Michigan Too Tough for Colorado State : Holiday Bowl: No. 10 Rams can’t buck the odds as Wolverines salvage a ‘poor’ 8-4 season with 24-14 victory.

When push came to shove Friday night, Michigan was a powerful force in the Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl.

The Wolverines pushed and shoved Colorado State across the field and probably out of the top 10 with a 24-14 victory before 59,453 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

No. 20 Michigan (8-4) finished third in the Big Ten but on top of the No. 10 Rams with a strong-arm defense led by linebackers Matt Dyson and Jarrett Irons and a bruising defensive line that held like a steel curtain.

With their quickness neutralized up front, the Rams mounted the weakest of running games. They finished with 51 yards in 36 carries, with fullback E.J. Watson gaining 47 hard-fought yards.

“We couldn’t run the ball,” Watson said. “They took it away from us. Everything they did we were prepared for. They just beat us in the trenches.”

So, quarterback Anthoney Hill resorted to the pass, completing 22 of 40 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. But he hardly exploited Michigan’s secondary, said to be the Wolverines’ weak link this season.

Although Hill found some success in the air, Michigan seemed to come up with the big play when it needed one.

“We moved the ball pretty well all night,” wide receiver Eric Olsen said. “They weren’t overpowering. We stopped ourselves with costly turnovers.”

Two big turnovers did in the Rams.

Trailing 10-7 with less than two minutes before halftime, Colorado State stalled at its 27-yard-line. Then, Matt McDougal’s punt was blocked and Michigan recovered at the 17.

Two plays later, Michigan’s Todd Collins passed to Mercury Hayes for a 16-yard touchdown play. Remy Hamilton’s extra-point kick made it 17-7 and Colorado State never seemed to recover.

The second turnover came with 13:34 left in the third quarter. Woody Hankins and Irons crashed through the line and rammed Hill from each side. He fumbled and Irons recovered at the 17.

Collins handed to Tyrone Wheatley four consecutive times, and the Wolverine running back finally scored on a three-yard run through the middle.

Wheatley, a star in his last two bowl games, ended his Michigan career with 80 yards in 16 carries. But the Wolverine running game looked good with the help of Tim Biakabutuka of Montreal, who gained 70 yards in nine carries.

The Wolverines, who have won three bowls in a row, proved to have the balanced attack Colorado State Coach Sonny Lubick feared. Lubick knew it would be difficult to stop the punishing ground game, but he hoped his team would slow Michigan down long enough to allow the Rams to score.

“When you stop their run, they pass,” Lubick said.

Collins proved him right. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 162 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

And that was too much for the small Colorado State defense to stop.

Michigan took the opening kickoff 70 yards on 13 plays to open with a 7-0 lead after Hamilton’s point after. The pivotal play came on third-and-seven at the 16. Collins scrambled from the pocket and reached the one before he was stopped. Three plays later, he passed to his favorite receiver, Amani Toomer, for the touchdown.

Michigan added a Hamilton field goal before the quarter ended, but what started off as a high-scoring contest, slowed considerably after that.

“The defense did a great job of shutting them down,” Collins said. “We would have liked to score more, (but) we self-destructed.”

It did not matter. Colorado State was held to its lowest point total of the season, and it was lucky to get 14. Hill passed to Jeremy Burkett for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:18 left against the Wolverine reserves.

Before Friday, Colorado State’s lowest total was 19 in a 19-17 victory against San Diego State.