gage 10-Sunday, September 25, 1977-The Michigapn Daily
Navy
persistence
pesters
a a
By Scott Lewis
F OR A MAN WHOSE TEAM has yet to make much progress this season,
Bo Schembechler was in very good spirits after yesterday's too-close-
for-comfort game with Navy. During most of the post-game press conferen-
ce, he'd sit back, sip his Coke, and answer the reporters' questions in as very
s'relaxed manner.
re.Then somebody asked Bo to compare this year's team with the Michigan
teams of the past.
Schembechler quickly sat upright in his chair, paused for a second, and in
a sharp tone declared, "I'm not going to do that, and I never have.
Especially not the way we're struggling now."
Perhaps Bo was trying'to put to rest a statement in a Detroit newspaper
which said that Schembechler has privately called this year's team the wor-
st of those he's coached since he's been here.
Indeed, his quick answer made it seem that he had expected a question
like this to come up, and he was careful to make it very clear that he wonid
never consider comparing the different teams he's coached here.
But isn't it possible that Bo really does rank this team low in the hierar-
chy of super Michigan teams since 1969 After all, he's promised im-
provement each week, but judging from Michigan's performance on the
field, the team has deteriorated from its initial showing at Illinois.
So far he's brought up many excuses, but lack of talent has not been
among them. His alibis include: a wet field, poor, officiating, lack of en-
thiisiasm, the opposition's strength, injuries, etc.
Some of these-strength of Duke and Navy, and injuries-are valid
reasons for a possible breakdown, but there's no way they can account
totally for the difference between the performance thus far of the 1977
Wolverines, as opposed to that of the 1976 squasd. This is not the same
quality team that defeated Stanford and Navy by scores of 52-0 and 70-14 on
weeks two and three last season.
"Michigan doesn't seem to be as explosive as they were last year," said
Navy Head Coach George Welsh, who must be given due credit for turning
the Middies' program around substantially in the five years he's reigned
there. "They don't seem to be making the long runs and passes this year like
they were last year."
The spark which ignites those big plays, on defense as well as offense,
seems to be missing thus far. The defense didn't turn the ball over to the of-
fense Inside the Navy 45 at all yesterday.
I's part of a defense's job to create mistakes like interceptions and poor
pitchouts, which is primary reason past Michigan teams have rolled up such
high scores on the opposition.
In addition to the failure of abruptly stopping opposition drives with a big
play, the defense has also been spotty in preventing long drives. Controlling
the ball is important if Michigan is to decide the tempo of the game, but both
Duke and Navy have succeeded in mounting sustained drives with their
ground games.
In the past, stalwarts like linemen Dave Gallagher, Tim Davis, and Mo
Morton have forced the opposition to the air, where the probablility of inter-
ceptions goes up. But his year, the interior defensive line has been very
suspect. Although it has accounted for its share of sacks, the defense has also
faced too many second-and-five and third-and-one situations-not exactly
positions which make offenses put the ball in the air.
Remember: Purdue defeated Michigan last year because it was able to
control the ball for most of the game. Yesterday, Navy tallied more first
downs, gained more total yards, and ran more plays than the Wolverines.
Michigan's biggest offensive problem in the game came from the failure
to mount any long drives in the second half yesterday. The Wolverines took
possession six different times, and five of those resulted in punts four plays
later. The other resulted in a missed 29-yard chip shot from the inconsistent
footof Gregg Willner. ~
Consider Michigan's opening plays on each of those six possessions:
1) Huckleby off tackle for five yards,
2) Davis up the middle for 1 yard,
3) Davis up the middle for 2 yards,
4) Davis up the middle for 1 yard,
5) Huckleby around end for 6 yards, and
6) Davis up the middle for 1 yard.
Is passing on first down so terrible? Even the results of an incompletion
aren't much different than those plunges through the line.
Perhaps it's stilt early in the season, and there'sstill a lot of time to iron
out those problems. In the past, as long as Michigan would peak for the Ohio
State game, things would be all right.
But not so this year. Texas A&M is sure-to give Michigan much more
ttrouble than Duke and Navy combined, and the Big Ten also looks strdrifgr
than usual this year.
Schembechler looks lack to 1975 for this salvation, when Michigan had a
record of 1-0-2 entering the clash with fifth-ranked Missouri.
