Page 16-Saturday, September 8, 1979-The Michigan Daily
this season is Mark Herrmann, the star
quarterback of the Purdue Boiler-
P review " 0 makers. Yet even bigger news is the
group of players backing up the lean
junior, and together, they may realize
the team, Tom Stauss (485 yards), was the goal Purdue hasn't reached for the
switched to a tailback position this past 12 years-the Rose Bowl.
spring while Dave Mohapp got the call Last year, Purdue routed Georgia
for replacement duty at fullback. Tech 41-21 in the Peach Bowl. The post-
On defense, Wisconsin is led by 6-3, season victory culminated Purdue's
216-pound Dave Ahrens. At defensive first winning season since 1972, and
end, Ahrens is an "All-American foot- repesented the most victories by a
ball player," says McClain. Boilermaker team since 1969.
Purdue AT THE HEART of this Purdue
resurgence is Herrmann. He is the
The big name around the Big Ten nucleus of the returning unit of 11 offen-
The Michigan Daily-Saturday, Sep
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sive starters. The 6-5, 194-pound
marksman is already the number four
career passer in Big Ten history after
only 23 games.
The rifle-armed Herrmann is another
in the series of fine passing quarter-
backs to come out of West Lafayette.
The prestigious names of Bob Griese,
Len Dawson, Mike Phipps and Gary
Danielson preceded Herrmann. The
explosive signal caller is currently
within 1066 yards of becoming Purdue's
all-time leader-and he's only a junior.
Meanwhile, leading the potent
Boilermaker defense is Keena Turner.
Turner, a defensive end, was listed as
one of the top six tacklers from the 1978
season with 68 stops. At 6-3, and a quick
212-pounds, he's not one to mess with.
But linebacker Kevin Motts, at 6-2,.
230 may pose the biggest threat to op-
ponents. No Boilermaker has ever
made more tackles than Motts'
422-and he's only a three year regular.
But when people mention Purdue,
Herrmann is the man that is most
talked about, and rightly so.
Poised, mature, and threatening
describes the Purdue QB. Backed by a
much improved running attack and a
tough defense, Herrmann and his
teammates are the team to beat in the
Big Ten, according to many pre-season
polls.
BUT PURDUE'S opponents might
think otherwise, especially the
Wolverines and coach Bo Schem-
bechler. Three years ago, when
Michigan was practically a unanimous
choice nation-wide for "number one," it
was the Boilermakers' who came up
with the season's big upset down in
West Lafayette. Then for the next two
years, Herrmann's first two with Pur-
due, Michigan easily defeated the
Boilermakers.
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1
Last year, Herrmann was hurt in the
first quarter against the Wolverines
and could not return to the artificial
carpet of Michigan Stadium as his team
went down to a 24-6 defeat.
However this year's match takes place
in Ross-Ade Stadium on the Purdue
campus. The natural turf there has not
been very inviting to the Wolverines,
and this fact alone should concern the
Blue gridders.
One more schedule item-Purdue
does not play Ohio State this fall. This
could be a distinct advantage for both
the Boilermakers and the Buckeyes in
what should be a Big Ten dogfight.
Ohio State
Earle Bruce inherits this year from
Woody Hayes a team that is at the
gridiron crossroads. The Buckeyes at
times last season were awesome-the
type of play we've become accustomed
to have coming from down in Colum-
bus, yet in other games they were
alarmingly mediocre, a fact that drove
coach Hayes finally to commit the act
that ended his distinguished career.
Bruce is thus faced with the challenge
of resurrecting the Buckeye dynasty-a
much more difficult task this year
given the rise of MSU and Purdue, or
letting the Bucks slip into the Big Ten
doldrums along with the Wisconsins,
Iowas, and Indianas that have festered
there for so long.
Obviously, the former Iowa State
coach intends to do anything but the lat-
ter, and to this end plans on using the
passing talents of sophomore quarter-
back Art Schlichter more than did his
predecessor.,
THAT PROSPECT could only delight
Schlichter, who nevertheless became a
proficient option quarterback last
season in his freshman year.
"He's going to be a great quarter-
back," Bruce declared. "Schlichter has
all the tools."
Still, in throwing to speedster end Ty
Hicks and flanker Doug Donley, the
hope in Columbus is that Schlichter
won't gun 21 interceptions, as was the
case for the Bucks' signal caller last
year.
To complement the burgeoning
passing attack Ohio State returns -a
tested and proven ground game. Paul
Campbell was the leading rusher at
tailback last year, but should face
challenges from Ric Volley and flashy
Ricky Johnson, who impressed Bruce
greatly in spring drills.
