SPORTS Saturday, November 6, 1982 The Michigan Daily Michigan mission: Stop Page 9 TonyEason f By RON POLLACK Special to the Daily CHAMPAIGN - On paper it looks like a mismatch of colossal proportions. The Illinois passing attack versus the Michigan pass defense. OR MORE aptly, the nation's second- ated aerial attack versus the nation's lowest-ranked pass defense. Past statistical trends considered, the Fighting Illini (6-3, 5-2 in Big Ten) should pass the Wolverines (6-2, 6-0 in Big Ten) into submission. But as Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler knows so well, statistics can be devilishly deceiving. "One of the things about all those yards passing is that, in the last two weeks particularly, the game was not in eubt," said Schembechler. "So they're gonna throw. So-what are you gonna do, blitz or go man-to-man and let them back in the game. No, you give up the short yardage." BUT JUST because Michgian has not been hurt by the large chunks of total yardage accumulated by opposing teams in recent Wolverine wins does not mean that Schembechler enters today's game free of concern. Quite the contrary, he says of his last-place pass defense statistics, "If that's the case, the last place I want to go in Cham- paign." And the last quarterback he wants to face is Illinois' Tony Eason. Eason has averaged 302.1 yards of total offense ..1 .i per game during his career at Illinois; well ahead of the current NCAA mark held by Stanford's Jim Plunkett, who averaged 254.4 yards a game from 1968-70. "Tony's doing everything he can do," said Illini head coach Mike White. ."He's performing well, hitting a high percentage of passes (234 of 376-62 percent) and making the big play." BUT ILLINOIS successes and failures do not rest solely on the shoulders of their quarterback. Most noteworthy of Eason's suppor- ting cast is split end Mike Martin, who has already hauled in 56 passes. In ad- dition to Martin, tight end -Tim Brewster, wide receiver Oliver Williams, and fullbacks Mike Murphy and Richard Ryles have all caught 25 or more passes. The Illinois aerial attack is indeed impressive, but it is not the entire story of this afternoon's game. Deserving of at least equal billing is the melting pot of emotions that has simmered, and sometimes boiled over, as the game has drawn near. FOR STARTERS, there is last year's game to consider. Michgian downed the Illini, 70-21, and some Illinois players were quoted as saying they felt the score was run up. White, however, said he does not believe the Wolverines unnecessarily ran up the score and dismissed the idea that his squad is hell-bent on revenge. "There's no revenge," he said. "Playing against Michgian is incentive enough." Emotions have also run high on the topic of Michigan assistant head coach Gary Moeller. The Wolverines' defen- sive coordinator was the Illinois head coach for three years (1977-79), but was fired after his teams compiled miserable records of 3-8-0, 1-8-2 and 2-8- 1. After last Saturday's 52-14 win over Minnesota, Michigan linebacker Mike Boren said the team was looking for- ward to playing the Illini to avenge Moeller's firing. Boren said that Moeller had not been given enough of a chance, adding that the coach had done things "the clean way," implying that White's dependence on junior college transfers is a slovenly way of building a team. VENGEANCE aside, there is the question of whether Illinois can raise its emotions out of the gutter after its 14-13 loss to Iowa last weekend. Entering the game, the Illini harbored Rose Bowl aspirations. But the loss has all but dashed their hopes. "That loss was a bitter pill to swallow," said White on Monday. "Although we know the Rose Bowl is remote, we still have two games to prove we're a bowl-caliber team. Our attitude is not good now." Emotions, however, might not determine the game. Its outcome may be decided by Illini kicker Mike Bass. The barefooted kicker has been per- fect on all 27 of his extra point attempts this season. And more impressively, he has connected on 20 of 23 field goal at- tempts. Bass is only three field goals short of tying the NCAA record. THE LINEUPS MICHIGAN OFFENSE ILLINOIS (88) Craig Dunaway .......... (230) (68) Rich Strenger ............ (272) (64) Jerry Diorio .............(246) (69) Tom Dixon.... .......(249) (76) Stefan Humphries......(247) (73) Doug James ............. (250) (1) Anthony Carter.........(156) (25) Vince Bean...........(188) (16) Steve Smith ..............(194) (36) Dan Rice.............(225) (46) Lawrence Ricks....... (195) DE (99) Robert Thompson......(224) (63) Winfred Carraway......(245) (53) Al Sincich ................ (218) (96) Dave Meredith ...........(247) (89) Carlton Rose........... (207) (50) Paul Girgash.........(211) (40) Mike Boren ..............