Soturdoy, September 14, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven NO MATCH FOR OHIO STATE, MICHIGAN Gophers remain distant third By MARC FELDMAN Cal Stoll's Minnesota Gophers led a charmed life last season as they compiled a 7-4 record and a third place finish in the Big Ten, but the Gophers will be hard pressed to show any improvement with the "Big Two" of Michigan and Ohio State still lying far above them. The Gophers were severely beaten in their four losses last year by Nebraska, Kan- Gopher graves S. 14 Ohio State S. 21 North Dakota S. 28 Texas Christian 0. 5 at Nebraska 0. 12 at Indiana 0. 19 Iowa 0. 26 AT MICHIGAN N. 2 Northwestern N. 9 at Purdue N. 16 Illinois N. 23 at Wisconsin sas, Michigan and Ohio State by a combined total of 172-40. However, some of Minnesota's victories were a little less im- pressive than their losses. . There was the game Min- nesota outfinessed Illinois, 19- 16, while the Illini had a slight edge in the statistics, 440-83 in total offense and 20-5 in first downs. * There was the only game the Gophers won over a team with a winning record, North Dakota, a school with one-sixth of Minnesota's enrollment and a schedule which includes such powers as Augustana, Morning- side and Northern Iowa. In short, the 1973 Gophers managed to beat every team that didn't hopelessly outman them with a good running attack, some lucky breaks and a porous defense. Needless to say, im- provement or even the same record will be a legitimate goal for the Gophers. For the third straight year, Minnesota will have a new quarterback opening day. This time it will be sophomore Tony Dungy of Jackson, Michi- gan. Dungy saw some action last year, mostly in the 48-7 thrashing by Nebraska, and Stoll gives him good grades in the execution of the Veer-T. "I have great confidence in Tony's ability" Stoll said. "He and our other young people are the key to our season." The Gopher offense was dealt a severe blow when freshman running back Larry Powell of nearby Ypsilanti, who gained 481 yards rushing last year, was struck with a rare virus commonly called "F r e n c h denced by his five fumbles in the Gopher spring game. Three Gopher linemen were selected in the professional draft last year leaving some gaping holes in the offensive line. The Gophers gave up more points than every Big Ten team except Iowa and Northwestern but the secondary is a bit more experienced this year with Doug Beaudoin, Orville Gilmore, and Greg Engenbos all in their sec- ond year in the backfield. Min- nesota was especially vulnerable to the pass as their eleven op- ponents averaged over 150 air yards a game. Northwestern's Mitch Ander- son laced the Gopher deep backs for 315 yards and five touchdowns last year as the Gophers prevailed in a game that could be mercifully de- scribed as a circus, 52-43. The Gophers will have to show a lot of defensive improvement to equal last year's 7-4 log, especially with the heavy grad- uation losses in the offensive line. Stoll's bunch must face Nebraska, Ohio State and Michi- gan again and some improved Big Ten clubs like Wisconsin. Hoosier defense snags Heater CORSO SEES OVERALL IMPROVEMENT Indiana rebuilding By JEFF LIEBSTER When Casey Stengel manag- ed the infant New York Mets to a 40-120 last place finish; along with other, unmentionable things, he was noted to have said, "There ain't no place to go but up!" Coach Lee Corso in his sec- ond year at Indiana could use this as an inspiration. After a year in which the Hoosiers did- n't win a conference game and finished 2-9 overall, Corso is op- timistic about the 1974 season. "There's no question that we're much further along this season," he says. "Last year we had to start from scratch. Now we know the players, Denny hopes for miracle (Continued from Page 9) es Baggett might deign to throw. Among other things, there is a glaring lack of depth on this team. Stolz hopes that this condition can be rectified by his freshman class. Full- back Paul Rudzinski, tight end Larry Bethea, tackle Bill Brown, and linebacker Claude Geiger were all high school All-Americans, and are being counted on heavily by Stolz. In the meantime, Stolz is keeping up a good front. "This team only scored 11 touchdowns last 3year, and we won five games. And two of our losses were by three and four points. I think that's some pretty good coaching." And