4 1 * AND IN THISN CORNER .. . i1II Mark Mihanovic ... ready for dessert IT TSEEMS LIKE it has always been this way. Like little boys who eat their vegetables only so that they will be given dessert, the Big Ten elite play out their first eight or nine games always with one eye on the future. They have to do it in order to get big and strong, but everybody knows that they are really waiting for that final course.. Of course, there are variables that make each football season different, just as mama puts different kinds of vegetables on the table each evening. For instance, the Big Ten elite no longer is limited to Michigan and Ohio State; Purdue now appears to be a member. And once or twice along the way, the Wolverines or Buckeyes may lose a game, so as to make the preliminaries a little less routine. But no matter; Michigan and Ohio State and now Purdue inevitably finish their vegetables. Take the 1980 meal set in front of Michigan, for example. Bo Schembecher was characteristically wary as he sat down at the table, but this time the coach's uncertainty seemed valid. The Wolverines had encountered trouble digesting several dishes in 1979, and to make matters worse, Bo's favorite cutting knife, the defense, didn't have its usual sharp edge. Gone were Ron Simpkins, CurtisGreer, Mike Jolly, Mike Harden, Ben Needham, etc. Bo had always emphasized a sharp cutting knife, but this time he would have to eat without one, Nonetheless, he dug in. There were early problems, as he spilled Notre Dame on his lap and South Carolina on the floor, but neither one hurt him in tis drive for dessert. He proceeded to consume the rest of the Big Ten without flinching, without dropping a bit. Defense is sharpened In fact, the cutting knife has been sharpened to the point of almost being flawless the past couple of weeks. While the defensive line has been incon- sistent, the backfield has developed into a solid corps against the pass. And the linebacking, with the ferocious hitting of Mel Owens and Andy Cannavino (who leads the Big Ten in tackles), was never a question mark. So Bo and his players await dessert. And it comes to Ann Arbor tomorrow in the form of the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue began the season by getting blasted at Notre Dame. Two weeks later, UCLA flew in and whip- ped them. Since then, however, Mark Herrmann has been ripping into op- posing defenses through the air at will, and the suspect Boilermaker defense has tightened. Thus, many are looking for Purdue to upend the six-point- favorite Wolverines. However, should Michigan control the ball via its explosive ground game, the Blue defense can be expected to force enough turnovers to send themselves to Columbus with a 7-0 conference record. There sit the Buckeyes, number one in the nation at the season's incep- tion, only to be dumped from the top spot by that Big Ten nemesis from the West, UCLA. Ohio State has been an enigma throughout the campaign; its 49-42 victory over Illinois leaves one wondering what havoc Anthony Carter may wreak in a secondary which yielded 621 yards to Dave Wilson. Credit the coach Whether or not the Wolverines sweep this pair of contests and advance to the Rose Bowl, one cannot help but give credit to the man who has built the Michigan program to such a level of prominence that the Sugar Bowl is con- sidering offering the Blue a bid even with three losses. Schembechler is subjected to a never-ending stream of criticism for his coaching philosophy and for his inability to win the big games, and sometimes it is justified. But one thing cannot be ignored: he is verysuc- cessful on a scale relative to other coaches, year in and year out. That is something often lost on those who complain about the coservative style, the bowl losses, the misused timeouts. There is no better testimony to his coaching soundness than the development of the current defensive unit. Only three starters returned from 1979 (Cannavino, Owens, and defensive tackle Mike Trgovac, whose sprained ankle will be ready for tomorrow's game); yet Michigan hasn't given up a point in ten quarters of action. The totally reconstructed secon- dary has allowed only three touchdown passes all season. The reason: Schembechler and his assistants are good teachers, whether Bo's critics