Sunday; ;September 17, 1972
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Nine
Sunday, September 17, 1972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
w
Franklin
provides
spark
In
opening
win
By BILL ALTERMAN
If "winning is the only
thing," as Vince Lombardi
once said, then yesterday was
a successful day for the Michi-
gan Wolverines. When the lint SUNDAY SPOR T
from the carpet had finally clNAr
cleared the Maize and Blue NIGHT EDITORS: GEORGE HASTINGS and ELLIOT LEGOW
were on top of Northwestern,l
7-0.
Not particularly impressive, butj
then Michigan openers rarely are. ter, Michigan linebacker Mutch Agase called "the big play of the
A long list of injuries and untested picked off an errant Todd Sommers game for Michigan."
players made yesterday's season pass at midfield and returned it to A smiling Schembechler admitted;
starter even more suspect. Gone the Northwestern 31. A few short after the game that it hadn't been
from last year's fabulous squad plunges moved it to the 21 where the most impressive Wolverine per-
were such names as Billy Taylor, on second and 11, Franklin rolled formance he'd seen. "We didn't
Glenn Doughty, Reggie McKenzie, right and hit Rather at the three. score like we wanted and didn't
Mike Taylor and Tom Darden. Out Rather, who had totally lost his move the ball like we wanted, but
with injuries were Geoff Steger, defender on a down and out pat- we won. That's the name of thej
Dave Elliott, Kevin Casey, and tern, blitzed into the endzone un- game."
Don Eaton. touched. Schembechler also took note of
Instead, such formerly obscure Thefired up Wolverines imme- past opening day Wolverinenwoes.
names as Dennis Franklin, Craig diately got the ball back and "Only in 1969 against Vanderbilt
Mutch and Gil Chapman echoed started moving quickly down the did we look good offensively. We
out of the PA system. field but time was running out didn't look good against Arizona in
For Michigan and its supporters and Mike Lantry's 34 yard field 1970 and we looked bad against
yesterday Franklin was the center goal atterhpt was just wide as the Northwestern in 1971. But our de-
of attention. The sophomore quar- half ended. fense has been consistently good
terback from Massillon, Ohio, did in openers."
not finish with particularly good For Baseball Results in the Just how good was questionable
statistics. Although shaky, he look- AL East, see page 6. before the start of yesterday's
ed as if he can do something with game. Bo admitted he knew "as;
the football, a quality Bo Schem- little about this team as the '69
bechler has found lacking in his The Wolverines had looked prom- team" (his first). The secondary
recent signal callers. ising in the-first half, picking up was especially suspect with Schem-
Franklin hit split end Bo Ratherl161 yards with Franklin going four bechler forced to start two sopho-
with a perfect 21 yard scoring for eight and the Michigan ground mores and an untested junior.
strike in the second quarter for game eating up its usual chunks Northwestern refused to gamble,
the game's only tally and scrambl- of yardage. However, the only other however, throwing only 11 passes:
ed for good yardage on a number sustained drive, on the opening and having two picked off by Wol-
of other occasions. series, stalled when fullback Bob verine linebackers.
Nevertheless, once again it was Thornbladh fumbled on the Wild- Whatever trouble the, Wolverine
the defense which insured a Michi- cat 34. defense had came from North-'
gan victory. Only once, in the Schembechler thereupon banish- western fullbacks Jim Trimble, a
third quarter, were the Wildcats ed Thornbladh for the rest of the sophomore and Greg Boykin, a
able to penetrate deep into Michi- game, replacing him with Ed mere freshman. Trimble picked up
gan territory but the Big Blue Shuttlesworth. "Big Ed" finished 103 yards in 20 carries. When
stopped that, twice in a row the day with 75 yards in 17 car- Trimble was injured, Boykin went
throwing Northwestern for a loss. ries. in and picked up 25 yards in just
Indeed it was the defense which For the 71,757 fans taking in the three hauls.
set up the lone Wolverine tally. action, the second half was a bum- Nevertheless it appears it will
Midway through the second quar- mer. Both teams played conserva- be some time before Northwestern
- tively as Franklin attempted to will be vying for a conference
pass only twice. The punters play- championship. The Maize and Blue,
ed no little part in this as time on the other hand, hope to be inI
and again they would put the op- Pasadena come January First.!
