TLII^ ii t!^Lllf AAI MA 41 V AAhCh 71AIC - I ~r I III :.c Thursday. September 6, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAUA/-INt ruyu IIIa i oot Bal. . RT I /-)By RICH STUCK 0I est and r g 0 t st -"""" .Nedi& .Stemn Welcome to Micihgan . . The 1972 Michigan football, season: three acts. a play in *. -Bo and football Dan Borus - THOSE ARE RITUAL RITES of autumn which are performed here in Ann Arbor every football Saturday. Whenever the Wolverines are on hand to embarrass the opposition, you can find amusements of every sort: wine in the stands, marching bands and a wire-haired trrior who pushes a soccer ball (Maize and Blue, of course) the entire length of the football field. Nearly everyone goes to the ancient stadium at least once during his or her four year residence in the "Research Center of the Midwest" and most come back for more. The high priest of this celebration is one Glenn E. (Bo) Schembechler, a taciturn semi-living legend who has seen his teams lose but three games in the last three years. Ironically all of those games have been the last contest of the campaign. But despite Schembecher's, Bo to you, success and the huge contract he penned with the Athletic Department, his talents -have at times been met withless than total enchant- ment. The complaint, emanating from some corners is that Schem- bechler's style is "dull." Proficient, yes, but not quite the type of ball that wows 'em. Schembechler's style of play, known alternately as "Meat Grinderism" or "First and Shuttlesworth" is technically superb. A Michigan sweep or off-tackle is almost always perfectly exe- cuted. Yet it is razzle-dazzle that thrills the fans. "I can'tstand that running game. I don't like going," says one afficiando who does anyway. "The opposition is so weak, the game plays like a script," says Daily photog Dave "Magic Eye" Margolick, who doesn't mind snapping a couple of good shots. Detroit Free Press Sports Editor Joe Falls, who, by the by, has helped pen a book, Man in Motion, which describes the Michi- gan exploits of a very swift Bo Schembechler, found the 42-0 pasting Schembechler's boys handed Minnesota homecoming last year, "boring. Bo has a standard retort, "They don't pay off if you're ex- citing, he says whenever challenged on the lack of color of his squad," they pay off if you win." Actually the criticisms have always seemed a trifle over- done. Schembechler's strength is his ability to maximize his talent. True, .he prefers the conservative running game be- cause of its inherent safety, but he does not and has not hesi- tated the throw the pigskin when he has the man to do it right. When Don Morehead was flashing his Maize and Blue togs, Michigan had an airborne attack that was slightly more formid- able than the 1971 version. That year Tom Slade, not exactly a Joe Namath in the air but an excellent blocker, was in control and Bp played his strong suit, running. For football fans who trucked to see an unknown quantity at the Stadium last year didn't have to search for excitement. Gil Chapman's punt return against Tulane, his thrilling gallop on an end-reverse in the grudge match with MSU; Chuck Heater's crawling run in the 'last minutes of a tight clash with Purdue; and the numerous defensive gems turned in by a supposedly in- experienced secondary immediately pop to mind. And this year with the clamor for "rock 'em, sock 'em" foot- ball, Bo, as he reveals in shining colors in the football ticket bro- chure, is "going to pass more." Bo and Michigan are going to pass more because they have the man to do it. Dennis Franklin, whose decision to matriculate at Michigan is rpmored to have sent Woody Hayes into such depths of despair that he sent a telephone through the window of his Ohio State office, returns to quar- terback the club with all of last year's glowing stats and thrilling moves under his belt. Franklin, in his first varsity campaign, ended the year as the third leading passer in-the conference (this on a team that doesn't like to throw) and the second most potent man with the football, averaging five yards either through the air or on the ground every time he laid hands on the semi-spheroid. Franklin completed a flat 50 per cent of his Big Ten tosses, good for four touchdowns. Such are the stats of a man who spends his summer throwing footballs through swinging tires in Masilon, Ohio. Yet before Schembechler and his squads can be enrolled among football's deities, he, and they will have to get over the stumbling block: the last game. With losses in two Rose Bowls and two games to Ohio State, Schembechler is up against a minor jinx. This year, with tough