21, 1977-The Michigan Daily MINNESO TA: BEST OF REST? ophers prime for Blue By JEFF BLAKE n Pont, the head coach of North- rn's football team, didn't really to be critical, nor to be facetious. t, he meant to hand the Minnesota ers, the top-ranked Wolverines' lent this Saturday, a compliment. nesota has a fine football team," 'ont, following his team's loss to rophers last weekend. "I'd say re definitely on a par with Wiscon- Vow I don't mean that they're to get beat by 56 points, but .ts nothing, In Minneapolis this day, Michigan may indeed be ;one of the Big Ten's best-of the That is, behind the Big Two. Last the Gophers wound up tied for in the conference-but tied for' th too, with three other clubs at 4- is year, with star quarterback Dungy graduated, the Gophers ly 1-2 in conferemce play, but are erall. urally, the game Saturday is a big, >r the Gophers. "The big thing," vlinnesota coach Cal Stoll, "is that es us the opportunity to playthe. ier one team in the ntation. This be the only time these guys have hance." coach, what about the Little ri Jug, the coveted trophy awar- annually to the winner of the UM clash? "Aw, that's a fun and it's got a lot of tradition, but eally insignificant compared to ng the number one team." Of e, Stoll mighty be excused for .ing nonchalant: He has yet to win ophy in his six years at Minnesota. rder to win it this year, Stoll has i find some way of installing in his a component largely absent gh its first six games-offense. najor problem has been trying to Fe Dungy, and neither sophomore dell . very, nor Junior Marc man has proved adequate. ry, whose quickness afoot earned he starting role in the team's first ames, was demoted last week to man for first-time starter Trest- "Wendell has had problems on third- and-long," admitted Stoll. "So we had to give Marc a chance. He gives us a lot more maturity and stability back there, since he does have more experience.'' Trestman was red-shirted last year after injuring his arm, but picked up experience as a back-up to Dungy two years ago. He will probably be Satur- day's starter., Picking up the scoring slack has been who Stoll terms "our bright spot;" field goal kicker Paul Rogind. Rogind, a sophomore from: Harrison High in Farmington, Michigan, has already set a school record this season with nine field goals. Four of those came in one game against Washington, with the last, one of three game winners this year, beating the Huskies in the last five seconds. Keeping the score close enough to enable Rogind to win games, however, is a strong defense which has allowed just over 16 points a game, including 38 by Ohio State. Three times the opponent has been held to one touchdown. "Our defense has been just super," boasts Stoll, singling out the play of linebackers Steve Stewart and Michael Hunt. "We lost Luckemeyer in the secondary (ruptured, spleen), but (Brian) Snyder filled in well last week and it didn't seen to hurt us a bit." Overall, Stoll is pleased with his team's play. "We think we've had a fine season so far. We beat two of the best teams on the coast (wins over Washington and then-18th-ranked UCLA) and we should've beaten Iowa too." Still, the Wolverines are rated as 20 point favorites (Stoll thought it would be 35), and Stoll knows what he's up against. "Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of being able to 'gear up' for this one. Every game is tough. Heck, we just got by Western Michigan." But the guys are really excited about this one, and you can bet they're not going to need any pep talk Saturday." And of course, Stoll lets the coach in him surface by warning, "You know, there's always a chance for an upset." He is, technically, at least, correct. On the other hand, if the Gophers really are as tough as Wisconsin.. . HOME AND HOME WITH BSG U: lecers launch season By PAUL CAMPBELL In a slight twist on the David and Goliath adventure, Bowling Green, State University of the Central Colle giate Hockey Association (CCHA) hosts Michigan tonight in the opener of a two game home and home series which opens the 1977-78 regular season for both squads. In case you haven't guessed, Michigan will be decked out as Goli- ath. The Wolverines, who came within one goal of the national championship last year, have been tabbed by most experts as the team to beat this year. MICHIGAN returns four of its top five scorers from a team that aver- aged nearly six goals a game. One is Dave DeBol, whose 99 points last year assured him of