Buoyed
by back-to-back shutouts of Michigan State and
Northwestern and a last-second victory over Iowa, the
1983
Wolverines charged to a secondplace finish in the Big
Ten, suffering its only conference setback to the Illinois
squad that went on to play in the Rose Bowl. By holding
off a late Ohio State comeback bid in the season finale,
the
Wolverines raised their record to 9-2 and gained a trip
to New Orleans to meet the Auburn Tigers in the Sugar
Bowl.
Steve Smith led a powerful offensive attack early in
the game
during which Michigan held the ball for over nine minutes
of the first quarter and gained 116 yards to the Tigers’
61. The Wolverines’ second offensive drive in
the game was highlighted by a 19-yard Smith to Triando
Markray completion and 38 yards on four carries by Rick
Rogers. Smith’s four-yard keeper midway through
the first quarter gave the Wolverines a lead they would
keep for 52 minutes of the 60-minute contest.
Each team showed a strong defense for the remainder
of the
half, and Michigan took its 7-0 lead into the locker
room.
Campbell attempted only two passes in the second half
and handed off 42 times to backs Lionel James, Bo Jackson,
and Tommy Agee, who together collected 306 yards on
the ground. While Michigan’s offense was thwarted
time and time again, the Tigers ran all over the tiring
Wolverine defense, controlling the ball for over 23
minutes of the second half. After a 26-yard Don Bracken
punt—one of a seasonhigh eight punts—Auburn
marched 68 yards, all on the ground, to set up a 31-yard
Al DelGreco field goal.
The Tigers got a break when Smith was hit as he released
the ball and Auburn’s Gregg Carr grabbed it at
the Michigan 41-yard line. Seven plays later, DelGreco
chalked up his second three-pointer, a 32-yarder.
After another Michigan punt, Auburn took over on its
own 39-
yard line. The Tigers ran a ball control offense, using
15 rushing plays and 7:21 off the clock in reaching
the Wolverines’ one-yard line with 27 seconds
to play in the
game. Michigan called a timeout, but DelGreco booted
the 19-yard field goal to send the Wolverines back to
Ann Arbor with a taste of New Orleans but no sugar.
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SCORING
First Quarter
M S. Smith, 4-yard run (Bergeron kick)
Third Quarter
A DelGreco, 31-yard field goal
Fourth Quarter
A DelGreco, 32-yard field goal
A DelGreco, 19-yard field goal
Team Stats UM AU
First Downs 12 21
Net Yards Rushing 118 301
Net Yards Passing 125 21
Total Plays 56 73
Total Yards 243 322
PA/PC/Int 25/9/1 6/2/1
Punts/Avg. 8/38.3 4/42.0
Return Yards 13 8
Fumbles/Lost 2/1 4/3
Penalties/Yards 6/49 3/15
Rushing— (M):Rogers 17-86; Garrett 5-18; S. Smith 9-14
(A): Jackson 22-130; Agee 16-93; James 18-83; Collins 2-1
Passing— (M): S. Smith 9-25-125
(A): Campbell 2-6-21
Receiving— (M): Markray 3-68; Bean 3-37; Nelson 3-20
(A): James 1-15; Jackson 1-6
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