:n Daily-Friday, November 10, 1978-F
PERFECTION NEEDED FOR NW WIN
Wildcats brace for'M' onslaught
By OWEN MEDD
Nprthwestern's Dyche Stadium
fight just as well be the Roman
oliseum as tomorrow's game pitting
e. ,hapless Wildcats (0-6-1, 0-8-1)
gainst the second-place Maize and
lue could be pegged as a replay of the
hristians being thrown to the lions.
Northwestern's first year head coach
ick Venturi is not one to sound too op-
imistic. "The important thing to
emember is that we are playing a
rest Michigan team who have been
laying excellent ball," Venturi stated
atly.
ON DEFENSE, Northwestern has the
GRIDDE
PICKS
Hot item off the press! Intense in-
estigative reporting (Is there any
her?) by the Michigan Daily has
vealed the reason for last year's one-
ote temporary mayoral election loss
y Republican candidate Louis Belcher
incumbent Albert Wheeler. As
echer was about to enter the voting
ooth, a truly significant thought pop-,
d into his head. He hadn't turned in'
is Gridde Picks yet, and he wanted
at small, two-item pizza from Pizza
ob's that goes to the winner. So he
hed from the room, wrote up his
iclk,, and turned them in to the
ichigan Daily. In the meantime, the
llsihad closed, and Belcher didn't get
is -decisive vote in. Worse news,
owever, came for Belcher when he
and out that he lost the Gridde Picks,
nd the pizza, by one game.
1. MICHIGAN at Northwestern
(,pick score)
2. Illinois at Ohio State
3. Iowa at Indiana
4. Minnesota at Michigan State
5. Purdue at Wisconsin
6. Oklahoma at Nebraska
7. Louisiana State at Alabama
8. Houston at Texas
9. North Carolina at Clemson
0. Idaho State at Idaho
1. North Carolina State at Penn State
2. Washington at Southern Cal
3. Washington State at California
4. Auburn at Mississippi State
5. Georgia at Florida
6. Stanford at Arizona State
7. Tulsa at Wichita State
8. Northern Illinois at Toledo
9. Western Michigan at Ball State
0. DAILY LIBELS at Donny Mac's
Purple Haze
number nine rated unit overall, with its
defense against the run being the worst
in theBig Ten. "In the beginning of the
year we had seven injuries in our front
seven, so our defense underwent a
transformation over the season," Ven-
turi said. "Now we have five freshmen
in the starting unit."
The' play of the defense, and
especially their improvement, has
satisfied Venturi. "The defensive unit
has been sound most of the season,
regardless of what the score indicates,"
For more sports, see page 11
said Venturi. The Wildcats have been
giving up, on the average, a total of
about thirty-one points a game.
Offensively, the Wildcats have been
having their problems, also. The major
dilemma has been the running game,
with the 'Cats averaging under two
yards per carry and only sixty-six yar-
ds per game. Fullback Mike Cammon is
the leading rusher, averaging 4.4 yards
per carry. Other leading contributors
were Tim Hill and Dave Mishler, but
both are out with injuries, another
problem which has plagued the squad.
NORTHWESTERN'S aerial attack is
just about the only bright spot of an
otherwise dismal season. Coach Ven-
turi has fashioned a passing game that
is second in the Big Ten. He states,
"Passing is our style of play. We've put
an emphasis on the pass, and have been
achieving some good results. My quar-
terback (junior Kevin Strasser) has
been having a good year. He doesn't
have a strong supporting cast, though,,
and at some points has had to be eighty-
five per cent of the team."
Strasser has indeed had a good year
so far, completing 109 passes of 207 at-
tempts for 1070 yards. He is the third
leading passer in the Big Ten and will
be a threat on Saturday. One of
Strasser's favorite targets, Hill, will be
missing, but three capable recievers
still remain. Sophomore Mike McGee
and freshman Steve Bogan occupy the
|yBig' Ten
Standings
split end position, averaging 13.9 and
18.8 yards per catch, respectively, and
along with senior Sam Poulos (14.4 yar-
ds per catch) at tight end, comprise the
bulk of the Wildcat passing power.
NORTHWESTERN'S lack of offense
has led to another scafcity - that of
points. The Wildcats have scored a total
of fifty-four points in seven conference
games, which is only a little over one
TD a game. Venturi admits, "The
scoring has been inconsistent, and
that's been one of our problems. I
thought the offense was improving up to
(the game with) Purdue, but we got
behind and just never got it together."
The Wildcat coach also foresees
trouble tomorrow. "The Michigan
defensive unit is overwhelming. They
haven't allowed anything over the last
few weeks."
Injuries and a lack of offense have
been plaguing the Wildcats and Rick
Venturi knows it. In his opinion, "We're
going to have to play our very best, a
perfect game, to win tomorrow."
SCORES.
NHL
Boston 6, Washington 2
Montreal 8. Detroit 3
NBA
Atlanta 125, San Diego 101
Kevin Strasser
Conference
W L T
Purdue .'........ 5 ,0 0
MICHIGAN ..... 4 1 0
Ohio State........4 1 0
Michigan State .. 4 1 0
Minnesota........3 2 0
Wisconsin........2 3 1
Indiana .........2 3 0
Iowa ............ 1 4 0
Illinois .......... 0 4 2
Northwestern :.. 0 6 1
Overall
W L T
7 1 0
7 1 0
5 2 1
5 3 0
4 4 0
4 3 1
3 5 0
1 7 0
1 6 21
0 8 1
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