Sunday, November, 22, 1970
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
Sunday, November 22, 1970 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven~
Somewhere their defense
had to crack-but it didn't.
-Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler
I'm not the least bit disappointed
with Michigan.
-Schembechler
SUNDAY SPORTS
NIGHT EDITORS: BILL ALTERMAN and JIM KEVRA
-Daily-Sara Krulwich
-Daily-Mort Noveck
OSU's Hayden (22) finds a hole
Putting the crunch on Billy Taylor (42)
The
ago T
that
was
Columbus
on this and that
Nine and one
is no digrace
eric siegel .,
COLUMBUS
THE MICHIGAN players walked slowly down the entranceway
to the visiting locker room at Ohio Stadium here yesterday.
unbuttoning their chin straps, removing their helmets, bearing
the jeers and the catcalls that the Ohio State fans poured down
on them.
No one was crying over the 20-9 loss to the Buckeyes-
not then, anyway-but it was obvious they were trying to
hold back their tears.
Later, in the Michigan locker room, there was some evidence
that there might have been some tears. Coach Bo Schembechler,
who had led him team to a 9-1 season and compiled a 17-4 rec-
ord in two seasons as head coach of the Wolverines, was backed
against some lockers, surrounded by a group of reporters, and
his eyes were red and his voice was low.
"I don't want anyone talking to the kids," Schembechler
said, almost choking on the words. "You can ask me anything
you want-but I don't want anyone talking to the kids."
The 'kids were, of course, the Michigan players-Don
Moorhead, Billy Taylor, Glenn Doughty, Fritz Seyferth,
Henry Hill, Jim Betts, Tom Darden and on through the four
dozen players who made the Michigan traveling roster, and
who had just gotten beaten in a game that would have given
' them the Big Ten championship and a possible shot at a
number one ranking in the wire service polls.
They did not play all that poorly yesterday; their defense
did almost everything one could expect of it.
But they did commit three costly fumbles, two of which
wound up in the hands of the Buckeyes; Moorhead threw an
interception that led to a score; and they were penalized a
costly 48 yards, yards that contributed to stalled drives on some
occasions and caused a loss of good field position on another.
It was not a perfect game and it was not, by Michigan
standards, even a good game, but Schembechler would not find
fault with his players.
"I'm not the least bit disappointed in Michigan," he
said, in his most forceful voice of his 10-minute press con-
ference. "We were high but we weren't nervous, we played
with good enthusiasm. You have to give credit to OSU."
Indeed, credit does have to be given to OSU. They came off
a poor game against Purdue which they won 10-7 in the last
two minutes, and responded with an almost flawless (with the
exception of one pass interception by Jim Betts) performance.
They moved the ball where the Wolverines couldn't-on the
ground-and they had good success in the air, too, as quarter-
back Rex Kern hit eight of 12 attempts for 87 yards.
Schembechler was given the opportunity to make excuses
yesterday, but he didn't take them. "I wouldn't blame anything
on the field," he told one reporter. "We've played on sod before."
Schembechler was taking this, his most bitter defeat in
his two year career as Michigan's head coach and probably
in his entire football career as a coach and player, but he
was taking it openly and directly and as well as he possibly
could.
"Can you talk a little louder?" a reporter near the back of
the crowd asked.
"I'm talking as loud as I can," Schembechler answered, per-
haps a bit too harshly.
There are, undoubtedly, certain members of the press who
will criticize Bo for saying too little too softly, for making them
wait too long before letting them in the locker room, and for not
letting them talk with his players. Indeed, they were grumbling
yesterday.
In some ways, their criticism is justified. A player who can
talk after a 42-0 victory should be able to talk after a bitter
loss, even if it's just to say that his team lost and that's all
there is.
And yet one can see Bo's feelings about barring the press
from talking to the players. They are, after all, entitled to
some privacy, and the world will not be that much worse
off for not knowing how Lance Scheffler felt about fumbling
the opening kickoff and giving the Buckeyes three points
early in the game or for not knowing how Don Moorhead
felt throwing an interception deep in his own territory in
the fourth quarter with his team down by four points. Or
for not knowing how Billy Taylor felt gaining just 31 yards
bM
rushers thwarted;
OSU defense immobile
By PAT ATKINS
Special To The Daily
COLUMBUS - All year 1o n g
Buckeye fans had been asking
when Woody would turn the
offense loose.
Yesterday afternoon, when the
only moving room was in the air,
they got their answer.
With both Ohio State a n d
Michigan defenses performing
as expected against the ground
attack, kicking and passing
dominated the Big Ten champ-
ionship.
No longer a question mark, the
under-pressure passing of Rex
Kern - not the bulling of John
Brockington - caught the Wol-
verines from behind.
