GATOR : Michigan Passes By Ole Miss, 35-3, Finishing With 715 Yards of Offense

Michigan did not take a casual approach to practice in the weeks leading up to the Gator Bowl.

The No. 12 Wolverines participated in all of the festivities surrounding the game, but they kept their concentration on the game with No. 15 Mississippi.

Tuesday, the work paid off.

Quarterback Elvis Grbac connected on four touchdown pass plays and Michigan set several Gator Bowl records with a 35-3 rout of Ole Miss.

“We just exploded,” senior fullback Jarrod Bunch said. “The truth is, we practiced so hard we were getting on each other’s nerves.”

Michigan rolled up 715 yards and 35 first downs, both Gator Bowl records.

“They are the best football team we’ve ever played at Ole Miss, ever,” Mississippi Coach Billy Brewer said. “They kept us spread out, and we didn’t expect them to throw as much as they did.

“We had an outstanding season. We can’t let one bad day spoil the entire year.”

The Wolverines scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, moving to a 35-3 lead on a 31-yard scoring play from Grbac to Derrick Alexander.

Michigan accumulated 563 yards in the first three quarters, including 290 in the third quarter.

“We used play action most of the day to open things up,” said Michigan wide receiver Desmond Howard, who caught six passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Howard, a sophomore who is a former high school teammate of Grbac’s, established a Michigan bowl record with his 167 yards, surpassing Anthony Carter’s 141 yards in a 1979 Gator Bowl loss to North Carolina.

Howard scored on pass plays from Grbac that covered 63 and 50 yards.

Grbac also threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bunch, who also scored on a five-yard run in the third quarter and had a 21-yard touchdown play nullified by a holding penalty.

Michigan (9-3) finished with 324 yards passing as Grbac completed 16 of 25 attempts for 296 yards before leaving the game in the final quarter. The yardage broke Michigan’s bowl record of 239 yards set by Rick Leach in the 1978 Rose Bowl against Washington.

“We were able to mix up the run and the pass, able to open up into their secondary,” said first-year Coach Gary Moeller, who succeeded Bo Schembechler this season.

Jon Vaughn gained 128 yards and Ricky Powers added 112 for the Wolverines, who finished their season with six consecutive victories.

Ole Miss (9-3) scored with eight minutes left in the half when Brian Lee kicked a Gator Bowl record 51-yard field goal.

Entering the game, Lee had missed seven consecutive attempts and had made only three of 13 attempts this season. His last field goal had been a 19-yarder on Sept. 29 against Tulane.

Mississippi, which had hoped to win 10 games for the first time in its history, drove to the Michigan four with 4:50 left before a pass by Russ Shows was intercepted in the end zone.

Michigan failed to convert several other scoring chances because of penalties and turnovers, including a fumble by Powers at the Mississippi one early in the final quarter.

Both teams were hampered by turnovers.

Mississippi lost the ball six times and Michigan three.

The victory evened Michigan’s Gator Bowl record at 1-1, and Ole Miss dropped to 1-2 in its Gator Bowl appearances.

The entire Michigan offensive line garnered most-valuable-player honors for its effort.

“It’s really nice to be recognized,” offensive tackle Tom Dohring said. “We wanted to be recognized as one of the best.”

Said Ole Miss quarterback Tom Luke: “They’re a great team, and probably should have won the national championship without a few (bad) breaks.”