Saturday, September 1, 1, 1976

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Nine

Gophers present
mid-season threat

(Continued from Page 7)
graduated defensive starters
were linemen ,an area where
Northwestern needs to show im-
provement. The Wildcats lack
team speed. Pont must find an-
other running back to comple-
'nent Boykin or opposing de-
fenses will stack up to stop the
1000-yard rusher.
Outlook: Injuries debilitated
Northwestern last year, after a
strong start. If the Purple stay
relatively injury-free they could
surprise a lot of teams. A sched-
ule break, Ohio State is off the
slate, won't hurt. The offense
should take care of itself, but
the defense must jell.
at Indiana
Strengths: Flashy Lee Corso
has seven starters back on both
his offensive and defensive
units. Halfback Courtney Sny-
der leads the returnees. In the
season finale against Purdue
last November Snyder galloped
for 211 yards to put him over
the 1000-yard mark for the sec-
ond straight year.
The Hoosiers made great
strides toward the end of last
year, however they still have a
long way to go. Keith Calvin is
a solid flanker and Joe Dog-
gett, Charlie Peal and Dave
Knowles form the nucleus of a
solid offensive line.
Weaknesses: Opponents ran
right through the Hoosiers last
year, to the tune of 3000 yards
per game. All-American line-
backer Donnie Thomas has
graduated and junior Craig
Brinkman can't carry the de-
fense alone. The middle of the
defensive line is especially
weak.
The Hoosiers may fare better
on the road than at home. Mich-
igan, Ohio State, North Caro-
lina State and Nebraska all
make visits to Bloomington.
Outlooks: Corso still must set-
tle on a quarterback. Terry
Jones led the Big Ten in pass-
ing as a sophomore but suf-
fered an off-year in '75. Jones

missed spring drills to play
baseball (he led the conference
in home runs and rbi's) and
lost his spot to Bob Kramer.
With a capable quarterback
the Hoosier offense will be
strong. Unless Corso can work
miracles, the Hoosiers will
once again have a swiss cheese
defense.
Minnesota
Strengths: Tony Dungy is
back for his senior season after
setting three school passing re-
cords last year (completions,
percentage, touchdowns), and
is a legitimate All - American
candidate. Top - flight receiv-
ers Ron Kullas- and Mike Jones
also return. Running game is
improved.
The defense tightened up at
the end of last season and eight
of its starters are back. Three
of the four defensivebacks re-
turn from a unit that allowed
only one TD via the air last
year.
Leading the linemen is middle
guard George Washington, who
was tops in the Big Ten in tac-
kles last season. The holes left
by graduation should be ably
filled and both linebackers are
back.
Weaknesses: Three tough of-
fensive linemen graduated, so
the potentially potent Gopher
attack may need sometime to
solidify.
Outlook: The Gophers lead
the group of teams who are out
to upset Michigan and Ohio
State this year, and they have
the ability to do it. They could
very well be 7-0 when they
come into Ann Arbor. Their
passing is superb, and their
running good enough to keep op-
ponents guessing, if the offen-
sive line shapes up.
Cal Stoll could easily im-
prove on his 6-5 record last
year,especially with an easy
non - conference schedule. But
an injury to Dungy could ruin
everything.
See 'M' BATTLES, page 10

A QUICK OHIO STATE DEFENDER jars the ball loose from Rick Leach's grasp in last A
son'S Big Game. It appears that the two teams will meet again this November for the E
Ten championship.

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