Thursday, November 18, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY rage z~evern ir FRONT LINE AWESOME: a De fense anchors By GREG ZOTT Remember those goal-line stands? Or those fourth quarter interceptions? Or how about that infamous batter- ing of Dennis Franklin that resulted in that even more infamous Rose Bowl vote? Since 1972, the Ohio State defense has played a giant role in the Wol- verines' final game blues. Michigan has crossed the Buckeye, goal-line a mere five times in the last four years. This year's Wolverines arrive in Co- lumbus leading the nation in scoring and rushing, and hoping to reverse the trend of the seventies. And the Buckeyes? WELL, THOSE BUCKEYES allowed just two, touchdowns in their last four games. The OSU defense all year has given up just under 12 points a game. "Their defense is exceptionally good," says coach Bo Schembechler. "It is absolutely the best we have played this year." It all starts in the trenches with the "Buckeye B-line" - Bob Brudzin- ski, Nick Buonamici, Eddie Beamon, Airon Brown, and Kelton Dansler. Scouts from across the country call this the quickest defensive unit ever to play at Ohio State. Senior tackle Buonamici had the audacity to criticize Woody Hayes aft- er last year's Rose Bowl, and the iras- cible Hayes suspended him for the 1976 season. PRESUMABLY BUONAMICI did enough penance to be reinstated at the start of spring practice. He has gone on to have one of the finest seasons for a 'defensive tackle in OSU his- tory. OSU boosters compare senior left end Brudzinski to All Pro ex-Buckeye Jim Houston. Many others call middle- guard Brown the quickest of all the interior linemen, reminiscent of former Michigan great Tim Davis. While the accolades continue to go to the front five, the linebackers also excel. Senior Ed Thompson and sopho- more Tom Cousineau are quietly lead- ing the team in tackles. The OSU secondary drew criticism earlier this season after a one-point loss to Missouri. The Buckeyes rank ninth in Big Ten pass defense and have three starters in their first title game. RAY GRIFFIN had first shot at this year's tailback spot, vacated by two-time Heisman winning brother Archie, but he passed it up to stay at safety. Griffin, whose interception led to the Buckeyes winning scores last year, keys the OSU pass defense. Iowa coach Bob Commings calls Griffin, "the best defensive player I saw all year." Freshman Mike' Guess, and juniors Joe Allegro and Tom Roche round out the Buck backs that hope to contain Jim Smith and the other Michigan re- ceivers. One big Buckeye question mark may be the kicking game, which still has two-time All American 'Tom Skladany. SKLADANY TOOK OVER both punt- ing and place-kicking this season, and the Bucks are concerned with the strength of his leg. Skladany's punting is six yards off lucks his NCAA leading 47-yard average of last year, but it is still respectable. His place-kicking, both long and short, has been erratic. The Wolverines may test this chink in the OSU armour. But Skladany's de- gree of importance depends on how many points Michigan can score Sat- urday. Since Bo's arrival in 1968, the Wol- verines are averaging only 10 points a game in Columbus, a total this year's team averages every quarter. CAN THE WOLVERINES break what is gradually building into a "jinx" situation this Saturday? Or will those little nuisances of recent OSU games come cropping up to make this an- other rose-less New Year's? Anyway, those of us who relish these almost inevitable clashes every year can find consolation in Saturday's lineups. The Buckeyes' defense loses all of three seniors; Michigan's offense only two. Anybody know the odds on another game of the century next year in Ann Arbor? Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS Aided by a Gordon Bell block, Rich Leach tries to elude Ohio State defensive standout Ray Griffin in last year's game in Ann Arbor. Griffin, brother of Heisman trophy winner Archie Griffin, picked off two passes and made several key tackles in leading the Buck= eyes to a 21-14 victory. r iI Iii r--.