Tuesday, November 12, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine Tuesday, November 12, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine . Hot dog. Michigan roars to 4th in nation By The Associated Press Michigan zipped up three more spots in the Associated Press na- tional football poll this week to; capture fourth place behind only * Southern California, Ohio State, and Penn State. The Wolverines progressed in the poll due to their 36-0 trounc- ing of Illinois last Saturday. With Michigan arch-rival Ohio State ranked second in the coun- try and both schools eyeing a bid. for the Rose Bowl, the clash be-, tween the Wolverines and the Buckeyes in two weeks is shaping up as the Big Ten's, and possibly the nation's "game of the .year." The Trojans of Southern Cali- fornia were runaway winners over Ohio State after their most im- pressive showing in fpur games:, Steve .Sogge's passing and the running of O. J. Simpson sparked Southern Cal to an easy 35-17 triumph over California and earned the defending natipnal champions 32 first-place votes and 908 points on, the 46 ballots cast by sports writers and b oadcasters across the nation. Ohio State, which trailed by only 13 points last week, received 14 first-place. votes, same as a week ago, and 864 points after crushing Wisconsin 43-8. Southern Top Twenty The top 20, with first-place votes, records and total points. Points award- ed for first 15 picks on basis of 20-18- 16-14-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1: 1. So. California 32 7--0 908 2. Ohio State 14 7-0 864 3. Penn State 1 7-0 744 4. MICHIGAN 7-1 542 5. Georgia 6-0-2 493 6. Missouri 7-1 492 7. Kansas 7-1 492 8. Texas 6--1--1 371 9. Notre Dame 6-2 213 10. Arkansas 7-1 193 11. Tennessee 5-1-1 180 12. Auburn 6-2 172 13. Oregon State 6-2 150 14. Houston 4-1-2 131 15. Purdue 6-2 111. 16. Alabama 6-2 63 17.' Ohio U. 8-0 39 19. California 5-2-1 33 19. Indiana 6-2 30 2Q. Wyoming 6-2 26 Others receiving votes, listed alpha- betically: Arizona, Arizona State, Army, HIarvard, Iowa, Michigan State, Minne- sota, Mississippi, North Texas State, Oklahoma, Southern Methodist, Syra- cuse, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Yale. NBA Standings f Eastern Division dailly Sports NIGHT EDITOR: FRED LaBOUR Cal had 19 first-place votes last week. Penn State, with a 7-9 record like the top two teams, moved up from fourth to third in the wake of a 22-7 thumping of Miami, Fla. The Nittany Lions picked up the other first-place vote. Kansas, dropped from the un- beaten ranks 27-23 by Oklahoma, fell from third to seventh place. Georgia jumped four places to No. 5 after mauling Florida 51-0, and Missouri moved from eighth to sixth thanks to a 42-7 romp over Iowa State. Rounding out the Top Ten were Texas, Notre Dame and Arkansas, up two, three and four spots, re- spectively. The Longhorns ripped Bayler 47-26, Notre Dame wal- loped Pitt 56-7 and Arkansas bombed Rice 46-21. * * * * * * * * * What more can you, say about Saturday? By BILL CUSUMANO 36-0. A spectacular passing per-c formance by Dennis Brown. Twot more touchdowns by Ron John-1 son. Pretty good, huh?a It's not bad at all to tell thet truth. But the amazing thingt about Michigan's smashing ofr Illinois last Saturday was that they really didn't play anywhere1 near their top level. While the defense was notching its second shutout in as many weeks, the offense had what might have been its most inefficient game since the season's opener. Numerous scoring opportunities were missed as four fumbles were lost (the first ones lost this year), a touchdown was called back be- cause of a clip and one sure pass for six- points was dropped. Yet the Wolverine offensive squad still managed to produce five touchdowns and a field goal, and that ain't a bad day's work. Still the fact must be faced that it wasn't a great day. When one considers this and then looks again at the final court, the question has to come as to just how good Michigan really is. The answer would seem to be that they're real good, maybe the best in the Big Ten. Illinois coach Jim Valek called the defense the best his team has faced since Notre Dame. The Wolverine defense leas be- come known for its ability to force mistakes and Saturday prov- ed their reputation. Six times Illinois fumbled and five times blue shirts came up with the