Michigan Clearly Better Than Minnesota, 52-6 : College football: Howard, bothered by blurred vision, catches two touchdown passes again.

MINNEAPOLIS â€”  Desmond Howard caught touchdown passes of 65 and 41 yards, the second after a hard hit blurred his vision, as No. 4 Michigan beat Minnesota, 52-6, Friday in Big Ten game that was rescheduled because of the World Series.

Ricky Powers and Tyrone Wheatley each ran for two touchdowns for Michigan (6-1 overall, 4-0 Big Ten), which has lost only to top-ranked Florida State.

Minnesota (2-5, 1-3), averaging a 41-year low of 9.4 points, has won the Little Brown Jug, awarded to the winner of this game, only twice in the last 26 years.

Howard’s 65-yard scoring catch gave the Wolverines a 28-0 lead with 5:57 to play in the half. On Michigan’s next drive, Elvis Grbac overthrew Howard over the middle and Howard was driven to the turf.

Howard didn’t play the rest of the half because of blurred vision and didn’t start the second half. But he returned midway through the third quarter to catch the 41-yard touchdown pass.

Howard played little after that, but finished with six catches for 154 yards.

His two touchdown catches gave him 15 for the season, breaking the Big Ten record of 14 by Michigan’s Anthony Carter in 1980. Howard has scored at least two touchdowns in eight consecutive games.

He has 17 touchdowns overall this season, and his 102 points is 36 more than the Gophers have scored.

“I wasn’t really worried,� Howard said of the blurred vision. “It went away right away.�

Grbac’s three touchdown passes gave him a school-record 49 for his career, one more than Rick Leach. Grbac completed 15 of 21 passes for 242 yards before being replaced with 3:05 to play in the third quarter.

“For me, it’s a great accomplishment,� Grbac said of the record. “But I’ve got great receivers to throw to. I just put the ball out there, and those guys go and get it.�

The Wolverines turned two early Minnesota fumbles into touchdowns and led, 21-0, after only 8:25.

Antonio Carter fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Michigan’s Brian Townsend recovered at Minnesota’s 25. Four plays later, Powers scored on a one-yard run.

On the next possession, the Gophers’ Marquel Fleetwood fumbled a snap and Erick Anderson recovered at Minnesota’s 21. Michigan took three plays to score, again on a one-yard run by Powers.

“You just can’t survive giving a good team like Michigan good field position,� Fleetwood said. “You can’t ask your defense to keep holding them down that close. I think we were a little jumpy going into the game. Before we knew it, the game was out of reach.