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November 19, 1982 - Image 12

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The Michigan Daily, 1982-11-19

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a0

Page 12-Friday, November 19, 1982-The Michigan Daily
Run for the

roses

already

settled,

Wolverines have QB advantage;
Buckeye running game has depth

While tomorrow's battle will not be for the Rose
Bowl hid with Michigan haring already wrapped
it up, it will be a clash between the top two teams
in the league. It appears that the "Big Two, Little
Eight" syndrome is still alire and well in the Big
Ten. With that in mind, Daily Sports Editor Bob
Wojnowski analyzes the strengths and
weaknesses of the Bucke yes and the Wolverines.
OFFENSE
QUARTERBACKS-Both Michigan's Steve Smith
and Ohio State's Mike Tomczak suffered through
some rocky early-season games but have come on
strong in the second half of the campaign. Tomczak
was benched during the Buckeyes' third straight
defeat, a 6-0 loss to Wisconsin. Smith threw seven in-
terceptions in his first four games but has been
picked off just twice in the last six. He has upped his
completion percentage to .526 and is second in Big
Ten play with 12 touchdowns passing. Smith has also
climbed into second in the conference in passing ef-
ficiency right behind, you guessed it, Tomczak. The 6-
1, 184-pound sophomore has completed 55 of 96 passes
for 1,018 yards and seven touchdowns in his last five
games and has thrown just 11 interceptions all
year. His biggest liability is his relative inexperience
in big games, which proved to be the Wolverines'
downfall last year when senior Art Schlichter led the
Buckeyes to victory. Smith is the better runner,
having rushed for 279 yards and eight touchdowns
compared to Tomczak's 183 yards and four touch-
downs. Edge--Michigan.
RUNNING BACKS-Wolverine Lawrence Ricks has
had a marvelousyear, but so has the Buckeyes' Tim
Spencer. And Ohio State has a solid fullback in junior
Vaughn Broadnax while Michigan has been forced to
rotate a couple of freshmen; Dan Rice and Eddie
Garrett. Ricks and Spencer are dead even; Ricks
leads the Big Ten in rushing with a 130.6 yards-per-
Offthe Record

game average but Spencer has 1,247 yards overall to
Ricks' 1,190. The Bucks have a solid backup tailback
in senior Jimmy Gayle, who has rushed for 571 yards.
Edge-Ohio State.
OFFENSIVE LINE-Both teams have solid, if not
overwhelming, offensive lines. The Bucks are paced
by four-year starting guard Joe Lukens, who will
probably be an All-American this year. Michigan's
top two linemen are center Tom Dixon, one of the best
in the conference, and junior guard Stefan Hum-
phries. Ohio State has a little more size and a little
more experience. Slight edge-Ohio State.
RECEIVERS-Michigan has the spectacular An-
thony Carter, Ohio State has the consistent Gary
Williams. Carter holds a slew of team and Big Ten
marks and is just one touchdown reception away
from tying the NCAA record of 34. Meanwhile,
Williams has caught at least one pass in an NCAA
record 43 consecutive games. Junior speedster
Cedric Anderson flanks Williams and leads the team
with a phenomenal 28.5 yards-per-catch average on
18 receptions. Wolverine split end Vince Bean has the
same number of receptions as Anderson but is not
nearly as explosive. Both tight ends are solid.
Buckeye John Frank has caught 23 passes for two
touchdowns, Wolverine Craig Dunaway has 29 recep-
tions and three touchdowns. Slight edge-Michigan.
DEFENSE!
DEFENSIVE LINE-Ohio.State has the big edge in
experience as the Bucks start two seniors and a
sophomore while the Wolverines start two
sophomores and a senior. The Ohio State line is an-
chored by four-year starter Jerome Foster, who is a
two-time All-Big Ten selection and leads the teams
with four sacks. Tackle Chris Riehm and middle
guard Spencer Nelms round out the Buckeye front
wall. The Michigan line of tackles Winfred Carraway
and Kevin Brooks and nose guard Al Sincich has im-

