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. v,;.y.; ,.v sy;{ ' ;.};::.;....::: , r .-'!."X a. , ..p."R"nw.." ry;.rwry': " ,.+ ;." }!G a:}:Si : t' ' ?r%. Y t: :"'?.tir % ":4:d iYd{k:i'j4 r,{ n);:} .:. i",", ," ";iwr$ .y'. f"'%.;; . .. .. .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