Sunday, September 22, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, September 22, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wolverines submit By DAVID WEIR wi Sports Editor H "We had a few breakdowns." Bump Elliott told it like it was in the t post-game locker room yesterday. While an crediting California's "firing linebackers,"fi "speedy backs," and "overall" strength and experience" for the 21-7 Golden Bear vic- ig tory, he nevertheless remembered to pin- pC point Michigan's "dropped passes," "missed de bloks," and "key mistakes" for the 21-7 of Wolverine defeat. ob And that was just about the consensus of an everyone else, too - that Michigan was u sloppy enough to hand the game out on a silver platter and that Cal was good enough tu to take it from there.m In fact, Cal was more than good enough. tig When, the Berkeley defensive line bottled up Brown and Johnson, and the two tried sw to go wide, they were met by an excellent m corps of cornerbacks and linebackers. si When Wolverines Imsland or Harris or Gabler shook themselves loose downfield, tir the Bear defenders managed to slap away a any passes that weren't bobbled or dropped. qu When the Michigan defense contained wG California's potent attack for a few plays, wl Fowler, Darby and McGaffie "really came at th us" in the words of right cornerback George Jo Hoey. All in all the Wolverines were outplayed ad and outclassed, but not without several fo pretty good reasons. ba Injuries from three weeks of practice th workouts weakened Michigan considerably. loi Defensive tackle Dan Parks was playing ba M__ichig 9anl to aggressive Ith a knee infection and defensive back oey had a dislocated finger. Safety Gerry Hartman missed most of e game because of injuries to both ankles, nd halfback Ron Johnson played over a anger dislocation from two weeks ago. During the game itself, at least two Mich- an players suffered crippling injuries. A ossible broken knee cap will probably keep efensive end stalwart Jon Kramer out most the rest of the season. Senior halfback Dave Farabee is under bservation for a possible fractured arm, nd will be out of the lineup for an as yet ndetermined amount of time. On the bright side of the Wolverine pic- re were several excellent performances, ost notably by cornerback Brian Healy and ght end Jim Mandich. Healy stopped many of the California end weeps around the right flank, and also ade a few tackles. Mandich hauled in I of quarterback Dennis Brown's passes. Johnson, who will be a marked man every ime he carries the ball this season, caught pass in the waning moments of the fourth carter and ran for a 39-yard gain. This as on a simple look-in pattern; a play, Which, when it works, takes advantage of e open field speed of a halfback like ohnson. Bob Wedge, filling in for Hartman, did an [equate job with the exception of one un- rgiveable blunder. With Hartman expected ack as a starter for next week's Duke game, ere is now an opportunity for making the ng-rumored switch of Hoey from defensive ack to offensive flanker. collapsi Daily-Jay L. Cassidy MICHIGAN END JON KRAMER is helped off the field after sustaining a knee injury in the first quarter of yesterday's. game with California. Kramer, who may be out for the season, was replaced o the defensive team by Ed Moore, a sophomore. { .,.}....r. apoplexy , doug heller The score of yesterday's football gaine didn't adequately reflect Michigan's performance. They were worse. California walked out on the field with a fairly respectable aggregation, but the opposition was a corpse. Every time the Golden Bears got the ball, most of Michigan's defense fell down. All Cal had to do was wend its way among the prostrate bodies. Alertly, Bear Coach Ray Willsey chose the line of least , resistance: straight up the middle. His slow, powerful backs mere- ly broke loose for 10 'yard or so before tripping over something or other. It was a different story when California tried to sweep the ends, however. Phil Seymour, Brian Healy, and Jon Kramer did a wonderful job in stopping everything that went their way. Unfor- tunately, Kramer was put out of the game by an injury after about five minute of action. Meanwhile, the Wolverine offense started out as if it was Ann Arbor's junior varsity against the Green Bay Packers. They wen backwards. On running plays, Cal's defense ate up Michigan's of- fensive line as the backs were stripped naked of their protection. And what does a person do to avoid naked exposure? He rolls up in a ball to cover himself.1 The passing game was in equally bad shape. When Dennis Brown was not lying flat on his' back, victim of the Bears' pass rush, the passes were either totally inaccurate or dropped. Only Jim Mandich didn't act as if he had ten thumbs on his hands. Altogether, the Wolverines offense in the first quarter con- sisted of two yards rushing and zero yards passing. But of course, it rarely had the ball. * Michigan staged a brief renaissance in the second quarter. Brown started passing to Mandich or ran himself, and the Wolverines man- aged to score. Finally it seemed as if. the dead bodies had turned into a football team. It was a hallucination. The Wolverines had all the momentum going for them as they took the field in the second half, and