OSU and possibly even tougher South- ern Cal on tap, may be the year he no longer is referred to as "good, but boring". He being Michigan's Bo'Schembecher. CAST OF CHARACTERS: Bo Schembechler, head coach and football genius Dennis Franklin, quarterback: cool under pres- sure Ed Shuttlesworth, fullback, uses body as batter- ing ram Chuck Heater, tailback, who came on strong to grab spotlight Mike Lantry, Vietnam veteran, resident kicking specialist The entire Wolverine defense that led the na-' tion against the score Woodrow W. Hayes, fat villian from that school down south ACT I, SCENE I, ANN AR3OR It is a typically beautiful Saturday afternoon at the Big "U". Two football squads are present. Students, carrying the omnipresent Boone's Farm wine, pour into the 104,000 seat stadium. North- western is the opponent for the hometown Michigan grid squad and many consider the game dull and boring. It is, however, the baptismal under fire of sophomore quarterback D e n n i s Franklin. Franklin responds, connecting with Bo Rather for a 21 yard scoring pass which gave Michigan its opening day victory. Michigan's crafty mentor, Bo Schembechler, doesn't seem to mind the score a bit, "As long as we win that's all that counts." He also has some prophetic words about Franklin, the first black field general for the Maize and Blue. "He is go- ing to be good. He'll get better every week." SCENE II, LOS ANGELES The Wolverines travel to the glitter capital of America to do battle with the highly touted UCLA Bruins, who had come fresh off an earlier upset Gridders Last Year's Record: 10-1 Last Year's Finish: First (tie) 7-1 Freshman Recruits: Greg Boik, og; Rick White, wr; Dick McAuliffe, wr; Jim Hall, ot Probable Finish: High as the sky of mighty Nebraska. The Wolverines are ready and came out fighting. Combining their stiff de- fense with their overpowering running attack the Wolverines squash the sixth ranked Bruins 26-9. Leading the way is fullback Ed Shuttlesworth, who ground out 115 yards and collected two TD's. UCLA mentor Pepper Rodgers is quite impress- ed; "Michigan was just too physical for us to handle. They really put us through the meat grind- er."' SCENE III, ANN ARBOR Michigan's meat grinder quickly chews up 18th- ranked Tulane, 41-7 as Shuttlesworth again leads the attack with 151 yards and three TD's. The usually sleeping or drunk second half Michigan crowd is on its feet this time as a youngster named Chuck Heater bursts onto the stage with some spectacular twisting and turning runs and gains 51 yards in only seven carrigs. The Naval Academy is sent back to Annapo- lis for more basic training the following week- end as the Meat Grinder puts the game away in the second half for a 35-7 victory. One week later a season high throng of 103,735 poured into the historic Ann Arbor stadium to watch the Maize and Blue take on interstate rival and second rate school-Michigan State. The Green Meanies, led by a stout-hearted defense and a fumbling offense, gave the locals a bitter time of it. Both teams fight tooth and nail before noted "conservative" Schembechler calls on one of his secret plays for victory. Speedy Gil Chapman takes a pitch on an end reverse and flies down the left, sideline to score the game's only touchdown. Tackle Paul Seymour, a converted end who is later to gain All-America honors, delivers a crunching block that frees Chapman on the exciting dash. Final Score: The Good Guys 10:, Moo U. 0. SCENE IV, ILLINOIS On paper the Illni looked tough. As it turns out, however, the Illini proved no match for the Big Blue Machine as they overwhelmed Illinois 31-7. Taking a 24-0 lead into the locker room at the half, the Wolverines are not as ready to play in the second half as they played on a 7-7 par with Bob Blackman's crew. This prompts Blackman to announce that the game turned around in the second half and that with a few breaks we could have won it." Schembech- ler's tart reply is perhaps more correct: "We dominated this game from start to finish." SCENE V, BLOOMINGTON After smashing Minnesota 42-0 in Ann Arbor, the Mammouth Blue Wave squares off against the lightly regarded Hoosiers. The contest turns out to be the closest of the year. The Wolverines need two fourth quarter touchdowns to break a 7-7 tie open and gain a shaky 21-7 victory. SCENE VI, IOWA CITY Down went the Hawkeyes 31-0 and the Wol- verines, predicted for no better than a second place finish at the beginning of the season, find thmselves in a position to win it all. ACT 2: ENTER MIKE LANTRY Needing only a win over. Purdue to tie for the title, the Wolverines find things grim in the game against the Boilermakers. A 