BIG TEN ROUNDUP : Michigan Clinches Rose Bowl Berth by Blanking Illinois

Gary Moeller, who left town when Illinois fired him as coach in 1979, returned to Champaign, Ill., Saturday to guide Michigan to a Rose Bowl-clinching victory.

“You’ve got one excited head coach,” Moeller after the No. 4 Wolverines beat 25th-ranked Illinois, 20-0, for the Big Ten title and a berth against Washington on Jan. 1 in Pasadena.

Moeller gave the Illinois defense and quarterback Jason Verduzco credit for keeping the Illini in the game.

“If you’re playing great defense and you have a strong pitcher on the mound, you can make a lot of things happen,” he said. “I’m very disappointed we didn’t score more points, but I’m very proud of our defense in playing the way it did.”

Desmond Howard caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Elvis Grbac in the second quarter and raced 15 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines held Illinois to 49 yards rushing while rolling up 332 on the ground.

Tailback Ricky Powers carried 26 times for 151 yards, and tailback Jesse Johnson added 104 yards in 21 carries. Grbac completed 16 of 20 passes for 133 yards and had one pass intercepted.

J.D. Carlson kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 43-yarder in the third quarter for the Wolverines, 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten.

Illinois (6-4, 4-3) expects to play UCLA in the John Hancock Bowl at El Paso on Dec. 31.

Illinois set up Michigan’s first touchdown with a fumble, and saw its best scoring chance end with an interception in the end zone.

The Wolverines fumbled the ball away twice in the first quarter, but took control with a touchdown and a field goal in the second quarter.

Illinois gambled and lost on its first drive when Jeff Arneson was stopped on a fake punt at his own 35.

Three plays later, Aaron Shelby recovered a fumble by Michigan’s Yale Van Dyne’s on the Illinois 28, but Michigan stopped the Illini.

The Wolverines drove to the Illinois one but Ricky Powers fumbled and Shelby recovered for the Illini.

Michigan finally scored when J.D. Carlson kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter after an apparent touchdown run by Jesse Johnson was nullified by a holding penalty.

Michigan’s first touchdown came with 1:06 left in the half after Verduzco fumbled a snap from the shotgun formation and Brian Townsend recovered at the six.

Carlson kicked a 43-yard field goal on Michigan’s first possession of the second half for a 13-0 lead.

After Fred Cox intercepted a pass by Grbac in the fourth quarter, Illinois took over at its own 31. Verduzco kept the drive alive with completions of 12 and 19 yards to John Wright. But Verduzco’s pass into the end zone deflected off Elbert Turner’s hands to Michigan’s Marcus Walker.

Michigan then drove 80 yards, capped by Howard’s 15-yard touchdown on a reverse with 8:46 left.

No. 19 Ohio State 20, Indiana 16--Carlos Snow scored two touchdowns and the Buckeyes tipped away a pass in the end zone on the final play for a Big Ten victory over the Hoosiers before 93,417 at Columbus, Ohio.

But afterward most of the talk centered around Ohio State linebacker Jason Simmons.

Simmons had three sacks and nine tackles, four for losses, and harassed Indiana quarterback Trent Green most of the day.

“I don’t know him by name; I just know it was No. 91 and he was on top of me a lot,” Green said.

Said Ohio State Coach John Cooper: “I’ve been coaching a long, long time and I’ve obviously been involved in some good ballgames, some close games, some nail-biters. But I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game where I’m more proud of a defense than I am today. . . . If I had to single out one defensive player without looking at the films, it would be Simmons. He made a lot of big plays.”

Snow, the offensive star, scored on runs of six and 13 yards and gained 124 yards in 32 carries as No. 19 Ohio State (8-2, 5-2) closed in on a Hall of Fame Bowl berth against No. 17 Syracuse.

Despite Cooper’s praise for the defense, Indiana (5-4-1, 4-3) had twice as many first downs (20-10), and substantially more yardage (356-225).

Vaughn Dunbar had 125 yards in 28 carries for the Hoosiers, who may still be in the running for a spot in the Copper Bowl against Baylor if they beat Purdue next Saturday.

The Hoosiers got the ball for the last time with 1:20 left at their 26. A 22-yard pass from Green to Eddie Thomas got the ball to midfield, and an 11-yard run by Green on fourth and 10 kept the drive alive.

A pass from Green to Dunbar gained 11 yards, and on the game’s final play, a pass toward receivers Eddie Thomas and Eddie Baety was batted away by a group of defenders.

Indiana led, 13-10, at halftime and was within 17-16 midway through the third quarter after a 44-yard field goal by Scott Bonnell. But the Ohio State defense, led by Simmons, forced Indiana to punt on its next four possessions.

A short punt led to Tim Williams’ 38-yard field goal with 1:20 left, giving Ohio State a 20-16 lead and setting the stage for the hectic final minute.

No. 9 Iowa 24, Northwestern 10--Mike Saunders scored the go-ahead touchdown on a seven-yard run in the third quarter as the Hawkeyes won at Evanston, Ill., to clinch second place in the Big Ten and a berth in the Holiday Bowl.

Saunders carried 24 times for a career-high 167 yards, including 93 in the third quarter, as the Hawkeyes (9-1, 6-1) broke away from a 10-10 halftime tie.

Northwestern (3-7, 2-5) was held to minus five yards in the third quarter.

Lew Montgomery scored on a one-yard run with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter as Iowa took a two-touchdown lead.

With injured Matt Rodgers missing his second consecutive game, Jim Hartlieb played quarterback for the Hawkeyes.

Purdue 27, Michigan State 17--Freshman quarterback Matt Pike, used mainly in mop-up duty previously, took over on Purdue’s second offensive series and led the Boilermakers (4-6, 3-6) over the Spartans (2-8, 2-5) in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue had lost six in a row to Michigan State.

Jeff Hill scored on runs of 24 and 11 yards for Purdue while accumulating 106 yards in 23 carries.

Wisconsin 19, Minnesota 16--Rich Thompson made a second-chance, 42-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter at Minneapolis and the Badgers (4-6, 1-6) held off the Gophers (2-8, 1-6) to snap a 19-game Big Ten losing streak. Wisconsin also ended a 23-game road losing streak.

The Badgers hadn’t won a Big Ten game since beating Northwestern, 35-31, on Oct. 21, 1989. They hadn’t won on the road since winning at Northwestern on Oct. 18, 1986.

Thompson missed a 47-yard attempt, but Minnesota’ Kenneth Sebree was penalized for running into the kicker, a five-yard penalty. Thompson then made the 42-yarder with 10:02 left to break a 16-16 tie.

The Gophers drove to Wisconsin’s six, but Marquel Fleetwood’s pass into the end zone to Patt Evans on fourth down from the 11 was broken up by Melvin Tucker. Evans had the ball but dropped it when Tucker hit him.