The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 18, 1984 - Page 11
Sophomore punter gets 'freshman roll'
By KATIE BLACKWELL
A mere six months ago, if you asked
O Bo Schembechler to comment on
Michigan's 1984 punting game, he'd
grumble something to the tune of,
"Ahhh, I don't want to talk about it. I
don't know who's going to do the pun-
ting."'
w The source of Schembechler's pre-
season kicking jitters was a com-
bination of the loss of four-year stan-
dout Don Bracken and poor performan-
ces by his replacements. But now, six
games into the campaign, the boss is
sitting pretty. He has the tenth best
punter in the country thus far.
SOPHOMORE MONTE ROBBINS, "a
non-scholarship walk-on from Great
Bend, Kansas, boasts a 44.6 yard-per
punt average at this point in his first
season of action. That average is
Rob bins boots Bo
's
preseason worries
highlighted by an outstanding perfor-
mace against Michigan State. Robbins
pounded seven kicks for a 50.4 average,
including one 78-yard blast.
But Robbins is the first to admit that
he has had the luck of the roll, so to
speak, in attaining these impressive
stats.
"Don Bracken told me I have the
'freshman roll'," laughs Robbins.
"But," he added, "You've got to kick
the ball to make the rolls."
UNDOUBTEDLY, the lucky bounces
have helped ease .Robbins' Big Ten
initiation. Taking that into con-
sideration, there is room for im-
provement in the 6-4 20-year-old.
"As far as the rolls go," Robbins said,
"I haven't been kicking as well as I
can."
But noone can ask more of Robbins,
considering the pre-season skepticism.
Schembechler's concern was indeed
well-founded on the basis of Robbins
previous showings in practice and the
spring game.
"LAST YEAR I didn't kick good at
all. I don't know what the deal was,"
said Robbins. "The spring game was
just a catastrophe, I knew I had to do
something over the summer."
So, knowing that 1984 was the perfect
chance to prove his talents, he went
home to Kansas intent on improving his
game. "I thought well, it's up to me,"
Robbins recalled. "Because he
(Schembechler) didn't recruit any
other kickers."
Whatever he did down there in
America's heartland worked like a
charm. Robbins took the field seven
times against Miami in his first ap-
pearance as a Wolverine and came
away with a 43.4 yard average and the
kicking team champion award for the
week.
"ALL THE time over the summer I
thought to myself how I would feel in
front of all those people," Robbins
reflected. "It wasn't as bad as I
thought. I wasn't that nervous."
Ironically, both Bracken and Robbins
came into the Wolverine system via the
same route. As high schoolers, both at-
tended nation-wide kicking camps run
by Ray Pelfrey. Four years ago, it was
Pelfrey that brought Bracken to the at-
tention of the Michigan coaches. The
Wolverines happened to need a punter
at that time, and Bracken fit the bill.
The same was true for Robbins.
Pelfrey found him a spot behind
Bracken, then a senior and now it is
Robbins in the spotlight. Robbins tur-
ned down scholarship offers from
Kansas and Louisville and a possible
college basketball career to become a
Wolverine.
ROBBINS' QUICK rise to the
limelight hasn't seemed to have affec-
ted him much. He is very down to earth
about his success and quick to point out
his blocked punt against Michigan
State.
"That's the worst thing that a punter
can have happen," he said.
Robbins teammate and roommate in
South Quad, linebacker Todd Schulte
said Robbins' only change from last
year is added confidence.
"HE'S THE MOST modest guy I
know," Schulte said. "He gets mad if I
tell people his achievements." Signing
autographs after a game this year,
Schulte wrote, 'Monte Robbins' room-
mate'. "I did it once just to get him
mad," Schulte laughed.
Though he rarely says it, Schem-
bechler, too, is pleased with his pun-
ter's turn around. It's evidenced by his
awarding Robbins the kicking cham-
pion award after the Miami game.
"Now, in practice he'll come up to me
and say 'Good kick, kid'. To me that
means more than anything because
he's short on compliments."
Schembechler knows what he's
doing. He's trying to keep his young
punter's feet on the ground. But with
Robbins, that seems an easy task.
"It's not near over," Robbins stated.
"I've still got five more games to go -
anything can happen."
um News in
The Daily
764-0552
RINN
ARBOR"
5th Avenue at liberty.St.
761-9700
DAILY FIRST MATINEE $2.00
ENDS TONIGHTI
"THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE"
AT 1 00. 7 20. 9:30
STARTS FRI.!
LIMITED 1 WEEK ENGAGEMENT
PRIVATES ON PARADE
"SATIRICAL[
AND
NOSTALGIC:'
-DavidDonbyl
N.Y. MAGAZINE}' R ?
JOHN GLEESEL. I(R
FRI. 1:00, 7:10,9:10,12:00
Robbins
... fills Bracken's shoes
.Stickers can't
score; Collins
losing patience
By DAVE ARETHA
When a team averages less than a
goal per game, a coach tends to get
frustrated.
"It's very, very discouraging," said
Michigan Field Hockey Coach Karen
Collins, after her team was blanked
again, this time 1-0 to Notre Dame.
"We've got people who can do it (score)
and they don't," she said.
, The stickers record dropped to 1-8-4
with yesterday's loss to Notre Dame.
Michigan has scored just nine goals in
13 games this season.
Collins was particularly upset with
her team's lack of offense in yester-
day's game.
"They stood there and waited for the
ball, and Notre Dame beat us to it," she
said.
To the team's credit, they pressured
the Irish defense for much of the secon-
d half. After falling behind on a goal by
Notre Dame's Corrine DiGiacomo, the
Michigan women threatened to score
several times.
