Suhday, September 12, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven,
Defense
under
scri
By RICK BONINO
My, how things change in a year.
A Southerner has actually emerged as
presidential front-runner, tuition has
crept higher than ever, and Michigan's
bend-but-not-break defense has sudden-
ly gone brittle.
Twelve months ago the Wolverines
went to Wisconsin to open a "rebuild-
ing" season and dominated the Billy
iarek - led Badgers, shutting down
the power-I en route to a 23-6 win.
TIS TIME AROUND John Jardine's
ore diverse and supposedly weaker
quad journeyed to the land of Gerald
ord and Shaky Jake, and offered the
typically jaded Michigan fans some ex-
citement despite an inspired Blue of-
fensive showing.
"I can't believe our defense is that
bad," Wolverine coach Bo Schembech-
ler said after Wisconsin had finished
racking up more points than any other
Big Ten team during his tenure. "I
won't believe it."
Many of the 100,000-plus fans who
jammed Michigan Stadium expecting
a good old-fashioned rout, may still
be wondering after watching a defense
too often caught out of position and
too often incapable of capitalizing on
opportunities to make the big plays.
From the opening touchdown-ticketed
fumble they played into a safety to
their last dropped interception, the Blue
defenders showed little of the opportu-
nistic aggressiveness that has charac-
terized past Schembechler products.
EVEN THE LACKLUSTER Badger
defense, rebuilding from a last-place
conference ranking, forced more turn-
overs than Michigan. While last year's
veteran crew managed to compensate
for many of the young offense's mis-
takes, this year's defense shows no
signs of affording that luxury.
The Wolverines enjoyed some flash-
es of the old-time brilliance, as senior
tackle "Mo" Morton continued his pro-
ficiency at tackling opponents for loss-
es and senior linebacker Calvin O'Neal
dropped Badgers all over the field. Still,
such moments remained few and far
between.
Understandably, neither the Blue
coaches nor the defenders are pre-
pared to give up the ship after its
maiden voyage. As Schembechler
said, "We're going to have to do some
soul-searching and see what happened."
SCHEMBECHLER AND STAFF may
well start their quest in two of the
more obvious areas, the holes left by
the graduation of all-conference middle
guard Tim Davis and All-American
wolfman Don Dufek.
Bob Lang and Steve Graves took
turns trying to fill Davis' deserted shoes
while Derek Howard and Jerry Zuver
alternated at Dufek's old post, some-
times for specific strategic reasons but
often in attempts to find the right com-
bination.
Wisconsin exploited the questionable
middle with their new workhorse, sen-
ior fullback Larry Canada, who con-
sistently picked up respectable chunks
of yardage.
The entire pass defense also calls for
close scrutiny after some seemingly be-
wildered play, particularly in the rush-
ing department, against the new-look
Badger aerial attack.
BOTH SCHEMBECHLER and defen-
sive coordinator Gary Moeller credited
Wisconsin's receivers with some out-
standing catches, many while double-
teamed. But while Schembechler re-
fused to "absolve the defense because
Wisconsin used a new offense," Moel-
ler cited the Badgers' play-action an-
tics as a major reason for their pass-
ing success.
itiny
"The play-action gave them good
protection although they couldn't get as
many receivers out," Moeller said of
a Wisconsin offense that suffered se-
vere graduation losses on the line.
"(Badger quarterback Mike) Carroll
often rolled out outside of our con-
tainment and also picked up his sec-
ondary receivers well."
CARROLL HAS OBVIOUSLY im-
proved over his dismal 1975 showing
but still ranks outside Mike Cordova's
class,. a fact Schembechler must sure-
ly ponder as Cordova and his Stan-
ford teammates prepare for their Ann
Arbor trip next weekend.
"No one can pass like Stanford,"
Schembechler assured his post-game
audience. "I guarantee you that."
So what's a coach to do? While
Schembechler indicated he will con-
sider some personnel changes this
week, both he and his players empha-
sized that the bulk of the mistakes
were mental, not structural.
"We made a lot of mental mistakes,"
Morton said. "We have to cut them
out if we want to win a champion-
ship."
"We've got to come back and im-
prove on our mistakes," O'Neal added.
"We've got to forge on ... we've got
to forge on."