"This could be similar to the situation a couple of years ago, when we did
not play well against Stanford and Baylor,-but then really came on strong
against Missouri," he rationalized. "I think this team was looking ahead to
the Texas A&M game for quite sometime. Texas A&M will tell us what we've
got."
Hopefully for Michigan, "what we've got" is more than what we've
shown so far.
GOPHERS S TUN BR UINS:
(Continued from Page 1)
elected to run - picking up 18 yards
to the Michigan 27. A holding penalty
brought the ball back to the Michigan
43, and with third and 17 at the Mich-
igan 34, Michigan looked fairly safe.
Leszczynski dropped back once
again though, and tossed one over
Michigan's Mike Jolly into the wait-
ing arms of Kurowski in the end zone
to put Navy on the scoreboard. Bob
Tata's extra point put the score at
14-7 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.
"You can't fault him (Jolly) for
t h a t," explained Schembechler.
"Jolly was not responsible. It was a
mix-up in the rotation."
"WHEN (Leszczynski) rolled out,
it was misread - our rotation was
not what it was supposed to be,"
a d d e d co-captain and wolfman
Dwight Hicks.
Even though Navy seemed to find
the airways a pretty easy way to go,
Coach Walsh did not really think so.
"It's difficult to pass against Mich-
igan," he explained. "You have to be
good. You may be able to move the
ball down, but it's tough to get it
across."
Michigan's last possession of the
third quarter featured Leach being
brought down while passing on third
and eight. "The thing that hurt us the
worst was our pass protection," Bo
complained, "and that upsets me.
You have a maximum protection
pass and you can't get it off . ."
MICHIGAN did get the first big
drive of the last quarter going as
Russell Davis and Huckleby took
huge chunks of yardage, alternating
cracks at the middle and the end,
until the ball rested at Navy's 22-yard
line.
Leach then hit Curt Stephenson for
a first down on the 13 and Michigan
looked ready to take the ball in.
However, the ensuing three plays
were fruitless, and Michigan was
forced to kick from the 19 yard line.
But even that wouldn't go through
for the Wolverines as Willner's kick
fell wide to the left with 5:14
remaining.
NAVY'S ground assault took three
cracks and gained just enough for a.
hlue
first down. Leszczynski then went to
the air but got sacked once by
Tedesco, thenhad a pass broken up
by Tedesco before he hit Phil
McConkey for 19 yards - just enough
for another first down.
With 2:40 remaining and the ball at
Navy's 41, Anderson broke up one
p a s s, then sophomore defensive
tackle Chris Godfrey sacked Lesz-
czynski for a seven-yard loss. A
13-yard' completion to running back
Steve Callahan gave Navy a fourth
and four at the 47.
With 1:29 left, Leszczynski tried
another pass, but Jolly deflected it
with a diving effort.
Navy did get the ball once again at
its own 20 with less than 30 seconds to
play. Although Navy completed two
passes, it still never crossed mid-
field.
Navy did top Michigan in number,
of first downs (17-16) and total
offensive yardage (301-277), which
very few teams ever do.
. But then this was not an average
Michigan football Saturday
Outmuscled, but not beaten
MICH. NAVY
First downs..................16 17
Rushing (att/yds) ............ 55/241 41/107
Passing (att/com/int).........5/4/0 28/16/1
Passing yds ................... 36 194
Punts (no/yards).........t.....2/27 4/25
Fumbles (no/lost)........:..... 1/1 0/0
Penalties (no/yards)........... 4/40 5/43
SCORING PLAYS
MICH.-Huckleby 13-yd. run (Wiiner kick)
MICH.-Huckleby 22-yd. run (Wilner kick)
NAVY--Jones 34yd. pass from Leszczynski
(Tata kick)
Callahan.................3 22
Leszczynski-...............9 -23
PASSING
MICHIGAN
att comp/int
Leach........................5 4/0
NAVY
7.3
-26
yd
YO
Leszczynski............... 28
RECEIVING
MICHIGAN
no
Stephenson ..................1
G. Johnson ................... I
R. Davis.....................I1
Huckleby..................1
NAVY
16/1 194
y'ds lp
13 13
8 8
8 8
7 7
Daily Photo by ALAN BILINSKY
RUSHING
MICHIGAN
att
Huckleby ................... 24
R. Davis .................... 19
Leach ...................... 12
NAVY
Klawinski................... 13
Gattuso ..................... 16
yds
1
Rich Leach breaks aways from Middle defensive end Bart Nixon; Mike Kenn (78,
on ground) shows the frustration that Blue linemen had with the Navy defenders,
as they sacked Leach 5 times for a 35 yard total loss.