BRUCE'S WORRIES do not lie with
the "skill" positions on offense
however, but rather with the state of
the interior line. Senior guard Ken Fritz
(6-3, 238) is the lone standout on a team
that used to turn out proficient offen-
sive linemen with machinelike
frequency.
Meanwhile, the Buckeye defense
must compensate for the loss of the
number one, three, four, five and six
tacklers from last year's unit. Gone are
Montreal Alouette bonus baby Tom
Cousineau, the all-time OSU tackling
leader, and Kelton Dansler and Byron
Cato, both of whom were All-Big Ten,
while Cousineau was twice a consensus
All-America.
The Buckeye bright spot is in the
defensive backfield, where Mike Guess
and Vince Skillings are both experien-
ced, aggressive, and very quick.
Bruce has also inherited a great plus
in punter Tom Orosz, who was number
two in the nation last year with a 43.9
average.
But perhaps the biggest thing in
Bruce's favor is the Ohio State
schedule. Buckeye opponents were 49-
67-7 last season, with only four teams
compiling winning records.
LIFE BECOME
. . . . . . . . . . . . ........ . . . . .
preview
Believe it or not, it looks as if the old
"Big Two, Little Eight" cliche, which has
haunted the Big Ten conference so much of
late; is now dead. Four teams appear to have
a legitimate shot at the conference title, with
Purdue on the top of many people's
preseason list.
In addition to a look at the Big Ten con-
tenders, all of which the Wolverines must
play this year, here's the lowdown on
Michigan's other 1979 opponents, compiled
by Daily Sports Editors Geoff Larcom and
Billy Sahn.
Northwestern
The schedule maker really smiled
upon Bo Schembechler in drawing up
the opening week of Michigan's 1979
football slate, placing at the
Wolverines' feet benevolent North-
western, which has claimed just two
victories in its last 39 appearances.
Consider:
-The 52-3, 55-7, 56-14, 59-14 and 63-20
punishments Rick Venturi's team en-
dured his first year as coach.
-The 440 points the Wildcats defense
allowed last year.
-The 464.4 yards per game opponen-
ts ground out against Northwestern.
WITH WOEFUL stats like these, a
fine idea might be secession from the
Big Ten. The Wildcats would make a
fine midwest Ivy League represen-
tative. Yet that's the last thing on the
enthusiastic Venturi's mind. He knows
you can't rebuild a program, par-
ticularly one which has plummetted to
the depths Northwestern's has, over-
night.
Venturi came to Northwestern
promising wide-open football, and last
year he produced, the Wildcats' strong-
armed signal caller Kevin Strasser
setting several school passing records
in the process, while accounting for
seven of the Wildcats' 12 touchdowns.
Strasser now returns for his senior
year, along with backfield troops Mike
Cammon (FB) and '77 tailback starter
Dave Michler, along with fleet-footed
reserve tailback Tim Hill.
But with just 747 yards rushing all
last season, the Wildcats' ground attack
must improve if they are to challenge
anyone at all.
IN ADDITION, the defense must
avoid the injuries which riddled an
already talent-thin ranks. By the fourth
game of the season, seven regulars had
been sidelined. The result-Ouch.
Yet ever the optimist, Venturi
forecasts less pain for his squad this
year. His second recruiting class has
given him, he feels, a good foundation
to build upon. That and the fact that
Venturi listed 15 freshman among his top
44 players last year convinces him that
his team can go somewhere in the Big
Ten this season.
And that direction most certainly will
be up. Things just can't get much worse
in Evanston, can they?
Notre Dame
Irish head coach Dan Devine already
has two strikes on him this year, and
the first pass hasn't even been thrown.
First off, that exciting last-second
win over Houston in the Cotton Bowl
marked the end of the eligibility line for
a dozen Notre Dame starters, most
notably Joe Montana, the Irish's an
swer to Frink Merriwell; All-American
linebacker Bob Golic, the Irish's
leading career tackler; fullback
See PREVIEW, Page 9
Curtis Greer (95) and Andy
Cannavino (41) await the snap
awash in concentration. Greer
returns for his final year this
season to anchor the Wolver-
ine defense at tackle, while
Cannavino, a 6-1, 220 pound
junior, will figure prominently
in the linebacking corps pic-
ture. The defense is on the
spot from the word go this
year, with a young offense
attempting to develop as
quicly as possible.
Michigan's
schedule
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