Daily Photo by SCOTT ECCKER
WISCONSIN'S IRA MATTHEWS draws a beat on one of Badger QB Mike Carroll's 25
completions. Jerry Meter (left), and Jim Pickens (partially hidden) are the two Michi-
gan defenders.
I
WISCONSIN QB EXCELLS
inside Straight
ndy Glazer... I
Who's Number One. . .
.., too early to tell
THERE WERE PROBABLY at least two or three hundred
fans who left Michigan Stadium yesterday thinking that
they had definitely NOT just seen the No. 1 team in the
country.
But just what does all this No. 1 business mean, anyway?
Does it mean the No. 1 school is the one voters feel will
have the best record eventually? Does it mean the top school
is felt to be the best at that particular point in time?
Or does it mean that the No. 1 school is the one with the
best chance of going undefeated? Or is the school that most
successfully adds insult to injury when , ine is already won?
It can mean, then, quite a few things. And all of them,
with a meal ticket, will get you lunch in West Quad.
No one ever remembers the team that led most of the
way and then folded, save for a few heartbroken fans. The
only No. 1 ranking that should really mean anything is
the final ranking, and I often have my doubts just how
much that even means. So, undoubtedly, do the Arizona
State Sun Devils, who last year won all 12 of their games
and were then handed the number two spot.
But a midseason No. 1 selection is so full of speculation,
personal prejudice, expectation and previous accomplishment
that it really serves no purpose other than to hype fan in-
terest. What teams like Michigan are properly concerned with
is season long improvement, winning each game as it comes
along and trying, as a bonus, to look as good as possible
(i.e. high margins of victory) in the process.
'Happy but not satisfied'
Michigan coach Bo Schembechler made several points
after yesterday's game that follow along these lines.
"We will never win it without an improved defense," said
Schembechler, apparently referring to the national champion-
ship. "Let's get one thing straight, though. We won the game,
we are 1-0 and that's where we wanted to be. We are happy
with the victory but not satisfied."
Indeed, there was much to be happy about in a game
that left most unsatisfied. For one, there was the game's
start, which illustrates the difference between a great team
and a ... team. Wisconsin's first four plays were, in order,
a two-yard fumbled kickoff return, a penalty, a badly thrown
incomplete pass and then a fumble into their own end zone
for a Michigan safety. Well, they were a young team play-
ing in front of 101,337 fans, and you have to make allow-
ances.
Michigan, a young team playing in front of 101,337 fans,
started with a nine-yard quarterback sneak, a four-yard run,
and a 56-yard touchdown run. The Wolverines proceeded to
score twice more within nine minutes, and had the game
out of reach ten minutes and 25 seconds into the first quarter.
And for all of their subsequent "bad play," the Wolverines
never let Wisconsin within 13 points, which is not exactly walk-
ing a tightrope.
In other words, the Wolverines did what they had to do
to win, even if they were a mite on the sloppy side in do-
ing it.
New weaport ... the pass
Perhaps the happiest note of all was the success of the
Michigan passing game, which has been the target of endless
criticism the past few years. Young Rick Leach was six of
eight passing for 105 yards with two touchdowns and was the
subject of some lefthanded praise from his coach.
"Leach's mistakes were few and far between," said Schem-
bechler, "He played an excellent game."
There was even a change in the type of passes Leach
threw - instead of the standard semi-bombs, Leach threw,
to his fullback, Rob Lytle, twice and also threw a screen
pass. Those two elements of the passing game - flares
and screens - have been absent from the Michigan at-
tack the past few years, and they cannot help 'but to take
pressure off both the long passing and running games.
Even Schembechler, who underwent a 6 -hour open heart
surgery over the summer, was ready to admit a change in
philosophy.
"Isn't it awful to resort to that kind of football," he joked.
Michigan
defense
'1
Badgered'
New season, new problems
MICH WIS WISCONSIN
First bowns 22 24 Bailey 7 63 14
Rushing (att/yds) 54-350 41/158 Canada 5 18 10
Leach leads lively offense
(Continued from Page 1)
Splitting time between full-
back and tailback, Rob Lytle
gained 76 yards on 16 attempts.
However, the senior co-captain
had trouble hanging on to the
ball, coughing up three fumbles.
