SchembechlerPreys
for third
W"luelane season
W HEN Bo Schembechler crosses
the turf tomorrow after-
noon in the Big Ten opener in
Dyche Stadium it will be the
twenty - first time that he has
led the Michigan football team
into combat.
In his ninth season as a head
coach, his third at Michigap, he
should be getting used to it. But
opening day always comes too
soon and until his team proves it-
self the most veteran coach can
feel like a rookie in the first
game.
FOR SCHEMBECHLER the
opener tomorrow against North-
western is almost like a third
rookie season at Michigan.
Though his first two years have
made him an intergal part of
Wolverine football history his
reign has not yet settled down
into a continuous dynasty.
Fout to lunch
ort noveck
His first game, against Van-
derbilt, was obviously a begin-
ning. But just as the Schem-
bechler legend was starting to
grow there was that game he
missed one New Year's day in
Pasadena. So he had to come
back and prove that, while he
might have to watch his weight,
nothing was going to change his
winning style.
He wasincthe process of do-
ing it convincingly when a
fired up machine halted the
progress one sunny afternoon
last November.
So it's time to start again.
But Schembechler doesn't see
any special significance in it.
It won't be a phoenix that takes
the field tomorrow afternoon,
it will be the 1971 Wolverines.
And next year it will be the
72 squad.
"Every season is a new sea-
soon," Bo says. "Everything
if different, but that's the only
thing that keeps it interesting.
You hate to see some kids go,
but graduation is a healthy
thing. After all, playing football
is tough."
But even though tomorrow is
just one of nine opening days
thus far in Schembechler's ca-
reer, it's got to be a little dif-
ferent. This is the first time that
the opener really counts. The
first game is always important,
but losing to a non-conference
team just isn't as painful as los-
ing to Northwestern would be.
THIS IS also the debut of the
11 game season in the Big Ten
so there are ten more to go after
Northwestern. As Schembechler
said, football is tough, so injuries
and fatigue, mental as well as
physical, will play a greater role.
An extra 60 minutes in a season
is plenty of time to put a few ex-
tra players on crutches. And con-
centrating is hard enough for
anyone without having to do it
constantly for eleven weeks.
Eleven games means starting
the season earlier, which in
turn means that the practice
period before the first game is
shorter. Time has been of the
essence for the football team
and coaching staff for the last
two and one-half weeks. And
having to rush just multiplies
the pressure to get ready.
As Bo noted before practice be-
gan, "Our biggest problem is
fighting the clock. This is less
time than we've ever had. We'll
go into the opener with only one
full game scrimmage."
THE LACK of time has meant
that pre-season practice has been
more intense, which can be inter-
preted as more exhausting. It
also has been single-minded. Last
year the -squad had two weeks for
conditioning and general drill be-
fore preparing for the first game
specifically. This year the squad
had a week before it had to get
ready for Northwestern.
Personnel changes were also
prevented by lack of time. Last
year there was time to experi-
ment with different player as-
signments before the opener- This
year, except at quarterback, the
decisions were made after spring
practice.
We'll regroup and reevaluate
after Northwestern," Bo com-
mented, "but we can't make any
changes until then."
Luckily the team reported
back ready to play. Weight-
wise they were in good shape
and they were all in condition
to start football instead of hav-
ing to work off summer ex-
cesses.
But three weeks isn't enough
time to create an errorless foot-
ball machine. "We've got our
stuff in and it's fairly well pol-
ished. But we're always appre-
-hensive about mistakes," noted
Schembechler.
NORTHWESTERN coach Alex
Agase is an old fried of Bo's and
this friendship could add pres-
sure to the, game.. But it won't.
"You don't think about it before
the game-we want to win and
we don't have time to think about
anything else."
He did have time though to re-
member what happened to him-
self, Agase and their mutual
friend Ara Parseghian. "Back in
1957 Ara was head coach at
Northwestern," Bo remembered,
"and Alex and I were assistants.
We stayed up until midnight ev-
ery night devising a whole new
offense We lost the first three
games 27-0. In the last game
Ray Nitschke ran 75 yards for a
touchdown against us. Even I'm
faster than he is.
So time isn't everything.
