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The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 12, 1984- Page 10
Lyles shuns sun for 'M' tradition
By KATIE BLACKWELL
Bo Schembechler surely was thankful
Saturday afternoon, not only for his
team's 22-14 upset of the defending
national champs, but for a decision
made five years ago in Miami.
A talented high, school senior, admit-
tedly not much of a college football fan,
was deciding which school to grace with
his gridiron expertise. Surprisingly, the
young man chose to vacate the warm
sands of his native Miami and travel to
-the frigid north of Michigan.
FOR OUTSIDE linebacker Rod-
ney Lyles, the decision he made as a
pseventeen-year-old has paid off in most
:every way, culminating in his career-
high three interceptions against his
,hometown Hurricanes on Saturday.
S"Rodney Lyles had one ofthose
.games you don't get very often," said
Schembechler of the week's Defensive
Champion. Lyles' performance tied a
long-time Michigan record for intercep-
tions in a single game. The day also
marked Lyles' first collegiate pick-off.
"I guess everyone dreams about
making the big plays," said the senior
stand-out. "It's something everyone
looks forward to." Though quite modest
about his outstanding afternoon, Lyles
paused for a moment and considered
the impact of his feat. As an easy grin
crossed his face, he said, "I do think it
was extra-ordinary."
LYLES PROBABLY had some added
incentive for his play against Miami.
Not only is Miami his old stomping
grounds, but .the Hurricanes heavily
recruited the local high school star. In
order to lure the hometown boy to its
growing program, the Hurricane staff
apparently promised Lyles a good shot
at playing right away. But that only
served to dissuade him.
"I didn't want anything given to me,"
Lyles said.
Instead, it was an odd combination of
be difficult for such a cold-climate
program'to snatch talent out of the Sun
Belt. But in Lyles' case, everything
seemed to fall in place.
"I had a drive within me to go away
to school-to get away and be able to
come back for visits," Lyles recalled.
"I thought it would be a change. I don't
'I didn't know too
much about
Michigan. I did
recognize the
helmets and Bo
Schembechler -
I'd heard the name
before.
- Linebacker
Rodney Lyles
right because the Wolverines landed
the two superstars. Lyles pointed to his
talks with the players as being a key
factor in his choice.
Michigan, regardless of the snow,
seems to be good for Lyles. After a red-
shirted freshman year in 1980, he broke
into the Wolverine lineup seeing action
in every game in the 1982 campaign as a
backup outside linebacker.
LAST SEASON, Lyles proved his
starting worth by piling up 40 tackles,
making him the 10th-leading tackler on
the squad. Among these, nine were
tackles behind the line of scrimmage
resulting in losses of 52 yards. Lyles
was the 1983 leader in stops behind the
line for the Wolverines.
Now, in his fifth year at Michigan,
Lyles is ready for new challenges. Sch-
embechler and crew used his 4.6 speed
for a new role in the Miami game-pass
coverage. Previously limited to the
pass rush, Lyles may have a future
hounding receivers. Schembechler may
have had that in mind all along.
"Lyles can be a pass rusher and he
can cover," he said last spring. "It
takes a certain kind of guy to be able to
do that."
Based on his abuse of three Bernie
Kosar passes, it looks like this could be
the year for Lyles. Schembechler
thinks so.
"I know Rodney was shooting for this
game (Miami) as it meant something
special to him, but," Schembechler
emphasized, "I will be looking for this
kind of performance throughout the
season."
factors that put the 6-3 226-pounder in
Wolverine duds.
"I DIDN'T KNOW too much about
Michigan," Lyles admitted. "I did
recognize the helmets and Bo Schem-
bechler-I'd heard the name before,"
he said, laughing.
Aside from the fancy helmets and
coaching legend associated with
Michigan football, it can conceiveably
like the snow, but I got tired of the ex-
cessive heat."
WHAT REALLY CLINCHED Lyles'
decision was his visit to the University.
Fellow Floridian Anthony Carter was
among the Michigan football players
who escorted Lyles and teammate
Evan Cooper around campus on their
recruiting trip.
Carter must have done something
Good friends keep yougoImg
when all you want to do is stop.
Daily Photo by CAROL L. FRANCAVILLA
Rodney Lyles paws the first of his three interceptions against Miami Satur-
day.
Spikers search for
starters in opener
By TOM KEANEY
Women's volleyball coach Bar-
bara Canning brings her squad into
tonight's match against Illinois-
Chicago with some definite goals in
mind.
"I'm not expecting tremendous
results," said Canning, emphasizing
that the results of this game should
determine a starting lineup,
hopefully one that will make
Michigan a contender this year in
the Big Ten.
THIS IS A transitional season for
the Spikers, who have only two star-
7 "ters and five players overall retur-
ning from last year's squad. As with
any young squad, Canning sees a
need to smooth out the team's
strategy in this game before the fig
Ten season opens on September 22
against Purdue.
Michigan's only senior, Joan Pot-
ter, echoed her coach's remarks.
"All of our games before the Big Ten
opener are going to be preparation,"
she said. "We'll be finding out who
plays as well as whom in different
situations."
Tonight's game, at the CCRB at
7:00 p.m., will no doubt showcase
some of the new faces on the team.
With the absence of experienced
players, the returning starters, Jen-
nifer Hickman and Karyn Kun-
zelman will certainly be relied upon
as the backbone ofthe team. Potter,
however, said she sees potential in
everybody on the team. "We all
Hickman work real well together. There's a
.returning starter lot of energy on this team."
NCAA leans on Florida.
I
A
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The
University of Florida received a 75
page official letter of inquiry from the
NCAA yesterday detailing the 107
alleged infractions committed by the
school's football program.
University President Marshall M.
Criser said the university will prepare
an official response to the allegations
"as quickly as humanly possible."
CRISER said he was releasing copies
of the NCAA's letter as well as tran-
scripts of interviews with a number of
witnesses in the probe that started in
December 1982.
Among the charges leveled against
Coach Charley Pell's program was that
of illegal scouting of opponents' prac-
tices. The school president said he had
directed officials to forward letters of
apology to seven schools and added
that he had volunteered to forfeit
Florida victories over to six of them.
Pell, saying that he assumed respon-
sibility for "mistakes and errors,"
made in the program, resigned Aug.
26, but requested to remain with the
squad until the end of the 1984 season.
GRIDDE
No less respect is due the Michigan
football team, but word has surfaced
out of Miami that Hurricane quarter-
back Bernie Kosar was playing under a
severe mental strain last weekend. It
seems that Kosar was distraught over
traveling all the way to Ann Arbor and
not being able to play Griddes.
Said a member of the Miami staff,
who asked to remain anonymous, "All
Bernie could think about was that
small, one-item pizza from Pizza Bob's
that he had no chance of winning
because the Daily didn't do Griddes last
week. That's a lot of pressure for
someone who is only a sophomore."
We can't do anything to soothe the
ache is Kosar's stomach, but we can
help you. Griddes return to Ann Arbor
and the Daily in full force this week.
PICKS
belong to you.
1. Washington at MICHIGAN (pick score)
2. Washington St. at Ohio State
3. Notre Dame at Michigan State
4. Miami (Fla.)at Purdue
5. Minnesota at Nebraska
6. Penn State at Iowa
7. Syracuse at Northwestern
8. Kentucky at Indiana
9. Wisconsin at Missouri
10. Illinois at Stanford
11. Auburn at Texas
12. Alabama at Georgia Tech.
13. Oklahoma at Pittsburgh
14. Boston College. vs. North Carolina
15. SMU at Louisville
16. Utah at Tennessee
17. Temple at Rutgers
18. Fullerton St. at Idaho
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