Saturday, October 24, 197G THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine' Saturday, October 24, ~ 97G THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine1 Goldei Gophers rampaging for revenge 7he Court Minnesota defense challenges resurgent Michigan offense Jeter A. LEE KI Looking back ... I RK I and looking ahead FOR AS LONG as anyone remembers Michigan's 1969 grid campaign, they will remember the grand finale which saw the Wolverines top number one rated Ohio State, 24-12. But only trivia freaks, sports nuts and other demented souls will remember the game that made it all possible, a game played four weeks earlier in Minneapolis against the always rugged Gophers. This was the game in which the Wolverines proved themselves, proved that they could overcome adversity in the best Michigan tradition. In case you've forgotten, the Wolverines downed the Gophers, 35-9, but the rather lopsided looking score is scarcely indicative of the kind of game it was. The Wolverines crawled into the locker room at halftime trailing 9-7. They hadn't looked that bad in the first half, but the Gophers booted three field goals and kept the Michigan attack bottled up fairly well. The maize and blue legions were apparently still a little numb from the 23-12 embarrassment they had suffered the previous Saturday at East Lansing/ Losses to Michigan State are never easy to swallow, and last year's was particularly painful as the Wolverines were chewed up and spit out by an inferior Spartan team. THE FIRST HALF of the Minnesota game last year made it look as though Michigan was going to stay on the roller coaster ride that was the first half of the season and settle back to being mediocre. Indeed, it looked as though the ups and downs that highlighted the first half of the '69 season could go on for ever. The Wolverines were riding high for their first two games, lopsided waltzes over Vanderbilt and Washington. They then played one fine quarter against rugged Missouri, only to fall apart in the second stanza, yielding an incredible 24 points to trail, 24-3 at the half. But Michigan was only down, not out. They ground out two third quarter TD drives, but conveniently re-opened the floodgates for the Tigers by allowing a punt to be blocked, and finally lost 40-17. But they rebound the next week to whip Purdue and Mike Phipps 31-20 in impressive fashion, only to collapse against the Spartans. In amassing a 3-2 record through the first half of their season, the maize and blue had been any- thing but consistent. But back to Minneapolis. Quite unexpectedly, Michigan faced their Rubicon by the Mississippi, which might have pleased Caesar or Mark Twain, but you can bet it did nothing for Bo Schembechler. But Bo Schembechler did get something into his Wol- verines at halftime. If he could bottle and patent it, he'd be very rich, for the once lethargic Michigan squad went out in the second half and swarmed up and down the field like the Gophers weren't there to win going away. But you can bet that Minnesota will be there today. Minnesota has gotten a reputation as a team that comes on strong in the second half of the season. But this does not mean that they are a bad first half team, they usually just play a nasty early schedule. This year was no exception, as they en- dured Nebraska, Missouri and Ohio State. It is no disgrace to lose to these teams, and Minnesota was disgraced. On the other hand, the Gophers looked impressive in 49-7 and 23-0 wins over Ohio U. and Indiana, respectively. THE GOPHERS would like nothing better than to rub out the memory of two successive rather one-sided defeats by Mich- igan and return the Little Brown Jug to the Twin Cities. A win t! over the Wolverines would thrust the Gophers into the race for the Big Ten title, strange though it may sound. An Ann Arbor triumph would give them a shot at a 6-1 record and a three way tie with Michigan and Ohio State if the Wolverines beat Ohio State. Of course, they would have to win from Northwestern, the last of the Big Ten's weak sisters still unbeaten in conference play. Minnesota lost 28-8 at Columbus last week, which might