D E S P I T E LYTLE'S
three fumbles and yet a fourth
by Huckleby, the main source
of Schembechler's dissatisfac-
tion came from the Wolverine's
usually tough defensive play.
"Twenty - seven points -
that's what we usually give up
Upsets galore
Hours after Michigan beat
Wisconsin 40-27, three teams
in the top ten were thwart-
ed in their attempts to win
their opening games.
Nebraska was tied by LSU,
6-6, in a game at Baton
Rouge, when the Tigers
missed a field goal with only
seconds remaining in the
game. Alabama lost 10-7 to
Mississippi in Jackson, and
Boston College at home upset
Texas 14-13 to round out the
opening day surprises.
in the first half of the season,''
Schembechler said. "I wasn't
happy with the movement, I
wasn't happy with the pursuit,
I wasn't happy with the tack-
ling, I wasn't happy with the
playing of the ball in the sec-
ondary and I wasn't happy with
the heat we put on the passer.
"I wouldn't be at all surpris-
ed if there were some person-
nell changes next week," he
added.
Directing the Badger multiple
offense out of a winged-T for-
mation, quarterback Mike Car-
roll had a field day. The senior
transfer from Minnesota viaI
Lakewood Junior College put
the ball in the air on 44 occa-
sions connecting with his re-
ceivers 25 times for 268 yards
and a pair of touchdowns. In
1975, Carroll completed 58 of
123 passes, throwing 13 inter-
ceptions and no touchdown
passes.
B A D G E R FULLBACK
Larry Canada pounded the
middle of the Wolverine defen!
sive line, gaining 74 yards on
18 carries. Wisconsin's 21
points are the most scored on
the Maize and Blue since Mis-
souri throttled Michigan 40-17 inf
1969.
"When you have those play
action passes, which freezes the
linebackers it causes little poc-
kets or seams in the zone," ex-
plained cornerback Jim Pick-
ens. "Those little fakes are de-
signed to keep the pass de-
fense from rotating."
"I HOPE all our games
aren't this exciting," said
Schembechler.
First - quarter jitters hurt
Wisconsin, as Michigan thor-
oughly dominated the opening
minutes.
"We made a lot of mistakes
because we are a young team,"
said Badger coach John Jardine.
"We were tight in the first half
and then we relaxed."
The only mistake Michigan
made in the opening quarter
was call of the coin toss, jump-
ing to a 23-0 lead.
CANADA BOBBLED Bob
Wood's opening kick and the
Badgers started from their own
11-yard line. A Badger offsides
penalty pushed the ball back to
the six-yard line and on first
and fifteen Carroll missed
flanker David Charles with a
sidelane pass, one of the few
passes he threw poorly all
game.
On the ensuing play Mike
Morgan fumbled Carroll's hand-
off on a reverse play. Two
Michigan players, pounced on
the free ball in the end zone but
it squirted free of their grasp
and off the field for a safety.
Michigan led 2-0 a mere 18 sec-
onds into the game.
Michigan started its first
possession on its own 32 and
Schembechler called for a
switch from the usual opening
play. Instead of sending the full-
back off tackle, Leach kept the
ball on a quarterback sneak for
nine yards. Lytle picked up a
first down and on the following
play the Wolverines tallied their
first touchdown of the year.
THE MAIZE and Blue de-
fense held on the following ser-
ies forcing the Badgers to punt.
The Wolverines took over on
their own 31-yard line and
Leach promptly engineered a
69-yard scoring drive in twelve
plavs.
The key'play on the drive was
a 15-yard screen pass from
Leach to Lytle on a third and
five situation.
Seven running plays moved
the ball to the four-yard line,
where Huckleby took a pitch-
out from Leach and skirted
around right end for his second
touchdown of the day.
Two plays later Pickens in-
tercepted a Carroll aerial, giv-
ing the Wolverines possession
once again, this time on the
Badger 36. A Leach-to-Smith
pass on first down put the ball
on the 17-yard linetand two
running plays gained five yards.
FACED with a third down
and five yards to go for a first
down, Leach dropped back and
fired a strike to Smith in the
end zone. Smith, covered tight-
ly by Greg Gordon, outjumped
the Badger defensive back
catching the pigskin with just
his fingertips.
B AD GER tight end Ron
Egloff got behind Pickens to
haul in a 26-yard pass for Wis-
consin's. first score, three and
a half minutes into the second
quarter. Wisconsin declined a
pass interference call against
Pickens on the play.