(224) (13) Keith Bostic .............. (210) (3) Marion Body ............. (181) (15) Jerry Burgei .............(191) (21) Evan Cooper...........(175) (6) A Haji-Sheikh............(170) (28) Don Bracken........... (205) TE T RG C LG T fLK SE QB FB TB FEN OLB DT NG DT OLB ILB ILB SS CB CB FS PK P (81) Tim Brewster ........... (220) (71) Jim Juriga ................(230) (59) Chris Babyar ............ (250) (54) Mark Helle ...............(230) (58) Rick Schulte.............(255) (76) John Janata .............. (250) (17) Oliver Williams .......... (190) (4) Mike Martin .............(185) (3) Tony Eason ..............(205) (46) Mike Murphy ............ (205) (21) Joe Curtis....... ...... (182) JSE (78) Nick Epps ...............(250) (92) Dan Gregus .............. (250) (96) Don Thorp ...............(245) (91) Terry Cole...........(250) (57) Darryl Byrd...........(220) (36) Mike Weingrad........(218) (63) Clint Haynes ............. (215) (27) David Edwards .......... (180) (9) Mike Heaven.......... (180) (43) Charles Armstead.......(160) (12) Craig Swoope..........(185) (48) Mike Bass-...........(200) (5) Chris Sigourney .......... (205) Bass ..record-chasing kicker { :.:: .........................:.:.:"'" :".i v:" .:...,.. ..:.....:, n; ...7:::,i < iiir:: i:i::r :j i:: :":i .: f v...v ":. ^i Y: i:i".'":; .....:wnv+L"7:9i.i}.:+::.:":::i7::'.::'.'i:i:i n n :.: :..:::..... . ....... .! r;?:"7:; ::: nv ...... ......... ..... ..... ...................................... .... .. Big Ten hopefuls continue Sdrive for bowl bids By STEVE HUNTER With only three games left in the football season, five teams remain in the race for the Big Ten cown. This week's games may decide who gets a bowl bid and who will not. With Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio State all playing Big Ten also- rans, it could be a week of spoilers. More likely, the rich will get richer and the losers will get losses. Ohio State welcomes Minnesota and passing sensation Mike Hohensee, who has a sizzling 61-percent completion rate. He also leads the Big Ten in interceptions (12). Nonetheless, on the strength of his arm, Gopher's coach Joe Salem is hoping for a repeat of last year's 35-31 upset of OSU. Salem, however, must realize that his team is badly decimated by injuries and will be hard-pressed for a win. THE BUCKEYES, on the other hand, have won three in a row and coach Earl Bruce maintains, "We're playing our best football of the year right now." The Buckeyes 37.8 points per game average over the last three contests, and the conference's third-ranked Big Ten defense make them quite formidable. Another force to be reckoned with is the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes, who have given up only eight touchdowns this season, face the Purdue Boilermakers at Lafayette. Challenging the Iowa 'D' will be Purdue quarterback Scott Campbell, who holds a per-game passing average of 259.6 yards. IOWA ALSO faced a tough passing attack last week, but held Illinois and Tony Eason to only 13 points. The Hawkeyes have the most to gain by this game, as they are still in the Big Ten race with a 4-1 record. Purdue, mean- while, can only play the role of spoiler. A strong Wisconsin ball club, with four victories in its last five games, hosts Indiana. The Hoosiers are also in the spoiler role, as they enter the game with a 2-4 Big Ten record and no hope for a bowl bid. Wisconsin, in contrast, hopes to win its next three games (against Indiana, Iowa and Min- nesota) in order to wind up 8-3 and have a chance for post- season play. Hope for a bowl game will have to wait until next year in East Lansing, though, as MSU and Northwestern fight it out to avoid the Big Ten basement. Both teams enter the game with only one conference win. to MSU Today's MICHIGAN-Illinois game starts at 12:35 EST and can be seen on WXYZ- TV (Channel 7). It can be heard on WAAM (1600 AM), WWJ (950 AM), WTOD (1560 AM), WJR (760 AM), WTRX (1330 AM), WUOM (91.7 FM), WLEN (103.9 FM), and WCBN (88.3 FM). Sixers du-mp Pistons., By MIKE BRADLEY Special to the Daily PONTIAC- The Detroit Pistons realized the harsh realities of com- petition in the NBA's upper echelon last night when they fell, 120-109, to the Philadelphia 76ers before a record crowd of 28,222 at the Silverdome. The Sixers' charge was led by center Moses Malone, who had 28 points and 13 rebounds, including 18 points in the third quarter. Julius Erving added 21 points and Andrew Toney canned 19. ISIAH THOMAS had 24 for the Pistons. The Sixers broke a 72-72 deadlock in the third quarter when they ran off a string of 18 unanswered points. The Pistons never recovered from this third quarter blitz. Both teams came out running in the first quarter, and the Sixers led 61-58 at the half. However, after Philadelphia's third stanza surge the