0 0 0 Page 4Wednesday, December 9, 1981-The Michigan Daily On the road to TheMichigan Daily-Wednesday, De Houston... Mich igan falIS to live up to early hype The Wolverines were the pre-season favorites to walk away with the mythical national title. Coach Bo Schembechler's bunch was coming off a long-awaited Rose Bowl win and, with a strong group of seniors returning, Michigan seemed a good bet to take this crown. Week One- Wisconsin 21, Michigan 14 Sophomore quarterback Steve Smith received a cruel baptism to Big ,Ten football as three of his aerials were picked off by Badger defensive back Matt Vanden Boom. The loss knocked the Wolverines from their perch atop the national rankings. Week Two-- Michigan 25, Notre Dame 7 The Wolverines rebounded against the Irish before a national television audience. Two Anthony Carter touch- downs, along with a stalwart defensive performance, paced Michigan to the victory over number one-ranked Notre Dame. Week Three- Michigan 21, Navy 16 Smith completed his first seven passes of the game, much to the delight of the Michigan Stadium patrons. However, the Wolverines came just a few inches away from tasting defeat once again. Navy quarterback Marco Pagnanelli's end zone toss to flanker Troy Mitchell fell just out of reach in the fourth quarter. Week Four- Michigan 38, Indiana 17 The Wolverines dominated throughout the game, although the Hoosiers, armed with sophomore flash flanker Duane Gunn, managed to con- vert a few gadget plays on Michigan. Week Five- Michigan 38, Michigan State 20 The Wolverines overcame a late third- quarter Spartan lead. Tailback Butch Woolfolk rushed for 253 yards on the day, keying the Michigan attack. Week Six- Iowa 9, Michigan 7 The Hawkeyes practically killed the Woolfolk ... blitzed Spartans Wolverines' Rose Bowl hopes, as their defense shut down the potent Michigan offense. Three Tom Nichol field goals were all the scoring Iowa needed to win. Week Seven- Michigan 38, Northwestern 0 The highlight of this game was Woolfolk's shattering of the all-time Michigan rushing record previously held by Rob Lytle. Week Eight- Michigan 34, Minnesota 13 Smith and Carter combined to dissect the Gopher defense. Carter caught seven passes for 154 yards and one touchdown while Smith completed 13 of 20 tosses for 237 yards. Week Nine- Michigan 70, Illinois 21 After spotting the Illini a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, the Wolverines put on an offensive barrage, the likes of which had not been seen in years. Week Ten- Michigan 28, Purdue 10 The Wolverines -set the stage for another Michigan-Ohio State conferen- ce championship showdown with this come-from-behind victory in West Lafayette. Week Eleven- Ohio State 14, Michigan 9 Art Schlichter's seven-yard touch- down scamper sent the Wolverines to the Bluebonnet Bowl. Three field goals by kicker Ali Haji -Sheikh was all Michigan could muster, despite four trips inside the Buckeye 10-yard line. Final Record-8-3 Bloc ked kick drops UCLA in Bluebonnet Coach Terry Donahue and his UCLA team got off to a slow 3-2-1 start in 1981 before winning four straight to set up a season-ending showdown with Southern Cal. Like Michigan, a win in the final game would have sent the Bruins to the Rose Bowl, but USC nipped UCLA, 22- 21. Week One- UCLA 35, Arizona 18 The Bruins had a field day offen- sively, racking up 27 first downs and 512 total yards. Quarterback Tom Ramsey threw three touchdown passes while tailback Kevin Nelson picked up 152 yards. Week Two- UCLA 31, Wisconsin 13 Only a week after upsetting top- ranked Michigan, Wisconsin was brought back to earth by UCLA, which got two touchdowns on Ramsey to tight end Tim Wrightman passes en route to the win. Week Three-Iowa 20, UCLA 7 The Hawkeyes were awesome defen- sively, holding UCLA to just seven first downs and 35 yards total rushing. The sixth-ranked Bruins got their only touchdown on a one-yard QB sneak by Ramsey. Week Four- UCLA 27, Colorado 7 Donahue's squad got back on tratk in the Los Angeles Coliseum, as