- Touching all NoDa the bases By BOB MILLER North Dakota, once the door- __ __ _ _ _ _ _Bill Stieg mat of the Western Collegiate; Hockey Association, continues to be the surprise team of the The little things . . . league as the second month of action gets underway. TheFighting Sioux placed in . . . m ake the difuferen e j a tie for lasthone year ago, and, now find themselves on the other end of the standings. THIS COULD BE THE YEAR, couldn't it? Michigan hockey coach Dan Farrell commented that North Things look pretty good for Michigan this Saturday, right? Dakota and Michigan were the As good or better than the last few years, at least, only surprises in the youngF Jimmy the Greek favors the Wolverines by six. The AP and season. h UPI polls rank them above Ohio State. OSU lost a game and tied at .500 by Christmas, andswe one, and the Buckeyes had trouble beating Minnesota last week. still are after losing 8 or 9 Meanwhile, the Wolverines have apparently gotten over their lettermen after last year," said little slip-up in West Lafayette. That win over Illinois last week Farrell. was impressive in all respects. . Also deadloc:ked for first place in the conference is Wisconsin. That one loss could even help Michian - the players ~...._ know they can be beaten if they don't '- all out, and the. added pressure of preserving a perfect record and number-I one ranking is gone. T ak r WISCONSIN LEADS PACK k surprises /WCHA I GRIIDE PICKS However, the Badgers and the NoDaks record of 5-1 is per- centage points better than the Wolverines 5-3. "Wisconsin is where we ex- pected them to be," Farrell said. Wisconsin is number one in both polls with an overall record of 7-1, the lone setback to Michigan in overtime. Since then the Badgers have reeled off seven straight wins. Defending NCAA champions Minnesota sport a 3-2-1 mark, good for fourth place behind the tri-leaders. Trailing the Gophers by a 'oint are Colorado College and leiMhigan's next opponent, Den- ver. Colorado College caused a commotion when they swept Michigan Tech to start the sea- ant -onsl son, but then the Tigers have The Spartans may not have slowed up a bit, splitting with the same assurance. MSU stands Bear with us one more time, and wade through this last North Dakota, and dropping two at 2-4, tied with Notre Dame: set of GRIDDES. Take one more chance on a smallone-item against the Badgers at Madison. for eighth place, fresh off a siz fo izza o J ge the in b mdi, Friday At Denver, Michigan runs into double loss to Minnesota.izza from Pizza Bob's. Just get them by midnight Friday a tough opponent in the Pio- Dv"Michigan State lost a lot of to the Daily. Then go to sleep, we'll wake you in time for bas- neers. The Wolverines have not players," said Farrell, "they ketball season. fared well in the Mile High City lost 85 per cent of their goal NOVEMBER 20 22) Pittsburgh at Penn St 1 lately and Farrell is hopeful that scorers." 1) MICHIGAN at Ohio State 23) William and Mary at the team's luck will change out "Michigan State is not sur- (Pick score) Richmond there this time around. prising anyone, at least they are 2) Northwestern at Illinois 24) UCLA at USC Michigan Tech, NCAA final- where I expected them to be," 3) Iowa at Michigan St. 25) Syracuse at W. Virginia ists three years running, is off I said Farrell. 4) Minnesota at Wisconsin 26) Villanova at Temple to a bland 3-5 record, trading The Fighting Irish have been 5) Indiana at Purdue 27) Indiana St. at VMI with Michigan, Michigan State, besieged by injuries which 6) Louisville at Boston U. 28) Washington at Washington Denver but losing twice to have crippled the defense. As 7) Stanford at California St. (Spokane) Colorado College. a consequence the Irish have 8) Vanderbilt at Cincinnati 29) Wyoming at Air Force lost and won a lot of wide 9) South Carolina at Clemson 30) DAILY LIBELS at Ohio St. H o w e v e r Farrell assures, onen, high-scoring affairs. 