posing team deep in the shadows They'll make it to California be-
of its own goal line. fore then though. More precisely
- In the third period Wildcat Marty next Saturday when they take on
McGann put one out on the one- UCLA, conquerors of Nebraska.
foot line but the Wolverines were And they have got to go more
touchdown runs of 45 yards by able to move out of trouble, in than just 2,000 miles if they want
sophomore Jeff Mack and 52 yards what Northwestern coach Alex to beat them.
by Rufus "Roadrunner" Ferguson,
then cruised to a 31-7 college foot- .s
ball victory yesterday.
New M quarterback.
0 s
. .. cool, mature star
Daily Photo by TERRY McCARTHY
THE MICHIGAN OFFENSIVE LINE appears to be opening a mammoth hole for wingback Gil
Chapman (24) but Chapnman could not gain over eight yards on his carry. Blocking for the speedy
sophomore are quarterback Dennis Franklin (9), tackle Tom Poplawski (79), and Mike Hoban (61).
SPARTANS SLAM ILLINI
osU
thrashes
Iowa.
By The Associated Press
COLUMBUS-Third-ranked Ohio quarter 17-0 on Jim Bond's 1-yard Jim Henry fumbled on a third down
State overcame early mistakes and smash. and one play.
used a bruising running attack yes-?* * Indiana then drove 70 yards in
terday to whip stubborn Iowa 21-0 Purdue upset another 16-play drive with work-.
in a Big Ten Conference football horse Ken Starling diving overI
opener. LAFAYETTE - Don Taylor, a from the 1-yard line on a fourth
Harold Henson, a 6-foot-4, 224- three-day member of the Bowling down play with just 2:30 showing
pound sophomore, bowled over Green football team, kicked a 29-
from the four and one yard lines yard fourth-quarter field goal and on the clock.
for touchdowns. His replacement upset the 18th-ranked Purdue
as the Buckeyes' fullback, 216. Boilermakers, 17-14, yesterday.
pound Randy Keith, scored from. Bowling Green, Mid-American Wisconsin triumphs
the one. Conference favorite meeting, its MADISON-Wisconsin staggered
The Hawkeyes, 28-pointcunder first Big Ten opponent, fought a Northern Illinois with first quarter
dogs, gave the conference title flu epidemic all week, but gave
favorites trouble in the early Purdue a physical beating. Four,
moments. Purdue players were removed withI:.:::::"::>>:<:::;:,,::::.:::
Ohio State lost one fumble, one injuries and never returned. Bi T B T n
interception and was forced to Purdue won most of the statis- D19 me
punt' two other times before un- tics, gaining 244 yards from scrim-,
corking one of its patented ground mage to Bowling Green's 212, but W L
drives for a 7-0 lead late in the its ball carriers repeatedly were
first half. jarred loose from the pigskin by MICHIGAN 1 0 0
From then on, the bigger, stron- the fierce Falcon tacklers. They Michigan State 1 0 0
ger Buckeyes ground Iowa into recovered five of Purdue's six Ohio State 1 0 0
submission in the season opener for fumbles. Indiana 1 0 0
both teams. Purdue ironically contributed to Wisconsin 0 0 0
A strong Buckeye goal line stand Taylor's winning field goal by Purdue 0 0 0
in the closing minutes blunted the blocking Ed McCoy's punt at the Northwestern 0 1 0
only serious Hawkeye threat. Bowling Green 17 at the end of the Illinois 0 1 0
* * * third period. The ball didn't cross
the line of scrimmage and McCoy Iowa 0 1 0
MSU surprises properly picked it up and ran out Minnesota 0 1 0
CHAMPAIGN-Versatile corner- to his 38 for a first down.
hack Bill Sim son scored two . - YESTERDAY'S GAMES
john papanek....
ENNIS FRANKLIN doesn't seem to have a problem with
claustrophobia.
Either that, or he was too stunned to try to escape from his
cubicle in the stifling Michigan locker room yesterday. Instead,
he stood there, smiling and bleary-eyed, as 15 or 20 hungry
reporters crowded around him, pencils in hand, trying to hear
the soft-spoken comments of a sophomore quarterback, the first
black one ever to start for Michigan, and one who looks like a
winner.