Pistons were dead. Swimmers scrimmage The Michigan women's swim team faced competition yesterday in the form of a relay and diving scrimmage against Michigan State. Ninth-year coach Stu Isaac was pleased with his team's performance in spite of missing key performers such as Sue Cahill, Louise Webster, Muffy MacKenzie and Elaine Freeman due to injury and sickness. MacKenzie,who is ill, may not return until the second term, but the others are expected back in action next week against rival Pit- tsburgh. ISAAC HAS had his swimmers working on specific aspects of their per- formances and cited Nany Rutsch and L slie Beckstein as having improved a great deal. "People doing things we've worked on encourages me," said Isaasc. He added that although some of the freshman are still inconsistent, im- provement is in sight. Michigan swept nine of the 14 relays with its biggest win coming in the long 1500-yard freestyle relay with a time of 15:51.05 to MSU's 16:09. - KATIE BLACKWELL :""i:v' : ...: y:. .. ,. . Blue icers fal By CHUCK JAFFE Michigan State needed only two seconds in the second period last night to turn the tide against Michigan and send the Spartans on their way to a 5-2 win last night at Yost Ice Arena. With the score tied 1-1, Michigan suc- cessfully killed off a Spartan power play. But twenty seconds later, Mike SNeff was put back into the penalty box for one of hockey's rarest calls: leaving the penalty box early. The two seconds that Neff didn't serve gave Michigan State a second power play, and Lyle Phair converted to stop Michigan cold and give the Spartans a 2-1 lad. "YOU TAKE away that two-second penalty that the timer called, and it's a different hockey game," Michigan coach John Giordano said. "The worst part is that it is our home timer, and that he let him out and then called the penalty. You take away that goal and the empty-net at the end and it's a 3-2 game." But unfortunately for Giordano, both goals did count, and the Spartans added three more, showing that they deserve their 7-0 record and number one ranking in the country. Michigan State scored first despite nifty defensive work by Michigan defenseman Mike Neff and goaltender Jon Elliott. The Spartans' Rick Fer- nandez broke in alone on left wing at 8:30 of the first period, but Neff dove in front of him to stop the surge. Michigan could not clear the puck, however, and Gord Flegel found the puck and passed it to Jeff Eisley, whose slapshot eluded 'Elliott's lunge. PAUL KOBYLARZ pulled Michigan even at 6:45 of the second period, as the Wolverines finally put one past Spartan All-American goaltender Ron Scott. Brad Tippett dumped the puck into the right corner, and freshman Frank Downing outhustled Michigan State's Ken Leiter to the puck, which he fired to Kobylarz in the slot. With Michigan successfully killing Neff's first penalty, the Wolverines ap- peared to have the momentum, but the timer's call shifted the tide to the Spar- tans, who scored the next three goals to put the game away. After Phair's goal, junior Newell Brown scored the first of his three goals, picking up a rebound and lifting it into the net at the 18:17 mark. Brown connected again just 4:09 into the third period when Dave Taylor skated behind the Wolverine defense and slipped a one-handed pass to Brown in the slot. Brown's shot went into the left side of the net, and Michigan State went on top 4-1. CO-CAPTAIN Brad Tippett scored Michigan's last goal of the night, redirecting a Pat Goff power-play slapshot past Scott to bring the game to 4-2. With just 24 'seconds remaining, Brown finished his hat trick into the empty net, finalizing the Spar- tans' 5-2 win. "That second goal got us going," Michigan State's Scott said. "They had just scored and killed the penalty. They were up and we were a little down. It should never happen. They gave us a second chance and we scored, and that was it." Brown-nosing a win FIRST PERIOD Scoring: 1. MSU-Eisley (Flegel, Fernandez) 8:40. Penalties: MSU-Hamway (cross-checking) 10:49. SECOND PERIOD Scoring: 1. M-Kobylarz (Downing, Tippett) 6:45; 2. MSU-Phair (Brown, Krentz) 10:11; 3. MSU-Brown (Martin, Leiter) 18:17. Penalties: M-Speers (hooking) 1:16; M-Neff (hooking) 7:02; M-Neff (leaving the penalty box early) 9:10; MSU-Eisley (holding) 12:42. THIRD PERIOD Scoring: 4. MSU-Brown (Taylor, Miller) 4:09; 2. M-Tippett (Goff, Seychel) 11:30; 5. MSU-Brown (Phair) 19:36. Penalties: M-Grade (holding) 8:27; MSU-Leiter (tripping) 10:27; MSU-Fernandez (high sticking) 13:07. SAVES 1 2 M-Elliott ...........................7 13 MSU-Scott ..........................8 7 GOALS BY PERIOD 3 9 5 3 1 2 T -29 20 T' -2 -5 1 2 MICHIGAN................. .......0 1 Michigan State ........................1 2 Attendance: 7,832 r ....... FULL SERVICE PHOTO LAB 2% HOU EKACHOME(E ._.. ... -