-T )- Page Twenty-two THE MICHIGAN DAILY - ROSE BOWL SUPPLEMENT Sunday, December 5, 1971 Sunday, December 5, 1971 THE MICHIGAN DAILY - ROSE BOWL SUPPLEMENT OL' ERI E DEFE SE fl t] i Re EXPECT INDIAN AERIAL ATTACK Wolverines seek Rose There is almost nothing that is as consistently good as the Michigan defense. The unit racked up some of the highest accolades in the nation. The Wolverines were tops against the rush in the United States, second in America in total. defense, and the stingiest team in the entire continent. The defense, in one stretch did not allow a score for twelve quarters. The front line was anchored by Tom Beckman, Butch Carpenter, Greg Ellis, Fred Grambeau, and Mike Keller and was at times impossible to move. In the Ohio State game, OSU being a team that made famous the "three yards and a cloud of dust," the frontline, with a little help from their friends, allowed only 80 yards while the longest run the Buckeyes could muster was a thirteen yard gallop. Keller performed well enough to garner a third team UPI All-American defensive end position. The second line of Michigan's defense was just as awesome. Wolfman Frank Gusich, linebackers Kee, who is pictured above devouring an offend- ing Ohio State runner, and Mike Taylor, who made everybody's All-American team, were continually hustling, protecting the outer flanks and shoring up the middle in rare cases of penetration. Tom Darden led a secondary that made the big play when it was called for. Darden returned a pass for 90 yards against UCLA to preserve the shutout and made the controversial game saving one again Woody Hayes and Company. The squad was overpowering and so was their performance. Their play and its meaning for the entire Michigan team proved Coach Bo Schembechler's assessment. "Defense is the heart of the game." By BOB ANDREWS It was only one year ago, when the undefeated, untied, and number-two ranked Ohio State Buckeyes headed West expecting to demolish Stanford and thus vault to the national champion- ship. They had one fatal flaw in all their plans of glory, over- confidence, and the Indians scalp- ed Woody's Wonders 17-3. The trip back east was just not the same. Now it is the Michigan Wol- verines' turn. Coach Bo Schem- bechler's squad is also undefeat- ed, untied and in the picture for national championship. Although the daring aerial duo of Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha has now deaprted for frigid New England, the Indians could very well ambush the Wolverines' plans for perfection this season. As Pacific Eight champions, Stanford compiled an 8-3 record, suffering setbacks to Duke (9-3), Washington State (24-23) and San Jose State (13-12). Against conference competition, they led in total defense and passing of- fense, directed by their fine sen- ior signal caller, Don Bunce. Bunce had the unenvious posi- tion of being the back-up to Plunkett in 1968 and 69, so Stan- ford decided to red-shirt him last season, Plunkett's final, and came back this year as the club's number-one leader. The Wolverine secondary will have its hands full against Bunce, as he has managed to connect on 162 of 297 aerials for 2,265 yards and 13 touchdowns. He amassed a total of 2,513 yards on offense, which is fairly comparable to Plunkett's total y a r d a g e last season (2.898 yards). Although both are fine passers, Bunce's style is very different from Plunkett's. While Plunkett was basically a drop back-stay in the pocket quarterback, Bunce likes to. roll out and run the op- tion a great deal of the time. Bunce has a receiving corps that has filled in very effective- ly to compensate for the :oss of Vataha. Split end Miles Moore has the team lead in receptions with 38 for 810 yards while flank- er John Winesberry follows right behind with 37 catches for 543 yards. Up until the season was near- ing its end, the main thrust of the Stanford attack was via the pass. They managed a madiocre sixth in the conference in rush- ing offense and time and time again called upon Bunce to put points on the scoreboard. How- ever, in the words of assistant coach John Hughes, "Our run- ning attack has started to jell in the last two games." The heavy burden of rushing fell up- on running back Jackie Brown, who carried the ball 124 times for 479 yards. However, it is much more like- ly that head Coach John Ralston will principally use the pass against the Wolverines, as dur- ing the season quarterbacks be- low the caliber of Bunce have shown their effectiveness in pass- ing against the Michigan sec- ondary. As was done against Ohio State, Schembechler will prob- ably have wolfman Frank Gusich assisting wide halfback Bruce Elliot in covering either Moore or Winesberry. Hughes acknowledges that the Michigan defense is very strong and knows that Stanford must exploit its major weakness, pass defense. Stanford boasts a. defense it considers fine as any in the na- tion. Among conference squads, they rank first in total defense, and are first against the pass and second against the run. The Indian defense works out of a 4-3-4 formation, with the big- gest strength lying in the front four, known in the Bay area as t h e "Thunderchickens." T h e members of this select group are: Roger Cowan (right tackle), who was injured in the San Jose State game but should be ready for Michigan; Greg Samson (left tackle); P e t e Laepich (left guard); and Larry Butler (right guard). However, it is Laepich and Butler along with middle line- backer and All-America candi- date Jeff Siemon that make up the heart of the Indian defense, known locally as the "Middle Triangle." These three lead the team in tackles and have made it very difficult for opponents to run wide or up the middle. Against their two foes with the best running attacks, Washington State and Oregon State, the In- dians had all sorts of problems, losing to the first and squeaking out a win late in the contest against the second. Should this be an indication of things to come, the vaunted Thunderchickens might be roast- ed trying to stop the Wolverine rushing attack, which is one of the finest in the nation. Led by All-America candidate F F c a v f G 1, 1 G f r t Y { E t A 3 i K t f THE LII Offel S MICHIGAN { f t t (15) Bo Rather (180) (73) Jim Coode (235)- (65) Reggie McKenzie (232) (53) Guy Murdock (210) (60) Tom Coyle (233) (78) Curtis Tucker (239) (85) Paul Seymour (231) (17) Tom Slade (198)' (22) Glenn Doughty (204) (42) Billy Taylor (195) (31) Ed Shuttlesworth (237) D (94) Butch Carpenter (215) (92) Fred Grambeau (234) (68) Greg Ellis (223) (99) Tom Beckman (246) (90) Mike Keller (215) (33) Mike Taylor (224) (37) Tom Kee (210)r (14) Frank Gusich (188) (21) Bruce Elliott (175) 1 (41) Randy Logan (192) (35) Tom Darden (195) SE LT LG C RG RT TE QB WB TB FB )efe: LE LT MG RT RE MLB WLB Wolf WHB SH S BENNY BAU;NS (29) Stanford defense back fields a punt in an early season Indian victory. New Year's Day the Indians will be going for their second Rose Bowl triumph in two seasons when they tackle Michigan's undefeated Wolverines.