He was responsible for the only real spark of excitement in
the entire game, when he fired a 21-yard bullet touchdown pass
to Bo Rather for the only score with 3:01 left in the first half.
Franklin led another charge, taking the Wolverines into field
goal range with two more completions as the final seconds of
the half ticked away.
The sophomore from Massillon, Ohio, hit on four of eight
passes in the first half for 60 yards, more passing yards than
Michigan collected in seven of twelve games last year. But
hindered by coach Bo Schembecher's play calling, Franklin
threw only twice more in the game; one resulting in an
interference call and the other an incompletion, finishing
four-for-nine.
But it was his TD pass in the second quarter that made him
the center of attraction. Inside the locker room, everyone was
clammoring to get to him. He was the star of a non-stellar
game. What were his impressions of the game? How did it feel
to start as a sophomore for the defending Big Ten champs? Was
he nervous? And, of course, what special significance does being
black hold for a quarterback?
Franklin was awed by the whole scene. "I'm just glad it's
over and we won," he said politely, answering nine questions
at once. He didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was
about. Then he understood. The writers needed something to
write about.
"It's quite an experience, playing in front of all those peo-
ple," he said. "It's a bit scary at first. I knew I had a respon-
sibility to contribute something to the team."
He knew what he contributed to the team, but he also
knew that he didn't get much of a chance to do anything
in the second half. The 71,757 fans in the stands noticed
that too, and in typical Michigan Stadium fashion, began to
pay more attention to Boone's Farm bottles, bodies being
passed up the stands, and boisterous "Ahhhhhh Shit!" cheers,
than to the game.
Like death and taxes, boredom is a fact of life in Michigan
football.-
"We didn't give Franklin much of an opportunity to show
his stuff," Schembechler understated after the game. "We played
conservatively. I didn't want my team to be making a lot of
mistakes in the first game. He (Franklin) is going to be good,
though. He'll get better each week."
Franklin knows better than to argue with success, especially
since arguing with success means arguing with Schembechler,
a battle he'd be sure to lose.
"Don't you think," someone asked Franklin, "that the
team has to open up more, throw more passes for instance,
at least to make the game more exciting?"
"Anything the coach calls is ok with me," the quarter-
back said almost automatically. "He'll run if he can run
and pass if he has to pass."
The most striking thing about Franklin is his maturity. You
can sense it when he's on the field and you can see it when
you talk to him. Three times he was sacked while trying to
pass, each time eating the ball instead of throwing it away.
"We have a good enough offensive line," he said, even
though he had very little protection on two of his pass attempts.
"It's my fault if I can't get the ball to the receiver." Even so,
it takes competence to know when to eat the ball and when to
get rid of it.
"I came here because I wanted to play quarterback. I liked
the people, the coaches and the school." Someone said that
everyone from Ohio comes to play at Michigan. "Only the good
ones," Franklin said.
"I knew they had a lot of young quarterbacks here, but I
figured I could play if I worked hard enough. I think if you work
hard enough, and you have the talent, you can achieve any
goal."
Franklin did work hard throughout the spring and came
to Ann Arbor in the fall close behind the leading quarterback
contender, Kevin Casey. Franklin looked better each day
and it seemed as though Schembechler was aching to name
him the number one quarterback, but 'deferring to the more
experienced Casey. With Casey sidelined, Franklin was
named number one, and Bo is determined to give Franklin
a good shot.
Now, on the basis of his performance yesterday, Franklin
has established himself as the quarterback, and Rather, who was
on the other end of Franklin's TD bullet, thinks that the team
is strong enough to go all the way.' "We have a stronger attack
this year," he said. "We won't necessarily use the pass more
than last year, but now at least we know it's there when
we need it."
And Franklin is more than ready to take on the task. "I had
confidence in myself before," he said candidly. "Now I have a
little more."
All he needs is a chance to "show his stuff,"-and non-con-
ference games in the next three weeks may be just what the
doctor ordered.
A Bo-ring Game
Ferguson rushed 17 times for
165 yards, including his second
touchdown, from 20 yards out in
the third quarter, which gave the.
Badgers a 24-0 lead.
