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