want to admit it or not. So clear the man's plate . .. he's ready for dessert. The Michigan Daily-Friday, November 14, 1980-Page 11 WEEKEND SERIES A T HOUGHTON Icers to face off against Tech By DAN CONLIN Michigan Tech, 1-1 in the WCHA and 4-1-1 overall, has earned its respectable record by the skin of its teeth. The Huskies have survived several mediocre performances in chalking up this slate, and the Tech coaches are confused. And while they're confused, Michigan, which travels to Houghton this weekend, hopes to sneak in and steal two games from the wavering Huskies. Michigan assistant coach John Gior- dano, who will again replace Wilf Mar- tin as head coach this weekend, has no doubt that when the Huskies start rolling, they will be WCHA contenders. "They've got excellent talent," said Giordano. "I think they're the second best team in the WCHA (behind Mip- nesota)." HUSKIE COACH John MacInnes and his assistants have seen their team through many phases already in this young season. The area of the game which has traditionally been Tech's strongest, its defense, fell apart before MacInnes' eyes at the start of the season, as the icers found themselves emphasizing a free-wheeling style of at- tack instead. In their first four games, the Huskies gave up 24 goals, but for- tunately managed to scrape to victory in three of them. "In the first two games we got into shootouts with Lake Superior State and won, 9-8, and 8-7," said assistant coach Jim Nahrgang. "Then the next week we had seven goals scored on us by Min- nesota-Duluth." But once the goaltenders settled down and the defense regrouped, the Huskie offense went on the blink. An injury to sophomore rightwinger Steve Murphy, the third leading scorer on last year's team, has sidelined him for the season. In the absence of Murphy, it appears that the Huskies have no scoring punch. "LAST WEEKEND against Northern Michigan (in two non-conference games) we scored four goals," said Nahrgang. "We've missed Murphy's scoring power." But even scoring only four goals in that weekend series, the Huskies sur- vived without a loss, taking home a vic- tory and a tie from Northern, and 1-1. Be an angel J ir Read oJIe juifl! 764-0558 Still, Michigan Tech's coaches are worried. "You can't win any games in the WCHA if you only score four times in a series,'.' said Nahrgang. "We need somebody like Murphy to start putting the puck in the net." MICHIGAN'S Giordano feels that these troubles for the Huskies are minor in light of the actual ability on the Tech team. "They've got the best freshman around," said Giordano. "They recruited Bill Terry, who we tried hard to convince to come here. And also, Tim Watters has returned. They've got excellent talent." Watters, a senior defenseman, has returned to the squad after spending a season with the Canadian Olympic team. He should add to the Huskie ef- fort through leadership as team cap- tain. Watters is also the key to Tech's power play, which MacInnes admitted was lacking, in 1979-80. "He should provide stability and give us the goo point man that we needed last year." Stability is something that has been hard to come by thus far for Michigan Tech. "We were pretty shaken by all the scoring at the start of the season; but we've settled down," said Nahrgang. "Now we lack the goal scoring." The Wolverines hope to catch the Huskies in the same slump tonight and come home with two WCHA victories. r- \ \ -4f Sundays you can get a spe- Scial spaghetti' dinner in- cluding a garden salad & garlic $2.95. bread for only 1104 SOUTH UNIVERSITY bbi-4411 Watters ... returns from Olympics j NANTUCKET LONG WAY TO THE TOP including: it's A Long Way To The Top/Living With You 50 More/ Rugburn Too Much Wrong in The Past (For A Future) IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP OF THE "STACK OF WAX." GUESS THE NUMBER OF RECORDSIN THE STACK AND WIN SEASON PASSES' FOR 2 JE 36523 Nantucket is one of the top live rock bands working today, and their new album, "Long Way to the Top," shows they can do it just asiasty on vinyl. Bellaire, Michigan AT i HILTON ' Shanty Creek I -ALSO- WIN ALBUMS ON COLUMBIA EPIC RECORDS FOR MORE DETAILS GO TO AND CHECK OUT THE STACK & WINI! ...CfoxE -rHJ CT A OERORD STRE ANN ARBOR 2137 W. 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