147 6.1 Kurowski .................... 4
93 4.9 McConkey ................... 3
1 6.08 Callahan ..................... 3
Gattuso.....I............. 3
63 4.9 Jones ........................ 2
45 2.8 Hendershot .................. 1
64
31
24
18
53
3
avg
27
19
13
10
34
3
BLUE MUST IMPROVE:
Mistakes make
Wolveri-nes blue,
By KATHY HENNEGHAN
In the past two home games against
Duke and Navy, Michigan has been
penalized 12 times for a grand total of
111 yards. The Wolverines have lost two
fumbles. Quarterback Rick Leach has
been caught behind the line of scrim-
mage five times for a total loss of 33
yards.
That can't make Bo Schembechler
very happy.
The number one team in the nation
Michigan is not, certainly not at this
point of the season. In fact, the polls
have been an albatross around Schem-
bechler's neck thus far. He has said all
along that Michigan does not deserve
the number one ranking and is not yet
as good as it is made out to be.
"WE JUST ARE not playing very
well," he said yesterday. "Defensively,
something is missing. At both ends of
the field, we are not playing very well."
And the opponents in these mediocre
performances have been Duke and
Navy, names that hardly connote foot-
ball excebllence.
Schembechler has pointed out that
the new 95 grant limit should balance
teams out. Michigan may no longer win
by five or six touchdowns, 'though Ann
Arbor fans have come to expect those
runaway games. And he contends that
Duke and Navy are much better than
people realize. "You people won't think
they're that good and I don't think I con-
vinced my team to think so, but I cer-
tainly do," he said.
BUT IN ALL honesty the new equali-
zation of talent cannot explap away the
fact that Michigan is just ot playing
well. And much of the damage has been
self-inflicted.
"These 'mistakes disturb me a lot,"
said Schembechler abruptly. "They are
not characteristic of a Michigan team
and I resent it. I don't like it one bit. I
may be a nice guy here but I'm not very
,nice on Sunday after these things."
On Michigan's first possession early
in the game tailback Harlan Huckleby
took a pitchout from Leach on the Mich-
igan 43-yard line for a 14-yard gain -
only to have it negated by a 15-yard
clipping penalty.
Later in the same drive Huckleby had
the ball on second and goal at the Navy
one-yard line. Right guard Gerry
Szara, starting in lieu of Greg Bartnick,
apparently missed a block. Huckleby
was popped, promptly' fumbled and
Navy recovered on its own two-yard
line.
"STOPPING MICHIGAN on that first
drive of theirs helped our confidence,"
said Navy coach George Welsh. "Our
kids felt at halftime we could stay with
them.'.'
Schembechler felt that although
Szara missed the block and the field
was slippery there was still no excuse
for the fumble.
"I should have been lower," acknowl-
edged Huckleby, "Instead I washnk-
ing of getting up and over."
The next 'goof' came in the second
quarter when Michigan was whistled
down for illegal procedure, a call
Schembechler questions. The officials
claimed that Michigan (specifically
nmi4dl guard Steve Graves) interfered
with the ball before Navy snapped it to
the punter. Schembechler contends that
the center picked up the ball, at which
point it was in play although it may not
have been snapped.
GRAVES EXPLAINED, "The center
moved the ball. I hit it as he snapped it
up and the ball went off course. It was a
hard call to make."
Another costly mistake came in the
fourth quarter when Michigan was'
ahead 14-7 and could not sustain a
drive. The situation was third and one
on the Wolverine 24. Michigan was
penalized five yards when Szara jump-
ed offsides, which brought up third and
six. Leach then overthrew split end
Rick White and Michigan was forced to
punt.
But what most disturbs Schembech-
ler is poor pass protection, which re-
sulted in Leach biting the dust five
times for a deficit of 33 yards.
"What can you do when your pass
protection breaks down like that?," he
asked.
