'0
CARTER GOES ON RECORD SETTING BINGE
4 M'
stops MSU, 31-17
0
(Continued from Page 1)
right guard on the next play to give Michigan a two-
touchdown lead with 13:26 remaining in the half.
LEISTER replaced Lavelle on the next series for
the Spartans, but the Michigan State drive died on its
own 46 and, after another Mojsiejenko punt, the
Wolverines took over again.
After two plays netted just two yards, Smith spot-
ted Carter over the middle and hit him with a perfect
61-yard strike that put the ball at the Michigan State
17-yard line. The Wolverines drove to the two, were
penalized for delay of game, then went up 21-0 when
Smith found tight end Craig Dunaway all alone in the
endzone.
"I knew what I was doing out there," said Smith,
who has been the subject of much criticism lately but
yesterday completed 10 of 20 passes for 182 yards, ran
for 27 more yards and personally accounted for three
Wolverine touchdowns. "But sometimes you look
better because your offense is playing better."
AND THE Michigan offense in the first half was
superb. Sparked by the running of Ricks, the
Lott injured
Starting defensive back John Lott suffered a
broken left forearm late in the second quarter of
yesterday's 31-17 victory over Michigan State. Lott
had moved into the starting lineup after the depar-
ture of starter Brad Cochran from the team, and had
an interception in the Indiana game a week ago. It is
not known if the 6-0, 180-pound senior will be lost for
the season.
Wolverines piled up 247 yards of total offense by half-
time while holding the Spartans to 114.
"They did a good job moving our defense out," said
Michigan State head coach Muddy Waters. "That
was the biggest surprise - I just cannot believe they
were able to run on us. It was a pretty sad thing to
see."
The Spartan defense had been the backbone of a
team that had dropped four tough games coming into
yesterday's battle, but Schembechler credited his
offensive line with neutralizing the tough State defen-
se.
"I DIDN'T THINK we'd move in there quite that
well," said Bo, "but the offensive line has improved
- it's not our weakness now."
After the Dunaway touchdown, Leister guided the
Spartans on their only sustained drive of the half that
ended with a 31-yard Mojsiejenko field goal, making
it 21-3 at the intermission.
Michigan State picked up in the second half right
where it left off at the end of the first half, taking the
kickoff and driving to a first down at the Michigan 29.
But the Wolverine defense, which has been suspect in
two earlier losses, rose to the occasion, forced a
Terry Hawkins fumble and recovered it on the 27.
"Defensively I thought we did a good job," said
Schembechler. "If our defense can hang in there,
we'll be alright."
AFTER AN exchange of punts, Michigan set out on
another drive, moving the ball from its own 20 to the
State 36-yard line. From there, on second-and-nine,
Smith hit Carter on the left sideline for a 19-yard
reception that made Carter Michigan's all-time
leading pass catcher with 133 snags, breaking the old
mark held by Jack Clancy. The overflow crowd,
which was the second-largest ever to witness a game
in the old stadium, then began its rythmic "A.C.,
A.C." cheer, only to be silenced by the sight of a wide-
open Dunaway dropping Smith's pass in the endzone
two plays later. Ali Haji-Sheikh came on to boot a 27-
yard field goal that gave the Wolverines a 24-3 lead.
After a Keith Bostic interception, Michigan went
right back to work, slicing through the tiring Spartan
defense. Carter's 14-yard touchdown reception on the
last play of the third quarter gave the Wolverines 4
31-3 bulge and gave Carter the Big Ten record for
career touchdown receptions with 31.
With the Wolverines clearly in control of the game,
Bo emptied the bench and the reserves allowed two
fourth-quarter scores, including one that had Schem-
bechler fuming. With third-and-five from the
Michigan seven, Leister rolled left and fired a bullet
to fullback Darrin McClelland in the left corner of the
endzone. McClelland appeared to drop the ball
almost immediately, but the line judge ruled it a good
catch and a touchdown. Schembechler hotly disputed
the call and was slapped with a 15-yard penalty.
"IT WAS A ridiculous call," fumed Bo after the
game. "That incompetence is going to cost someone
a game. It's unbelieveable. He didn't come close to
the ball. What if that was the key touchdown? What
if that decided the game?"
The game had been decided long before that, and
when McClelland scored again on a four-yard burst
with 3:06 remaining, it served only to make the score
a little more respectable.
"We were as excited today as we've ever been,'
said a bubbling Smith. "We haven't proven ourselve
before today."
troubled waters
. "Michigan played one helluva game
and we didn't play very well," said
Waters. "We couldn't put things
together and I am anxious to see what
happened to our defense. This was a
costly loss for us because of all of the in-
juries. We lost nearly our entire defen-
sive line to injuries."
IN THE EARLY going Qf the game,
the Michigan State offense was faring
no better. In the first quarter, the Spar-
tans' only marches were in place.
During the initial stanza, they could not
even muster a single first down, forcing
Waters to replace starter Denis Lavelle
with John Leister who normally starts
but is hobbled by a sore ankle.
Leister responded in admirable
fashion, completing 31 of 45 passes for
275 yards.
"Leister did a great job considering
he had no practice," said Waters. "He
had a few dropped balls at the wrong
time and that definitely hurt us. I still
have a lot of confidence in John, and he
can do it for us since John has to do it for
us. I will start John next week because
there's no one else better."
WHILE THE Spartans' quarterback
situation is settled for the time being,
the team's future is not. "The way
things look right now with the injuries,
I'm not too optimistic since we have to
go with some young people. It will be
tough, but we're tough and our guys will
be back."
But with MSU now 0-5, it is not as cer-
tain that Waters will be back next year.
In fact, 'there had been rumors before
the game that Waters would quit if MSU
lost to hate Michigan.
As it turned out, the Spartans lost the
game, but not their coach.
"I'LL NEVER quit," vowed Waters
after the game. "I'm a Michigan
Stater, and a Michigan Stater doesn't
quit. We've just started to fight. We'll
just pick up the pieces and put them
together as best we can. It's no fun
being a loser, it's miserable. But we
don't have time to dwell on it."
There may not be time, but Spartan
linebacker Carl Banks said that the
team's defensive performance is not
one which can be easily erased from
memory.
"For a defensive team, we were em-
barassed today. We have something to
prove next weekend against Wisconsin.
We're down at the bottom right now, so
we have nowhere to go but up."
OF COURSE, Michigan State may
not have as far to go up as its 0-5 mark
would indicate. Michigan's is now 3-2
and undefeted in conference play but
Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler
said that the two squads are not that
far apart.
"We very easily could be in the same
boat," he said. "They're like us in that
they have a few shortcomings."
catcnes.
" All-Time Michigan leader for career
receptions with 134.
* All-time Michigan leader for career
punt return yards with 781.
* Michigan :career touchdowns, along
with Rick Leach with 34.ยข
"HE FLIES BY people," said
Michigan quarterback Steve Smith.
"He busted the momentum of the game
when he returned that punt. So we
didn't have to start on our own 25 and
pound and pound and pound away."
Michigan didn't, the Spartans did.
Moo U-boo hoo
MICH
First downs ........20
Rushing (Att./Yards) 55/274
Passing (Att/Co/Int).. 10/20/0
Passing Net Yards ...... 182
Fumbles (No./Lost) .... 1/1
Punts (No./Ave)........ 5/38.6
SCORING
MSU
23
30/51
33/50/1
299
3/2
6/45.2
Straight from the
source s mouth
By RON POLLACK
Defense tough when it counts...
...Spartans pass too often
N A QUIET sort of way, the Michigan defense shone every bit as brightly
as Anthony Carter in yesterday's 31-17 win over Michigan State.
Oh sure, Carter drew the crowd's oohs and aahs-in a way the defense
never could hope to do-with a spine-tingling 51-yard punt return, a pic-
turesque 61-yard reception and four other catches of remarkable grace.
So give the fleet receiver his due. He deserves it. Just don't forget about
the defense. There may have been no heart-stopping goal-line stands or ser-
pen tining interception returns which could compare to the breathtaking ex
ploits of Carter, but the defense got the job done.
Yes, the Wolverines gave up 17 points to a previously punchless Michigan
State offense, but only three of those came in quarters one through three
when Michigan's first-unit defenders were in the game. It wasn't until the
final quarter against a defense sprinkled with backups that the Spartans
found the Michigan endzone.
"The thing that hurt us was substitutions," said Michigan head coach Bo
Schembechler. "We let a lot of guys play."
The reason the scrubs got to play, is that the Wolverines' first-team unit
didn't let the Michigan State offense play. When the Spartans had the ball,
they ran around a lot, but in the first quarter it was mostly off the field.
Michigan State had the ball three times in the initial quarter, and the only
time they moved it more than five yards was on punts. Midway through the
second quarter, Michigan had 21 points on the books, while the Spartans only
had one first down.
And that was the game.
Down 21-0, Michigan State was forced to the air, seeming to rush the ball
only when their receivers needed to catch their breath. The Spartans
finished the game having thrown 50
passes and as anyone will tell you, a
team doesn't win ball games that way.
"I think the law of averages got to
them," said Wolverine linebacker Paul
Girgash. "You can't pass all the time."
With a 21-0 lead, the Michigan defen-
se shunned all thoughts of the Spartans'
impotent running game (30 carries for
51 yards) and dared Michigan State to
throw the ball. On the day, the Spartans
completed 33 of 50 passes. Such a
statistic is not normally one that a
defense will point to with pride. But
through the three quarters when MSU
still had enough time to make a contestii
out of it, the pass was undamaging to
the Wolverines.
The Spartans were able to move the Schembecher
ball with some success through the air,
but when the goal line came in sight the .. defense keys title hopes
Michigan defense got tough.
"Sooner or later you catch up with the pass," said Michigan defensive
back Jerry Burgei. "We figured we'd get some interceptions and we did get
one. We could have had more too. There was one play where both Keith
Bostic and I could have had an interception, but instead we got in each
other's way and neither one of us caught it."
Wolverine linebacker Mike Boren also noted that when a team throws the
ball as often as the Spartans did yesterday, it is playing right into the hands
of a defense.
"Any passing team, if it throws the ball enough, has a chance of an inter-
ception," he said.
Against Michigan State, the Michigan first-stringers proved they could
keep the opposition out of the end zone when it is obvious the forward pass
will be employed. The question that is still staring the Wolverines in the face
is whether they can stop the pass when an opponent is mixing up its plays
and is not far behind.
Citing improvements that the defense has made against the pass, Burgei
explained how this could be done. "We had some communications problems
earlier in the year," he said. "That's not happening now. Nowwe're pretty
consistent. And we're getting better breaks on the ball and reading the quar-
terbacks eyes better."
And that bodes well for Michigan because, as Schembechler so often points
out, "Our chances in the conference will depend on our defense. Our offense
and kicking is good enough."
I
SI
PASSING
MICHIGAN
Att. Comp Int. Yds. TD
S. Smith............. 20 '10 0 182 2
MICHIGAN .....................7 14 10 0
MSU ............................0 3 0 14
SCORING PLAYS
MICH-Smith 2 run (Ha ji-Sheikh kick)
MICH-Ricks 7 run (Haji-Sheikh kick)
MICH-Dunaway 7 pass from Smith (Haji-Sheikh kick)
MSU-Mojsiejenko 31 FG
MUCH-Hlaji-Sheih 27 FG
MICH-Carter 14 pass from Smith (HajiSheikh kick)
MsU-McClelland 7 pass from Leister (2 pt. conversion
failed)
MSU-McClelland4 (2 pt. conversion)
MICHGIAN STATE
Leister.............45 31
Lavele .............. 5 2
1 274 1
0 25 0
RECEIVING
MICIIIGAI
N.
Carter....................5
Dunaway................. 3
Bean ...................... I
Nelson ..................... 1
MICHIGAN STATE
Yds.
123
38
17
4
RUSHING
MICHIGAN
AT. Yds.
Ricks .............. 19 95
K.Smith ........... 10 70
Rice ...............7 27
S,Smith ........... *8 27
Rogers .............5 24
Garrett............ 4 24
Armstrong......... 1 4
S. Johnson......... 1 3
Avg.
5.0
7.0
3.9
3.4
4.9
6.0
4.0
3.0
TD
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
T. Jones...............
McClelland..............
Tanker.................
Grant ......................
Hawkins ...................
Robinson ..................
Turner.....................
Woods.................
Ellis....................
10 130
8 46
4 -23
3 29
3 15
2 22
1 15
1 15
1 4
TD
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.0
0
*
PUNTING
MICHIGAN STATE MICHIGAN
lister ..:......... 8 28 3.5 0 No. Avg.
McCleland......... 8 27 3.4 I Bracken ................... 5 38.6
Ell ...............8 3 0.4 0
Hawkins........... 3 2 0.7 0
Lavelle4.............2 -8 4.0 0 MICHIGAN STATE
Toney ............. 1 -1 -1.0 0 Mojsiejenko ................ 6 45.2
sm "r t M
Daily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER'
Michigan fullback Eddie Garrett
(above) breaks into the open. Earlier in
the game, Wolverine defensive back
Jerry Burgei attempts to make an' in-