10) Duke at North Carolina Lantern "there is nothing to be excited Coach Lefty Smith agrees that 11) Texas, El Paso at Hawaii NOVEMBER 27 j about. Michigan Tech tradition- it is fan pleasing hockey, but 12) Virginia Tech at Florida (Still must be in by ally doesn't get off to a fast not satisfying to the coach. . St. Midnight, Nov. 19) start. ___ At the bottom of the heap is! 13) Western M rhigan at Cen- 31) Baylor at Texas Christian Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs: tral Michigan )32) Army vs. Navy (Philadel- Iic " did manage a point from a tie 14) Iowa St. at Oklahoma St. phia) on the road at Minnesota. but 15) Houston at Texas Tech 33) Georgia Tech at Georgia that is all they have managed. 16) Kentucky at Tennessee 34) Ioly Cross at Boston Col- ..17) Southern Illinois at Mar- , lege While in the midst of a four- shall 35) Arizona St. at Arizona will have to get accustomed to 18) Memphis St. at Southern 36) Texas Tech at Arkansas e ; Mississippi 37) Alabama at Auburn (Birm- the cellar as they arethe only 19) Mississippi at Mississippi ingham) obvious weak link in the WCHA St. (Jackson), 38) Notre Dame at USC tential. Included are sophomore chain 20) Oklahoma at Nebraska 39) Oregon St at Hawaii Mike Darland, freshman Lee _ka t bs 4 T A&M t Tas Carter (took second in last21Ore year's Illinois high school state -^ n *n....l1 Michigan's rushing is powerful, its passing good enough to keep the Bucks worried. Besides, there is a' bunch of seniors- including a few five-'year -men-who are tired of losing to Woody. een That's incentive enough, right? wuith Donie r4 i c R+ 7 yt t a Right? By DAN PERRIN So how come I'm worried for these Wolverines? Worried that Over at the corner of Hoover this might not be the year, that they and their fans may be and State, there is a team that frustrated again? How come I keep thinking back . . . has been working out since the opening of the school year. No, 1972: Watching the game on TV, I see Michigan with first it's not Michigan's well-known and goal from the one at the end of the first half. football squad, nor the Big Ten champion harriers. Who are Chuck Heater loses a yard on a pitch. Then he slips go- these hard-working young men, ing wide. Bob Thornbladh goes up the middle for nothing. you ask? It's the Michigan Dennis Franklin fumbles the fourth down snap. Men's Varsity Swim Team. But there's another half to go, once again Michigan gets down Coming off third place Big clos, ths tme t thefiv. Hary BnksTen and 13th place NCAA finish- close, this time to the five. Harry Banks gets only one yard es last year, Coach Gig Stag- around end. He's stopoed inches short on the next plav. Michi- er's 76-77 boys look tough gan tries again. And again. And that's all. Ohio State wins, 14-11. enough to repeat, if not im- 1973: Sitting in the end zone seats, I watch as Franklin gets prove, their previous finish. up slowly-too slowly--helped by trainers and watched wor- Senior Gordon Downie is the riedly by teammates. His collarbone cracked, he'll miss the last team's proven star, winning a couple minutes of this great struggle. tan in the Montreal Olym- Three ,plays later, the ball is flying toward the goal posts, pies this past summer. He turning slowly end-over-end, carrying incredibly far. It sails past also performed superbly in last the left upright, less than a yard wide. year's league meet, placing second, third and fourth in Then, suddenly, Michigan has the ball back, and again, the 1650-yard, 200-yard, and Mike Lantry's kick somehow trails off to the side. The game 500-yard freestyle events. ends, 10-10. As Stager puts it, "We will be strongest in any event that 1974: I turn to my friend as Michigan's field goal team takes Gordon swims in. He is in a the field with 18 seconds left. I want to go down near the field class all by himself, high above so we can run out there when Michigan wins. My friend says we the rest of the team." should wait. Rounding out the Veteran line- tio are freestvlers Joe Bauier, Moments later, the referee is waving his arms to the side Larrv Schroeder (finished ninth and Michigan has lost, 12-10. "1 had a hunch," says my friend. in 50-freestyle in Big Ten), and 1975: Cornelius Greene somehow avoids Michigan's Timmy 'T165 Stewart (placed eiehth in Davis, scrambling, searching for a receiver but not panicking. Josh Luce and Rick Peper He finally lets loose with a pass up the sideline and Ohio State (took fourth in 200 - breast- is on its way to a touchdown. Tie game. stroke and sixth in 100-breast- stroke as a freshman): back- Rick Leach starts thro«wing the ball hig l and s ana and stroker Rob Helt: and butter- eventally into the arms of Ray Griffin. His runback and Pete fliers Fred Yawger and John Johnson's touchdown plunge are, somehow, not too surpris- Daly (swam to a third in 200- ing. Neither is the 21-14 final. bhtterfly), Daly also swam on the Puerto Rican Olympic What does all this add up to? Three Mij'higan losses, a tie team.