The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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have welcomed that like a lifetime free pass at Pizza House. "Absolutely, I wish we would have had over- time rules, because then there's no doubt," Skene said. "We'd have been undefeated. We'd have beaten those teams we were playing, because the manner in which we tied — espe- cially those last two — involved some freak- ishly weird anomalies." Nobody beat Michigan in 1992 because of some freakish talent, combined with a togeth- erness echoed in a 2021 run to the College Football Playoff. Standouts And Spine Shakers Start with an offense averaging 35.9 points per game, featuring an equally potent rushing and passing attack. Sophomore tailback Ty- rone Wheatley (1,357 yards, 16 TDs) ran wild behind a powerful offensive line, including Skene, fifth-year senior Steve Everitt, fifth- year senior Joe Cocozzo, sophomore Trezelle Jenkins and fifth-year senior Rob Doherty. Wheatley looked like a one-man show at times — especially in the 1993 Rose Bowl — but definitely wasn't. Backs junior Jesse John- son (792 yards), junior Ricky Powers (321) and sophomore Ed Davis (374) all added to the land takeover. Meanwhile, Michigan demonstrated a burn- ing love for the passing game with senior quar- terback Elvis Grbac at the helm, throwing to the likes of senior wideout Derrick Alexander (740 yards receiving, 11 TDs) and senior tight end Tony McGee (467 yards, 6 TDs). Defensively, Hutchinson led a crew that limited five teams to 10 or fewer points and surrendered four touchdowns in a game only twice all year. Tackles Buster Stanley, a senior, and Tony Henderson, a junior, plugged the middle, while junior linebacker Steve Mor- rison cleaned up behind them. In the defensive backfield, hard-hitting se- nior safety Corwin Brown knocked opponents flat, while freshman cornerback Ty Law gave quarterbacks fits. In all, the '92 squad came in looking loaded, and acted like it. "We had a senior offensive line that was obviously pretty good," Skene understated. "We had a tight end that was really good in Tony McGee. Our quarterback was good. We had Derrick Alexander on the edge, wide receivers to throw the ball to, we had backs, we had depth, all the tools you could pos- sibly need." They had more, according to the regular contributor to The Wol- verine and TheWolverine.com. "We could run our entire THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 33 Sophomore tailback Tyrone Wheatley rushed for 1,357 yards and 16 touchdowns, including 235 yards and 3 scores on just 15 carries in U-M's Rose Bowl win against Washington. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS