Page 14-Sunday, September 12, 1982--The Michigan Daily
Hungry Blue skins Badgers
(Continued from Page 1)
"WE BLOCKED well, which is important since we
had to rebuild our line," said Schembechler, noting
that tackles Ed Muransky and Bubba Paris and
guard Kurt Becker are gone from last year's offen-
sive line. "This year, we blocked them better than we
did a year ago."
Ricks was also appreciative of the people who
made his stellar performance possible. "They did a
heckuva job," he said. "People felt we'd have a
problem since we lost so much of our line. But I knew
we had talent and it showed today."
Despite the play of Ricks and the offensive line, it
was not to be an easy day for the Michigan gridders.
After Ricks put Michigan up by a touchdown,
Wisconsin reeled off nine straight first-quarter poin-
ts.
THE BADGERS started their second drive of the
day from their own 20 after Haji-Sheikh's kickoff was
fumbled out of the end zone.
Wisconsin then methodically moved the ball down-
field behind the running of senior tailback John
Williams and the passing of senior quarterback Ran-
dy Wright. The Badger drive stalled at the Michigan
15-yard line, however, and junior kicker Mark Doran
booted a 32-yard field goal to narrow the Wolverine
lead to 7-3.
After Wendell Gladem's kickoff sailed out of the
end zone, the Michigan offense came on the field-
but not for long.
FOLLOWING A Ricks five-yard scamper, Smith's
pass intended for tight end Craig Dunaway was inter-
cepted by Wisconsin linebacker Jody O'Donnell at the
Wolverine 29-yard line. Four plays later, Wright
scored from one-yard out on a quarterback sneak to
give the Badgers a 9-7 lead. Wisconsin was kept from
reaching double figures when Wolverine junior
linebacker Mike Boren blocked Doran's conversion
attempt.
Although the first of Smith's two interceptions set
up the Badgers' only touchdown of the game, Schem-
bechler defended the junior from Grand Blanc who
completed 12 of 19 passes in spite of missing open
receivers on more than one occasion.
"Ask Dave McClain if it's hard to defense Steve
Smith, ask him," said Bo in a tone of voice that made
it clear the answer was yes. "You have to look at his
overall productivity. He's tough to defense.
"THE PROBLEM with Smith was my fault,"
Schembechler continued. "In the second period he
ran the ball too much to be an accurate passer. You
just can't do that in this heat (83 degrees)."
Smith,, meanwhile, saw both good and bad aspects
of his performance. "I think Idran the ball and read
defenses well," he said. "I didn't throw well, but
that'll come. I just have to get adjusted to game
situations. I threw some interceptions on plays where
I shouldn't have thrown the ball."
The first quarter ended with Wisconsin ahead, 9-7,
but Michigan regained the lead on its second
possession of the second quarter.
THE WOLVERINES started on their own 41-yard
line and ran nine straight plays without a pass. The
ninth and final play of the drive saw sophomore run-
ning back Rick Rogers dive from two yards out to put
Michigan up for good, 13-9.
After Rogers' touchdown run, Haji-Sheikh stayed
on the sidelines, as Schembechler ordered his team to
try a two-point conversion. The conversion failed as
Smith, rolling out to the right, was stopped by the
Badger defensive tackle Darryl Smith.
"A stupid whim," said Schembechler. "If we'd
have made it, fine. But we didn't, so I don't like the
call."
The closest either team came to scoring the rest of
the half was when Wisconsin drove to the Michigan
25. But on third and 11, Wright was intercepted by
Michigan defensive back Evan Cooper at the four-
yard line.
IN THE THIRD quarter, the Wolverines had the
ball in Badger territory three times, but scored nary
a point. The first time, Ricks fumbled at the Wiscon-
sin 11 after a 15-yard gain. The second time, Michigan
had the ball at the Badger 38 and Smith was intercep-
ted by linebacker Jim Melka. The final time, the third
quarter expired with the Wolverines at the Badger 25.
This opportunity was also wasted, as three plays into
the final stanza Rogers was stopped for no gainon
fourth and one at the 16-yard line.
"The problem is that we almost were trying to help,
them win the game," said Schembechler. "We had an
exhorbitant amount of mistakes and turnovers."
The next time Michigan got the ball, it made no
mistakes or turnovers and scored the final touchdown
of the game on Smith's six-yard run.
Michigan plays its next game at Notre Dame.
Saturday's nationally televised contest will be the fir-
st night football game ever at Notre Dame Stadium.
Daily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER
STEVE SMITH prepares to unload one of the 19 passes he attempted yester-
day. He finished the game with 12 completions for 107 yards.
I
I
Phew!
First downs.............
Rushing attempts ..........
Passes Att/Comp/Int,.......
Passing net yards ..........
Punts ....................
Fumbles ..................
MICH
24
55/270
19/12/2
107
4/39.3
3/3
WISC
17
34/93'
39/20/1
197
9/38.7
2/0
S Smith .......
Wright
PASSING
MICHIGAN
Att. Comp. Int.
19/12/2
WISCONSIN
39/20/1
RECEIVING
MICHIGAN
No.
Yds TD
107 0
197 0
Referee
dies
Referee Rich McVay is taken from the
field after collapsing while officiating
the Michigan State-Illinois game. Mc-
Vay later died of an apparent massive
heart attack after being transferred to
Burnham City Hospital in Champaign,
Ill. McVay, 55, was stricken with ap-
proximately 10 minutes left in the first
half.
SCORING
MICHIGAN .........................7 6 0 7-20
Wisconsin ...........................9 0 0 0- 9
M-Ricks,4-yd. run, (Haji-Sheikh kick); W-Doran,
32-yd FG; W-Wright,.1-yd. run, (Doran kick
blocked); M-Rogers, (2yd. ru. (2-point attempt
failed); M-Smith, 6-yd. run, (Haji-Sheikh kick).
Y
RUSHING
MICHIGAN
Att Net
Ricks ............. 24 153
Rogers ............ 16 46
S. Smith............ 9 38
K. Smith........... 2 20
Armstrong......... 2 9
Carter............. 1 4
Garrett............ 1 0
Avg
6.4
2.9
4.2
10.0
4.5
4.0
0.0
TD
1
I
1
0
0
0
0
Dunaway..................
Bean ...................... 2
Garrett...................-2
Ricks .. ................. 4
Carter ..................... I
WISCONSIN
Nault...s.................. 5
Stracka..................4
Davis 4
Toons...................... 2
Williamis .................. 2
Keeling ................
Jones..........
Pearson ................... I
ALLRETURNS
MICHIGAN
Punts. Kickoffs
Carter......... 3/21/12 2/70/48
Cooper ........
WISCONSIN
Marrow ........2/-1/0
Ellerson ....... 2/35/19
O'Donnell ..
Melka .......
Yd
3!
34
V
9
H
1
ds, TD
4 0
5 0
9 0,
0 0
5 0
0 0
8 0
17 0
8 0
1 0 °
0 0
8 0
Intercepted
1/14/14
1/o/0
1/o/o
WISCONSIN
Williams........
Wright ............
Green .............
Davis.............
15
8
9
2
45
25
22
1
3.0
3.1
2.4
0.5,
0
1
0
0
AP Photo I
Barb
'S
Wire
By BARB BARKER
Revenge factor heats up
IM:'
4
Smith's stats. improve .. .
no passing fancy
'Steve Smith could somewhere down the line be the best
quarterback I've ever had at Michigan.'
-Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler
HIS IS SUPPOSED to be the year Wolverine quarterback Steve Smith
comes of age. Last season, the then-sophomore was young, untested
and, of course, he made some mistakes. This year, fans were told to expect a
more experienced, a more mature helmsman, ready to assume the toga
virilis, so to speak.
Yesterday, some fans walked away from Michigan's 20-9 victory over
Wisconsin feeling a little disappointed.
The 6-0, 192-pounder from Grand Blanc finished the day with 12 completions
totaling a mediocre 107 yards for an average of nine yards a connection.
In addition, Smith threw two interceptions and managed to connect with
two-time All-American wide receiver Anthony Carter only once. Smith him-
self admitted his passing performance was less than awe-inspiring.
"I wasn't happy with my throwing at all," he said after the game. "I didn't
throw ungodly bad, but I didn't throw good. I made some mistakes-
some interceptions, but I hit some passes when I needed to. You're going to
see a better passing game this year. I am going to pass."
Painful memories
One wonders if Smith was haunted by the memories of last year's stunning
upset in Madison where he completed a paltry three passes in 18 attempts for
39 yards and three untimely interceptions. If his passes-completed percen-
tage yesterday is any indication, he was not.
Smith fired successfully 12 of 19 attempts for a completion average of 69
percent which is sparkling when compared with both the 16.6 percent com-
pletion in his debut last season and the 46 percent 1980 total. This might lead
some to conclude that his throwing game is somewhat erratic, but not
Schembechler.
"I don't accept the fact (that Smith is inconsistent)," he said. 'You
people take a look at some stats and then condemn a quarterback's passing.
He can throw... the problem with Smith today was my fault. He ran the ball
too much in the second period to be an accurate passer. Of course we want to
have the threat of a run, but we were going to continually mix it up. We're
not going to over-run in the future as we did today."
Smith was the game's third Iading rusher totaling 54 vards on nine
By BOB WOJNOWSKI
A year ago at this time the entire
town of Madison, Wis. was partying. As
the taunting strains of "On Wisconsin"
wailed through the night, the battered
and bruised Michigan Wolverines shuf-
fled home minus their number one
ranking and saddled with a 21-14
beating inflicted by the Badgers.
Today, 364 days later, revenge has
been gained.
AFTER yesterday's 20-9 hard-fought
victory over Wisconsin, Michigan head
coach Bo Schembechler made it clear
that the win was something his
Wolverines had been aching for. "It
was a big game," he said. "It was the
most satisfying first game ever
because we had to win it and we did."
Quarterback Steve Smith, who com-
pleted just three of 18 passes with three
interceptions last year and received
much of the blame for the loss, reboun-
ded yesterday with 12 completions in 19
attempts in a game that he admitted
meant much more than the Michigan-
Wisconsin battles of old. "We really
wanted this game," he said. "We took a
lot of flack from lastyear."
It was a game that the Wolverines
had been pointing to with a hungry fer-
vor since last year's loss yet the
Badgers refused to admit that' the
revenge factor was the emotional edge
that lifted Michigan to victory.
"MICHIGAN got a lot of breaks, last
year we got them," said Wisconsin split
end Tim Stracka, who caught four
passes for 60 yards. "We played them
as well as we did last year.
"If anybody had revenge it was us
because they beat us really bad the last
time we played here."
Indeed, while groping for explanation
for defeat, Badger players and coaches
alike seemed intent on considering
everything but the revenge factor.
"THE PENALTIES played a major,
major factor in this game because the
fans just intimidated the officials out
there," said head coach Dave McClain.
"I don't mind the officiating, as long as
the officials call them fair on both sides.
I can't believe the officials allowed
themselves to be intimidated like that."
The talk before the game had cen-
tered on the fact that Schembechler
wanted this victory in the worst way,
and fans squealing for a pay-back
humiliation of the Badgers pointed to
the Wolverines' 9-2-1 record under Bo
against teams that they had lost to the
previous season. But Wisconsin
refused to play the part of a sacrificial
lamb and it came into yesterday's con-
test not certain of defeat, but confident
of victory.
"We thought, and we knew, that we
could beat them," said Badger quar-
terback Randy Wright. "I let that in-
terception bother me too much."
"WE WERE going out there to beat
them, not just play them," said defensive
back David Greenwood. "We could've
won this game - it was that close. We
really fought a war out there."
A war it was, with the Badgers being
whistled for five personal fouls and
eight penalties overall, resulting in
losses totaling 81 yards. And the inten-
se heat - 83 degrees at game time -
helped stir tempers and sap energy.
"The heat definitely affected us today
because we never had to condition in.
temperatures like these since we star
ted practice," said McClain.
But most of the heat on the field
McClain
... blasts officiating
yesterday was of the type that Wiscon-
sin couldn't be expected to condition
for. It was the burning sting of
humiliation and the flaming desire to
avenge it that spurred the Wolverines.
And the festivities this year have a new
site and a new honored guest.
* nh~yCatrtsBlue Bonierseodn
Anthony Carter's one reception tied him with Jim Mandich for second on the
afl4itme Michigan list for career receptions with119.
. , . Former Michigan football coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler was paid
tribute to at halftime of yesterday's game when the Wolverine marching band
spelled out his name.
.. Wisconsin defensive back Matt Vanden Boom, who intercepted three Steve
Smith passes in last year's Badger win over the Wolverines, was taken to the
hospital yesterday-probably with a concussion according to Wisconsin head
reh nave McIlain McClainwsaid that thX y..snv were negative. but that Vander
w aa -meo