Michigan, stopped cold on the
ground with 37 net yards rush-
ing, dropped passes, allowed an
interception and missed an ex-
tra point to stymie its chances
for two repeat first places.
"Our defense was good, but
our offense could not move t h e
ball. I believe you have to run
the football. Somewhere their
defense had to crack - but it
critics
-Daily-Denny Gainer
Scheffler (45) fumbles opening kickoff
didn't," Michigan Coach Bo
Schembechler said.
In the first half, Michigan
managed only 18 yards on the
ground, its longest run from
scrimmage coming then on a six
yard delayed jaunt by B i 11 y
Taylor. Quarterback Don Moor-
head and Kern dueled to an aer-
ial stand-off, each throwing
touchdown passes.
But soon in the f o u r t h
quarter Michigan's Armeggedon
came, as Kern, using Brocking-
ton and Leon Hayden, took the
ball 46 yards on the ground in
nine plays to the Michigan 27
yard line. A 16 yard completion
to Jan White just about assur-
ed the field goal by Fred
Schram. It came at 4:11 of the
third quarter and put O h i o
State's lead to 13-9.
Then, with Michigan pres-
sured once again to take to the
air from back on its own 20,
Stan White picked off a Moor-
head pass an ran it back 15
yards to the Michigan n i n e
yard line. Three plays later it
was 20-9.
Kern, letter perfect in t h e
first half, lofted the ball high
six times for six completions.
"Rex Kern did a great j o b
today. We did not play Ron
Maciejowski because of the way
Rex was going - and you don't
change horses in the middle of
the stream," Buckeye Coach
Woody Hayes explained when
all was over.
If the Wolverines' passing
looked effective, it was o n 1 y
in comparison to their rushing
efforts. Schembechler noted,
*We didn't move on the ground
and that hurt."
Taylor, leading Wolverine
rusher with 898 yards going into
yesterday's game, pushed f o r
only 31 yards in 15 tries. No
other Wolverine even broke into
double figures on rushing yard-
age. Taylor was more success-
ful as a receiver, catchingrfive
Moorhead aerials for 53 yards.
.. In the meantime Ohio State,
led by Hayden with 117 n e t
yards, rushed for 107 net yards
in the first half and 135 in the
second.
The ineffectiveness of the
Wolverine rushing game began
noticeably sapping the strength
of Michigan's drives after Moor-
head had just brought his team-
mates to within one, 10-9, on a
13 yard toss to Paul Staroba
halfway through the third
quarter.
The 'M' defense dug in, forcing
the Bucks to turn over the ball
without a first down. Two hand-
offs for a gain of one to Taylor
and a rushed pass incompletion
were all that the Wolverines
could garner.
Once again, the ,Michigan de-
fense kept the Buckeyesfrom
a first down, and a short 30-
yard punt by Gary Lago s e t
Michigan up just inside its own
territory.
With Michigan gaining mo-
mentum and in menacing field
position, the record crowd of
87,331 began to chant the let-
ters apprehensively, "O-H-I-O."
As usual in Ohio Stadium, they
needn't have worried.
Taylor went over right tackle
to gain his two yards per car-
ry average, then Moorhead pass-
ed complete to Doughty. But a
Wolverine offside penalty nulli-
fied the pass completion.
Penalized into a second down
and 13 situation, Moorhead hit
Seymour on the right side and
saw the ball go off the tight
end's fingertips. As Moorhead
again tried to pass, Buckeye
middle guard Jim Stillwagon
rushed in to paste the quarter-
back on a seven yard loss.
The Buckeyes, on their next
series of downs, scored the field
goal, then picked off M o ofr
head'spass and moved the ball
into the enemy end zone for
their 20-9 margin of victory.
"We helped them make points
with our mistakes," Schembech-
ler said. Hayes' Buckeyes were
equally adept at makingpenal-
ties, throwing interceptions, and
fumbling.
But there was, as Schembech-
ler observed, that one all-im-
portant difference.
c"-I
By PAT ATKINS
Special To The Daily
COLUMBUS -A not so subtle
chant of "we want Mace," mean-
ing Ron Maciejowski, has been
quietly murmured here in Ohio
Stadium during much of the
Buckeye season .
The speakers of those traitor-
ous statements ate their words
yesterday afternoon, as the Rex
Kern of old returned to O h i o
Stadium.
Kern, playing the entire game
because Ohio State coach Woody
Hayes chose not to change good
"horses in midstream," provid-
ed both the physical and mental
leadership that Hayes and his
assistants have looked for all
season.
The Buckeye quarterback pass-
ed complete in 8 of 12 attempts
for 87 yards, and fed the ball
act
quiets
tints
for
rMace'
die
cleanly 55 times to fullback
John Brockington and halfback
Leo Hayden.
With the game over and the
smell of roses wafting across a
berserk Ohio State crowd in the
process of removing goal posts,
Woody could even find pleasure
in talking of his squabbles with
his quarterback.
