Page 8-Wednesday, October 11, 1978-The Michigan Daily TEST BLUE SECONDARY Spartans pa __ By BILLY SAHN Bombs away. Take warning all you football fans, that this Saturday in Michigan Stadium, you may be exposed to an unusual aerial display by two powerful Big Ten teams. It's the annual Michigan-Michigan State football game. Yet, much more is at stake than just state bragging rights. This is virtually a must win for the Spartans, who are 0-1 in Big Ten com- petition (after losing to Purdue, 21-14), in order to still be considered as poten- tial Big Ten champions. Without a doubt, a major portion of State's strategy for, victory lies in their pass offense. The Spartans boast a very' strong and experienced passing offen- se, one to be reckoned with. "MSU has a very explosive offense," commented Wolverine defensive coach Bill McCartney. "Nobody has really stopped them yet this season. It will be a great challenge for the Michigan defense," he continued. Leading the Spartans is quarterback Eddie Smith, a senior in his third con- secutive year at calling the signals. Smith's credentials are quite im- pressive. The 6'1" 174-pound quarter- back set the MSU passing record in a game against North Carolina State (31- 31 tie) with 324 yards gained passing. Last season, Smith completed 117 passes out of 240 attempts for 1731 yar, ds and 10 touchdowns. Furthermore, at the start of this' season, Smith needed 1944 aerial yards to pass the current all-time Big Ten leader, Mike Phipps (5423 yards) of Purdue ('67-'69). Thus far this season, despite an in- jury suffered in the loss to Purdue and his subsequent rest : from play against Syracuse the following game, Smith has passed for 450 yards, including five touchdowns. He is currently fourth on the all-time Big Ten passing list. ss to Needless to say, the NJ coaches are not taking the passer lightly. "He's the bes we'll face," Wolverine Ca Schembechler stated flatly. "Smith has an excellent tou McCartney. "He's always money, and hard to pressure." It's McCartney's gentlemen going to have the awesome sibility of stopping the Spart sive attack. Yet, Smith is only one memi team. His favorite receiver is l son, a flanker, who holds t touchdown reception record wi "Gibson's a unique guy for (6'2", 210 pounds)," commei Cartney. "He's incrediblyf quick." Thus far this season, Gil caught 13 Spartan passes forF 211 yards and three touc bringing his career receiving to 1751 yards. In addition to football, Gibs in baseball as well. As an All All-American baseball player has signed a large contract w else?) the Tigers. Adding to State's strong paydirt Michigan split end Eugene Byrd. Byrd is back Spartan with the Spartans this year after being t passer sidelined last season due to a shoulder oach Bo injury. According to Michigan's defensive ch," said coordinator, "Byrd is just as good as on the Gibson. In fact, he's quick and nifty (at 6'0" 180 pounds)." that are Byrd leads the Spartan receivers thus far this season with 17 receptions for 336 respon- yards and two touchdowns. an offen- Rounding off State's pigskin aerial ber of the attack is junior Mark Brammer, a tight Kirk Gib- end. Brammer caught 27 passes last the MSU season, the most of any receiver on the ith 17. team. He's right on course so far with 12 r his size catches for 137 yards. nted Mc- fast and "Brammer is as good as there is in the conference. He's a good blocker, a bson has complete player," remarked McCart- y total of ney. thdowns, The upcoming game this weekend yardage will truly be a test for the Maize and Blue defense. In the end, both teams will probably be black and blue. on excels "It will be a tough, physical, heavy -Big Ten, hitting affair, and we'll be ready," said , Gibson McCartney. ith (who The Spartans will thus be a threat, with their offensive game - great ffense is passing and great receiving. Caliam leads clubbers in 5-2 Falcon ripping Daily Photo by WAYNE CABLE ' Greer bedevils Michigan defensive tackle Curtis Greer (95) prepares to bury Duke Blue Devil fullback Ned Gonet. Greer's major worry in Saturday's game will be containing Eddie Smith and his Spartan spirals to Kirk Gibson and the rest of the Michigan State aerial bomb squad. By BOB EMORY The Bowling Green field hockey team was apparently satisfied with a 2-2 half- time tie because they didn't play at all in the second half. As a result, the Wolverines scored three unanswered goals in the second stanza or rather Mary Callam scored three unanswered