2, 1977-The Michigan Daily
PASSING COMPLEMENTS RUSHING
Davis and Leach
Ii
Blue up .
.Aggie downed
ESTERDAY MORNING my alarm went off at 6 a.m. It didn't help. I
was still sleeping at8:30.
Sometime yesterday morning an alarm woke up the Michigan football
n. It must have been a fire alarm.
DURING THE FIRST THREE WEEKS of the season, Michigan was a
ping giant. With their eyes seemingly half-closed, they dredged through
ois, then Duke, and finally Navy. The number one ranking which it slept on
stolen by USC while they numbly stumbled past.Navy.
Yesterday, with highly-ranked Texas A&M in town, the giant awoke. A fire
lit underneath them. An explosion followed.
The Aggies were stunned, stopped, and blown away.
IT SHOWED, PERHAPS, the most important ingredient of this year's team
ot speed, agility, or the ability to run the option. Psych this tean up for the
ne, and they produce.
Against Illinois, they were somewhat up. It was, after all. onenine day.
y gave a respectable performance. It wasn't the same against Duke and
ry
Texas A&M, was the first major non-conference game Ann Arbor has
ted in years. With 80% of the nation watching, courtesy of ABC television, it
time for the Wolverines to appear in the spotlight.
THE TEAM WAS NOT TAKING this game lightly. Warming up, they
wed the enthusiasm of a high school team. They were excited. The Blue
e not just walking through the same old pre-game warmup; they
ped, jumped, clapped, and slapped each other.
It was not like that before the Duke game.,
When Russell Davis scored the first touchdown, the bench almost emptied.
eryone wanted to jump on Davis when he scored. Defensive tackle Curtis
er almost carried him off the field. When Curt Stephenson scored his first
chdown for Michigan, Rick Leach sprinted 45 yards to congratulate him.
WHEN MIKE JOLLY capped the day's scoring with an interception run-
k for a touchdown, the team went crazy once again.
It was not like that against Navy.
In fact, when Huckleby scored the first touchdown for Michigan against
vy, I don't think the water boy even clapped. This game was different.
Bo Schembechler and the team will never come'out and say they are more
otionally ready for one game than another. But let's face it - it is hard not to
"IF YOU ARE UP," said co-captain Dwight Hicks, "It's going to help. We
to be emotionally ready for every game."
Yet, as Hicks admitted, the defense did nothing different in stopping the
M wishbone than they did against the Oklahoma wishbone in the 1976 Orange
vl ... except "Maybe we played harder. A lot was at stake, and we played,
r our heads," conceded Hicks.
Michigan was not the only team on the field that was up. The Aggies were
high for the game too. They jumped up and down for warmups, and they
n taunted the Michigan players as they came out of the tunnel.
BUT THE AGGIES were coming off a big conference game for Ihich they
Ito be up. "They had a tough conference game against Texas Tech," said
ks. "It's hard to keep yourself emotionally ready for every game. We were
tunate to come up against them after they played Tech."
"I can't say that we weren't ready," Aggie coach Emory Bellard said.t
wever, Bellard did admit, "We had the opportunities, but made darn few of
im. We looked lackadaisical -like it was comme ci, comme ca."
IT IS TOUGH TO KEEP YOURSELF up every Saturday. Conditioning
kes it tough. Keeping up with school isn't easy after a hard practice.
But the Wolverines have to be up again this Saturday for Michigan State.
te does not play OSU and are hoping to slip in the back door and win the con-
ence title. Beating Michigan puts them well on their way.
"I TOLD THEM AFTER THE GAME," Schembechler said, "that we
ve a more important game next week at Michigan State. I look at the great
n A&M had last week at Texas Tech and what happened here today and all I
i say is that we have to forget this one and be ready to play like this again."
They do need to be ready once more. Maybe they can set off that fire alarm
(Continued from Page 1)
The rest of the game was all Michigan, despite
an outstanding individual performance from the
Aggies' 280-pound fullback George Woodard. The
burly junior carried the ball an incredible 39 times
for 153 yards rushing and an average of nearly four
years a carry.
"WOODARD IS ABOUT what you want in a full-
back," said linebacker Ron Simpkins. "You need a
lot of people to bring him down. That's the only way
you can stop him. A couple of times I hit him and
bounced off."
It was Simpkins who recovered Aggie quarter-
back David Walker's fumble late in the second
quarter to set up the Wolverines' first touchdown.