proved steadily. Slight edge-Ohio State.
LINEBACKERS-Ohio State has one of the best
linebacking tandems in the nation in the persons of
seniors Glen Cobb and Marcus Marek. Marek is
another four-year starter and is the Buckeyes' second
all-time leading tackler, trailing only Tom
Cousineau. Juniors Curt Curtis and Rowland Tatum
are the Bucks' outside linebackers. The Michigan
linebacking corps of Robert Thompson, Carlton Rose,
Paul Girgash and Mike Boren relies more on emotion
than raw talent. Slight edge-Ohio State.
DEFENSIVE BACKS-The Wolverines have two
players starting now who weren't at the beginning of
the year; senior Marion Body, who took over the
halfback spot when John Lott broke his arm, and
junior Evan Cooper, who replaced the departed Brad
Cochran. Nevertheless, strong safety Keith Bostic is
a potential All-American and has anchored the
Wolverines' secondary all season long. Senior Jerry
Burgei is the other starter in the Michigan defensive
backfield. Juniors Garcia Lane, Shaun Gayle and
Doug Hill and sophomore Kelvin Bell comprise a
relatively youthful Buckeye secondary. Don't let
Michigan's last-place position in Big Ten passing
defense fool you. Much of the yardage has come with
the game no longer in doubt, and the Wolverines lead
the conference in fewest yards allowed per attempt.
Slight edge-Michigan.
KICKING AND SPECIAL TEAMS-Michigan is as
solid as it has ever been in the kicking department.
Place-kicker Ali Haji Sheikh has hit on 12 of 15 field
goal tries and has hit 72 consecutive extra points in
Big Ten play. Punter Don Bracken averages only 39.3
yards a kick, but his boots have been returned for a
mere 11 total yards on the season. The Buckeye
place-kicker is freshman Rich Spangler, who has hit
on just six of 15 field goal tries. Junior Karl Edwards
handles the punting chores and averages 39.3 yards a
kick. The Wolverines' kick coverage is amongst the
best in the nation. Big edge-Michigan.
Wire
By BARB BARKER

Barb's

Craig Dunaway heads for the goal line after making o
this season. The senior tight end has three touchdowns
Straight from the
source's mouth
By RON POLLAC

Daily Photo by JEFF SCHRIE
ne of his 29 receptions
on the year.

By BOB WOJNO WSKI!
The memories o ain...
.. . ts still The Game.
THE IMAGE, imbedded in the mind for all eternity, resurfaces every
year at about this time. Mike Lantry kneeling on the turf of Ohio
Stadium while the crowd dances around him. Delirious. Lantry still prone,
unmoving. The scoreboard reads 12-10, Buckeyes. Lantry stands, looks
around, holds his hands to his helmet. The fans continue to celebrate.. .
Oh, those hated Buckeyes.
But oh what a rivalry.
Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler calls it the greatest in college
football. Anywhere. Anytime.
It harkens back, of course, to the era of Woody Hayes. To the twilight
hours of Woody's career and the early hours of Bo's. It is a rivalry that is
vested in what is at once a mutual hate and a mutual respect between two
states, two schools, two sets of fans. It is fueled by the proximity of the states
and the intense pride in the schools. And some pretty emotional football
helps...
"And here come the Buckeyes ... and they're tearing down the coveted
k 'M' Club banner! Oh those Buckeyes will meet a dastardly fate for that one!
But the 'M' men will prevail! They're getting the banner back up. And here
come the Wolverines!"
It was 1973 and the late Wolverine broadcaster Bob Ufer was at his best.
It was a classic moment in the rivalry for the Bucks had crossed the
imaginaryline of respect-and in the Wolverines' own lair yet. Lantry would
miss two long field goals in the closing minutes and the game would end in a
10-10 tie. The Big Ten Athletic Directors would vote to send Ohio State to the
Rose Bowl. Bo would weep in front of the press ...
For all the marbles
It is a rivalry fueled by the knowledge that for 12 of Bo's 14 years at
Michigan, the Rose Bowl bid has been decided on the basis of this one game.
There is quarterback Rick Leach fading back to pass deep in his own
territory late in a tie game. And there is Ray Griffin picking the ball off and
returning it to the three-yard line. Pete Johnson scores on the next play and
the Buckeyes win, 21-14 ...
There is Bryan Virgil back to punt. The snap is good but suddenly the
ball is bouncing crazily the other way. Todd Bell grabs it and runs it in for
the score. Ohio State wins, 18-15...
There is fullback Harry Banks stopped not once, not twice, but three
times on the Ohio State goal line. On fourth down quarterback Dennis
Franklin is stacked up for no gain. Twice the Wolverines threaten at the
Buckeye goal line. Twice they are turned away with nothing. Ohio State
hangs on, 14-11.. .
There is Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter rolling right and pran-
cing into the Wolverine end zone with less than two minutes left. The
Buckeyes celebrate. The Wolverines contemplate a 14-9 loss ...
It is those memories hnd that pain that Michigan and its fans will bring
into tomorrow's battle against Ohio State. It is those feelings and similar
feelings by Buckeye fans which will make this' year's essentially
meaningless game anything but. Michigan has the Big Ten crown and the
Rose Bowl bid already locked up. Ohio State can win by 10 touchdowns
tomorrow and Michigan would still head west.
More than the title at stake
But as most fans know and as the respective coaches stress, this has
grown into much more than a battle for the title. One gets the impression
that these two teams would be gearing up for each other even if both were
winless.There has been so much pain, and conversely so much joy, felt by
both sides over the years that even the thought of defeat becomes un-
bearable. The thought of experiencing again what Lantry and his team-
mates felt after the kick sailed wide ...
So you see, those i who say that tomorrow's battle is just another game
F . -f*1-..- .---,,.t*.....I T~.....-*f e..1.. ;.~r..-

