed to Danan Hughes for 23 yards and Paul Kujawa for 10 yards on fourth and four in driving the Hawkeyes 40 yards in nine plays for Skillett’s 31-yard field goal.

On the second snap of the next series, Foster intercepted an Enos pass intended for Hickson and returned it 14 yards to the Michigan State 44.

Rodgers, as he had done in the preceding series, opened with a 21-yard toss to Hughes. Six snaps later, he rolled left and lofted a five-yard touchdown pass to Bell.

On their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Spartans tried to run Duckett around right end on fourth-and-one at the Iowa 20, but Foster dove low and stopped him.

Minnesota 19, Purdue 7--Brent Berglund kicked four field goals and the Gophers’ intercepted three passes and limited the Boilermakers to only 44 yards rushing in a Big Ten opener at West Lafayette, Ind.

Berglund, who missed a 38-yard attempt as the first half ended, was successful on attempts ranging from 25 to 47 yards, including two 26-yarders.

Minnesota (2-2) survived drives of 15 and 10 plays for 125 yards in the fourth quarter without giving up a point.

On the first, Purdue (1-3) moved from its five to the Minnesota 21, but Larry Sullivan’s 37-yard field goal attempt went wide left. On the second, Purdue moved from its 22 to the Minnesota 27 before three Eric Hunter passes went incomplete and he was stopped for no gain on a fourth-down scramble.

Indiana 42, Northwestern 0--Quarterback Trent Green scored two touchdowns and set up three others with his passing and running to lead the undefeated Hoosiers in a Big Ten opener at Evanston, Ind.

Linebackers Mark Hagen and John Miller led the defense as the Hoosiers improved to 4-0 overall. Northwestern, a 24-7 winner over Northern Illinois last week, is now 1-3.

Green scored on runs of eight and seven yards in the second quarter to cap drives of 87 and 71 yards for a 14-0 halftime lead.