Michigan 21 Wisconsin 14 - November 14, 2002 - Ann Arbor, Mich.
Chris Bray's Record (6-1)- Video Highlights
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Chris Perry had a memorable
day while Barry Alvarez endured another frustrating one against
Michigan.
Perry rushed for a career-high 175 yards and a touchdown as the
10th-ranked Wolverines continued their mastery of Wisconsin with
a 21-14 victory in a battle of Big Ten rivals.
Michigan (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) has won six straight, 15 of 17 and
29 of the last 32 meetings from the Badgers.
A 6-1, 220-pound junior, Perry had been bothered by a sprained
ankle suffered in an October 19 win at Purdue. After fullback
B.J. Askew took the bulk of the carries in the last three games,
Perry returned to his feature back role and broke off runs of
43 and 28 yards to highlight his day.
"I thought about a day like this all the time," said Perry, who
had 27 carries. "It just so happened to me today. Myself and B.J.
(Askew) are capable of doing this."
Seeking a seventh straight New Year's Day bowl bid, Michigan
will play at second-ranked Ohio State next week. However, the
Wolverines lost a chance to play for a share of the Big Ten
title when Iowa beat Minnesota on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Alvarez is in danger of not taking Wisconsin (6-6,
1-6) to a bowl game after a 5-0 start. The Badgers need to beat
Minnesota next week in order to be bowl eligible.
The last six losses for Wisconsin in this series have come by an
average margin of 5.8 points.
Saturday's defeat was just another exercise in frustration for
Wisconsin, which rallied from a 14-point deficit but blew a
chance to tie the game with 1:29 left when quarterback Brooks
Bollinger underthrew a pass to receiver Jonathan Orr in the end
zone.
"We dug ourselves an early hole, but we had our chances," Alvarez
said. "We had our hand on the football in the end zone. What
can you say? If you want to beat a very good football team, you
have to make some of those plays. We didn't make enough of
them."
Michigan snapped a 14-14 tie with a 16-play, 78-yard drive that
consumed 8:43 of the third quarter. John Navarre completed all
eight of his pass attempts for 43 yards and capped the drive
with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards, who made
the reception at the Wisconsin 5 and lunged into the end zone
with 2:15 left in the quarter.
"That was as well-executed a drive as we've had all season and
it came at the right time," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
"And I can't say enough about our defense."
The Badgers were stifled for most of the second half before
driving from their own 46 to the Michigan 31 on their final
possession. On a 3rd-and-10 play, Bollinger lofted a pass for
Orr, who beat cornerback Markus Curry down the left sideline.
But Bollinger's throw hung in the air and Curry was able to
recover and make contact with Orr's right arm and the ball.
"When the ball left my hand, I thought we had a touchdown,"
Bollinger said. "It's real frustrating, especially for me. As
a quarterback and leader, that's the only position you want to
be in. When you flat out don't make the plays, that's tough to
swallow."
On the next play, Bollinger, who sat out last week's loss to
Illinois with a concussion, threw a pass well over the head of
Darrin Charles.
Michigan then took over and Perry broke off a 43-yard run to
seal the win.
"I wanted to get in the end zone, but I wanted to hang onto the
ball," Perry said. "Everybody would have hated me if I had a
long run and lost the ball."
Bollinger completed just 1-of-9 passes for nine yards in the
second half and finished 7-of-20 for 60 yards.
Anthony Davis carried the offense for Wisconsin, rushing for 154
yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. He missed last week's
game after being stabbed in the thigh during a domestic dispute.
Michigan stormed to a 14-0 lead in the first 4:19 on a 27-yard
touchdown run by fullback B.J. Askew and an 11-yard scoring run
by Perry after a fumble by Davis.
But the momentum shifted when walk-on Jim Leonhard scored on a
39-yard punt return with 1:27 left in the first quarter for
Wisconsin.
Davis tied the game with a two-yard touchdown run with 4:31
remaining in the second quarter.
Navarre entered the game with just four interceptions in 10
games, but was picked off twice. Relying on mostly short
passes, Navarre was 19-of-28 for 136 yards.
Perry highlighted Michigan's opening drive with a 28-yard run
and Askew capped it with a 27-yard touchdown run 2:36 into the
game.
"They overpursued and I just tried to cut it back," Askew said.
"The offensive line did a good job sealing them off."
On Wisconsin's first play, cornerback Marlin Jackson forced a
fumble by Davis and linebacker Victor Hobson, playing in his
final home game, recovered for the Wolverines at the Wisconsin
19.
"Victor has played and led like an All-American," Carr said.
Three plays later, Perry scored on an 11-yard run to give
Michigan a 14-0 lead.
Leonhard got Wisconsin back into the game when he fielded a
short, low punt and raced 39 yards for a touchdown.
Leonhard also had an interception early in the second quarter in
Michigan territory, but Mike Allen missed a 27-yard field goal
for Wisconsin.
Davis had runs of 26 and 13 yards before scoring from the 2 on a
third-down play with 4:31 left in the half, tying the game at
14-14.
An NCAA-record 773,763 fans attended the seven games at Michigan
Stadium this season, surpassing the mark set here during the
Wolverines' national championship season in 1997.
Scoring Summary: WIS - MICH
1st 12:14 MICH - Askew, B.J. 27 yd run (Finley, Adam kick)
5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:46 0 - 7
10:41 MICH - Perry, Chris 11 yd run (Finley, Adam kick)
3 plays, 19 yards, TOP 1:17 0 - 14
01:27 WIS - Leonhard, Jim 39 yd punt return (Allen, Mike kick)
7 - 14
2nd 04:31 WIS - Davis, Anthony 2 yd run (Allen, Mike kick)
6 plays, 54 yards, TOP 3:03 14 - 14
3rd 02:15 MICH - Edwards, B. 8 yd pass from Navarre, John (Finley, Adam kick)
16 plays, 78 yards, TOP 8:43 14 - 21
Kickoff time: 12:05 End of Game: 2:58 Total elapsed time: 2:53
Officials: Referee: S. Newman; Umpire: R. Haberer; Linesman: B. Durbin;
Line judge: D. Chesney; Back judge: J. Langan; Field judge: T. Clark;
Side judge: D. Leftwich;
Temperature: Mid 30s Wind: ENE 15 Weather: Mostly Cloudy
Team Statistics
MICH WIS
FIRST DOWNS................... 15 17
Rushing..................... 11 11
Passing..................... 3 6
Penalty..................... 1 0
Rushing Attempts.............. 43 36
Yards Gained Rushing.......... 218 224
Yards Lost Rushing............ 23 8
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 195 216
NET YARDS PASSING............. 60 136
Passes Attempted............ 20 28
Passes Completed............ 7 19
Had Intercepted............. 0 2
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS......... 63 64
TOTAL NET YARDS............... 255 352
Average Gain Per Play....... 4.0 5.5
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 1-1 1-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 4-20 5-39
Number of Punts-Yards......... 7-220 6-226
Average Per Punt............ 31.4 37.7
Punt Returns: Number-Yards.... 5-97 2-7
Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards. 4-59 3-39
Interceptions: Number-Yards... 2-50 0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yards.. 0-0 0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 30:16 29:44
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 13 7 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 0 of 0
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 4-23
