Wolverines Set Up Showdown Against No. 4 Buckeyes

The top-ranked Michigan Wolverines had difficulty punching it in from the one, but shouldn’t have much trouble staying No. 1.

The Wolverines got all they could handle from No. 23 Wisconsin, its goal-line defense and blustery weather before pulling out a 26-16 victory on a snowy Saturday afternoon at Madison, Wis.

“I thought today we showed a lot of resolve because that was a tough game to nail down,” Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said.

Chris Howard, who rushed 26 times for 100 yards, had touchdown runs of one and four yards as Michigan, 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten, ended Wisconsin’s surprising Rose Bowl hopes in its first visit to Camp Randall since the stadium stampede that injured 69 students four years ago.

There were no problems this time with the bundled-up crowd of 79,806, the fourth-largest in school history.

The Wolverines can win the Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl with a victory next Saturday at Ann Arbor, Mich., against No. 4 Ohio State, which beat Illinois, 41-6, on Saturday.

Second-ranked Florida State (58-7 over Wake Forest) and No. 3 Nebraska (77-14 over Iowa State) routed lesser opponents on Saturday.

The Wolverines failed to do the same despite not having to face the nation’s No. 3 rusher in tailback Ron Dayne, who sat out because of a severely sprained right ankle.

Carr said he would dare any team to try to run it up on the Badgers in such nasty conditions.

“I don’t think they could do that in this weather,” he said. “I’m very, very pleased with the way our offense played in this weather. I told my team, ‘This was a championship game. That was enough.’ ”

Michigan’s Charles Woodson, who had an interception, said, “We were in a dogfight. We weren’t worried about what Nebraska or Florida State were doing.”

The Wolverines outgained Wisconsin by 250 yards, but surrendered two second-half touchdowns after giving up only one all season.

Yet, if anything, the Wolverines, who routed then-No. 2 Penn State last week, solidified their standing as the nation’s top team, Badger Coach Barry Alvarez said.

“Right now, I don’t see how you can argue against it,” he said. “Not with what they did last week. And I sure was impressed with them today. They had a lot of publicity about their great defense. But I was just as impressed with their offense.”

Michigan, defending a No. 1 ranking for the first time in seven seasons, outgained the Badgers 309 yards to 80 in the first half and led, 16-3, at halftime.

The Badgers (8-3, 5-2) made a game of it after taking the second-half kickoff and driving 80 yards in 11 plays. Quarterback Mike Samuel’s third-down sneak made it 16-10.

Jay Feely’s 24-yard field goal with 13 minutes left, a play after Badger linebacker Donnell Thompson dropped an interception in the end zone, gave the Wolverines some breathing room at 19-10, and Howard’s four-yard touchdown run with 6:15 remaining made it 26-10.

“We had chances to make plays at times, but we didn’t,” Thompson said. “We needed someone to step up and no one did.”

The Badgers ended the scoring on Tony Simmons’ 21-yard catch that made it 26-16 with 2:45 left.

Feely also kicked an 18-yard field goal in the second quarter after the Wolverines failed to get into the end zone on three consecutive runs. Seven times in the first half, Michigan had the ball at the Badgers one and were stopped six times.