6-6 tie seemed im- minent in the fourth quarter. Then the fireworks started. A Gary Danielson pass is intercepted by Randy Logan and gives the offense one final chance to move the ball for the winning score. .The ubiquitious Heater picks up 22 yards, scram- bling on his hand's and knees for a good ten of those yards, and Franklin scrambles for more. With the clock down to a minute, Bo decides to send in kicker Lantry. Lantry nervously approaches the ball the boot it from under the finger of holder Tom Slade. The ball sails directly through the up- rights for a 9-6 victory and at least a tie for the league crown. ACT 3: ENTER VILLIAN (WOODY HAYES). As the olde adage goes: Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. So close did Michigan come to winning this football game, the team could smell Pasadena roses that go to Ohio State instead. The Buckeyes stop the Wolverines on three different occasions, two on the goal line, to thwart a Michigan win. It would have taken a hand grenade to blast a hole in the Buckeye defense, something not legal in college ball. The 14-11 loss is an untime- ly bitter blow to Schembechler who has now seen his last four teams drop the last game of the season. A tragic ending. Exuent all PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME Most of the starting cast is back for this year and General Bo Schembechler is not about to let that last one slip away again. Two areas, offensive and defensive lines where the likes of Seymour, All Big Ten Tom Coyle an'd Fred Grambau are gone, will need rebuilding. Dave Gallagher, Don Coleman and Walt Wil- liamson should fill the bill defensively as they have for the last two seasons. On the offensive side of the ledger big Jim Coode will be making a run at All-America status at tackle while senior guard Mike Hoban is the only other returning starter. The offensive line showed great progress during spring practice and should they ever come close to matching last year's effort Michigan fans should be in for a great display of Ifensive power. Since Bo has always managed to come up with an offensive line the present situation is not as worrisome as it could be. The backfield - both offensive and defensive are stocked and well equipped for a "super" rating. Never has any recent team in the Big Ten had such an array of backs. A lot of Maize and Blue benchwarmers could be starters elsewhere around the country. Not ONE running back graduated. Consider this bevy of returnees: Shuttlesworth and Bob Thorn- bladh at fullback; Larry Gustafson and Clint Has- lerig at wingback; and the tail-backs - keep your , binoculars trained on these fellows: exciting Heat- See RUN, Page 9 Daily Photo by TERRY McCARTHY QUARTERBACK DENNIS FRANKLIN (9) moves upfield in the Northwestern game won by the Wol- verines 7-0. Franklin returns as does the entire backfield in the 1973 Run for the Roses. Tennis i. i By MIKE PRITULA California, the place where good tennis players are produced likes Fords off the assembly line, seems to be hovering in Brian Eisner's head like a mi- grain headache these days. Most likely it will stay there' at least until next spring. Eisner, the fourth year Michi- gan tennis coach, took his squad out to the Golden State last sea- son in quest of triumphs over, perennial college tennis giants UCLA and Southern Cal. His Netters Last Year's Record: 18-3 Last Year's Finish: First New Recruits: Peter Flemming; Harry Hopman- Outlook: Swifter, Higher, Farther team was undefeated in dual meets, had a number of players with impressive records, and most certainly was therbest unit East of the Mississippi. But all of these credentials, failed to impress the Califor-' nians, some of whom might find themselves on the pro tennis circuit in a few years. Moth UC- LA and Southern Cal gave the Wolverines a taste of California tennis and proceeded to send them home with severe trounc- ings. True, those two defeats turned out to be Michigan's only losses of the year, but as someone aptly put it; "they only remem- ber the ones you lose." The Wolverines returned from their West Coast expedi- tion and began to prepare for the Big Ten Championships. The "M" netters, determined to show how good they really were, completely demolished the entire Big Ten conference by capturing eight of nine indi- vidual titles. Michigan amassed a total of 159 points which meant that second place Iowa was over 70, points in the rear. The rest of the Big Ten was even further out of sight. Freshmen Victor Amaya won the number one singles title with a smashing three-set victory over Indiana's Doug Sullivan. The two-time Michigan high school champion is