MICHIGAN TOOK OVER on its own 19-yard line
with 4:39 remaining in the half. From there it mar-
ched 81 yards in only eight plays. On third down and
one, tailback Harlan Huckleby took a pitchout from
Rick Leach for a 12-yard gain. Texas A&M was
penalized for facemasking on the play, moving the
ball to the Aggie 45-yard line.
Four plays later Leach completed a 22-yard pass
to Doug Marsh, one of two tight ends on the field, as
A&M was again penalized for facemasking. Davis
then scampered four yards off right tackle for the
score.t
Gregg Willner added the conversion to make the
score 7-3.
THE WOLVERINES came out strong in the third
quarter, scoring two touchdowns to break the game
wide open. On their second possession (after Dom
Tedesco recovered a Woodard fumb
drove 40 yards in five plays to take a 13
Huckleby took a pitchout from Leac
good for five yards. Next Davis brok(
yards, Michigan's longest rushing
scrimmage this season. Two plays la
from Virginia scored on a one-yard
right tackle.
THE EXTRA POINT attempt fail
Stephenson fumbled the snap and tri
it.
Texas A&M's Curtis Dickey return
kickoff to the Aggie 19 but the Mich
playing by far its best game of the sea
of that in short order.
On the second, play from scrimmn
pass was nearly intercepted by Michig
Then Jerry Meter sacked the Aggie qu
an 11-yard loss, forcing the Aggies to p
WITH THREE MINUTES to go in 1
ter Leach shocked the enthusiasticc
necting on a 35-yard touchdown pass t
The senior split end snuck behind
Hamilton and Leach spotted him for h
touchdown pass.
The play moved Leach into sole poi
st place in career touchdown passe.
history. For Stephenson, a walk-on a
the touchdown was his first at Michiga
Willner's extra point put Michigan
Aggie quarterback Walker, gam
power offense
A&M back in the game, uncorked a 13-yard pass
le) the team only to have it intercepted by Dwight flicks who
-3 lead, raced 10 yards to the A&M 23 where Michigan took
h at right end over.
e away for 30 On second down and 10 Leach completed a 15-
g play from yard pass to speedy sophomore Ralph Clayton.
ter the junior Then Huckleby took a Leach pitchout and went the
plunge over last eight yards for the score. Willner's extra point
led when Curt widened the lead to 27-3.
THE AGGIES' Darrell Smith returned the
ed to run with kickoff to the A&M 31. Once again the Michigan de-
fense stymied the Aggie attack as middle guard
ed the ensuing Steve Graves nailed Walker for an 11-yard loss on
iigan defense, the second play from scrimmage. Then Tom
son, took care Seabron caught him nine yards behind the line of
scrimmage.
age a Walker A&M was forced to punt from its own 15-yard line
gan's Tedesco. on fourth down and 26. Adding insult to injury,
iarterback for David Appleby's punt was blocked by Simpkins.
hunt. Safety Jim Pickens caught it in the end zone and
the third quar- downed it for the Michigan touchdown with 12:33
crowd by con- remaining in the game.
to Stephenson. STEPHENSON HED while Willner converted
Aggie Jimmy the extra point to make the score Michigan 34,
his 19th career A&M 3.
"We were coming aftefr them attempting to block
ssession of fir- it,"'explained Pickens. "After Ron blocked it I just
s in Michigan picked it off and ran into the end zone.
s a freshman, SCHEMBECHLER revealed after the game that
an. Leach sustained a heel injury earlier in the week.
ahead 20-3. He was heavily taped, but "played at 100 per cent"
nbling to get yesterday.
SIMPKINS NABS HONORS
Mi chigan defense stymies Aggies
By SCOTT LEWIS
When Bo Schembechler sized up,
Michigan's prospects for yesterday's
game earlier in the week, he empha-
sized the importance of Texas A&M's
barefooted placekicker Tony Frank-
lin, saying that he could be the
difference in a close game.
But Franklin barely got his foot
wet yesterday.
Except for a short field goal after a
costly Michigan fumble and the
ensuing kickoff, Franklin's f o o t
didn't touch the pigskin all afternoon.
So intent was Bo on preventing
Franklin from seeing any action in
fact, that he chose to kick off to start
the game, even though Michigan had
won the toss.
"I had heen thinkin ahnat that nl
week," said Schembechler. "I didn't
want to receive the ball and have that
guy (Franklin) kick it into the end
zone with no return. Then I'm at the
20 and if we don't move the ball, we
punt and they get it at midfield. Then
they get three points.