.K

0

An Ohioan's perspective .. .
. .pre-game antics
THERE'S BEEN an unusual smidgen of apathy this week on campus
concerning tomorrow's matchuo in Columbus. Now that Michigan has
already clinched the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl bid, idle talk figures that
the Ohio State game is meaningless-a mere anti-climatic warm-up for the
sunny New Year's day bout in Pasadena.
Bo Schembechler recognizes that school of thought for what it is-nonsense.
"There's no question who the two best teams in the league are," he says. "It
all boils down to Michigan and Ohio State again . . . This is still the greatest
rivalry in college football."
Bo ought to know. He's a buckeye-state boy himself. You got to do some
time in Ohio to truly appreciate Michigan, er, rather the Michigan-Ohio
State game.
I grew up in a small Ohio city which, due to its unique location four miles
from the Michigan state border, is pretty evenly populated by Wolverines
and Buckeye fans. Because my parents both went to school in Ann Arbor, my
allegiances were pretty much ingrained by the time I was old enough to say
hail to the victors.
A scarlet-and-gray clad dog
The first tell-tale sign that the annual rivalry is beginning to heat uD is in
early September when our neighbor Mr. Newt Johnson casually parades by our
house with his dog, Nick Johnson. There is nothing unusual in this by itself,
but by this time of the year the poor beagle is carefully stuffed into a scarlet-
and-gray doggie sweater.
By early November, friendly partisan jests develop into high-pitched bat-
tle cries lead by two internal medicine specialists.
Dr. John Gibbs, an Ohio State graduate, and Dr. Gordon Mather, his
Michigan counterpart, began making friendly wagers on this gridiron con-
flict about 12 years ago. After a couple of years, the rivalry becaem pretty
expensive, and they opted for another route.
"We decided with money there just wasn't enough involvement," ex-
plained Gibbs. "We started to bet things that took a little more initiative. For
example, one of the first bets said that the loser would have to paint all the
barrier posts in the hospital parking lot the color of the other team . . . they
stayed scarlet and gray until spring."
Bizarre bets
Ways in which the loser has had to bow to the winner include: leading the
victor on muleback in a two-mile march through morning rush-hour traffic,
rolling a Buckeye by nose up the hospital driveway and displaying the op-
posing team's flag on everything from a suburban front yard to a hospital
roof.
Until last summer, F assumed the rivalry was limited to the football
season. Traveling deep into the bowels of the Buckeye state, however, I
discovered it to be a year-long contest.
I spent three months working for a newspaper in Cleveland, and for the
first time in my life I discovered what it's like to be in the minority. As if it
wasn't bad enough that my editor was a Spartan fan, everyone else on the
staff had either graduated from Ohio State, wanted to graduate from Ohio
State or had a second cousin who went there.
One particular likeable, but misguided, man comes immediately to mind.
I can't remember if Ray Hart attended Ohio State, but he was without a
doubt the biggest Buckeye band fan I ever met. During my entire week of
work, Hart, dressed in scarlet and gray, sat at his desk muttering something
like "best damned band in the land."
On my last day at the newspaper, I found three things at my desk: a tape
recorder, a scarlet-and-gray wrapped package and a note, which instructed
me to turn on the recorder and look at my video display terminal. As "hail
hail Ohio State" marched from the recorder, a script Ohio lashed in tune. In-
side the wrapped package, was a 1965 band yearbook. I'll never know where
Hart managed to find a a gray ribbon.
Last weekend, after Michigan's 52-21 rout of Purdue, I returned the favor.
I hope you enjoyed the roses guys, because you won't be seeing any in
Pasadena.