Wiscon§in wrapped it up seconds
later on a 73-yard scoring pass'
from Rudy Steiner to Jack Novak.
Standings
T PFPA w
.... ..........
L TPFPA
Q
0
a
0
0
a
0
0
0
7
24
21
27
0
0
0
0
0
23
0
0
0
23
0
0
7
24
21
27
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
24
21
27
31
-14
0
0
0
23
0
0
0
23
7
17
7
24
21
27
touchdowns on a 48-yard punt re-
turn and a 20-yard pass intercep- Minnesota falls
tion run to key Michigan State's BLOOMINGTON-Cool Ted Mc-t
24-0 victory over error-prone Il- Nulty and a gutsy Indiana football
linois in a ragged Big Ten opener team came back from a 10-point
yesterday. deficit in the fourth period here
Simpson, a 179-pound junior, also yesterday to nip Big Ten rival
recovered an Illinois fumble to set Minnesota, 27-23 in the season open-
up a Michigan State field goal and er for both teams.
his booming punts kept the sputter- Minnesota led 23-13 going into
,ing Illini at bay. the final period as Cal Stoll went
Illinois quarterback Mike Wells, for his first victory as Minnesota
playing with a gashed finger on head coach.
his throwing hand, fumbled to set McNulty, a senior quarterback,
up Michigan State's second touch- mixed his passing and running;
down and it was a pass by Wells game with aplomb in engineering
which the fleet Simpson intercepted the Hoosiers to two touchdowns in
for his 20-yard romp which gave the final period.
the Spartans a 24-0 lead in the final The quarterback scored on a 1-!
quarter. yard sneak with 13:38 left in the
Marvin Roberts' 28-yard field game, culminating an 80-yard, 16-:
goal and Simpson's 48-yard punt play drive.I
return gave Michigan State a 10-0 Then Minnesota began a relent-E
half time lead. less drive, moving from its own 20j
State moved ahead in the third to the Indiana 23 before halfback!
SCORES r
I r a 1 r x%"tl :J lit? IYIL' J
MICHIGAN 7, Northwestern 0
Michigan State 24, Illinois 0
Ohio State 21, Iowa 0
Indiana 27, Minnesota 23
Wisconsin 31, Northern Illinois 7
Bowling Green 17, Purdue, 14
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
MICHIGAN at UCLA
Georgia Tech at Michigan State
Texas Christian at Indiana
Syracuse at Wisconsin
Washington at Purdue
Notre Dame at Northwestern
USC at Illinois
Oregon State at Iowa
Colorado at Minnesota
Daily Photo by DENNY GAINER
Franklin on the run
While
was ho
Agase
By BOB ANDREWS
the M
)unding
mainstream of the news media
Michigan mentor Bo Schem-
Gridde pickings
MICHIGAN 7, Northwestern 0.
Michigan State 24, Illinois 0
Ohio State 21, Iowa 0.
Indiana 27, Minnesota 23.
Bowling Green 17, Purdue 14.
Wisconsin 31, Northern Illinois 7.
UCLA 38, Pittsburgh 28.
Stanford 44, San Jose St. 0.
Washington 14, Duke 6.
California 37, Washington St. 23
Toledo 16, Eastern Michigan 0.
Tennessee 28, Pen,, State 21.
Arizona State 33, Houston 28.
Georgia 24, Baylor 14.
Georgia Tech 34, South Carolina 6.
Air Force 45, wyoming 14.
Virginia 24, Virginia Tech 20.
North Carolina 31, Maryland 26.
Kentucky 25, Vi4lanova 7.
Slippery Rock 54, Broclujort. State 8.
iamni (4.) 34, Dayton 7.
Akron 34, Butler 7.
Drake 40, West Texas State 12.
Tulsa 10, Wichita State 9.
Hanover 29. Wabash 22.
Ball State 30, Central Michigan 12.
Northwood 24, Michigan Tech 6.
Tampa 34, Northern Michigan 21.
ililsdale 20, Perris State 17.
Kalamazoo 24, Grand Valley 14.
Defiance 22, Adrian O.
Albion 10, DePauw 7.
Hope 21, Manchester 14.
SOUTH
Louisville 24, Kent State 0.