*irgn
A&
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Page One-Sports
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Friday, September 10. 1971
. Ida-vI /Setntemh L.%,II .,10171
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JPPWIMI
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Defense
'M' grid
By ELLIOT LEGOW B
During the two = year plan
regime of head coach Bo and
mn
Schembechler Michigan has ma
last
relied primarily on a strong, able
aggressive defense to com- Gr
pile a record of 17 victories more
against only f o u r defeats, son,
one Big Ten co-champion- He
ship and one second place hn
finish, and a trip to the Rose well
Bowl. seni
This year's Wolverines will back
again feature a hard-hitting, after
experienced defense which will spot
hopefully be the key to another 51 to
conference championship and Gr
New Year's Day visit to Pasa- assig
dena. Six starters from the unit to re
which ranked eleventh in total defer
defense and eighth in rushing at n
defense will be returning and limit
the other five starters will all hind
be lettermen.. hind
Defensive coach Jim Young suffe
plans no major changes in the Alt
basic 5-2-4 defensive alignment tomo
which his been so successful for Gran
the Wolverines the last two sea- at th
sons. In scoring defense Mich- there
igan ranked fourth nationally in ditior
1970 on an average yield of only tackl
nine points and the Wolverines to sc
registered three Big Ten shut- or ju
outs. impr(
"There will be a few adjust- Ga
ments on our pass defense and were
we have to adjust to our per- meml
sonnel," Young explains, but the man
general player assignments will both
remain unchanged. to ple
Young's philosophy is to "stop who
the run first and then control built
the passing game. Teams do hit small
short passes against us, but we Des
don't care about the stats. We sonne
shoot for defense against the rush
score." stron
Most important in stopping pleas
the running game is a strong line.
defensive line and there the Th
Wolverines have some of their fensi
greatest strength and depth de- tough
spite three changes in the start- Only
ing lineup. ing i
Starters Henry Hill, Pete Ne- nearly
well, and Phil Seymour all have shoul
graduated b u t Schembechler On
will have two veterans in Butch Marts
Carpenter and Fred Grambau the V
to take up the slack. Mike
Carpenter who missed most honor
of last season with a knee injury dicts
after starting the first two "will
games will be joined by senior Scher
Mike Keller as the starting lineba
ends.. Keller has started every Las
game for two years and provides secon
the Wolverines with quickness Michi
at his side of the line, the
keys
hopes
esides the two seniors Young
s to employ Clint Spearman
Don Eaton at ends. Spear-
also saw plenty of action
season and provides a valu-.
spare.
rambau started as a sopho-
e but missed all of last sea-
also with knee problems.
should fill Newell's position
the line satisfactorily and
good size (248 pounds) as
as speed. Mammoth k 6-5
or Tom Beckman will be
at the other tackle position
r moving into Grambau's
last season and registering
ackles.
eg Ellis has, the toughest.
nment on the line, trying
place Henry Hill, last year's
nsive captain and standout
piddle guard. Ellis saw only
ed action last season be-
Hill and will be further
ered by a knee injury he
red this summer.
though Ellis should start
rrow against Northwestern,
mbau has also been working
he middle and may be used
if Ellis is not in top con-
n. To replace Grambau at
e Young would then switch
ophomore Dave Gallagher
nior Tony Smith, who has
essed this fall.
illagher and Walt Sexton
the two most impressive
bers of last season's fresh-
squad and Young expects
to get good opportunities'
ay. Sexton, a middle guard,
also could spell Ellis is
along the lines of Hill-
, quick, and aggressive.
spite the changes in per-
el, Young asserts, "our pass
should be one of our
g points," and is especially
ed with the depth on the
ie linebacking corps and de-
ve backfield specialize in
ness and rugged tackling.
two 1970 starters are miss-
n those two areas and a
y invincible pass defense
d be the result.
e All - America linebacker.
y Huff, has graduated but
Wolverines are counting on
Taylor to receive national
rs this season. Young pre-
the senior from Detroit
have a great year" and
mbechler rates him the top
acker in the nation.
t season Taylor finished
d to Huff in tackles for
igan with 98 and could top
team this year with his
Bo's only
woe:
A quarterback.
