BIG TEN ROUNDUP : In Game No. 1,000, Michigan Puts Up Some Big Numbers

Michigan, playing its 1,000th game, cruised to a 63-13 homecoming victory over Minnesota Saturday at Ann Arbor, Mich., giving the Wolverines 728 victories.

In game No. 1,000, there were were several milestones for the No. 3-ranked Wolverines, 6-0-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten.

--Elvis Grbac, who completed 14 of 19 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns, established a school record with 5,614 career passing yards. Jim Harbaugh’s old mark was 5,449.

--Derrick Alexander, who had seven catches for 130 yards, became the first Michigan player to catch four touchdown passes in a game. His scoring plays covered 52, 13, three and 32 yards.

--The Wolverines equaled a Big Ten record with their 17th consecutive conference victory, a mark accomplished three times by Ohio State.

Michigan scored 21 points in the first quarter, 14 in the second and 28 in the third against the Golden Gophers (1-6, 1-3). The Wolverines scored on nine of their first 11 possessions.

“I joked around about not showing them the Michigan films before the game,” Minnesota Coach Jim Wacker said. “We’re not going to watch these films, either. We’re going to burn these suckers. We’ll pretend this game never existed.

“There’s nobody close to these guys. The NFL should give them a call.”

The game drew 106,579, second-largest crowd in Michigan Stadium history.

Tyrone Wheatley, who gained 148 yards in 24 carries, had touchdown runs of seven and two yards, Ed Davis scored on a 24-yard run, Walter Smith had a 46-yard touchdown run and Che’ Foster a 16-yarder for the Wolverines.

John Lewis scored two spectacular touchdowns for Minnesota. He returned a kickoff 92 yards in the first quarter and turned a short pass from Marquel Fleetwood into a 94-yard scoring play in the third quarter--the longest touchdown pass play ever against Michigan.

Northwestern 27, Illinois 26--Len Williams threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a four-yarder to Lee Gissendaner with 13 seconds left, as the Wildcats stunned the Illini in a Big Ten game at Champaign, Ill.

Williams completed 11 of 13 passes in the final quarter for 128 yards.

Trailing, 26-20, the Wildcats (2-5, 2-2) moved to the Illinois 17 with 1:16 remaining after a pass interference penalty. Four plays later, Williams passed to Gissendaner for the winning score. Earlier in the quarter, Gissendaner caught a five-yard touchdown pass.

Northwestern’s comeback started with a six-play, 80-yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to Chris Gamble, who ran past several Illini defenders to score on a 31-yard play.

The Illini (3-4, 1-3) seemed to be cruising to victory after taking a 26-6 lead in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Darren Boyer.

After Illinois’ first touchdown, a two-yard run by quarterback Jason Verduzco, the extra-point attempt was blocked, which turned out to be crucial.

Ohio State 27, Michigan State 17--Butler By’not’e and Robert Smith scored on runs of 15 and 20 yards to help erase a 14-3 second-quarter deficit at East Lansing, Mich.

The victory improved the Buckeyes to 5-2 and 2-2. Michigan State fell to 2-5 and 2-2.

Kirk Herbstreit threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Greg Beatty with 6:01 left in the first half to begin the Ohio State rally.

Bret Johnson, the older brother of USC’s Rob Johnson who was starting in place of the injured Jim Miller, staked the Spartans to a 7-3 first-quarter lead when he scrambled to his right, then cut back to his left and passed 26 yards to wide receiver Mill Coleman, who was open at the goal line.

Michigan State went ahead, 14-3, early in the second quarter when Coleman hauled in a 13-yard pass from Johnson.

Purdue 27, Iowa 16--Quarterback Eric Hunter returned to the starting lineup and the Boilermakers won at Iowa City for the first time since 1980.

Purdue (3-4, 2-2) scored all three of its touchdowns after Iowa turnovers.

Iowa (3-5, 2-2) pulled to within 17-16 on freshman Todd Romano’s third field goal, a 29-yarder with 11:13 left. But Joe O’Leary kicked a 40-yard field goal for Purdue and Romond Batten’s interception of a Matt Eyde pass set up the game-clinching touchdown, a one-yard run by Earl Coleman with 3:40 remaining.

Eyde was making his first start in place of Jim Hartlieb, who has a shoulder injury.

Hunter, Purdue’s starter much of the past three seasons, had surgery on his right shoulder this summer and had played in only two games before Saturday. But Coach Jim Colletto gave him a chance after sophomore Matt Pike struggled in the second half of a 19-16 loss to Wisconsin a week ago.

Although Hunter completed only two of seven passes for 53 yards, he ran for 78 yards in 16 carries. The Boilermakers finished with 254 yards rushing, including 107 by Arlee Conners.

In his last game at Iowa City, a 38-9 loss in 1990, Hunter set a school record by throwing 60 passes.

Iowa Coach Hayden Fry kept things basic for Eyde, a junior who never played in a college game before this season. Rarely throwing down field, Eyde completed 22 of 39 passes for 164 yards with two interceptions. He was sacked five times.

Indiana 10, Wisconsin 3--Trent Green threw to Thomas Lewis for a 34-yard touchdown play in the fourth quarter and then the Hoosiers prevented the Badgers from scoring from the two-yard line with a minute to go in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

Wisconsin’s last gasp ended on downs when a pass from Darrell Bevell went off the fingertips of a wide-open Michael Roan in the end zone. The Hoosiers took over at the two and ran out the clock.

Indiana (4-3, 2-2) got its winning touchdown seven plays after Lance Brown intercepted Bevell at the Hoosier 35.

Wisconsin (4-3, 2-2) drove downfield to get into position to win or tie after Korey Manley blocked a punt and Jamel Brown recovered at the Hoosiers’ 33 with three minutes left.

Wisconsin reached the one, but Jason Burns lost a yard on second down and then Bevell had two incomplete passes.