Florida State 37, Miami (Fl.) 14.
North Carolina State 43, Syracuse 20.
No-th Carolina A&T 41.
South Carolina State 7
East Carolina 16, Southern Illinois 0.
West Carolina 31, Tennessee Tech 13.
bechler and his sophomore quarterback,
Dennis Franklin, a mere handful .of report-
ers were on hand to question Northwestern's
Alex Agase on his reflections of yesterday's.
narrow defeat by the supposedly potent Wol-
verines.
Although disappointed with the series of
frustrations that dampened the Wildcats'
chances for a major upset, Agase spoke
praisingly of his team's running attack and
defensive play stating, "(Greg) Boykin did
a good job as did (Jim) Trimble". He was
then quick to add, "the defense performed
very well and kept us in the ball game.
Anytime you're even or a touchdown back,
you're in the game."
However, on a sadder note, Agase cited
the two principle factors that strangled his
team's attempt to break the Michigan white-
wash; namely, its inability to move the ball
through the air, and its continually poor field
position.
The Wildcats opened the game with senior
ronl, nt- - - e I:a-.:Crthc nffne a hi.t h
bemoans
"From now on, Sommers and Anderson will
both play quarterback. I'll have to be like a
baseball manager and use the guy with the
hot hand".
With the air game effectively halted,
Northwestern was forced to try its luck on
the ground and Trimble and Boykin, both
first-year fullbacks, pounded out respectable
yardage.
Until halted with a minor shoulder injury
through the third quarter, Trimble, a sopho-
more, saw plenty of action, carrying the ball
20 times for 103 yards. Although slow off the
start, once in motion, Trimple trampled
over the Michigan defenders to gain over 5
yards a carry.
Back in August at the Big Ten football
kickoff luncheon, each coach was questioned
whether the new rule giving freshman eligi-
bility would bolster the team's potency.
Agase, when asked, offered no specifics; but
did say that freshmen would play a valu-
able role at Northwestern.
Yesterday, his prognostication materializ-
ed as Boykin, participating in collegiate com-
petition even before attending his very first
class, carried 3 times for 25 yards. The fall
ni/s takes
But the critical barrier to victory for the
ground - oriented Wildcats, as Agase aptly
put it was, "the drives for us started deep
and that made the difference." They were
forced to play against Michigan's defensive
strengths rather than picking away at the
weaknesses in the Wolverines' battered back-
field.
From the Wolverines' standpoint, the
timely punting by Barry Dotzauer was a
very important ingredient in preserving the
victory. Twice he forced Northwestern to
start their drives within three yards of the
endzone and barely missed putting their
backs against the wall a third time.
As was quite apparent to Agase, it was
highly unlikely his team could sustain a 98-
yard scoring drive against Michigan solely'
on the ground.
Nevertheless, the crucial series of the con-
test, according to, Agase, came late in the
third quarter when an excellent punt by
Marty McGann backed the Wolverines to
their own goal line. The Northwestern de-
fense which played solidly throughout most
of the game, suffered its one major lapse
FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
TOTAL NUMBER OF
RUSHES
NET YARDS
Rushing
Passing
FORWARD PASSES
ATTEMPTED
Completed
Intercepted by
Yard interceptions ret'd
Mich
17
13
3
1
NW
10
8 Franklin
2
0
Passing
Att Comp Int Yds
9 4 0 60
Shuttleswort
56 41 Rather
Chapman
Seal
199 129 Totals
Pass Receiving
h
Punting
No Yds
1 14
1 21
1 21
1 14
4 60
No Yds Avg
7 283 40.4
I
60 49
TOTAL PLAYS
(rushes and passes)
PUNTS, Number
Average Distance
KICKOFFS, by
YARDS KICKS RETURNED
9
4
2
25
65
7
40.4
2
31
11
6
0
0
52
8
40.8
" 1
22
NORTHWESTERN
Rushing
Tries Gain Loss Net
Trimble 20 103 0 103
Boykin 3 25 0 25
Key 4 13 0 13
Hickerson S 7 3 4
Cooks 2 4 1 3
Harris 2 3 4 -1
An esn * 7 at i 19 _in
Dotzauer
at this noint allowing the Wolverines to es-