Pigskin Classic / No. 14 Michigan 18, No. 17 Virginia 17 -- Michigan Freshman Qb Stuns Boo-Birds, Virginia

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Quarterback Scott Dreisbach heard the boos from the crowd of 101,444. But he didn't resent them.

Instead, he addressed them by merely staging the greatest comeback in Michigan football history.

Never mind that yesterday was his first college football game. Never mind that he was facing a ranked opponent on national television.

Hey, this is Michigan. You perform or suffer the consequences.

"I understood totally," Dreisbach said. "I made two crucial mistakes. When they started booing, my teammates rallied around me.

"Then we went down the field and scored, and I didn't hear any more boos."

In the fourth quarter, he guided the Wolverines from a 17-0 deficit to stun No. 17 Virginia 18-17 in the Pigskin Classic.

He passed for a school-record 372 yards, 236 in a spellbinding fourth quarter that saw No. 14 Michigan score all of its points.

He threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Mercury Hayes in the right corner of the end zone on the final play.

"It's wonderful," he said. "I never dreamed of anything like this."

How could he? He started like a seasoned vet, completing his first four passes. That he went into a funk, misfiring on 11 of his next 17.

In that span was a duck that Virginia's Ronde Barber intercepted and returned 18 yards to Michigan's 29. Four plays later, the Cavaliers scored the game's first points.

But that misfire paled next to Dreisbach's gaffe on second and goal late in the third quarter. Michigan trailed 14-0, but with Cavalier QB Mike Groh sidelined by cramps and running back Tiki Barber nursing a bad shoulder, Virginia was reeling as Michigan broke its huddle at the Cavalier 6.

Dreisbach rolled to his right and lofted the ball up for grabs. Virginia's Percy Ellsworth intercepted, and the boos cascaded down.

The boos continued on Michigan's next possession, when Lloyd Carr, making his Wolverine head coaching debut, stuck with Dreisbach, rather than bringing in back-up Scott Griese.

"I never thought that," Dreisbach said of the possibility he'd be yanked. "Coach Carr told me I never have to look back over my shoulder."