Thursday, March 28, 2024

U-Ms top rush defense wants to stop Duckett

November 1, 2001

If junior tailback T.J. Duckett wants to top last week’s breakout 186-yard game performance this weekend, he’ll have to barrel through the nation’s No. 1 rush defense.

“It’s going to be an honor to have a chance to play against them and see what we can do,” Duckett said of No. 6 Michigan’s rush defense.

In seven games, U-M has allowed a meager 381 rushing yards while only giving up three touchdowns on the ground.

MSU has to run the ball reasonably well to win Saturday, Duckett said. But he said he was unsure what “reasonably well“ against U-M would be - so far it’s held opponents to 54.4 rushing yards per game.

“I guess 55 yards, I don’t know,” Duckett joked. “We just have to go out and play the game. You really can’t look at the stats in any game you play.”

But those numbers aren’t anything to joke about, considering Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr said the running game will be the difference Saturday.

“I think the team that runs the football the best will have the best chance to win the game,” he said in a statement.

That’s why during practice this week, U-M has been concentrating on stopping Duckett, U-M defensive tackle Dave Pearson said in the statement.

“He is obviously a big back and has good foot speed,” Pearson said. “He gave us some challenges last year, and I‘m sure he’ll give us some more this year. We need to focus on wrapping up and tackling him.

“I think there will be some emphasis on tackling. We work on it every week, and we missed some last week and that will be one of the things we focus on.”

And that is why Duckett will have to have more than 100 rushing yards for MSU to have a chance, senior tight end Chris Baker said.

“One hundred and thirty (yards),” Baker’s said he hopes to see Duckett gain. “We have to be able to run the ball

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