- and no Rose Bowl trips. But the average score is so very close- Lost to graduation are stars only three points separate the teams. Three points . . . Tom Sziuba, Alan McClatchey, Lets face it: confident predictions by impartial observers and diver Don Craie. are absurd when it comes to present-day Ohio State-Michigan inesg ire some promising games. freshmen comprising of Kev- You can go on forever. comnaring statistics, evaluating per- in Morgan from Monroe and sonnel and trying to guess each team's emotional state. But hometown hero Paul Grif- that kind of talk leads yonu right back to where you started: *:* *:""'* the game is too close to call. The teams are too evenly matched j A to call it confidently one way or the other. Michigan mismatch days are over. If you want to show your true Blue spirit for the Wolverines' Rob Lvtle won't be able to break tnekles as he did upcoming battle at Columbus, againstIndiana and Northwestern. The offensive line isn't make it out to the Mudbowl going to n I Ohio State hb-k at will as It did Minhiean :Pep Rally tonight at 8 p.m. at State. Rick Le-ah won't he ahlQ to imnlv toss the ball over the corner of Washtenaw and the Buckeyes' heads as he did against Navy. S. University. You can demon- strate your enthusiasm with the Neither team has a siu "ifirnnt edge in personnel. So what likes of Bob Ufer, the cheer- decidps a oam- bko th; Q7Th ,, i.nr i'aiFle j-t1ies do-emotion, leaders, the pep band and Mr. mental er'nr. .litft ks. like those in the last four games. Bo Schembechler himself. more mciaar, Stev met n oe I eveau } Clark from Birmingham Groves "Matt will measure up to any- .... and Dave Price, Class B champ body on a given day. He's a in the breaststroke from Utica. great competitor," explains DETRC Other newcomers are Scott Coach Kimball. Weir, Mark Colman and Jay The swim team will probably Roston Herrald. , capture third place in the Big HO~stC "Our big problem is pride, " aTenas they did last year and Phenver suggests Coach Stager. "The could possibly challenge Wis- Pho older swimmers have 'senioritis' consin for second. -not enough senior leadership. The opening mt of the sea- DETR They think they can get in son is this Saturday, November N.Y. R sha the e n Atlanta NBA OIT 118, New Orleans 95 ao 123, Philadelphia 117 ngton 111, N.Y. Knicks 97 104, Atlanta 91 on 120, Buffalo 114 (OT) r112, N.Y. Nets 78 x 108, Milwaukee 95 NHL OIT 5, St. Louis 5 angers 3, Chicago 2 ;a 6, Colorado 3 o 1, Montreal 0 and 3, Minnesota 3 .... I ------- fifth, a double winner in the Class A State Meet for Ann Arbor Huron. Not far behind them are two and they're going flat-footed!" to getcaught: .u, at 7:30 at Matt Mann Pool I against Toronto. Toront Clevela "If this pattern changes, we can put together an extreme-! lv talented team," added Stag- er. I TA Somersaulting to the divers, C H R I STM S Coach Dick Kimball notes,' BREAK "With the loss of All -Ameri- SPE.C A LS can Don Craine, this year !will primarily be a rebuild- t ie year." The springboard brigade will definitely be hurting without Craine, who placed third in the' NCAA in both one and three- meter diving. Top diver this yeart isso ho- soh-more Matt Chelich, three time/ Indiana state champion in high school. Chelich finished strong last year, being the only fresh- man to make the top forty at the NCAA meet. - _______ Behind him are a group of )3~ divers with a great deal of po- STYLING NEW YORIK $90 N~wRK 140Nov. jqT1 MEN & WOMENNo.! 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