"I've got confidence in my offense,.
but-on a rainy, windy day I think this
was the right move. On a dry day I
would not have done that," he
concluded.
But it took more than this strategy
to ensure that Franklin's foot r'e-,
ceived little television exposure. A
superb Michigan defense cast all its,
early-season problems aside and
fractured the fabled wishbone of-
fense of Aggie coach Emory Bellard
- its creator.
In 70 rushing plays, Texas A&M
totalled but 208 yards, less than three
yards per carry. The only big gainer
for the Aggies was a 21-yard broken
play scamper by quarterback David.
Walker after shedding Dominic Ted-
esco in the backfield.
"The wishbone can break open a
lot of plays and cause a lot of
damage," said defensive player of
the game Ron Simpkins. "The de-
fense worked well today because we
stopped the big plays."
The Michigan coaching staff had
this philosophy in mind when the
Wolverines allowed Texas A&M full-
back George Woodard short chunks
of yardage up the middle, while
ensuring the containment of outside
threat Curtis Dickey.
"We did not want Dickey beating
us on a big play," explained Schem-
bechler. "Our preparation was based
on knowing that they would get
yardage up the middle. We don't
have much size and didn't want to
bunch a lot of people in the middle to
stop that big~guy [Woodard], because
then Dickey could have killed us."
The fact that Bo concentrated his
troops on the outside meant that
inside linebackers Simpkins and
Jerry Meter theld sole responsibility
for -preventing Woodard's grinding
out the extra three or four yards once
he'd been initially stopped.
At 221 and 206 pounds respectively,
Simpkins and Meter frequently had
to meet the 280-pound fullback head-
on, but they knew what to expect and,
apparently they were ready.
As well as preventing the forward
movement of the Aggie offense,
Michigan's defense finally made the
big plays that have been so lacking in
previous games.
So devastating was the defense in
causing turnovers that the final score
greatly differed from the total yard-
age amassed by the two offenses.
"The first couple of games we
weren't giving the offense the ball, so
today we did give them the ball
more," said Simpkins. "We gave
then the opportunity to score without
theim having to march 80 yards.
That's what our goal was."
Four fumble recoveries, two inter-
ceptions, and a blocked punt which
resulted in a touchdown, blew up the
score enough to make all the Michi-
gan bettors easy winners yesterday.
And there's still enough games left
to make up for the cash lost after the
Duke and Navy games. It's too bad a
fifth-ranked team doesn't come into
town every Saturday.
Tom Cameron is the executive sports editor of The Michigan Daily.
._._Daily Photo
JERRY METER grinds an Aggie to an abrupt halt in yesterday's convincing 41-3
victory over Texas A&M. It convinced nearly everybody that saw the game that
the Wolverines played their best offensive and defensive game of the year.
IKLAHOMA KO'S JAYHAWKS:
Fighting Irish boot Michigan St.
16-6
Conference All Games
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Dave Reeve
:kicked three field goals yesterday
and Dave Mitchell scored the go-
ahead touchdown as 14th-ranked
Notre Dame stopped Michigan State
16-6 in a clumsy football game that
saw seven pass interceptions and
-four fumbles.
The only Michigan State scores
came on field goals by Hans Nielsen
of 38 yards in the first quarter and 37
yards in the third period.
The six points gave him 184 for his
career, good for second place in
Michigan State history.
* * *
Hoosiers humbled
LINCOLN, Neb. - Tom Sorley
tossed a fourth-quarter touchdown
pass and ran for another, his second
of the day, while I.M. Hipp set a
school rushing record, gaining 254
yards, as 11th-ranked Nebraska beat
stubborn Indiana 31-13 in non-confer-
ence college football action yester-
day.
The Sorley to Tim Smith tally came
10 plays after -the Carnhuskers took
possession on the Indiana 38 when the
Hoosiers failed to convert a fourth-
and-one situation. Nebraska is now,
3-1, while the Hoosiers drop to 1-3.
* * *
Gophers glide
MINNEAPOLIS-Sophomore Paul
Rogind kicked a 32-yard field goal
with five seconds left to lift the
Minnesota Gophers, 34, to a 19-17
non-conference football victory over
the Washington Huskies yesterday.
Rogind's field goal was his fourth
without a miss as the Gophers rallied
from a 17-7 deficit to notch their third
victory in four games.
The loss dropped the record of the
Pacific 8 conference. team to 1-3.
