Early intimidation sets game's tone for Michigan defense

By Alan Goldenbach
Daily Sports Editor

STATE COLLEGE - Straight out of a Batman episode was the Michigan defense against Penn State, in characteristic form.

Pow! Bam! Splat!

It began with the first series, even the first play from scrimmage for the Nittany Lions, after Michigan opened the scoring with a Kraig Baker field goal.

Michigan defensive end Glen Steele blew past a porous Penn State offensive line on first down and sent Lions quarterback Mike McQueary to the turf for the first of five Michigan sacks on the day.

"The first play of the game (on defense) dictated how the game was going to go," Michigan safety Marcus Ray said.

SARA STILLMAN/Daily Penn State quarterback Mike McQueary was the Big Ten's second-most efficient passer. That was before he got caught in the whirlwind that was the Michigan defense. Here, Juaquin Feazell lassoes McQueary for the second of Michigan's five sacks on the day.

Two plays later, on third and 16, Juaquin Feazell was in McQueary's face and punished him again, for a seven-yard loss. The rout was on. The in-your-face tactics were constant throughout.

Those five sacks were among nine Michigan tackles for losses. The Lions did not convert any of their 12 third-down possessions. The Penn State offense, which had averaged 465 yards in total offense, was held to nearly one-third of that at 169.

Boom!

"The biggest thing defensively is that we had tremendous pressure," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The front four did a great job."

Michigan knew from the start that even though McQueary had stated in the week leading up to the game that he intended to go right at its All-America cornerback Charles Woodson through the air, and that Penn State's top gun on offense was tailback Curtis Enis.

A clamp on Enis's legs would mean McQueary staring down the nation's best secondary, an option he did not want to be forced into using.

But at halftime, McQueary was left no choice but to bring his team back through the air. Enis, who came into the game averaging more than 118 yards per game, had just 35 at the intermission.

"We wanted to come out hard and stop the run," Steele said.

Smack!

Enis did eventually top the century mark, becoming the first Michigan opponent to do so this season. But his effort did not go without an asterisk, according to Woodson.

"We pounded him for three quarters," Woodson said. "The only reason he got 100 yards was because in the fourth quarter, with that kind of lead, we played kind of conservative."

True enough, Enis racked up 47 of his 103 yards on the ground in the final 15 minutes.

Actually, the outcome was decided so early that even if Penn State turned exclusively to an air attack, it still couldn't make up the 31-point deficit that the Lions faced early in the third quarter.

"I looked at the scoreboard and saw it was 31-0," McQueary said, "and I thought then that it would be tough to get 31 points in a quarter and a half."

Statistically speaking, Saturday was not the Wolverines' most dominant performance of the season.

But don't tell that to Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who even said before the game, "I don't know if we've played against a better defense in a long time."

Unfortunate for him, Paterno's premonitions came to fruition.

A good reason for that is that Penn State continually started deep in their own territory, where it was tough to get the momentum rolling against 11 superheroes on the other side of the ball. The Lions' average starting field position for their 12 drives was their own 19-yard line.

"They are too good a defensive team to think you can move the ball starting on your own 15 (yard line)," Paterno said. "They have an excellent defense and they tie it in with their kicking game and their coverage.

"They make your offense go a long way as we had to today."

Kazow!

11-10-97