Whenever the Rose Bowl-bound Michigan Wolverines needed a lift this season, Chris Perry seemed to give it to them.
With the season at a turning point in the fourth quarter at Minnesota, it was Perry who had seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns to carry them to victory.
Perry gained 219 yards in Michigan’s victory over Michigan State, and 150 against the nation’s top rushing defense in Ohio State. He scored four touchdowns against Notre Dame.
He leads all running backs in the nation with an average of 162 yards in rushing and receiving per game.
With 50 combined yards against Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl, he would break Anthony Thomas’ school record of 2,004 all-purpose yards in a season.
Perry will be in New York this weekend as one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy, and in a vote by Big Ten coaches, the conference and the Tribune sports staff, Perry has been named the winner of the 2003 Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s most valuable player.
He is the first Michigan player to win the Silver Football since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997 and the first Wolverines running back to win it since Rob Lytle in 1976.
“I feel like I got here with my teammates. I can’t separate myself from them,” said Perry. “They’re the ones who make me who I am.”
