Saturday, September 11, 1976
THE MICHIGAkN DAILY
Page T hree
Saturday. vv emb, ,1 1976.THEM.C.. DAILYPage1-r-
OFFENSE:
Potent squad could
demolish opponents
By MARK WHITNEY
A year ago, the scoop on the
Wolverines was that the defense
.as as tough as any team
around, but the offense was
young and inexperienced.
This season, the story is re-
versed. Coach Bo Schembech-
ler's offensive squad lost only
three of last year's starters.
There is depth and experience
at every position. The defense,
though, lost six first-stringers,
so the pressure will be on the
offense to take up the slack.
Michigan has always been
noted for a powerful running
game. In '75, Gordon Bell and
Rob Lytle both gained over
1,000 yards, making the Wolver-
ines the only team in the na-
tion with the distinction of hav-
ing two rushers over that mark.
This year again, running will
be the Blue's bread and but-
ter.
The speedy Lytle is back at
tailback. The 6-1, 195-1b. senior
gained 802 yards there as a
sophomore before switching to
fullback last season while Bell
ran from tie tailback position.
He is an excellent blocker and
can power through a crowd as
well as dart around the end.
He made honorable mention
in the Associated Press 'All-
American list, but Schembech-
ler thinks he's underrated. "Rob
could be the finest back we've
had at Michigan in my seven
years here," says Schembech-
ler.
Lytle is not the only hard run-
ner in the backfield. Russell
Davis, a 6-2, 205-lb. powerful
sophomore, looks to start at full-
back. Two impressive juniors,
Kevin King and Scott Corbin,
are behind him.
Of couse, navigating the at-
tack will be sophomore Rick
Leach. The 6-1, 180-lb. native
of Flint matured a great deal
last year, despite occasional
lapses. As one would expect of
a good running team, the quar-
terback can run also. In '75,
the southpaw rushed for 552
yards, often getting important
first downs by turning passing
situations into ten or fifteen
yard gains.
Every now and then, Leach
would step back into the pocket
and let fly. Hurling his unpre-
dictable passes in the direction
of w i n g b a c k Jim Smith,
Leach was erratic throughout
his freshman year.
Against Stanford, he hit Smith
on a 48-yard pass play in the
waning moments of the first
half to break a scoreless tie.
The Leach-Smith Connection al-
so set the team record for the
longest pass and scoring play
of 83 yards.
Despite Leach's improvement,
inexperience ailed him at times.
Against Ohio State, an intercep-
tion late in the game set up
the Buckeyes' winning touch-
down, then another cut off the
Wolverines last chance of ty-
ing it up.
Against Oklahoma in the
Orange Bowl, things were
worse. Michigan did not com-
plete a pass until very late
in the game, after 15 unsuccess-
See MICHIGAN, Page 16
Doily Photo by KEN FINK
MICHIGAN TAILBACK ROB LYTLE bulls past an Indiana defender in last year's game. In '75,
Lytle played fullback and gained 1040 yards. This season he switches back- to tailback, his posi-
tion as a sophomore.
Rebuilt unit braced
by Morton, O'Neal
DEFENSE:
By BILL STIEG
At Michigan, defense is never
neglected. Though less glamor-
ous and less renowned, the de-
fensive platoons have received
a good share of attention in
Ain Arbor.
The coach, Bo Schembechler,
is well - known for his obses-
sion with having a tough de-
fense above all else. And it's
paid off - Michigan's defense
has been near the top nation-
ally almost every year in Bo's
tenure.
The defenders have pro-
vided Michigan fans with
some memorable thrills the
last few seasons. In 1973,
Don Dufek started the titan-
ic struggles with Ohio State
by upending Archie Griffin
for a loss on the first play.
Last year, desperate goal-line
stands kept Stanford and Bay-
lor from upsetting Michigan. In
the championship game with
Ohio State, middle guard Tim-
my Davis chased Cornelius
Greene into his own end zone,
like a dog after a squirrel, near-
ly causing an interception that
would have clinched a Michi-
gan win.
But now, for the first time in
quite a while, Michigan is en-
tering a season unsure of its de-
fense and quite confident of its
offense.
It's not that Schembechler
has changed his emphasis -
it's a matter of personnel. Du-
fek and Davis have graduated,
along with four other 1975 start-
ers. Fortunately, their replace-
ments were able to gain some
experience during last season.
Based on the graduation
toll, the secondary will be
strong, the linebackers will
be excellent, especially Cal-
vin O'Neal, and the line,
where All - Big Ten Greg
Morton plays, will be solid
but relatively untested.
The Wolverine defensive sec-
ondary received substantial cri-
ticism on a couple of occasions
last year. Their most frustrat-
ing game was against Stanford,
when a red-hot Mike Cordova
hit 24 of 44 passes to lead his
team to a 19-19 "upset."
Later in the season, Minne-
sota's Tony Dungy connected
on 17 of 31 tosses in a 28-21
Michigan win. Illinois and Ohio
State were less spectacular but
still effective through the air.
But the secondary was fair.
ly inexperienced in '75. With
that enlightening season under
their belts, the Wolverines
could be quite impressive.
Three of the four defensive
backs return - safety Dwight
Hicks and cornerbacks Jim
Bolden and Jim Pickens. Re-
placing Dufek at wolfback will
he Jerry Zuver, a senior with
ample experience.
Pickens, a speedy converted
wingback, finished fourth on
the team in total tackles, high-
er than any of the others in the
defensive backfield.
Hicks, another speedster
See GAME, Page 17
Daily Photo by KEN FINK
BIG CALVIN O'NEAL (96) tries to drag down Indiana's Darrick Burnett in Michigan's 55-7 win
last season. O'Neal, an All-Big Ten linebacker, returns this year for his senior year.