Michigan came storming
right back, moving 80 yards in
only five plays to lead 30-7. A
42-yard run by Leach on the
first play of the drive carried
the ball deep into Badger ter-
ritory.
With a second and 11 situation
at the 25, Leach stepped back
into the pocket and unleashed
a bullet to Smith, which the
senior from Blue Island, Illi-
nois gathered in at full stride
cutting across the middle at
the 12-yard line and sped into
the endzone.
W I S C O N S I N dominated
play in the second half, run-
ning 45 plays to Michigan's 29.
Carroll hit on 15 of 25 passes
for 191 yards in the second half
alone as the Badgers outgained
the Wolverines in the half.
Passing
(att/com/yds) 8-6-1
Total yards4
Puntingt(no/avg) 2-
Interceptionis
Fumbles (no/lost) 4
Yards Penalized
RUSHING
-105
455
-38
1
4-4
10
t
44-25-268
426
3-48.31
4-2
35
Huckleby
Leach
Lytle
R. Davis
J. Smith
Canada
Matthews
Carroll
Cohee
Breuscher
Morgan
Leach
Carroll
J. smith
Lytle
MICHIGAN
att yds
19 131
9 84
16 76
4 30
6 29
WISCONSIN
avg
6.9
9.3
4.8
7.5
4.8
4.1
8.1
3.71
5.0
18
7
6
1
74
57
22
5
Charles 4 50
Egloff 3 58
Matthews 3 50
Morgan 2 23
Breuscher 1 6
SCORING PLAYS
MICH - Safety on Morgan
fumble out of end zone
MICH - Huckleby 56 yard
run (Wood kick)
MICH - Huckleby 4 yard
run (Wood kick)
MICH - J. Smith 12 yard
pass from Leach (Wood
kick)
Wis - Egloff 26 yard pass
from Carroll (Lamia kick)
MICH - J. Smith 25 yard
pass from Leach (Wood
kick)
Wis - Lamia field goal 42
yards
MICH - Wood 36 yard field
goal
Wis - Lamia 42 yard field
goal
Wis - Canada 6 yard run
(Lamia kick)
MICH - Huckleby 1 yard
run (Wood kick)
Wis - Charles 7 yard pass
from Carroll (Lamia kick)
0 18
8 26
0 29
15
66
M
2
9
16
W
0
0
0
0.
7
2 1 0.5
7-1 -1.0
PASSING
MICHIGAN
att com int yds
8 6 0 105'
WISCONSIN
44 25 1 26
RECEIVING 26sf
MICHIGAN
no yds long
4 70 25
2 35 20
30 7
30 10
33 10
33 13
33 20
40 20
40 27
MINNESOTA HANDLES HOOSIERS:
Buckeyes crush iMS
By The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jeff Lo-
gan, Heisman Trophy winner
Archie Griffin's tailback re-
placement, bolted for three
touchdowns and had a fourth
score nullified by a penalty,
yesterday, helping fourth-rank-
ed Ohio State crush Michigan
State 49-21.
Logan, a 184-pound junior
from North Canton, Ohio, ran
75, 68 and three yards for his
touchdowns. He lost another
71-yard score as the Buck-
eyes rolled to their 12th
straight conference victory.
Logan, with 112 yards, form-
ed a punishing trio with hold-
over fullback Pete Johnson and
new quarterback Rod Gerald.
The three contributed 315 yards
and six touchdowns rushing. Lo-
gan's 68-yard scamper came on
a punt return.
* * *
Dungy douses
MINNEAPOLIS-Senior quar-l
terback Tony Dungy ran for
two touchdowns and fired two
scoring passes, leading Minne-
sota to a 32-13 Big Ten con-
ference football victory over In-
diana yesterday in the season
opener for both teams.
A 15-yard touchdown pass
from Dungy to Ron Kullas
gave Minnesota a 25-0 lead
early in the third period. But
Indiana rallied strongly in the
88-degree heat, moving in with-
in 25-13 with 10:17 left in the
game.
The.Hoosiers mounted succes-
sive 80-yard scoring drives. The,
first touchdown came when
.' ........
. .
