Jeanette Boyd will be wearing it at today's game. No, not a Penn State or a Michigan sweatshirt.

Over her yellow turtleneck she'll have on a 1992 Michigan Rose Bowl jersey with No. 6 right smack in the middle. It's the only one of a kind. How did she get it? She received it from her nephew, Tyrone Wheatley, one of the premier running backs in college football.

"It's hanging in my closet," Boyd said. "It's washed out in Woolite . . . I won't take it to the cleaners. They're not gonna tell me they lost it or anything."

But if she did happen to misplace the jersey, there's always the 1993 Rose Bowl jersey -- the one Wheatley wore when he won the MVP honors with a 235-yard rushing performance.

And according to the tailback, this year he might add another jersey to his collection.

"I'm here to help Michigan get to the Rose Bowl and get a victory," he said. "I feel I've been playing pretty well. A lot of people ask me about my line, and I think they're blocking very well, which gives me the chance to run the ball."

And that's exactly what Wheatley has been doing since his arrival in Ann Arbor -- running the football and running it well. Very well.

Last season, he was named the Big Ten player-of-the-year, leading the conference in rushing, scoring and all-purpose yardage. His 88-yard jaunt on the first play of the second half in the Rose Bowl was the fourth longest run by a Wolverine in Michigan history.

In rewriting the Michigan record books, Wheatley has put himself in the position to make a trip to The Downtown Athletic Club in New York City at the end of this season. The reason? The Heisman Trophy.

With Charlie Ward's dazzling performance against Miami last week and Wheatley's subpar showing against Michigan State, the Michigan tailback's hopes for the Heisman are slipping. But he is still a major player in the Heisman picture.

"Whenever you have a trophy that prestigious, you're almost in awe to be a candidate," the 6-1, 225-pound tailback said. "It's always in the back of your mind, but you can't let it overrule you.

"If I play well and try to achieve my team goals, then my individual goals will shine. If I do win the Heisman, I think I'll be the happiest man on earth."

Not only will Wheatley be happy, but so will the rest of his family, especially Boyd. She was Wheatley's guardian throughout his high school years in Inkster, Mich., a suburb of Detroit.

"When he was a little kid, he used to love those Tonka trucks," Boyd recalled. "Those were the only toys that could handle Tyrone. He had plenty of those -- the bulldozer and the dirt truck."

As Wheatley got older, he became a truck on the football field at Robichaud High School. He played a variety of positions during his four-year stint on the varsity, including kicker.

"He could make a career as a kicker," said Robert Yauck, Wheatley's high school coach. "I never had anyone like him. Tyrone did it all.

"He stood out as a freshman. The first time he carried the ball, I knew he was special . . . he scored a 75-yard touchdown."

Wheatley holds the Robichaud record for the highest rushing average in a single game, a whopping 19.1 yards per carry. In another contest, Wheatley scored 40 points -- all by himself.

The Michigan standout even got the opportunity to quarterback Robichaud during his junior year and half of his senior season.

"I wanted to utilize his sprint-out ability," Yauck said. "I told him to run first, run second, then pass. He could throw a ball 80 yards standing still."

During his prep career, Wheatley modeled his game after two other great college backs -- Marcus Allen and Eric Dickerson.

"Eric Dickerson doesn't give the defense credit for their speed," Wheatley said. "He's gonna make you catch him. If it's an arm tackle, he's gonna break it.

"They're not slashing types of backs -- they just get the job done," he said.

Wheatley has been getting it done for Coach Gary Moeller since his freshman season, when he scored nine touchdowns, including a 53-yard burst in the 1992 Rose Bowl.

In fact, Wheatley has played in a lot of big games, but never at Beaver Stadium. His chance has finally come.

"It's gonna be a great game," he said. "There's no question (Penn State) brings much more competition to the conference with a great team and a legendary coach."

And if you hear a woman whooping and hollering at an ear-piercing pitch from the Michigan cheering section, don't be alarmed. It's just Wheatley's aunt.

"I fuss and I'll scream at the other players . . . and the referees," Boyd said. "I know he's a tough kid, but I still worry."

According to senior offensive lineman Marc Milia, Wheatley is a special person off the field as well as on it.

"In addition to the way he plays, he has a lot of character and class," Milia said. "After the Rose Bowl game, he brought the entire offensive line into the press conference to thank them for the holes they opened up."

While Wheatley has been piling up the yardage, another standout Michigan tailback has been watching him from the sidelines. Until suffering an injury against Iowa last season, Ricky Powers had been the mainstay in the Wolverines backfield.

Although his enormous success has relegated Powers to a backup role, Wheatley said there is no tension between himself and Powers.

"As much as he's a football player, he's my friend," he said. "He's taught me a lot since I've been here.

Wheatley has also done a lot since he's been at Michigan. Last spring, he ran track and he plans to do the same this year. Wheatley runs a 10.3 in the 100-meter dash. He hinted that he may take a shot at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

"I'm living out one of my childhood dreams right now -- playing college football," Wheatley said. "As for the Olympics, one day if things continue going the way they're going and I'm in good health, I might be there. I wouldn't say they are real strong aspirations, but I'll keep chipping away at it."

And as of right now, Wheatley says he'll be in a Wolverine uniform next season for the opening kickoff. But there's no question that the tailback is ready for the next level.

"He has all the things necessary for a pro back in terms of quickness, toughness and intensity," said Fred Jackson, Michigan's offensive backfield coach. "He's a humble kid who goes out and works his butt off. And sometimes because of hard work, he's getting rewards that he doesn't think could possibly happen. I think that's a rare commodity in a kid."

A ticket for the Michigan/Penn State game is a hot commodity with many eyes fixed on Wheatley, including those of his aunt.

But if you do happen to see this woman wearing a 1992 Rose Bowl jersey, don't ask her where she got it.

"I remember one time I wore it to a game and and guy asked me, 'Where did you buy that,' " Boyd said. "I said, 'This is an original Rose Bowl jersey O.K. You can't buy it in a store -- sorry.' "