By BILL ALTERMAN
Potentially the 1971 ver-
sion of the Big Blue Machine
could provide Coach Bo
Schembechler with his most
explosive offense yet. Sen-
iors Billy Taylor and Glenn
Doughty will vanguard a
running a t t a c k ranking
with the best in the nation.
Guard Reggie McKenzie, a
candidate f o r All-America.
honors, anchors a talented
front line. Converted defen-
sive back David "Bo" Rather
and tight end Paul Seymour
lead a crew of sure-fingered
receivers. But a well oiled
machine is only as strong as
its weakest link and the
Wolverines have an untest-
ed link at quarterback.
Indeed, with the first game
a bare 24 hours away the name
of the starting signal caller is
still not definite. Sophomore
Kevin Casey has been playing
with the first string ever since
last spring but offensive back-
field coach Chuck Stobart
would only say "Casey is start-
ing as of now (Weanesday),"
adding, "but something could
change by the end of the
week."
Casey, 6-2, 175 pounds from
Grand Rapids draws high
praise from Stobart as "ex-
tremely good, excellent tech-
nique, tough and the potential
to be a good college passer."
His shoulder, however, has been
giving him some trouble recent-
ly and Stobart was none too
happy with his practice, nor
with any of the other quarter-
backs on Tuesday.
Should Casey falter, Schem-
bechler will switch to sopho-
more Tom Slade or junior Lar-
ry Cipa. Cipa was originally
groomed to take over for the
graduating Don Moorhead, but
a knee injury last year forced
him out and it didn't appear
he would be able to come back
this year. Stobart feels, how-
ever, that he "ias been com-
ing on strong" and the 6-3, 203
pound quarterback might yet
replace Moorhead. Indeed, last
Saturday Cipa led the varsity
to five touchdowns in an intra-
squad game in the stadium.
Slade, at 6-1, 190 pounds is a
fine runner who Stobart rates
equal with Cipa.
And if forced to, Schembech-
ler can use 6-5 sophomore
Greg Koss or junior Jack Mc-
BridO, the only Wolverine quar-
cerback with any actual playing
time.
Schembechler, of course, has
no intention of having more
than one regular quarterback
this year and if Casey starts to-
morrow and does a capable job
of directing the offense the job
will probably be his for the
year. Conversely if he fails to
impress tomorrow, Cipa or
Slade might come in and win
the job.
But if Michigan's quarter-
backing slot is still a question
mark, the rest of the backfield
is all exclamation points. High-
lightin the Mammoth Blue
Wave's long list or runners is
two - time all-Big Ten tail-
back Taylor. The 5-11, 200
pound senior needs only 666
more yards rushing to break
Ron Johnson's Michigan rush-
ing record. Despite being in-
jured for a good part of his
first two years, Taylor has gar-
nered 1775 yards rushing and
scored 19 touchdowns.
Backing up Taylor, Schem-
bechler has Alan "Cowboy"
Walker, a 6-1 junior who missed
last year because of hepatitis
but has looked good of late and
seems to be cured of his earlier
trouble with fumbles.
-Daily-Terry McCarthy
Some days it just .. .
B. T. finds a hole
speed and hard tackling. He is
equally adept at pass coverage
or defending the rush.
Placekicker Dana C o i n and
former wolfman Tom Kee will
split up the duties next to Tay-
lor. Coin has some linebacking
experience after backing up
Huff for two seasons while Kee
is returning to his natural po-
sition, and also is considered a
good tackler.
The defensive backfield also
is loaded with hard tacklers and
speed but has only three let-
termen returning. Despite this
Young contends, "we have the
best depth in the backfield since
I've been here."
Captain Frank Gusich returns
at wolf, senior Tom Darden
opens at safety, his third dif-
ferent position in the backfield,
and Bruce Elliott is back for his
second season at wide halfback.
The probable starter at the
short side halfback is junior
Randy Logan who was a wing-
back on offense last year. Be-
hind these four will only be
sophomores,
Gusich is probably the best
hitter on the team and was in
on 56 tackles last year, includ-
ing 10 for losses. Darden moves
into Jim Betts' spot at safety
after leading the Wolverines in
interceptions 1 a s t season with
five and dropping 69 opposing
runners.
