Game No. 7: Michigan State Spartan Stadium Coverage from The Michigan Daily Monday, Oct. 27, 1997

The sky's the limit

Defense stops Spartans cold

	Michigan 23
	Michigan St 7

EAST LANSING - For the first two quarters, there was hype and there was trash talking. But that disappeared after halftime.

As has been the case all season, Michigan's defense put a steel clamp on its opposition in the second half. What was a close battle for 30 minutes turned into a lopsided 23-7 victory for the Wolverines before a rambunctious conglomerate of 79,687 at Spartan Stadium, most clad in green, but plenty in blue.

In the week leading up to the game, Michigan State players were singled out for their loose chatter, which some Wolverines deemed excessive. But Michigan's stifling defense not only attacked the ball, but the Spartans' mouths as well.

WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan defensive linemen James Hall and Josh Williams (91) bring down Michigan State running back Sedric Irvin.

"They did some talking in the first quarter and a little bit in the second." Michigan safety Marcus Ray said. "In the second half, what was there to talk about?"

The talk in the second half was all about Michigan's defense, which held the Spartans to just 83 yards after halftime while intercepting six Michigan State passes.

And the Spartans had difficulty moving anywhere on offense after Michigan bottled up all-purpose threat Sedrick Irvin. After burning Michigan for 141 first-half yards both on the ground and in the air, Irvin could muster just 17 after the break as the Spartans turned primarily to a passing attack in an attempt to erase their expanding deficit.

Shutting down Irvin allowed Michigan to win the game on the ground. The team with the most rushing yards has won 28 of the last 29 meetings. Michigan won that battle convincingly, 173-95.

"It was a good defense," Irvin said. "I won't take any credit away from Michigan. They played a great game on defense."

Michigan State didn't even have a first down in the third quarter, when Andre Weathers and Charles Woodson picked off two Todd Schultz passes.

With Michigan up 3-0, late in the first quarter, Michigan State lined up for an apparent 39-yard field goal. But holder Bill Burke took the snap and threw deep to Irvin who lined up wide left, out of the view of any Michigan player. Burke lobbed the ball up for Irvin, who caught it a good 15 yards away from the closest Wolverine and galloped in for an easy touchdown, an oversight for which Woodson took the blame.

And even though Michigan went into the fourth quarter up only six points, its defense stopped the Spartans short of the 50-yard line until the game's final minute, when a Michigan victory was well in hand.

"This was a big win for us because it keeps us in the race for the Big Ten championship," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.

11-22-97