promptly dissipated it as two pass interceptions stopped potential drives. It was at this time that the game turned into one fantastic bore. Nothing happened. You wished that the drinking age was eight so the Boy Scouts could get in on the action. Now instead of the team being asleep as at the beginning of the game, the fans were asleep.. This lasted until the fourth quarter when California started its final touchdown drive. By this time the team and the fans were both asleep. Michigan wasn't even good enough to lose the game on breaks. During the last few years you could always point to that one play that made the big difference-the fumble on the one-yard line, the interception returned for a touchdown-that spelled the difference between winning and losing, and merely wonder why the Wolverines were so sloppy. Yesterday, Michigan was sloppy but it didn't really matter. In addition to the two interceptions and the numerous dropped passes, two terrific bonehead plays symbolize what was going on. The first one was the kickoff following California's second touch- down. The ball flew by George Hoey and landed deep in the end zone. Hoey ran back, picked it up, he.sitated, danced around, and then elected to run it out instead of accepting a touchback to the 20. He reached the 11-yard line, and was greeted with a chorus of boos. The other play was, when Bob Wedge intercepted a Bear pass on Michigan's 16, yard line in the third quarter. Wedge ran backward to avoid oncoming tacklers, then lateralled back to Tom Curtis on the six. Curtis was immediately tackled after he gained possession of the ball, and the Wolverines were in a hole. Wedge, too, got his present from the boo-birds. But neither of these plays were important in the end result of the game. Michigan was just physically beaten, that's all. Maybe the team should go down to play Duke Saturday and stay there. Hoey's speed would be especially effective on the type of pass play which worked with Johnson yesterday. Such 'a switch would eliminate one weak link - John Gabler - from the list of pass receivers. Brown's aerial record of nine completions in 31 attempts is deceiving, since so many of his passes were dropped. If his accuracy continues, the Wolverines could potentially build a powerful passing attack on a re- ceiving corps of Mandich, Hoey and John- son. One thing is obvious from. yesterday's fiasco: Michigan is not going to win with its current offensive blueprint. California had a "solid" defensive team, but not a great one. If the Bears could so completely throttle the Wolverine offense, then many of the teams left on the schedule will be able to do likewise. What is the chance of (1) converting Hoey into a flanker, (2) relying more on Johnson as a receiver. (3) developing Craw and Gabler as ball-carriers, and (4) chan- ging the split end slot (where apparently no one can catch a pass) into a primarily blocking position? Frankly, the chances are absolutely nil. Coaches almost by definition are conserva- tive and they seldom reverse their judg- ment on a player's capabilities after the roster is set. But if yesterday's game was an accurate indication, Michigan has very little indeed to lose by innovation. With the likes of Minnesota, Ohio State and Indiana yet to come, it will be a long season if the Wolver- ines rely on the formulas of the past. es 21-7; on, pulled how badly he was hurt; X-rays yards, in- were taken after the game. ly touch- During Michigan's drive for its rter. only touchdown, flanker D a v e ne game," Farabee, who was alternately ng in the running in plays with John Gab- the only ler, suffered a possible arm frac- port about ture. oon when California was not without its %s a' great broken bones. Defensive halfback tely dom- Johnnie Williams, who started last year only to break his ankle ay scoring in the opening game, fractured he second his leg early in the first quarter could not when Michigan was penalized fo tack. offensive pass interference. own 41, i Michigan played a bad game S14'firstn the Stadium yesterday and the )sc14 players know. When asked what drive with went wrong, captain Johnson just rMandich shook his head, "we made too zone for many mistakes." Brown' was -especially candid about what the Wolverines can do the Wolm in the future if the team doesn't cker room begin to move under his com- core. Sen- mand, "If I can't do the job, we Broadnax, have someone else who can." a real fine The man standing in the wings to keep is sophomore quarterback Do n Brown's Moorhead and he might get his line was chance sooner than he thinks. -Daily-Andy Sachs JIM MANDICH makes one of his six receptions yesterday as he is hit by a host of California tacklers. Mandich was the brightest spot for the Wolverines during the otherwise totally dismal afternoon. ya 'M' justr couldn't 'BTeir' it Fowle (9ontinued from Page 1) Michigan was in the hole from the beginning when George Hoey, running out the opening kickoff was stopped at the 16 yard-line. The Wolverines, twice unable to move the ball, were forced to punt and gave up valuable terri- tory to the Golden Bears in the exchanges. After Mark Werner punted the second time for only 29 yards, California drove 44 yards in nine plays for its first score. The Bears came right b a c k, after the Wolverines lost three yards in three plays, to n o t c h their second and deciding touch- down of the quarter on a 59-yard drive that featured costly of f- tackle runs by Fowler and full- back John McGaffie. "The key was that we got a fast start,-we got on the b a 11l early, beamed Cal coach Ray Wil- Isey. "We were able to get the jump \ that gave us a couple of scores early." Willsey looking for his f i r s t winning season infive years as head coach stated, "this was pro- bablycour best opening perform ance." Fowler, who had more to do with the victory than anyone else on the team, called it, "our best game except for our victory over Stanford at the end of last year.