* * *
Boilers bomb
WEST LAFAYETTE, -Freshman
quarterback Mark Herrmann com-
pleted his first eight passes and
threw for two touchdowns in the first
quarter yesterday, starting Purdue
to a 26-17 non-conference football
victory over Wake Forest.
Scott Sovereen set a modern-day
Purdue record with four field goals,
helping the Boilermakers take a 20-0
first half advantage.
Herrmann, the nation's passing
yardage leader, completed 16 of his
first 21 passes for 169 yards to help
build the early lead.
** *
Yanks Ui
The New York Yankees clinched their sec-
ond straight AL Eastern Division title yester-
day when the Baltimore Orioles knocked the
Boston Red Sox out of the race, 8-7. The playoff
bound Yanks, however, were bombed by the
Detroit Tigers, 10-7.
Orangemen squeeze
CHAMPAIGN, - Bill Hurley threw
a 32-yard touchdown pass to Mike
Jones, Bob Avery punched across for
two scores and Dave Jacobs booted
three field goals, including one for 56
yards, to lead Syracuse to a 30-20
intersectional football victory over
Illinois yesterday.
The Orangemen, 12-point under-
dogs, jumped to a 17-0 lead before
Illinois scored with 52 seconds left in
the first half.
The victory was the second
straight for Syracuse after two
1., ..,. ,,l~lr t.:r.c 1 m n 14n 1 4
Sophomore Steve Veith kicked sec-
ond-half field goals of 33 and 27
yards, both after Wisconsin blocked
Northwestern punts, as the Badgers,
4-0, took sole lead in the conference at
2-0.
Northwestern, 0-4, dropped its 14th
successive game and 20th in its last
21.
'* * *
Lions lumped
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe
Bryant kicked a 30-yard field goal
and quarterback Derrick Ramsey
scored a one-yard touchdown, both in
the third period, as Kentucky upset
fourth-ranked Penn State 24-20 yes-
terday in an intersectional college
football gane.
The Kentucky defense blanked
Penn State in the second half as the
Southeast Conference team scored
its third victory in four games, while
Penn State lost for the first time after
winning its first three.
* * *
Navy sunk
DURHAM, N.C. - Scores by three
defensive players and a 63-yard
touchdown run by fullback Stanley
Broadie sparked Duke, 2-2, to a 28-16
win over Navy, 22, yesterday.
The Blue Devil defense, picking
holes in the Navy line from the
ennn'd miatarnn - t nin nt h t .
24-9 football victory over Kansas
here yesterday to open Big Eight
conference play for the No. 1 ranked
Sooners.
Obviously sure they could drive the
ballI right at the Jayhawks, the
Oklahoma Sooners were content to
keep the ball on the ground and inside
most of the time.
Lott tried just two passes the first
half, and' both were incomplete.
Oklahoma remains undefeated
Wisconsin........2 0 0
MICHIGAN'........ 1 0 0
Ohio State.........1 0 0
Iowa ....... ....1 0 0
MU ............ 1 0 0
Minnesota.........0 1 0
Purdue ............. 0 1 0,
Illinois..........0 1 0
Indiana..........0 1 0
Northwestern.......0 1 0
4
4
2
0
0
1
2 1
2 2
8 1
2 2
1 3
1 3-
0 4
0
0
0*
0*
0
0
0
0
0
0
Harriers prepare for
Irish Invitational
By DAVE RENBARGER
'Running without umbrellas or raincoats, Michigan's cross country team
nonetheless splashed its way through a three-mile, intra-squad, tune-up race
yesterday morning.
THE HARRIERS were warming up for next week's Notre IQame In-
vitational, to be contested on the Irish's flat course in South Bend. Accordingly,
coach Ron Warhurst decided to run yesterday's race on the track behind the old
IM building, disdaining the team's usual training ground-the hilly University
Golf Course.
Mother Nature, however, did not co-operate, sending down torrents of
rain to inundate the inside lanes of the track.
"IT WAS POURING rain, it was cold and windy and the track was flooded,"
said Warhurst. "Not exactly ideal conditions."
Billy Donakowski, Dan Heikkinen, and Steve Elliot all tied for first with a
14:27.5 clocking. Running together throughout the race, the trio took turns
leading and talked to each other along the way, in what Warhurst called a
"comfortable race."
SCORES
MICHIGAN 41, Texas A&M 3
Notre Dame 16, Michigan St. 6
Purdue 26, Wake Forest 17
N. Carolina St. 24, Maryland 20
Mississippi St. 24, Kansas St. 21
stanford20.o Oregon 10
California 52, San Jose St. 3