on another subject, "Burt Smith did not ask me for ad- vice about his vote last No- vember. It was his decision to make, and he made it as he should have." As much as Denny may wish to forget Smith's decision, he realizes that Bo has not. But he can take consolation, small as it may be, in the knowledge that the Spartan loss to Michi- gan, bad, as it may be, will not be the only one of the 1974 season. and what offensive and defen- sive formations we want to use. It's bound to make us a better team right from the start. And, we also know more about what it takes to be a winner in the Big Ten." - Corso's extensive' rebuilding program may help Indiana win a few Big Ten contests, but it's highly unlikely that the Hoos- iers will be "winners." Indi- ana's schedule is identical to last year's and it couldn't be called easy. The Hoosiers are working on speed, and the offensive line has been altered in an attempt to accommodate an outside run- ning game. Corso has shifted tackles Bill Sparhawk and Tim Mills to the guard slots. Filling in at offensive tackles are huge former defensive tackles Dave Knowles (267) and Greg Mc- Guire (295). Corso also has recruited to alleviate the team's painful lack of speed, but he considers experienced returnees a more valuable asset than quick freshmen. If Indiana wants to have a re- spectable season, the running game will have to greatly im- prove. With the loss of Capt. Ken Starling, Courtney Snyder and Dennis Cremeens will take over the starting backfield du- ties. Both are competent backs, but not too fast or exciting. Unless the revamped interior line works magically or a fresh- man phenomenon emerges, getting outside and breaking for long gainers will be a rare occurrence. Watch for the Hoosiers to re- peat their 1973 performance of finishing last in the conference in rushing. The passing game appears to be in fine form. The Hoosiers' excellent corps of receivers is led by 6-5 Trent Smock and 6-2 senior Mike Flanagan. The pair ranked second and fourth in the Big Ten in receiving last year. Smock, also a varsity basketball standout, has been moved from tight end outside, thus enhancing his downfield threat. Once again Indiana is unde- cided abouts its starting quar- terback. Mike Glazier, Bob Kramer and Willie Jones are all experienced, and all could earn the number one spot. Soph- omore Terry Jones has an out- Hoosier hunters S. 14 at Illinois S. 21 Arizona S. 28 at Kentucky 0. S West Virginia 0. 12 Minnesota 0. 19 at Ohio State 0. 26 Wisconsin N. 2 MICHIGAN N. 9 at Northwestern' N. 16 Michigan State N. 23 at Purdue side track, but Junior Willie Jones, who passed with an ac- curacy of .563 last year is best bet for the job. Indiana's d e f e n s e which ranked eighth in the confer- ence last year also will have to come up with some surprises to aid in Corso's success bid. Lineman Mike Winslow has again moved to tight end, and he will be missed at defensive end. Quinn Buckner, a former stand- out at safety, has decided to forego football to concentrate on his hardcourt performance. The Hoosiers have high hopes for their new-look front five. Larry Jameson a 6-7 of- fensive tackle has shifted to defensive tackle and his speed and strength make him a likely bet to replace graduated star Carl Barzilauskas. One man does not a defensive line make, and it appears as if powerful opponents will not have it too hard against Indiana's line. The defensive backfield is not exceptionally weak, but Buckner's absence will take away some of the necessary leadership from the young team. One man to watch is line- backer Donnie Thomas. At 6-2, 253, Thomas combines amazing quickness with his strength and size to make him a candidate for all-Conference honors. Kick off the Football season with MR. PIZZA Liberty at Division Open 11 :30 a.m. Saturday DINE-IN CARRY-OUT FREE DELIVERY-769-8030 Rick Upchurch Polio." Powell has been treated at University Hospital here and will definitely be lost for the season. Powell had combined with Rick Upchurch to give the Gophers one of the most explo- sive backfields in the Big Ten last year but Stoll will be relying on junior college transfer J. D. Pride to pick up Powell's slack. Upchurch dazzled Gopher supporters with his 841 yards rushing and nine touchdowns a year ago. But Rick has been known for his propensity to fumble the football as evi-