goals, as Michigan' walked off with a 5-2 victory over the Falcons yesterday at Ferry Field. "I think they kind of reached their peak in the first half," explained Michigan head coach Phyllis Ocker. "Then they sat back and played too defensively. Plus I thought that we came on very strong in the second half. We were a little sluggish at the start." Indeed they were. Bowling Green took a quick 2-0 lead and was con- trolling most of the play until the Wolverines got untracked and tied it up with a pair of goals in the last five minutes of the half. I Michigan goaltender Jayne Smith was partially screened when Falcon halfback Cindy Dilley fired a low shot from ten feet out that went through a tangle of players before ending up in the far corner of the net for Bowling Green's first goal. Several minutes later, Smith came out to the left side of the net to stop a shot, but it accidentally trickled through her legs and Leslie Dunton was right behind her to put the ball in the empty net. After that, however, it was all Michigan. NBA MIDWEST PREVIEW: Bucks to test revamped Nuggets ---------------------.........--- FREE 10 black and white copies or 1 color photo t-shirt transfer free 1 with purchase of the same. We can put anything on a t-shirt from 1 prints, 35mm slides, album covers or from your own art work, etc. 1 DOLL"IR BILL COPYIN G 1 Specialists for dissertations and resumes 1 1 611 Church St. (next to Sec. of State, above Don Cisco's)1 1 665-9200 EXPIRES 11/10/78 I L--....-- ......-...---------------- By FRANK JAMES The question of the year in the Rockies is: can Big George McGinnis find peace and happiness (and the. basketball) with the Denver Nuggets and lead the team to the NBA cham- pionship which has eluded the Nuggets' grasp for the last two seasons? Even though his team won the Mid- west division title the last two years, Denver coach Larry Brown was sur- prisingly honest and subdued in admit- ting: "Frankly, I don't know if we are good enough to win our division. Everyone else has improved them- selves tremendously." HIS OBVIOUS skepticism is merited. The Nuggets underwent massive per- sonnel changes over the winter and return only two starters - David Thompson and Dan Issel - from last year's team.. The newly-acquired McGinnis holds down one forward, spot with Anthony Roberts, a fine offensive rebounder and Go Ape with Your Camera In 71e Photo Contest!, T1 1st Prize: $25 gift certificate from Big George's Photo Dept. 2nd Prize: $15 gift certificate from Purchase Camera. 3rd PriZE: $10 gift certificate from Purchase Camera. RULES 1. Photographs must be black and white only, no smaller than 5''x7" and no larger than 11 "x14". Mats and mounts are acceptable. Entries will be judged on con- tent and overall technical quality. 2. Individuals can submit as many photographys as they wish. Photographs will be judged on an individual basis. Name, address and phone number must accom- pany each photo. '2,.....« ., «...-A - U.. 'T'i.. ll .,i:..! il..: Alf% 1i R.«..a ...1.« «.,,. shooter, running from the small for- ward. Charlie Scott, acquired from Los Angeles, teams with Thompson to give Denver a fine offensive backcourt. . In answering a question concerning his team's poor playoff showing last year, Brown stated: "We weren't good enough. But even after we lost Brian (Brian Taylor, the starting guard who left the team at midseason over a con- tract dispute) and Bobby (Bobby Jones) we still went much further than most people expected." Taylor and Jones were the most con- sistent defensive performers on the squad last year. Scott and McGinnis, their replacements, have not been known for their defensive prowess. It remains to be seen who is going to play defense. And, just as important, who is going to pass the basketball. THE MILWAUKEE Bucks won't sneak up on anyone this year. The Bucks came of age faster than most ob- servers expected last year. This was mainly due to the .rapid maturing of Marques Johnson and Quinn Buckner. If one big question is answered, the Bucks could make a serious run at the NBA title as the dark horse of the year. Milwaukee is loaded with talent. At the forward spots'they boast one of the league's finest young tandems in UCLA grads Johnson and Dave Meyers. A very physical player, Meyers plays a respectable offensive game while ex- celling on the boards and defense. Johnson excels at just about everything. A fine shooter, his timing, strength and amazing leaping ability make him