"Here I am trying to close
the generation gap by listening
to Rex," Hayes joked afterwards,
"and it backfires. That's the
last time for a while that I'll
listen to the youth of America.
The Kern-Hayes squabble sit-
uation had been generated by a
Bill Taylor fumble on a Don
Moorhead aerial. Taking over
on the Michigan 48, Kern
promptly tossed a 19 yarder to
halfback Tom Campana down on
the 27. Hayden pushed for four
more yards, Hayes calling time
with only 22 seconds left in the
half.
Woody Hayes figured with
time dwindling and the ball on
the 23 that no better spot could
come for a field goal. So Kern
was waved off, and kicked Fred
Schram sent in.
When Kern disagreed with the
strategy, Hayes was prevailed
upon to reverse his edict. In trot-
ted Kern to pass quicklyto
Brockington for four more
yards. But the obviously con-
fused Buckeyes muddled out the
rest of the clock to leave the
halftime score at Ohio State 10,
Michigan 3.
Other than that one miscue,
though, Hayes could find no
fault in his quarterback. K e r n
fumbled once, three plays after
the Buckeyes had pounced on
the Wolverines' game opening
fumble. But he quicklylanded on
top, no real damage having been
done.
Hayes had been careful to
point out before the game that
Kern's slow start was due to a
shoulder injury acquired by
Kern in last year's Illinois game.
But he had also pointed out
that the injury in no way ham-
pered Kern's "ball handling or
his sense of rhythm and tim-
ing." To those watching on na-
tional television and those in
attendance, Woody's statement
held true in yesterday's game as
well.
Hayden carrying the ball,"
Hayes noted. The play, depend-
ent on Kern's timing, was bor-
rowed from Michigan.
"It is in our book and they
must have borrowed and refined
it," Hayes recalled. "So we bor-
rowed it back."
If the Buckeyes had lost, it
would not have been so relaxed
and amusing - not the recount-
ing of the Kern-Hayes sideline
exchange nor the joking about
borrowed plays.
But Kern had come back and
the Buckeyes had the Big Ten
championship. And the world
looked very rosy indeed.
Ohio State methodically ruins
Wolverines' unblemished record
-ood b e, Columbus
FINAL STATISTICS
FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
TOTAL NUMBER
OF' RUSHES
NET YARDS
Rushing
Passing
FORWARD PASSES
ATTEMPTED
Completed
Intercepted by
Yards interception
returned
TOTAL PLAYS
Rushes and passes
PUNTS, Number
Averag distanc
icfh. Ohio
10 18
6 5
1 01
30 65
118 87
Passing
Att. Comp.
26 12
Receiving
Moorhead.
Staroba
'Taylor
D~ought y
Int. Yds.
1 118
No. Yds.
6 56
5 53
1 9
Total 12 119
Punting
No. Yds. Ave.
7 290 41.4
.IContinued from Page 1)
day, but it was not the only one.
The Wolverines handed the
Bucks a quick three points when
Lance Scheffler fumbled the op..
ening kickoff and OSU's Harry
Howard pounced on the ball at
Michigan's 25. Kern, who com-
pleted 8 of 12 passes for 87 yards
and directed the Bucks' 329-yard
offensive performance, moved the
ball down to the 10 yard line with
a 14 yard pass to Bruce Jankow-
ski.
But the Bucks moved the ball
iust four vards in the next three
period, got a bad break when a
beautiful, 73-yard Staroba punt
from the Michigan 24 was called
back because of a personal foul.
Staroba, punting from his own 11,
then booted the ball down to the
Buckeyes' 45, and Anderson re-
turned it eight yards to the Wol-
verine 47.
With Brockington, who picked
up 77 yards on 27 carries for the
afternoon, doing the brunt of the
running, the Bucks drove to the
Michigan 26 in 11 p 1 a y s. The
Bucks, faced with a third and ten
c;-+-- rn.++r fan air . n a
their own midway through t h e
fourth quarter, when Anderson
touched a Staroba punt at mid-
field and Reggie McKenzie,pounc-
ed on the ball, giving Michigan a
first and ten at the 50.
The Wolverines, still plagued by
ineffective running game, made 19
yards in the air on passes to Billy
Taylor and Staroba. But the drive
stalled a couple of p la y s later
when Glenn Doughty dropped
Moorhead's fourth and eight pass
around the ten, and Ohio State
ate up the last several minutes on
the ground.
26
12
12
,,taroba
Kern
imay den
Brockington
G albos
25 15
OHIO STATE
Rushing
Tries Ga
6 13
28 11
27 7
4 4
56
7
41.4
77
6
281
ins
13
8
9
3
Loss Net
8 5
1 '117
2 77
0 43
I
L