BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Michigan Has to Rally to Beat Minnesota, 35-18

Some halftime tinkering helped Elvis Grbac crank up Michigan’s passing game and the No. 16 Wolverines came from behind to beat Minnesota, 35-18, in a Big Ten game Saturday at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan, 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, overcame a 10-7 halftime deficit with two touchdowns in the third quarter.

Minnesota (5-5, 4-3) gave up two interceptions, both of which led to touchdowns, in the battle for the Little Brown Jug.

“In the first half we were flat and they showed us some things we weren’t expecting,” said Grbac, who had three touchdown passes. “We made adjustments at halftime and started to move the ball. We moved our formations around and that opened some passing lanes for us.”

Grbac, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 126 yards, threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Desmond Howard, an 11-yarder to Jarrod Bunch and a three-yarder to Derrick Alexander.

Freshman Ricky Powers, who gained 127 yards in 24 carries, had a five-yard touchdown run and Jon Vaughn a one-yarder.

It was the second consecutive game in which Powers has rushed for more than 100 yards and his third this season. Powers, who now has 508 yards rushing, is only the third true freshman ever to rush for 500 yards in his first season at Michigan. Rick Leach had 552 in 1975 and Jamie Morris 573 in 1984.

Marquel Fleetwood scored on a five-yard run, Scott Schaffner threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Pat Tingelhoff and Brent Berglund kicked a 37-yard field goal for Minnesota.

No. 22 Illinois 24, Indiana 10--Howard Griffith ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Illini at Bloomington, Ind. His two touchdowns gave him 31 for his Illinois career, which ties the school record set by Red Grange.

A nine-yard run by Griffith late in the third quarter broke a 10-10 tie and put Illinois (7-3, 5-2) ahead for good. His one-yard run early in the fourth quarter capped a 96-yard drive after an Indiana fumble.

“That was probably our best drive all year,” Illinois Coach John Mackovic said.

Quarterback Jason Verduzco, who passed 28 yards to Gus Palma for Illinois’ first touchdown, threw for 236 yards and set up both of Griffith’s touchdowns by completing all eight of his passes in the second half.

Indiana is 5-4-1 and 2-4-1.

No. 23 Michigan State 29, Northwestern 22--Hyland Hickson and Tico Duckett, Michigan State’s 1-2 punch, came to the rescue when the bowl-bound Spartans played the stubborn Wildcats at Evanston, Ill.

The Spartans (6-3-1, 5-2), who are headed for the Hancock Bowl, trailed, 9-7, at the half and, 15-14, early in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t take them lightly, they just played hard,” Coach George Perles said with a deep sigh of relief. “Give them credit. There’s nothing for them at the end of the season but they played inspired football. Without Hickson and Duckett, we wouldn’t have had a chance.”

Hickson rushed 27 times for 184 yards and needs six against Wisconsin next week to reach 1,000. He also scored twice on one-yard runs.

Duckett, who has already surpassed 1,000 yards, gained 130 of his 137 yards in the second half and clinched the game with a 29-yard touchdown run with 3:41 to play.

Northwestern is 2-8 and 1-6.