not look like an advantage, but it is. Michigan and Ohio State are very similar teams, especially on defense. If past performances are any indication, this is indeed a distinct advantage. Two other teams have played OSU and Michigan back to back this season, Texas A&M and Michigan State. Both got thumped by the Bucks, but came back strong, against the Wolverines. The'Spartans adjusted their offense slightly and went from no points to 20 against defenses that. are roughly equal. Intsead of trying quick hitters like they did against the Bucks, MSU used deep handoffs to scatback Eric Allen to offset Michigan's extremely quick defensive linemen. It worked, as Allen skipped and slithered through the Tartan for 152 yards. WHAT ADJUSTMENTS the Gophers will make remain to be seen, but Murray Warmath likes his teams to run the ball, and the. Gophers last week must have disappointed their coach as they got something like 38 yards on the ground while passing 49 times, completing 29. On defense, Minnesota also has a score to settle. In the game last year, a sophomore tailback previously distinguished only by his ability to fumble replaced the injured Glenn Doughty and romped for 151 yards and instant stardom. His name was Billy Taylor, and he is back at tailback now after a slow start at fullback. Taylor rolled for 149 yards in 19 carries last Satur- day in his season debut at the tail of the tandem as the Mich- igan offense found the combination and the timing to score, ' score, score. Now if the defense can only revert to its early season form and become stingy again, the Wolverines could go from very good to, dare I say it, awesome. A Detroit Free Press sports writer earlier this week wrote a column addressed to the question of whether or not Michigan would go undefeated this year. Coaches like Bo don't especially like this kind of question, as it bypasses four games and goes right to Columbus. Schembechler knows as well as anyone that "you gotta play 'em one at a time," and he is saying that By TERRI FOUCHEY In the beginning, Michigan had to face the wrath of for- eigners more than happy to par- take of a Big Ten scalp. During these battles, they looked on in horror as their brothers of the Midwest were slowly torn apart by these eastern, western, and southern invaders, and, that big Irish bully in the middle of their own block. The Wolverines, like their brothers, looked to the warmth and safety of the seven game conference schedule as a chance to meet people who know who is best and who is allowed to beat whom. However, by the whim of the schedule maker, and, as always happens when brother turns against brother, the Wolverines met with even fiercer opposition than the for- eigners had shown. The schedule maker formed the counter-fra- ternity of Purdue, Michigan State and Minnesota, sworn to the task of ravaging and pillag- ing the Wolverines. The first two have failed in their duty, but the third is more than ready and willing to do the job for all three. From out of the North Coun- try come the Golden Gophers, big, strong, and hoping to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. Last year, it was they who went in at halftime lead- ing 9-7, then came out and met a suddenly motivated Wolver- ine team and lost 35-9, provid- ing the momentum for Michi- gan's surge toward the confer- The Michigan-Minnesota game begins at 1:15 and will be car- ried over radio stations WWJ' 950 AM; WPAG, 1050 AM; AM, 1600 AM; WUOM, 91.7 FM, and WCBN, 650 AM. The game will also be televised by ABC on channel 7. SPORTS NIGHT EDITOR: TERRI FOUCHEY ence co-championship. A part of their motivation is also sup- plied by the fact that they feel the Little Brown Jug has n o t been in the hands of its proper owners for the past two years. Head coach Bo Schembechler feels the Gophers have the talent to fulfill their duty. "They're the toughest of the Big Three we've met in the confer- ence, and the best team we've faced so far." Their credentials are impres- sive. Last week, the defense managed to throttle Rex Kern and Company for the final 40 minutes. After allowing 21 points in the first 20 minutes, "they tightened up, played better all around and stopped them cold," according to Schembechler. This defense into which Billy Taylor, Glenn Doughty, and Don Moorhead will v e n t u r e by ground is led by tackles Steve Thompson, and Mike Goldberg, along with linebackers Ron King and Bill Light. Light has aver- aged 10 solo tackles per game this season. Earning 460 total yards 1 a s t week against Michigan State, the Wolverine offense came to life and dominated for the first time this season. 