- Elliott partly blamed the wea- ther for his team's shoddy exhibi- tion yesterday. "I think the sud- den change in heat hurt us." The Michigan coach, however. was not totally disappointed with his players' showing. "After the first quarter we played pretty good football. We tightened things up down there." Michigan's biggest problem of the day was finding an adequate replacement for graduated Ji m Berline at split end. Wolverine fans have been used to sticky fin- MISTER FAMILY RESTAURANT " HAMBURGERSC " CHICKEN cn w * CONEY ISLANDS " JUMBOYS SMILING SPEEDY SERVICE CARRY-OUT SPECIALISTS NO WAITING - PLENTY of PARKING A INSIDE SEATING OR EAT IN YOUR CAR OPEN 11 AM DAILY 662-0022 .. 3325 WASHTENAW RD. ANN ARBOR 2 BLKS. W. of ARBORLAND i- hits. for 3 ger Berline and All-American Jack Clancy at that position the past three seasons. Against Cali- fornia, Elliott shuttled in three ends who were only able to haul in one pass among them. Without a potent passing at- ick, the California defense keyed on Ron Johnson and Brown and allowed only 69 yards between them in 35 carries, less than two yards a try. "The California defense cut off daily sports NIGHT EDITOR: JOEL BLOCK our running outside," a harried Brown reported. Sporting a stitch- ed-up lip, the Michigan quarter- back bemoaned, "they were really stuffing us. good outside. They were looking for the option game." Brown, who insisted, "we have a fine team," partly blamed him- self for the atrocious offensive attack. "I was off a little bit on some of my passes and some of the receivers dropped a few." There was one good receiver for Michigan yesterday and that was 'iron hands' Jim Mandich who was only able to gather in 26 last year in a starting role. Against California Mandich, running with lost aband in six spirals for 73 y cluding Michigan's on. down in the second qua "Mandich played a fi Elliott kept on repeatir locker room: It seemed encouraging thing to rer Michigan on an aftern California, not known a football power, complet inated the game. Except for the 12-pl dive in the middle of t quarter, the Wolverines unleash a sustained att Beginning on their Michigan got four of it downs on way to its o; Brown culminated the t an eight yard pass, to who fell into the end the touchdown. Hopes were high as verines went into the lo for half time after the s+ ior right guard Stan who Elliott said played game, found the way California's White off back and the defensive beginning to settle dou The second half, unf turned out to be windo for California's secon victory over Michigan. B played as if the game cided in the first half. The first half prov for the Wolverines in a way. Defensive end Jo: injured his right kn Calif ornia's first I drive. Elliott said, he di+ FINAL STATISTICS' Setember 21, 1968 Mich. FIRST DOWNS 14 Passing 5 Rushing 8 Penalty ,1 TOTAL NUMBER OF RUSHES 41. NET YARDS - Rushing 99 Passing 135 FORWARD PASSES ATTEMPTED 31 Completed 9 Intercepted by 2 Yards interceptions returned 0 TOTAL PLAYS (Rushes and Passes) 72 PUNTS, Number 10 Average distance 39.6 KICKOFFS, returned by 3 YDS. KICKS RETURNED 66, YARDS KICKS RETURNED 66 Punts 16 Kickoffs 50 FUMBLES, Number 2 Ball lost by 0 PENALTIES, Number 7 Yards penalized 48 Calif. 17 2 i5 0 61 240 40 13 2 11 74; 8 36.5 2 97 97 15 82 1 0 6 45, ijandich Inisland Gabler ; Johnson Totals Werner Fowler Darby McGaffie Humphries Williams Totals 6 1 1 1 9 Brown PASSING Att.' Conmp. Yds. 31 9 135 PASS RECEIVING Number Yards Ave. PUNTING Number Yards Ave. I 396 39.6 CALIFORNIA 73 13 10 39 135 12.1 13 10 39 15 RUSIING Tries 18 17 13 12 1 61 Net 78 69 64 26 3 240 Ave. 4.3 4.0 5.0 2.2 3.0 4.0 PASSING Att. Comp. Yds Humphries 13 5 40 PASS RECEIVING Number Yards Ave. Stewart 3 25 8.3 Williams 2 15 7.5 Totals 5 40 8.0 Brown Johnson Craw Totals MICHIGAN' RUSHING Tries 14 21 6 41 Net 21 48 30 99t Ave. 1.5 2.3 5 215 Fowler MICHIGF CALIFOI PUNTING Number Yards Ave. 8 292 36.5 AN 0-7-4-0- 7 RLNIA 4 -7-2t t ..: r..,^. .. vn. ortunately, w dressing d straight 3oth teams was de- It was. ved costly another n Kramer ee during ouchdown idn't knowt KEEP AHEAD OF YOUR HAIR! * NO WAITING * 7 BARBERS * OPEN 6 DAYS. -The Dascola Barbers Near Michigan Theatre If you're looking for a restaurant with a relaxing atmosphere, was well as fine food, search no further! Come to the SERVING DINNERS 3 P.M. TO 1 AM. EVERY DAY PHONE 31,4 S. Fourth 761-3548 Ave. PIZZA SPECIAL Carry-Out Only 50c off on any large Pizza 40c off on anyMedium Pizza 25c off on any Small Pizza 30c off on eDinners r I PHI ALPHA KAPPA 1010 E. 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