one of the finest offensive rebounders in the game today. THE BUCKS backcourt has perfect balance. Buckner is the unselfish, playmaking guard who loves shutting down the opposition's top-scoring guard, Brian Winters shoots as well as any guard in the league. Kent Benson is the key for the Bucks. Can Benson regain the aggressiveness he seemingly lost after his short battle with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers? John Gianelli, last, year's starter at center, is no more than a journeyman player. If Benson fills in adequately, the Bucks get at least one vote to become division champs. The Chicago Bulls filled the biggest hole on their team when they drafted Reggie Theus. One of the finest college players in America, Theus is a big guard who handles the ball, can run an offense, and is able to defense the bigger guards around the league. With an effective center in Artis Gilmore, the Bulls have a nucleus to construct a solid team around. If Mickey Johnson gains a few pounds of muscle and improves on a sub-par Frank's Forecast: 1. Milwaukee 2. Denver 3. Chicago 4. Indiana 5. Kansas City any sort of serious challenge. Cotton Fitzimmons, Kansas City's new coach, rightfully lists draftee Phil Ford first among his team's strengths. Ford just ended a contract dispute and recently joined the team in training camp. "I'm a better coach than I was ten days ago now that I have Phil Ford. He just joined the team and he's the type of player who makes things so much easier for all the others. "He handles the ball, he's unselfish and he runs the offense exceptionally well. I'm very pleased to have Ford and Birdsong working together." WHILE THE Kings are set at guard, there remains a question mark at for- ward in the form of Richard Washington. "Washington is not a dominating player in the sense that Marques John- son is," said Fitzimmons. "Richard is a fine shooter, and we will try to utilize his shooting skills by having him come off the bench. "Realistically, we may not be as strong as the other teams in the division if you look at the front-line ballplayers, but we plan on using all of our players, exploiting our depth, and see where it takesus." Unless Fitzimmons upgrades the quality of his roster, his depth will lead him to nowhere but the Midwest Division cellar. This is the second in a series of four NBA previews which will cluminate Friday with an in-depth look at the Pistons. ii I. year, if Scott May finally plays an in jury-free year, and if new coach Larry Costello can mesh his talent into a team, the Bulls might scare a few people. THE INDIANA Pacers made several positive moves this past summer. Through the draft and trades, they acquired Rick Robey, Alex English, Corky Calhoun and Johnny Davis. Rookie Robey will start at one forward, and Davis will team with Rick Sobers to give the Pacers a nice backcourt pair. Davis talked optimistically of the Pacers' chances, saying, "I feel that with James Edwards, who is a towering force on offense, we're pretty well set at center. We have a lot of young players who just need time to work together. Look at what Seattle did last year. They started putting it together near the end of the season and almost pulled it out. With t time and some hard work, we could be the surprise of this season." Indiana is in dire need of more quality players. Journeymen back up the first six players. They will need dramatic improvement in their younger players if they hope to make V 1 e GRIDDE . APICKS A Michigan student approached his calculus professor and begged him to explain the proper method for solving the equation %y-z+l/t=t. The prof reprimanded the young student and demanded that he worry about more pertinent problems, such as Leach+Huckleby+Clayton, and getting his Gridde Picks in by midnight Friday to win a small two-item Pizza Bob's piz- za. 1. Michigan State at MICHIGAN (pick score) 2. Wisconsin at Illinois 3. Northwestern at Indiana 4. Iowa at Minnesota 5. Ohio State at Purdue 6. USC at Arizona State 7. Pittsburgh at Notre Dame 8. Washington at Stanford 9. Washington State at UCLA 10. Florida at Alabama 11. California at Arizona 12. Duke at Navy 13. U. of Pacific at Fresno St. 14. Texas A&M at Houston 15. Yale at Dartmouth 14. Ball State at Louisiana Tech 17. V.M.I. at Richmond 18. Pennsylvania at Brown 19. Kent State at Bowling Green 20. DAILY LIBELS at Willy Milly's I I IMPORTANT M 01:/L TOUCH I FOOTBALL OFFICIALS NEEDED contact: Sandy Sanders 7 769-1313 *1~