Two scoring chances late in the game
were particularly painful. With 6
minutes left, Michigan was awarded
two straight penalties corners but was
unable to cash in. And with just seconds
remaining, a loose ball sailed through
the Notre Dame goal crease, but again,
no Michigan player was able to
capitalize.
Michigan will try to double, or
perhaps triple, their victory total this
weekend when they face Iowa on Satur-
day and Ohio State on Sunday. Both
games are at Columbus.
Michigan's next home game will be
Tuesday, October 30, against Toledo.
Associated Press
The Islanders' Pat LaFontaine and Duane Sutter look on as the puck shoots past the face of Detroit's Greg Smith during
the first period of last night's NHL game at Joe Louis Arena. New York beat the Red Wings, 6-4.
SPOR TS OF THE DAIL Y:
Gis pulls trick to beat Wings
:2: :
f:;s
: ": .
:{ :
::h} :
'$ v...
'A FABULOUS
FAIRY TALE:'
-Vincent Canby,
NEW YORK TIMES
(.ABR!I. (.ARC IA MARQUEZ.S
ERENDIRA
STARRNG IRENE PAPAS
SCRuNPAY BY
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
(Nobel Prize Winner. 1982)
;:{::
i ?i
iti r
::
:t':'r
i
"a
}
::y ,
";r:?;;
: "r
jY.k:
,{:\ .
:i
'f.}1
: $y+:
ti" r"<{;
DETROIT (AP) - Clark Gillies
scored his third goal of the game with
3:14 remaining last night to lead the
New York Islanders to a come-from-
behind 6-4 National Hockey League
victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Gillies deflected Pat LaFontaine's
slapshot past Detroit netminder Greg
Stefan to snap a 4-4 tie and give the
Islanders their third straight victory.
DEFENSEMAN BRAD PARK had
given Detroit a 4-2 lead with his second
goal of the night 6:18 into the third.
period, but the Islanders tied the score
when John Tonelli and Gillies scored 44
seconds apart midway through the
period.
The Islanders took a 2-1 lead early in
the second period on LaFontaine's
second goal of the season, but the Red
Wings bounced back on a goal by Kelly
Kisio at 17:15 of the middle of the period and
Park's power-play tally with six secon-
ds remaining.
Detroit opened the scoring at 5:04 of
the first period. Steve Yzerman was
credited with the goal after New York
defenseman Denis Potvin inadvertly
steered his rebound into the Islanders'
net.
New York tied the score before the
period was over on Gillies' first goal of
the game. Mike Bossy clinched the vic-
tory for New York, scoring his fifth of
the season with 1:10 remaining in the
game.
The Islanders improved their record
to 3-1 while the Red Wings lost for the
third time in four starts.
USFL sues NFL
NEW YORK (AP) - the United
States Football League filed a $1.32
billion antitrust suit against the
National Football League yesterday,
seeking to void the NFL's television
contracts with the three major net-
works and charging that "a con-
spiracy" exists to put it out of business.
The USFL also asked the court to
break up what it calls the NFL's
monopoly on player contracts and
stadiums in the nation's major cities.
THURS. 1:00, 7:00, 9:00
FRI. 1:00, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30
:: ::
m
DAILY MATINEES
::. .:.::::.....:...:. ;
GRIDDE PICKS
Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop
Desmond Tutu said the peace prize was
nice, but there's still something missing
in his life.
"When I was younger," he said,
"people used to make fun of my name. I
thought, if I could just win griddes,
they'd stop. Besides, that Pizza Bob's
pizza is worth much more than the
M $190,000 Nobel award."
You too can take that first step
toward a Nobel prize. Just bring your
picks peacefully to the Daily, 420
Maynard, by Friday night.
1. MICHIGAN at Iowa (pick score)
2. Ohio State at Michigan State
3. Wisconsin at Indiana
4. Purdue at Illinois
5. Northwestern at Minnesota
6. Arkansas at Texas
7. Oregon at Washington
8. Oklahoma at Iowa State
9. Boston College at West Virginia
10. Brigham Young at Air Force
11. Houston at SMU
12. Tulane at Florida State
13. Pittsburgh at Miami, Fla.
14. Syracuse at Penn State
15. Louisiana State at Kentucky
16. Vanderbilt at Georgia
17. Georgia Tech at Auburn
18. S. Carolina at Notre Dame
19. Kansas at Oklahoma State
20. Kurt Bevacqua Fan Club at Daily
Libels
'
f :
ti. . y.
..., i tro fi
, ,
.. , ? '. 'M
s
,..... ,... _ ar._T ' .. ..
. =i
.
._ :
: :.
-
;.
Study Abroad Through
Syracuse University.
- o
Study in one of SUJs 27 academic programs conducted in
England, France, Italy, Spain, and other locations. Grants are
available for a semester. a year. or a summer of study abroad.
/
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC
As the need for specialized health care continues to
grow, Northwestern College of Chiropractic can help
you enter a satisfying career taking care of people as a
Doctor of Chiropractic.
Committed to high standards in education and
research for over 40 years, Northwestern offers you
comprehensive chiropractic training on a modern cam-
pus distinguished for its excellent facilities and
dedicated teaching staff.
If you would like to know how Northwestern College
of Chiropractic can help you achieve your career goals,
complete the form below or call the
admissions office TOLL FREE at 1-800-328-8322, Exten-
sion 290 or collect at (612) 888-4777.
Please send me more information on
Nnthactarn rn-- an o rinnati
. . . . :, x _ _ __ . ... ....... .........