Big 10 Standings
W L
MICHIGAN 1 0
Ohio State 1 0
Purdue 1 0
workhorse Ric Enis leaped over
from one yard out.
Indiana's all-time leading
rusher, Courtney Snyder, suf-
fered a broken ankle in the
first period of the game when
he was tackled.
* * *
Purdue plunders
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. --
Senior tailback Scott Dierking
rushed for 151 yards and scored
two touchdowns and Purdue.
scored its most points since 1974
yesterday as the Boilermakers
beat Northwestern 31-19.
Purdue, trailing 13-10 at the
half, seized control early in
the third period when it scored
14 points in 1:38.
The Boilermakers stopped the
Wildcats on the opening series
of the second half and took
possession on their own 12 after
a holding penalty. From there,
they pieced together an 88-yard
scoring drive on nine plays.
* * *
MIlini ignite
CAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois
defensive back Dave Kelly
blocked one Iowa punt and re- forfeited two apparent first-quar-
covered another to set up easy ter touchdowns because of pen-
touchdowns and give the Illini alties and scored twice after
a 24-6 win yesterday.
The game was marred with blocking punt attempts by
miscues by both teams. Illinois I Hawkeye Dan Matter.
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.0
COLLEGE FOOTB
South Carolina 27, Georgi
Oklahoma St. 33, Tulsa 21
Pittsburgh 31, Notre Dame
Houston 23, Baylor 5
Texas A&M 19, Virginia T
Washington 38, Virginia 1
Air Force 36, Pacific Unive
Wyoming 48, South Dakota
Army 16, Lafayette 6
Kansas 35, Washington St.
Mich. Tech 31,Northwood
Iowa State 58, Drake 14
Bowling Green 22, Syracu
Penn State 15, Stanford 1
Rutgers 13, Navy 3
Western Mich. 31, Eastern
Oklahoma 24, Vanderbilt3
Colgate 13, Connecticut 7
Massachusetts 28, Toledo]
New Hampshire 28, HolyC
West Virginia 28, Villanov
Wake Forest 20, N. Caroli
Clemson 10, Citadel 7
Georgia 36, California 24
Kentucky 38, Oregon St.1
Cincinnati 21, Tulane 14
Marshall 21, Miami, Ohio
Maryland 31, Richmond 7
. xv awc"....::+".:.....
?
"T?
SCORES r
ALL Kent State 20, Central Michigan 10
Northern Mich. 14, N. Dakota St. 9
a Tech 17 North Carolinas24,Florida 21
L Duke 21, Tennessee 18
e 10 LSU 6, Nebraska 6
Boston College 14, Texas 13
ech 0 Mississippi 10, Alabama 7
7
ersity 3 CANADA CUP
ta 7
Sweden 2, Czechoslovakia 1
t16 Canada 3, U.S.S.R. 1
I Mich. 7 United States 6, Finland=3
se 7 BASEBALL
2 American League
Mich. 13 Detroit 6, New York 5
3 California 7, Chicago 3
Kansas City 8, Minnesota 6
14 Baltimore 5, Milwaukee 1
Cross 3 (First of two.)
va 7 Cleveland 6, Boston 5
na St. 18 Oakland 1, Texas 0
National League
13 New York 4, St. Louis 1
Cincinnati 8, San Francisco 5
Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 3
16 Chicago 4, Philadelphia 1
r Atlanta at Los Angeles, ppd., rain
:
:;:.
'r,:
Pittsburgh blasts Notre Dame;
Georgia, Penn State victorious
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Ninth-ranked Pitts-
burgh turned a pair of interceptions into quick
second-period touchdowns and Tony Dorsett tor-
mented Notre Dame again by rushing for 181
yards as the Panthers rolled to a, 31-10 victory
yesterday, handing the Irish their first opening-
game loss in 13 years.
Dorsett, who stunned Notre Dame with a re-
,%A71 vanr--.ac n frhmnn i 107A Snd Prens-_
Bulldogs bury Bears
ATHENS, Ga. - Sixteenth-ranked Georgia
struck for two touchdowns within 61 seconds,
the second after Johnny Henderson's 26-yard
interception return, and beat the explosive Cali-
fornia Golden Bears 36-24 in an intersectional
football battle Saturday.
California quarterback Joe Roth, who passed
for 7O vards. connected with the fleet Wesley