Elliott who will also be team-
ing up with Darden on the punt
return squad was a starter most
of last season after a pre-sea-
son injury kept him from early
action. Another Elliott, Dave
should see work at the short
side behind Logan.
The rest of the pass defend-
ers will be sophs Barry Dot-
zauer, Geoff Steger, and Tom
Drake. Dotzauer also will han-
dle the punting chores along
will move up. That's where
depth comes in."
Another problem which Mich-
igan, as well as many other col-
lege teams, is facing.-is the early
start of the season because of
the addition of an eleventh
game to the schedule. As a re-
sult the team has not had as
much chance to practice on its
general plays and formations.
Further complicating matters
is the presence of Northwestern
as Michigan's f i r s t opponent.
Young considers the Wildcats,
along with Ohio State, and
Michigan State as the Wolver-
ines top competitors for the Big
Ten title and consequently,
"we'll just have to be in mid-
season form in our first game.
And if we are successful, we'll
probably be farther along than
in a normal situation."
Wingback Doughty will be- al-
ternately rushing and scooting
out for passes this year is per-
haps the offense's key weapon.
Fully recovered from a knee
injury suffered his sophomore
year, Doughty was the most im-
pressive player this year in
spnrig practice and appears to
be in the finest condition of his
life.
Sophomore whiz Clint Hasel-
rig and junior Dave Zuccarelli
give Schembechler tremendous
backup strength at this posi-
tion.
If Schembechler is deep at,
wingback or tailback, he is
practically drowning with tal-
ent at fullback, where four
Wolverines, including three
sophomores have looked superb
in practice.
Starting for Michigan tomor-
row will be senior Fritz Sey-
ferth. At 6-5, 220 pounds Sey-
ferth is a proven fullback,
strong and a capable blocker.
Starting every game after the
first one last year, Seyferth
was second to Taylor in scoring
with 48 pooints including four
touchdowns against Minnesota.
Pressing him for the starting
job this year is sophomore Ed
Shuttlesworth, a 6-2 231 pound
bruiser from Cincinnati with
tremendous potential. In last
Saturday's intrasquad game
the powerful r u n n e r scored
three times.
Another big man at full-
back is sophomore Bob Thorn-
bladh. A tough competitor,
Thornbladh has been practic-
ing the' last two weeks with a
painful hip-pointer injury. The
leading scorer on the freshman
team last year, the quick 6-2
224 pounder from Cincinnati
was tried at linebacker in the
spring but was put back on of-
fense this fall.
Michigan's smallest fullback
contender is 6-2. 210 nound
The Wolverines have two ex-
cellent tight ends in junior Paul
Seymour and sophomore Paul
Seal. Seymour., 6-5, 231 pounds,
is a rugged blocker and fine
receiver, last year hauling in
13 passes. Back-up Seal is even
taller at 6-6 and has excellent
hands but still needs experi-
ence.
The center of Michigan's
line is solid with guards Mc-
Kenzie and Tom Coyle flanking
co-captain and center, Guy
Murdock. McKenzie is 6-4, 232
pounds with strength and
speed and will replace Dan
Dierdorf as the man Michigan
runs over most.
With the loss of all-AMerica
Dan Dierdorf and all-Big Ten
Jack Harpring, Schembechler
has had to come up with a new
pair of tackles, and he ap-
pears to have them in Jim
Brandstatter and Jim Coode.
Brandstatter has been back-
up for two years and has
looked good in practice this fall.
Coode, a junior, was unable to
play last year dut to an appen-
dectomy but has come back
strong.
Tight end Jerry Schumacher
has been switched to guard and
will back up McKenzie and
Coyle.
Under Schembechler Michi-
gan has relied on a strong
running game and they will
run until the opposition proves
it can stop it. Thus, Micligan,
with its tremendous assortment
of runners will probably try
and subdue their opponents on
the ground and only resort to
the pass when they come up
with a proven quarterback.
They will run over any and all
parts of the line from their
power-I formation, frequently
pulling in Doughty from his
wingback position. .
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Inside..
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First foe, Northwestern's Wildcats . . .
Profiles of Michigan's coaches . . .a..&.2
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