304 of those came as a result of ground as- sauts after which most of the question marks concerning the Blue offense were usually plac- ed. Taylor and Doughty seemed at last to find the places where they belong in this year's attack. The passing game also flourish- ed as Moorhead and his receiv- ers connected on 12 passes for 156 yards. If Moorhead and Machine find the going by ground a bit rough, they may turn to their passing game which blossomed last week, but the Gophers are prepared to thwart their hopes in this department, too. Jeff Wright, the Minnesota captain, sparks the secondary at right half. He is considered the best at his position in the Big Ten and has three of the Gophers' 14 thefts to his credit. As Schembechler noted, "I wouldn't change their defense if I was in their position. It work- ed well." If the Wolverines are expect- ed to come out running and throwing, their defense can ex- pect similar behavior from the Minnesota offense. Craig Curry, their junior quarterback, is the man who does both well. "He's the best quarterback we've faced all year. He's a great runner and passer, so he's an especial threat with _the option," Schem- bechler says. Against Ohio State, ,Curry, who leads the Big Ten in total offense with 558 yards in two games, completed 28 of 47 pass- es for 297 yards when it be- came apparent that Tatum and Thugs were going to be stingy in giving up portions of their turf. Schembechler o b s e r v e s, "They were forced to forget their game plan and keep throw- ing. They passed so much be- cause t h e y got behind so quickly." Curry's favorite receiver last week was sophomore tight end Doug Kingsriter, who grabbed seven passes for 77 yards. He found nine different targets in his aerial attack on the Buck- eyes including split end Kevin Hamm, who caught six and tight end Bart Buetow, who snagged four. The Gopher attack does, how- ever, feature some running, "strong, power running" Schem- bechler describes it. Held to only 70 yards last week, the land -Daily-Sara Krulwich DON MOORHEAD (27) watches as Michigan's p remier running back Billy Taylor (42) carries around end in last week's Wolverine victory over Michigan State. Taylor had his best game of the season, rushing for 149 yards and scoring thr ee touchdowns. assault forces are ready to break loose. Fullback Ernie Cook and halfback Barry Mayer have gained a combined 671 yards this season, averaging 5.6 and 5.2 respectively. Cook and Mayer may be able to run, but they should not damage the Michigan defense as did MSU's one man running game, Eric Allen. "Our defense didn't suffer a letdown, Allen had a lot to do with it. He broke tackles two and three times on his long gainers. Minnesota has a more balanced offense, but I expect our defense to be all right against it," Schembechler stated. Injury-wise, the Wolverines have tight end Tom Huiskens defenitely out with a knee in- jury. Guard Werner Hall is listed as a doubtful starter as the result of a pinched nerve in his shoulder. Aside from these, Michigan will have everyone who suited up for the Michigan State game. Against the fired- up Gophers they need these bodies in the same working con- dition as they were while facing the Spartans. The Lineups Offense (30) (71) (65) (53) (60) (72) (85) (27) (42) (32) (22) (91) (99) (30) (82) (90) (33) (70) (14) (21) (35) (23) MICHIGAN Paul Starboda (209) Jack Harpring (224) Reggie McKenzie (220) Guy Murdock (215) Tom Coyle (228) Dan Dierdorf (250) Paul Seymour (235) Don Moorhead (200) Bill Taylor (200), Fritz Seyferth (202) Glenn Doughty (195) SE LT LG C RG RT TE QB TB FB WB (80) (77) (62) (56) (60) (78) (86) (10) (38) (30) (25) MINNESOTA