ball. When the Illini decided to go to the airways the results were not much better. Bob Naponic com- pleted only five passes to his team- mates, while two other tosses found their way into Michigan hands. The defense has given up only 12 points per game, but their great value has been in the many times they have given the ball over to the offense in good field posi ion. _________ -I__ In Saturday's contest Illinois enc2 between the two clubs Sa- constantly had pressure applied to turday. Illinois outside of their them because of Michigan's excel- lack of talent, just does not have lent positioning, Dennis Brown the killer instinct of Michigan. and his crew took advantage of The omen of this came early in these opportunities enough to blow ,he contest when Ron Johnson, the game open early and' go on to fumbled on Michigan's first series rout the outmanned Illini. of downs. The ability to capitalize on the The Illini recovered on their breaks was really the true differ- own 47 and were in excallent posi- tion for a scoring drive. But two plays later Naponic promptly fumbled the ball right back to the Wolverines and the handwriting was on the proverbial wall., Bump Elliott's team has not made many ball handling mistakes this year, and when Illinois was not able to use the breaks they received their fate was sealed. Sooner or later the Michigan at- tack was bound to come u with its usual explosion and bury the Illini. In less than a quarter the Wol- verines had opened up a 20-0 lead and the game should have been ended there. Maybe they should put a rule in football that allows the referee to declare a technical knockout. It would have saved all concerned the trouble of the second half Saturday. The game actually took' on a pattern. It was just to be ex- pected that Illinois would fumble or throw a.n interception. Once, whenthe Ilini had a fourth and inches, some wit in the press box commented that there was no need to worry, Illinois would probably fumble the snapback. Sure enough, they did. And that's the way it was Sa- turday; it was a game of mis- takes. The difference was t h a t Michigan used the errors to their own advantage and Illinois didn't. Some may say that this really doesn't prove anything when the competition is as bad as Illinois. But such opportunism is what really separates a good team from 1 a bad team. It must be remember- ed that the Illini did score 24 points against Ohio State and had 225 yards rushing Saturday. Michigan fans probably saw Illi- nois at their best, yet the Illini could not score. The conclusion must be then that what was seen Saturday was a display of powerful football. One can only shudder when the real- ization comes that Michigan could have done even better. Undoubted- ly the thought has already oc- curred to John Coatta and Woody Hayes. i - I Gridde Pickinifgs The guy who won Gridde Pickings this week is from Bay City, Michigan, but we'll give him his pizza anyway. He also claims his name is Edward Hodges, which personally I don't believe for a minute. At any rate, you ought to enter this week. Get your entry into this joint by Friday at midnight and gi'e us a chance not to'believe who you are either. 1. Wisconsin at MICHIGAN -Daily-Eric Pergeaux LANCE SCHEFFLER (45) lugs the old pigskin towards the Suckers' end zone last Saturday. In case you didn't notice, Michi- gan is now ranked behind only three other teams in the country. -Daily-Andy Sacks BURLY JIM MANDICH (88) hops around a little bit while hauling in one of his seven passes against Illinois. Mandich's sticky fingers are part of the reason for the Wolverine's startling success on the gridiron this year. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. (pick score) Northwestern at Illinois Minnesota at Indiana Ohio State at Iowa Purdue at Michigan State Navy at Syracuse Princeton at Yale Georgia at Auburn Mississippi at Tennessee Missouri at Oklahoma SMU vs. Arkansas 12. Texas Tech at Baylor 13. Oregon at California 14. Oregon Stte at Southern Cal. 15. UCLA at Washington 16. Dartmouth at Cornell 17. Ohio University at Cincinnati 18. Florida at Kentucky 19. Nebraska at Colorado 20. University of Southwest Louisiana at University of Northwest Louisiana rroiession:al aianuings I * Cincinnati Baltimore Boston Detroit Philadelphia New York Milwaukee W 8 10 7 6 4 2 L 2 3 3 5 4 10 8 Pct.