pre-season All- American status this year. The Wlverines play in the Western Collegiate H o c k e y Association (WCHA), which has so dominated the national scene in recent years that no team from another circuit has been able to reach the NCAA finals since 1972. But before you shed a tear for old BGSU, consider that it returns 20 of 23 lettermen from a team that finished 28-11 overall (compared to Michigan's 28-17) and won the CCHA tournament before losing to Michi- gan 7-5 in the first round of the NQAA's. IN FACT, only twenty-goal scorer Jack Laine is gone from the offense. ''We'll be tough again this year," said BGSU coach Ron Mason, whose four-year mark at the Ohio school is a sterling 96-41. "We'll be in real good shape along thp forward line and on defense." But, for two reasons, Mason is quick to qualify his optimism. The reasons are Mike Luit and Al Sar- achman, the goaltending duo which matriculated last spring after setting all kinds of school records while alternating in the nets for four years. Three freshmen have battled in- conclusively for the starting nod. As of now, Mason is leaning toward another two goalie system using Wally Charko and Brian Stankiewicz. 'the Falcons have amazing depth and quality at center. Dave Easton (16 goals, 26 assists, 42 points last year) has been a captain for three years and is considered by Mason to be one of the most underrated players in all college hockey. MARK WELLS (23-37-60) from St. Clair Shores led the team in scoring last year and was first team all- CCHA. Then there's Mike Hartman, who scored 30 points before losing his eligibility. He's got it back. Experience and talent also return at defense. Senior John Mavity (11-36-47) leads the blue line corp in scoring, while physically imposing John Morrow (6'5", 210) can make his presence felt. Another St. Clair Shorian, Tom Thomas, has been voted by his teammates as BGSU's top defenseman two years running.. DEBOL, 43 goals, 56 assists, will center Michigan's first line with Bill Wheeler (10-8-18) and Mike Coffman (15-12-27) on the wings. Kip Maurer, who split his 76 points evenly last year between goals and assists, will center the number two line for Farrell. He'll be flanked by Bill Thayer (17-43-60) and freshman John Olver. Farrell is faced with a tough deci- sion about his goalies. Rick Palmer and Frank Zimmerman split time last year, and both are back. To further complicate matters, fresh- man Rudy Varvari has looked very impressive in practice. ONLY TWO goalies will be includ- ed amongst the 20 players which can dress for any game, and the coach has yet to decide (publicly) who he will go with. If Michigan has an unknown quan- tity, it is at defense. With Greg Na tale and Rob Palmer gone, a lot of the blue line burden will fall upon the shoulders of senior captain John McCahill (0-27-27). Junior John Waymann and sopho- mores Dean Turner and Dave Bren- nan return with 'experience under. their belts, but sophomore Rod Pacholzuk and freshmen Tim Man- ning and John Blum will see a lot of ice time. The series shifts to Yost tomorrow night at 7:30. the wire By Don MacLachan Blue injuries mount... .. ,even subs su f fer T'S THAT TIME OF YEAR again. The Michigan football schedule is full of underdogs until the season finale against Ohio State. Tomorrow's opponent, Minnesota, owns the best record of the next four opponents with a 4-2 slate. Bo Schembechler must motivate his team well, for everyone is waiting for a chance to knock off the top-ranked team in the land. Schembechler ex- pects perfection but claims that anything can happen in the 60 minutes of battle each Saturday. Bo can build up the opponents in practice and through studying game films. But it must be tough for a coach whose team has won 9) per cent of its games over the last nine years. "I'll show the Minnesota film against UCLA and Washington and you'll sit up and take notice," Schembechler said. "Minnesota has beaten some good teams in UCLA and Washington. There is always the incentive on the road. You gotta be apprehensive. It's not easy." However, in certain instances studying game films might backfire. The opposition could look pathetically weak and come out spitting fire the next Saturday. "We won 45-0 against Minnesota last year and went into West Lafayette to play a team that looked sad in the games films from the week before," Schembechler said. The Michigan coach was referring to Purdue. Former Purdue coach Alex Agase recalled Monday that his team "looked