Sept 1, 2001
Stats
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - John Navarre completed 19 of 32 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown as No. 12 Michigan Wolverines beat Miami (Ohio) 31-13 Saturday in the opener for both teams.
Michigan, already the victory leader in Division I-A football, won its 806th game to tie Yale for the most wins in any division.
Michigan's new-look offense - without Drew Henson, Anthony Thomas, David Terrell and four offensive lineman - sputtered until it wore down the RedHawks.
The Wolverines were unable to add to their 17-6 halftime lead until early in the fourth quarter.
Jeremy LeSueur intercepted a pass in Michigan's end zone and on the ensuing possession, Calvin Bell scored on a 12-yard reverse with 10:49 left to give Michigan a 24-6 lead.
B.J. Askew had 20 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown. Bell caught five passes for 26 yards and Marquise Walker had three receptions for 44 yards.
Miami redshirt freshman Ben Roethlisberger was 18-of-35 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Jason Branch caught four passes for 66 yards and Luke Clemens gained 63 yards on 14 carries.
Carl Diggs intercepted Roethlisberger's second pass and returned it 11 yards to Miami's 41 to set up Michigan's first touchdown.
On the next play, Navarre connected with Walker for a 39-yard pass. On a third-and-goal, Askew dove over a pile for a touchdown, although replays appeared to show him fumbling before reaching the goal line.
Michigan took a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter on Hayden Epstein's 22-yard field goal. The Wolverines converted two third downs on the drive, but couldn't convert a third.
The RedHawks cut their deficit to 10-6 early in the second. On a third-and-5 at Michigan's 21, Roethlisberger bobbled a long snap with one hand, scrambled to his right and found Eddie Tillitz wide open in the end zone. Roethlisberger kept the drive alive three plays earlier with a 30-yard pass on a third down. The extra-point kick was blocked.
A gamble led to Michigan's 17-6 halftime lead.
After gaining only 1 yard on three plays, the Wolverines scored on a play-action pass - from Navarre to Bennie Joppru - on a fourth-and-goal at Miami's 1 with 24 seconds left.
The RedHawks had chances to cut into Michigan's lead in the second half, but mistakes got in their way.
Miami limited the Wolverines to 6 yards on their first three possessions of the second half before they started to move the ball on the ground and through the air.
In the third quarter, a touchdown pass and a play that would've given the Red Hawks the ball at Michigan's 9 were negated by holding penalties on consecutive possessions.
Walter Cross' 1-yard run padded Michigan's lead to 31-6 with 3:43 left.
A holding play nullified another Miami touchdown late in the game, but Roethlisberger did hook up with Chauncey Henry for a 16-yard touchdown with eight seconds left.
Game Notes - Miami vs. Michigan - Sept. 1, 2001
- Today's crowd of 109,676 is the largest crowd to witness a Miami football game, breaking the previous record of 102,501 set on Sept. 30, 1995 at Michigan Stadium.
- Eddie Tillitz's 20-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was the second scoring catch of his career and his fourth touchdown overall.
- Chauncey Henry's 16-yard scoring catch in the fourth quarter was his first career touchdown.
- With the loss, Miami falls to 76-31-6 all-time in season opening games, 4-7-1 in season openers against Big Ten opponents.
- The RedHawks are now 12-31-2 all-time against Big Ten teams.
- Miami's record against ranked teams in the past decade is 3-6.
- As was the case last season, turnovers played a big role for Miami in the loss. The RedHawks coughed up the ball three times to Michigan's one. When the RedHawks committed three or more turnovers last year, they went 1-5.
- Ben Roethlisberger's first career start measures up well against the debuts of other freshman signal callers for Miami in the last 10 years. His 18 completions and 193 passing yards are second only to Sam Ricketts' totals of 24 and 281 versus Ball State in 1994. His two touchdown passes are one fewer than the number Neil Dougherty threw versus Ohio in 1991, while his 35 pass attempts are the most any Miami freshman quarterback has made in his debut in that time.
- Milt Bowen's 10 tackles are his second-highest single-game total. Last season against Ball State he recorded 16 takedowns.
- Matt Pusateri showed why he deserves to be a scholarship player after originally joining the team as a walk-on two years ago. He recorded nine tackles-second most on the team-had one tackle for a loss, recovered a fumble and defended a pass.
- Terrell Jones continues to be a tackling machine as he brought down a total of nine Wolverines.
- Ryan Hawk showed off his versatility today by playing three different positions: quarterback, running back and wide receiver. Hawk was 4-for-9 for 30 yards throwing the ball, ran four times for 24 yards and caught three passes for 15 yards.
- Miami played the Michigan pretty much even in a number of important statistical categories. The Wolverines outgained the RedHawks 403-350, held the ball 32:44 to Miami's 27:16 and edged the RedHawks 22-18 in first downs.