regarded as one of the top ten players in the na- tion and should be virtually un- beatable next year as a sopho- more. Two other freshmen, who along with Amaya were part of the greatest recruiting year in Michigan tennis history, contri buted greatly tothe Wolverine ef- fort. Freddy de Jesus and Eric Friedler were national Junior players of note during their high school days and it took a bit of talkingr to bring them to Ann Ar- NOT IN BIG TEN no doubt at all handed only one precious grant- in-aid by athletic director Don Canham this year. The Wolverine net mentor scoured the nation over, mclud- ing California, in search of the one player who would receive the free ride. From a list of many names, Eisner grabbed a young man by the name of Peter Fleming as his' one money re- cruit. The Chatham, New Jer- sey native is considered one of the top five Junior players in the country. "Pete should be able to challenge for one of the top three singles spots," comment- ed Eisner ."He is an excellent competitor who can move right inot college tennis." In addition to Flemming, Eis- ner talked Harry Hopman, an East Coast high school senior into playing for the Wolverines without a scholarship. Hopman, is a husky 6' 3" with a blister- ing serve." These two players alone should bolster the Michigan tennis out- look for next , season. Eisner knows that his recruiting pace must keep up with the ever in- creasing strength of the Califor- nia colleges in order to have a shot at the NCAA championship. The Big Ten should be far stronger next year as many teams landed some highly touted recruits. Still, Michigan will bare- ly need to work up a sweat in beating their Big Ten foes. But the Wolverines have had enough wins from the "little" teams and hope they can take all the mar- bles, including those California teams. "We hope to get UCLA, South- ern Cal, and Stanford to come visit us on our home courts," stated Eisner. "They are reluc- tant to make the long trip out here when there is no other good teams to 'play besides us." Eisner has been tossing the idea of possibly having some sort of invitational around the pro- verbial room. He would very much like to get the southern teams in Ann Arbor, and the only way would be to offer some sort of attractive lineup besides the Wolverines themselves. But the fact remains, the Mich- igan Wolverines want California. ichigan: Loop kings For the second consecutive year, the Michigan Wolverines were the legitimate "Champions of the West", winning the, Big Ten's All-Sports trophy. The All-Sports Trophy is awarded to the Big Ten school which amasses the best average finish in all conference varsity sports -during the past academic year. Ten pointsare awarded to each school for each first place finish, nine points are awarded for second place,. and the system continues along the same principle. The Wolverines ended the academic year with a 8.5 average, which, when translated into finishes, means that the average Michigan varsity athletic squad finishes between second and third. The average was close to last year's winning total of 8.3. The Wolverines edged out the Indiana Hoosiers even though the Hoosiers won titles in basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, swimming, and golf. The Wolverines won titles in football (tie with Ohio State), wrestling, gymnastics and tennis. The Wolverines earned second place finishes in baseball,- cross country, indoor and outdoor track and swimming. Though the Wolverine Icers had a poor season they earned seven points for finishing fourth in the Big Ten (six of the WCHA schools are not Big Ten members and hence do not affect All-Sports standings. The basketball squad added five points with its sixth place tie and the golfers did likewise with their sixth place finish in the Big Ten tournament. Although the tennis and football squads were expected to fare well, the performance of the gymnastics squad and the wrestling team were happy surprises for the Wolverine partisans. The strong finishes of the track related sports off-set the' unexpected poor finishes in hockey and basketball. Michigan chances for retaining the coveted All-Sport crovn seem quite good. The football team should be among the top three in the conference, the track, wrestling and gymnastics squad seem capable of repeating their championship season of last year and the swimming team should be as second best as .z ^ o-"2": , S "s:> 2+ ":a :. "k.::""::::::... :.t""::.,;.: ": :2':t;ki::: ^tt,..., tr:::: " ::r :".::::":o- ti?;,;:<;F.%ti ,'t:. ,, ;:>::.%; ' " ,.3..,2f,^..;,t :{3 .}::" 4 o-:"..2 ..,.....,.........,.. ' : . i£422 gy ";;: z - -...... V..: