Clear Blue Wave : Michigan’s Fifth-Year Seniors Savor Victory That Washes Away Frustration of Last Season

Call it revenge, redemption, whatever you want, but life has been never sweeter for Steve Everitt, Elvis Grbac, Chris Hutchinson and all of Michigan’s fifth-year seniors than it is today after Friday’s 38-31 victory over Washington in the Rose Bowl.

“There hasn’t been a single day since last New Year’s that I haven’t thought about getting another chance at Washington,” said Everitt, the Michigan center whose crushing blocks helped spring Tyrone Wheatley on three long touchdown runs.

The seniors had been to the Rose Bowl twice before, losing to USC, 17-10, in 1990 and 34-14 last season to Washington.

For Everitt, the victory helped erase the helpless feeling he had last season when he sat on the bench after suffering an ankle injury during practice three days before the 1992 Rose Bowl. He was involved in only two or three plays.

Everitt’s absence in the heart of the Michigan offensive line was a major cause of the team’s offensive breakdown.

Grbac, who was sacked and harassed last season as he had never been before, echoed Everitt’s sentiments after directing the Wolverines’ five-touchdown attack.

“Every game we played in the Big Ten, I knew that every time we won it made us one game closer to getting back to Pasadena,” Grbac said. “It was like an obsession, I just had to get back here and win.

“When the game finally ended and I looked up at the scoreboard, it was like a huge burden had been lifted off my back. I was so focused on the last drive I didn’t even look at the scoreboard. I knew I had about eight minutes and all I could think about was breaking that tie. I didn’t want another one.”

Michigan had three ties--against Notre Dame, Illinois and Ohio State--during the regular season but finished undefeated for the first time since 1973.

“I didn’t know (Tony) McGee caught the ball until I heard the crowd,” Grbac said. “I got hit and was on my back, but I knew what happened from the roar that went up.”

The winning touchdown came on a 15-yard pass play to McGee in the left corner of the end zone.

“I don’t think there is a better tight end in the country right now than Tony McGee,” Coach Gary Moeller said. McGee caught six passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Grbac, backed up against a wall by a crush of reporters, was all smiles when asked if he saw Wheatley’s touchdown carries of 56 and 88 yards.

“You bet I did. When I saw Steve (Everitt) and Joe (fifth-year senior guard Cocozzo) get their linebackers, I knew he was gone. When you give Tyrone a crease like that, no one’s going to catch him.”

Wheatley also had a touchdown carry of 24 yards that followed the game’s only turnover, a fumble by Napoleon Kaufman that was recovered by Michigan linebacker Bobby Powers.

Grbac engineered the Wolverines’ winning drive, a 10-play march of 80 yards, without Wheatley, who sat out the final quarter because of back spasms.

“It’s a mark of our team that when Tyrone went down, we had great people to come in for him,” Grbac said of the play of replacements Ricky Powers and Eddie Davis. “It wasn’t just 11 guys, or 22 guys, who earned this win. It was all 100 who make up our squad.”

Hutchinson, Michigan’s All-American defensive tackle and a key player in restricting Kaufman, an all-Pac 10 back, to 39 yards in 20 carries, was another happy fifth-year senior.

“The defense came up strong after having our backs to the wall three or four times,” Hutchinson said. “I’m proud to be one of the captains of the defensive unit. It’s a great way to finish my five years at Michigan with a Rose Bowl win and an undefeated season.

“If it’s my last game (of football), I couldn’t have finished on a higher note. It all came together when I heard everyone singing ‘Hail to the Victors’ in the Rose Bowl.”

Hutchinson, also an academic All-American, is expected to enter medical school next year.

Moeller said he, too, felt redeemed, but not necessarily over last year’s Rose Bowl loss.

“We felt bad about the boos in the Illinois game (when Moeller accepted the tie to clinch a Rose Bowl bid) and I just hope some of those people were watching the way the guys played today.

“I’m truly happy for the seniors. Knowing they won’t be back next year is like a part of the family leaving you, but for them to wind up this way is really something sweet.”

And what is Moeller’s next goal?

“For the next 364 days I’ll be looking forward to coming back. I want to be right here at this time next year.”