HE HAD BETTER find some an-
swers in practice this week since Texas
A&M comes to town this weekend.
Michigan has to stop beating itself if it
is to beat the Aggies. (The team from
Texas boasts a 265-pound fullback and
the nation's best place-kicker among
other things).
The mistakes clearly have both play-
ers and coaches worried and everyone
is busy reassuring everyone else that
the situation will take care of itself - or
else.
"I THINK WE have to start playing
with more consistency," said co-cap-
tain Dwight Hicks. "We'll be all right.
It's just a matter of putting our minds
together and playing as a unit."
"We've got to have it together next
week," said Huckleby. "I guess it will
come as the season goes along. A lot of
little things are keeping us from being
the team we were.last year.
"If we're not playing any better than
we did this week, look out."
Michigan booters win
third straight, 7-1
By ERIC OLSON
Irish overcome stubborn Purdue
It was the old versus the young last
night at Ferry Field and something new
happened. For the first time ever, the
Michigan Soccer Club defeated the
Michigan graduate club by trouncing
then -1.
The Blue Booters led from the start
as Forward Dave Ritchie scored in the
first minute of the game on a cross by
David Sutton that rebounded off the
graduate goalie.
Sutton headed the Wolverine attack
with two goals and two assists. His first
goal was on a corner kick from Bruce
Davidson. Sutton hammered the ball in-
to the upper right hand corner of the
goal with his head. Davidson had three
assists for the game.
Ihor Federowice scored to make it 30
and Sutton's second goal gave the Boot-
ers a comfortable 4-1 advantage at the
half.
Michigan. substituted freely in the
second half and wore down the older
and slower graduate club. It kept the
play in the graduate half of the field for
almost the entire second half.
Walt Bianchi, Tom Coher, and Rit-
chie added insurance goals in the
second half to make the final count 7-1
The Blue Booters have now won three
straight games and are undefeated this
year. They have outscored their op-
ponents 13 to 2 and last night's seven
goals equaled last season's total offen-
se.
By The Associated Press
WEST LAFAYETTE* Ind. - Re-
serve quarterback Joe Montana di-
rected three Notre Dame scoring
Idrives in the fourth quarter and Dave
Mitchell ran five yards for the
go-ahead touchdown with 1:459 to go
yesterday, rallying the 11th-ranked
Irish over the aerial attack of
Purdue, 31-24.
The Boilermakers led 24-14 at the
half and maintained that advantage
going into the final period as fresh-
nan quarterback Mark Herrmann,
who riddled the Irish pass defense for
351 yards, threw three touchdown
npases.
later when Luther Bradley made the
fourth interception off Herrmann at
the Boilermaker 33-yard line. Mon-
tana completed a 22-yarder to Mac-
Afee, and then hit MacAfee on a
13-yarder for the touchdown. Reeve's
extra point tied the game with just
over 10 minutes to go.
The final Irish drive started with
just over four minutes remaining
after a bad Purdue punt gave the
Irish the ball at the Notre Dame 41.
A 26-yard pass to Haines brought
the ball into Purdue territory and
five plays later Mitchell ran in for the
winning score.
and 30 yards to build the Gopher lead
to 20-7.
Minnesota whipped the Bruins 21-3
in the 1962 Rose Bowl, the only other
time the teams have met.
* * *
Lions roar
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Quarter-
back Chuck Fusina's 38-yard touch-
down pass to flanker Jimmy Cefalo
snapped a 3-3 third-quarter tie and
triggered fifth-ranked Penn State's
Nittany Lions to a 27-9 victory over
the Maryland Terrapins Saturday.
Maryland to its three-yard line. The
return kick carried to the Lions' 39,
and on second down Cefalo raced
behind the Terps' secondary and
grabbed a 58-yard touchdown pass
from Fusina.
Maryland scored with four minutes
left in the game on a 49-yard pass
from quarterback Larry Dick to
wingback Dean., Richards, but it
wasn't enough to avert the second
loss in three games for the defending
ACC champions.
Cardinals- chirp
MICHIGAN 14, Navy 7
U55, TCUO0
Stanford 37.Illinois 24
I
SCORES
I
Massachusetts 17, Harvard 0
Boston College 49, Army 28
Central Michigan 31, Ohio U.14