Kevin Hamm (212) John Thompson (244) Paul Tollefson (221) Bob Eastlund (215) Vern Winfield (224) Alvin Hawes (245) Bart Buetow (215) Craig Curry (190) Barry Mayer (215) Ernie Cook (207) John Marqueson (205) Tom Lavaty (223) Steve Thompson (234) Rich Crawford (223) Mike Goldberg (235) Matt Herkenhoff (224) Ron King (214) Bill Light (227) Ron Anderson (197) Mike White (185) Jeff Wright (187) Walt Bowser (170) Defense Phil Seymour (215) Tom Beckman (245) Henry Hill (220) Pete Newell (225) Mike Keller (210) Mike Taylor (217) Marty Huff (230) Frank Gusich (190) Bruce Elliott (176) Tom Darden (190) Jim Betts (185) LE LT MG RT RE WLB MLB WOLF DHB DHB S (58) (70) (31) (72) (89) (54) (50) (24) (28) (27) (11) IN THREE WAY TIE: Wildcats risk By JIM EPSTEIN The Northwestern Wildcats find themselves in an unaccustomed position today, on top. The Wild- cats are in a three way tie with Michigan and Ohio State for the Big Ten lead. This represents a big advance for the perennial cel- lar dwellers. But the bubble may be burst to- day as Northwestern tests a Pur- due team that has been both very good and very bad at different times this season. The Wildcats' best is running back Mike Adamle. Adamle, a senior, picked up 316 yards rush- ing in the Wisconsin game 1a s t year, on his way to amassing 666 for the season. An All-Big T e n selection at halfback for 1969, Adamle has already gained 492 yards on the ground this year, averaging 4.5 yards a carry. Leading the offense is junior quarterback Maurie Daigneau who has hit for 507 yards and f i v e touchdowns through the air in a -Daily-Sara Krulwich Tom Darden returns a punt against MSU ,onferen4 rushing dominated offense. The I backbone of the offense, accordingj to Northwestern coach Alex Agase,1 is the offensive lines, where the starters from tackle to tackle are all seniors. Although the Wildcats record is only 2-3, with any luck it could have been 4-1. Against 16th ranked UCLA, Northwestern lost 12-7 giving up a 53-yard TD pass late in the fourth period. With a minute remaining in the contest, a I Wildcat receiver dropped a sure, touchdown pass that would have won the game. In the Southern Methodist game a missed conversion doomed Northwestern to a 21-20 defeat. In light of these performances, and considering the quality of their recent teams, it is under-i standable thatAgase calls the 1970 squad "the best team I'veI ever coached." Despite his pleasure with this year's squad, Agase is more than concerned about the Purdue team he faces today. "They're a better team than they showed against Notre Dame. They beat one of the better teams in the country in Stanford.,, Purdue's big gun on offense is sophomore halfback Otis Arm- strong. Armstrong has gained:463 yards rushing, an average of 4.7 yards a try. Co-Big Ten leader Ohio State plays Illinois at Champaign today in what should be little more than exercise for the Buckeyes. The Il- lini are up against the nation's leading rushing offense, sixth ranked scoring team, ninth ranked team in total offense, and a de- fense that is ranked in the top Booters begin, !busy weekend Michigan's soccer team will compete in two matches this weekend. Today at 10:30 a~m. the Wolverine booters will host Western Michigan at Fuller Field. Michigan is 0-2 in the collegiate division. Michigan will then travel to Toledo to- morrow for a confrontation with United of the Toledo League. twenty against the rush and against scoring. Also in action in Big Ten play are four teams' with a combined record of 4-15-1, Wisconsin (1- 3-1) taken on the hurting Hoos- iers of Indiana (1-4) in Bloom- ington, and a pair of 1-4 teams, Iowa and Michigan State will shoot for their second victory at East Lansing. lead .yy:.; ". rr. .;.n :.;:, :"gy,.}"w.: os};.i :":e:?^:tio lti:'. : :v: ': a .... J.':.:.1V.......:':Y...Y.:'J:.'.f': .4'.:::.41:':....":::'f:':::":SiY Y.'.M1 MICHIGAN Northwestern Ohio State Iowa Indiana2 Big Ten Standings Conference Games W L T PF PA 2 0 0 63 20 2 0 0 72 74 2 0 0 57 8 1 1 0 27 38 1 1 6 30) 47 W 5 2 4 1 1 All Games L T PF PA 0 0 114 42 3 0 113 82 0 0 147 31 4 0 51 127, 4 0 63 135 i x: AM-