Michigan's MVP

. . .

... the envelope please
R EGARDLESS OF the outcome of tomorrow's bitter blood-bath against
Ohio State, Michigan has already clinched a Rose Bowl bid and made
its Pasadena reservations. With this in mind, it's time to decide who the
Wolverines' Most Valuable Player has been in their run for the roses. The
votes have been cast (all one of them-that being mine) and tabulated. Here
are the results:
Ninth runner-up: Tailback Kerry Smith. This is purely a sentimental
choice given that the junior plays primarily when the Wolverines have a
four-touchdown lead or more. Thus, the only difference he makes in a game
is to help determine whether or not Michigan beats the point spread. But how
can you not vote for him? Every time he touches the ball he streaks past the
line of scrimmage for huge chunks of yardage. He is averaging 8.2 yards per
each of his 45 carries. If there were a Heisman Trophy for back-ups, Kerry
Smith would get my vote.
Eight runner-up: Outside linebacker Robert Thompson. If you think I'm
going to get this man angry by not including him you're crazy. When he
grimaces, he is meeeeeean looking. He is a big-play performer, having made
12 tackles for losses and recovered two fumbles. He has already made 57
tackles this season-up from a year ago when he was involved in 42-seven
of them for losses. He often blitzes, which is Why he makes so many plays
behind the line of scrimmage. When he gets picked up on the blitz, though, it
looks like he is dancing with his man. Whatever happened to the good old
days when a linebacker hit, bit or spit at anybody who had the gall to get in
his way?
Seventh runner-up: Inside linebacker Paul Girgash. At 6-1, Girgash is no
looming giant in physical stature on the playing field. His productivity on the
field, however, has reached titanic proportions. Constantly around the ball,
he ranks second on the team in tackles with 132. His 394 career tackles places
him second on the Wolverines' all-time chart.
Sixth runner-up: The entire starting contingent along the offensive line.
Michigan is averaging 265.9 yards a game rushing, and that just doesn't
happen unless the boys up front are blasting some huge holes in their op-
ponent's defensive line. Who would have ever believed that this unit would
become a team strength after seeing it pummeled at will by the Notre Dame
defense earlier in the season?
Fifth runner-up: "Ali, Ali, Ali." Ali Haji-Sheikh has been a godsend to all
Michigan fans who were subjected to the miserable showings of previous
Michigan kickers. The excitement has been taken out of the kicking game
with Haji-Sheikh splitting the uprights at will. So far this season; Haji-Sheikh
has successfully booted 12 field goals, a Michigan season record, out of his 15
attempts. He is perfect on his 3'7 extra point conversions.
Fourth runner-up: Strong safety Keith Bostic. Bostic is far and away the
big play man of the Wolverine secondary. He leads the team in interceptions,
with five, and fumble recoveries, with th'ree. He has returned his five inter-
ceptions 119 yards, including one for a 54-yard touchdown. Bostic has made
67 tackles this season, fourth best on the squad.
Third runner-up: Inside linebacker Mike Boren. The Michigan defensive
scheme is set up so that inside linebackers make a bevy of tackles, and
Boren fills the role extremely well. He leads the team in tackles with 145, and
is best described as an intense performer driven to get in on every play were,
it possible.
Second runner-up: Quarterback Steve Smith. The junior signal-caller has
improved immensely over last year. He has completed 52.6 percent of his
passes, including 14 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He got off to a
rocky start this season and was booed by the home-crowd fans early on. But
as the season has progressed, he has cut down on his interceptions
drastically. Nonetheless, it is hard to rate him any higher than second run-
ner-up when one realizes that flanker Anthony Carter has repeatedly turned
sure incompletions into sensational catches.
And speaking of Carter.
First runner-up: Flanker Anthony Carter. There isn't a superlative known
to man that hasn't already been used to describe Carter's four-year career

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