It’s a Bumper Crop of Wheatley : Michigan: Tailback rushes for 235 yards and scores on three long runs as Wolverines defeat Huskies, 38-31.

Tyrone Wheatley scored three touchdowns in one of the most spectacular performances in the 79-year history of the Rose Bowl, pacing seventh-ranked Michigan over No. 9 Washington, 38-31, on Friday.

Wheatley, a sophomore tailback, scored on runs of 56, 88 and 24 yards and rushed for 235 yards as the Wolverines (9-0-3) avenged a 34-14 Rose Bowl loss to the Huskies (9-3) in the 1992 Rose Bowl.

And Wheatley accomplished all that without playing in the fourth quarter; he was on the sideline suffering from back spasms.

In a see-saw game with a dazzling array of long gainers, the Wolverines broke a 31-31 tie on Elvis Grbac’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Tony McGee with 5:29 remaining.

Michigan marched 80 yards to the winning score after Washington Travis Hanson missed a 22-yard field goal attempt.

The Wolverines sealed the victory by stopping Washington twice on downs in Michigan territory.

On the first possession, Washington quarterback Mark Brunell came up two yards short on a fourth-and-11 scramble at the Michigan 17.

The second chance came after David Killpatrick blocked a punt that gave the Huskies possession at the Michigan 44 with 1:05 left. Washington gave up the ball when Brunell threw four incompletions.

Grbac and McGee accounted for two touchdowns, the first on a 49-yard pass in the first quarter.

Grbac, who had a bad day in the Rose Bowl a year ago, completed 17 of 30 for 175 yards this time, with no interceptions.

Brunell, the 1991 Rose Bowl MVP who played little in last year’s game, completed 18 of 30 for 308 yards and two scores.

Washington, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation earlier in the season, finished with three losses in its last four games.

The Huskies’ slide seemed to coincide with off-the-field controversy, including the suspension of last year’s Rose Bowl MVP, Billy Joe Hobert, for accepting $50,000 in loans.

Brunell had knee surgery in the spring of 1991 and Hobert took over the starting quarterback job that fall. Brunell made a quick recovery, but mostly watched the 1992 Rose Bowl from the sidelines as Hobert ran the show.

Wheatley’s 88-yard scoring run was the longest in Rose Bowl history, and his rushing yardage came on just 15 carries.

Wheatley’s third touchdown, the 24-yarder, pulled the Wolverines even at 31-31 with 1:48 remaining in the third quarter. The run came on the first play after Bobby Powers recovered a fumble by the Huskies’ Napoleon Kaufman.

That series of events came only moments after Peter Elezovic missed a 33-yard field goal try for the Wolverines.

Hanson’s 44-yard field goal gave the Huskies a 31-24 edge with 6:42 left in the third quarter. Kaufman had scored from the 1-yard line earlier in the quarter to put the Huskies up by four points.

Wheatley’s long run, on the first scrimmage play of the second half, had put the Wolverines back in front, 24-21.

Brunell’s second touchdown pass of the game, an 18-yarder to Mark Bruener, brought the Huskies back from a 17-7 deficit and into a 21-17 lead in the second quarter. The touchdown was set up by Brunell’s 55-yard pass to Damon Barry.

Washington had narrowed the gap to 17-14 on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Jason Shelley. Michigan safety Corwin Brown had good position on Shelley, but Shelley came down with the ball near the goal line and stumbled into the end zone. Although he fumbled the ball, the officials ruled that Shelley had possession when he broke the plane of the goal.

Earlier in the second quarter, Wheatley staked the Wolverines to a 10-point lead when he broke through the line of scrimmage, then outran the Huskies’ defenders--as he also did later on the 88-yard dash.

Michigan led, 10-7, at the end of the first quarter, with Grbac hitting a wide-open McGee up the middle for a 49-yard touchdown.

Washington had taken the lead less than two minutes earlier when Darius Turner capped an 80-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

Elezovic put the Wolverines on the board first with a 41-yard field goal on Michigan’s first possession.

The Wolverines’ victory came after they had closed the regular season with ties against Illinois and Ohio State, dropping Michigan from third in the national rankings.

Michigan’s other tie came in the season opener against Notre Dame.