so bad against State I couldn't describe them. "We played like anybody could beat us," Agase continued. "Next week you couldn't recognize that team," Schembechler said. "I knew we'd play well but I sure didn't know we would win," Agase said with a smile. Purdue played its best game of the year and upset the Wolverines, 16-14. The loss to the Boilermakers certainly helps preparation for this year. But Schembechler knows his team has all the ammunition it needs to beat the upcoming four foes. He certainly will have Michigan ready to play-- make no mistake about that. However, the problem confronting Schembechler is not so much getting his team hepped up to play as it is fighting off the injuries that continue to mount. "My one reservation about this team is we are running out of players," Schembechler said. "What is pleasing is that I've never seen a team hit so hard with injuries, but it keeps hanging in there." Bo realizes that if a key player gets hurt there is no longer a reserve who can come in and instantly do the job. It's nothing to look past either - one key injury could put this team in a hole. Seven offensive linemen are already shelved for an indefinite period. An offensive line of Mark Schmerge at tight end, Chuk Hetts and John Arbe- nik at guards, Steve Nauta at center and Bill Dufek with Jon Giesler at tackles would do a solid job. Unfortunately for Schembechler none of'these players are available for duty. "It's unbelievable - we've lost two people to injries who were never touched," Schembechler said. "Our injuries are not ones that are going to let the players return. Right now this team has no depth. That is why there is a certain'amount of excitement this year. This is a challenge" The Michigan team had a lot of depth at the season's outset but now the B l.ue lineup is thin. Why can't Schembechler reach into his seemingly en- dless football factory and pull out another substitute to play, as Joe Falls might suggest? "There ain't no factory down there," Schenbechler said. "That factory is bare. I feel very fortunate that we are where we are. I feared the worst when these people started going down." Michigan remains number one but Schembechler remains more concer- ned with the health and success of his squad than with its position in the polls. He hasn't seen Alabama, USC or Texas so he doesn't know how his team compares to those powerhouses. D own deep Schembechler knows that the talent is there - but it is run- ning thin. If his team stays healthy and wins the last five games - then the ratings will mean something. But for now avoiding injuries is essential..The rest should fall in place. WINGS TRADE BERGE RON Habs tie Wings,2-2 gs,2- ichigan v.Minnesota Tomorrow at 2:15 EDT The Wolverines and the Golden Gophers battle it out for the Little Brown Jug in Minneapolis. Join Tom Hemingway and Tom Slade for the most accurate play-by-play on the air. Follow all the action on The University of Michigan public radio station ,WUOM 91.7FM AnnArbor OPEN HOS Saturday Sunday Olctober 22(521 * -'' V4 . ) By the Wire Services DETROIT - Defenseman Larry Robinson's short backhander with 16 seconds left in last night's game en- abled the outplayed Montreal Cana- diens to escape Detroit with a 2-2 tie from the Red Wings. WE CAN INCREASE YOUR LSA T SCORE Call or write: University LSAT Preparation Service Inc. 2200 Fuller Rd., Suite 9128 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105 313-995-4014 Center Doug Jarvis wdn a key faceoff to goalie Eddie Giacomin's left with 18 seconds to go and slid the puck so Robinson could slip home his game-tying shot two seconds later. Rookie Rob Plumb's first NI4L =point, a power play goal at 10:02 of the second period, put the Red Wings ahead 2-1. Defenseman Guy Lapointe hit a slap shot that deflected off a Detroit player past Eddie Giacomin in the first period to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead, but leftwing Nick Libett tied it at 2:08 of the second period. Earlier, the Red Wings traded right wing Michel Bergeron to the New York Islanders for center Andre St. Laurent. Bergeron was a top draft pick for Detroit in 1974. 9-9 SATURDAY 1 " FRE&COURT TIME * FREE R iFR ES 1-ENTS 0-6 SUNDAY LaCrosse teversib pW V eat s 9 "q8 f, ..,. _:,-- ., f r , .r - . - ' . t __. --. . . --. ' ,1 t I i " VIDEOTA LOUNGE " TAPED OtJRNAMENTS .. y " N EW Loe. s * FREE ,VDE dKE ANALYSIS " TEJdIS Mio u YEAR END SALE 1 0-40% OFF " TIRES " SEATS " CAR RACKS Master Cables & Lock: I i i