Ramsey threw for a career-high 258 yards and two touchdowns, while kicker Norm Johnson added four field goals. ~ ,J. Week Five- Stanford 26, UCLA 23 This game saw the lead change five times before Stanford's Darrin Nelson, brother of UCLA's Kevin, plunged into the end zone from two yards out to give the Cardinals the win. Week Six- UCLA 17, Oregon State 17 Backup quarterback Steve Bono came off the bench in the third quarter to replace the injured Ramsey and led the Bruins to a TD in the fourth quarter which enabled them to tie the Beavers. Week Seven- UCLA 34, California 6 The Bruins turned four Cal turnovers into touchdowns in their tenth straight win over the Bears. Week Eight- UCLA 28, Oregon 11 Freshman tailback Danny Andrews had three touchdowns while the UCLA defense held the Ducks to just 58 yards rushing. Week Nine- UCLA 31, Washington 0 The Bruins capitalized on six Washington turnovers, converting five of them into scores, as they whipped the Pac-10's eventual Rose Bowl represen- tative. Week Ten- UCLA 34, Arizona State 24 UCLA recovered fromn a 14-0 deficit in the first half to slide past Arizona State. A quarterback sneak by Ramsey in the third quarter put the Bruins ahead to stay. Week Eleven- USC 22, UCLA 21 After leading for most of the game, the Bruins had to try a last-second 46- yard field goal to win the showdown. But USC middle guard George Achica blocked Johnson's kick, preserving the Trojan win and dropping UCLA in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Final Record-7-3-1 THIS BUD'S FOR YOU By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE 1981 winners and losers... ... the envelope, please W ITH THE 1981 regular season behind them, appropriate honors have already been distributed to the appropriate players, as Butch Woolfolk was voted the team's MVP, Norm Betts was tabbed top scholar- athlete, and so on. Taking a look back now at the Blue's blue year, here are a few more awards for the Wolverines. The envelope, please ... MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (OFFENSE)-Butch Woolfolk. The senior tailback galloped for 1,273 yards this season, making him Michigan's all- time leading rusher. He was on a tear through the first half of the season, before enemy defenses decided to make him Public Enemy Number One. He was the only Wolverine to play well at Wisconsin and was the most consistent performer throughout the season. Honorable Mention-Wide receiver An- thony Carter, who earned All-American honors with a superb performance in the second half of the season, and guard Kurt Becker, the most consistent member of the line. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (DEFENSE )-Tony Jackson. One of only three Wolverines to start every game on defense, the free safety was the only bright spot in a secondary which made passing fun for Michigan opponents. Jackson hauled in six interceptions-twice as many . as , any other Wolverine-and picked up 51 total tackles. Honorable Mention-Linebackers Paul Girgash and Mike Boren, who were the squad's two leading tacklers and made Michigan a tough club to run on. BEST NEW STARTER-Mike Boren. The sophomore from Ohio State country led the team in tackles his first year as a starter with 142. Michigan coach Bo Schembechler is obviously quite happy that Boren said, "Goodbye, Columbus." BESTFRESHMAN-Al Sincich. It wasn't a banner year for Michigan's heralded newcomers, with only a few of the rookies making an impact on the team. One of the freshmen who did was middle guard Al Sincich. He worked his way into the injury-ravaged defense's starting lineup halfway through the season and finished with 23 total tackles. Honorable Mention-Running back Rick Rogers, who showed flashes of brilliance in the games he ap- peared in by gaining 125 yards on 21 carries for an impressive 6.0 average. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT-The defensive secondary. This is a debatable category, and every Michigan fan obviously has his own idea about where this title should go. The secondary gets the nod here for allowing enemy passers to pick up 2,180 yards and eight touchdowns through the air. Entering the season, the four returning starters in the backfield were considered the strength of the defense. The unit was hurt by injuries, true; but the performance was certainly not as good as it should have been. BEST TEAM GAME-October 31 at Minnesota. The Wolverines had several outstanding overall games-the Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Illinois contests among them-but Schembechler's squad had its best day on Halloween, when it came away from Minneapolis with a 34-13 win over a very good Gopher team. WORST TEAM GAME-September 12 at Wisconsin. It was a rotten day all the way around for the Wolverines in Madison. The offense stunk, the defense was awful, and the Badgers walked away with a 21-14 win. BEST OPPOSING PLAYER (OFFENSE)-Illinois quarterback Tony Eason. Before the Wolverines got back on track and thrashed Eason and the Illini, 70-21, the signal-caller had passed his team to a 21-7 lead in the first half. Eason was having no trouble picking apart the Blue secondary before eventually collapsing in the second half. Honorable Mention-Indiana flanker Duane Gunn, who scored a touchdown on a reverse against the Wolverines and was a threat every time he touched the ball. BEST OPPOSING PLAYER (DEFENSE)-Iowa's entire defensive unit..No one individual stuck out for the Hawkeyes, but the entire defense was awesome in the 9-7 win over Michigan. Honorable Mention-Notre Dame linebacker Bob Crable, who was all over the field trying to stop the Wolverines and picked up 20 total tackles in the game. MOST QUOTABLE MICHIGAN PLAYER-Ed Muransky. With com- ments such as "I don't like being number one; I'd rather just stay at number nine for awhile and kick some ass," Big Ed often attracted a group of repor- ters after a game. His outspokenness caused him some problems, though, as Bo imposed a "gag order" on the players after some of Muransky's quotes started getting out of hand early in the season. Honorable Mention-Butch Woolfolk, who is always honest and open with the media, and Stanley Ed- wards, one of the more eloquent Wolverines. LEAST QUOTABLE MICHIGAN PLAYER-Don Bracken. Coming from tiny Thermopolis, Wyo., Michigan's punter has obviously been over- whelmed by the tremendous media crush the Wolverines receive. Although he is always friendly and polite, Bracken's responses to questions are usually monosyllabic. MOST IDIOTIC SCHEMBECHLER QUOTE OF 1981-When asked if quarterback Steve Smith, a baseball star in high school, would suit up for the Wolverine baseballers, Bo replied, "Hell, no. Football is a bit bigger than baseball around here, and hopefully it will stay that way." wI Giant T.V. Screen for Sporting Events Breakfast Served Anytime Free Hash Browns With Any Eggs or Omelettes Beer, Cocktails, and Extensive Wine list. VISIT ANN AR OL D FA#1 Large "Secret Santa" Selecti Shop for t 2 Floors of Games-Snake Puzzl Missing'Link, Rubiks Cubes a Huge Display of Reasonably Stuffed Animals-"Smu Personalized Christmas Stc Heirloom and Collectible "The Friendly Students Store" CAMpUS Bike & T P9 338 S. Stote Stree For fast pick-up ordrs call: I 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl Supplement SEE WOLVERI SBOWL VICTOI ON OUR BI SRENT SCR EEN TV s7NEW YE AR'S E PIZZAM BEER SPECIALS DURING, THE BOWL GAMES .'owNEW YEAR'S DAY Supplement Editor ... Associate Editors ..... .............MARK MIHANOVIC .............-GREG DeGULIS BUDDY MOOREHOUSE DREW SHARP STAFF WRITERS.................. Barb Barker, Jesse Bar- kin, Randy Berger, Jim Dworman, Matt Henehan, Chuck Jaffe, Doug Levy, Dan Newman, Jeff Quicksilver, Sarah Sherber, Ken Shore, Jim Thompson, Karl Wheatley. UCLA HEAD coach Terry Donahue giving directions to his players from the sideline. Donahue's career record with the Bruins is 45-20-3. Beside him star- ting left tackle Chris Yelich. Both are geared up for their meeting with Michigan in the Bluebonnet Bowl.