Somewhereover the Rainbows

Thomas rolls in blowout

Hawai'i 17

Michigan 48

HONOLULU - On its first drive of the game, Michigan went three-and-out.

Hawai'i then took possession, marched down the field courtesy of a 67-yard reception by Dwight Carter and kicked a 18-yard field goal to gain an early lead.

The question at that point: Is this the makings of perhaps the biggest upset in college football history?

The answer shortly thereafter: No.

The 15th-ranked Wolverines (7-1 Big Ten, 9-3 overall) demolished the overmatched Rainbow Warriors (0-8 WAC, 0-12) at Aloha Stadium in front of 34,193 spectators.

Although they trailed early, a 48-14 game-long run saved the day for the Wolverines en route to a 48-17 island romp.

"I'm pleased about a game like this after coming off a very very tough end of the season for us," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I'm very pleased with the way we came out in the first half and played."

Just like the many excessively colorful Hawai'ian flower shirts, Michigan's stats were similarly gaudy.

Behind virtually every offensive weapon they have, the Wolverines marched up and down the field early and often.

They finished with 524 yards of total offense behind 325 rushing yards. The bigger and faster Michigan running backs made the Hawai'i defensive unit look like a bunch of hula dancers.

Tailback Anthony Thomas sprinted for 183 yards on 13 carries and scored four touchdowns.

Thomas accounted for Michigan's first score of the game, a 38-yard jaunt in the first quarter.

For closure, Thomas also notched the final Michigan score in fourth quarter with an 80-yard touchdown sprint after Carr decided to return the starters to quench any chance of a Rainbow upset.

"I didn't care about the bowl" rankings, Carr said. "I wanted to gain control of the game so we could have the opportunity to play as many kids as we could."

Although Carr managed to get a lot of lesser-known faces into the game, the more familiar ones did most of the scoring. Wide receiver Tai Streets scored two touchdowns. The first one in the first quarter came on a 28-yard slant pass from Tom Brady.

His second score was the play that every team has undoubtedly been prepared for but still cannot stop - the fade pattern to the corner of the end zone. Streets hauled in the six-yard pass for Michigan's final tally of the first half.

"Any time the ball is in the air, I think that it's my ball," Streets said. "That's how a receiver should feel."

Streets caught five Brady passes on the night and picked up 90 yards.

Brady completed 9 of 10 passes and finished with 142 yards after playing virtually only one half of football.

Even the Michigan punt and kick return game looked good against the Rainbows. Marcus Knight had his best return game with 75 punt return yards. Freshman Walter Cross returned kicks for the first time and racked up 59 yards on two returns. Hayden Epstein, while continuing to boot kickoffs out of the end zone, also handled the punting duties and averaged 40.3 yards per punt.

In short, almost everything worked for Michigan. And with the offensive explosion Carr had an opportunity to play some of the freshmen and give others playing time.

Freshman quarterback Drew Henson played for a short time in the first half and most of the second half. Early in the third quarter Henson dropped back to pass but opted to keep the ball and scampered along the sideline for a 34-yard touchdown.

"The main thing is that we wanted to improve as a football team," Carr said.

The only thing that may have failed the Wolverines on Saturday was the pass defense. The Warriors racked up 328 yards in the air and quarterback Dan Robinson connected with a wide-open Eleu Kane on a 22-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Later in the fourth quarter, the Warriors marched down the field and scored on a one-yard, fourth down touchdown run by Jauron Pigg.

But with the loss, Hawai'i finished the season with no wins and currently owns the nation's longest NCAA Division I losing streak at 18 games. The Wolverines, on the other hand, await judgment on a bowl game. Currently, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. on Jan. 1 looks like the odds-on favorite.

But hey, why worry about that just yet? After all, it's Hawai'i.

"It's very fun out here," Streets said. "Just looking around, it's so beautiful out here. I have to come back and visit more often."

WARREN ZINN/Daily Anthony Thomas stayed out of arm's reach Saturday, breaking several large runs and rushing for four touchdowns as the Wolverines easily sailed past Hawai'i, 48-17.

11-30-98