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Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Sunday, November 4, 1984

Inconsistency

marks Michigan's tumble

By DOUGLAS B. LEVY
Special to the Daily
WEST LAFAYETTE - Ouch! Final
score: Purdue 31- Michigan 29.
Throw it out, it's a lie, a misrepresen-

tation of the worst kind. For the 60,159
souls in attendance yesterday at Pur-
due's Ross-Ade Stadium, the game bet-
ween the Boilermakers and Wolverines
was over at the end of the first half.

AFTER THE first 30 minutes of play
yesterday, Purdue, behind the in-
credible passing of Jim Everett, was
annihilating Michigan, 24-0.
"Our defense wasn't up," under-

stated a slightly annoyed Bo Schem-
bechler. "This is the first time our
defense has let us down this season."
Michigan's vaunted defense,
previously the top-rated in the Big Ten,

allowed the Boilermakers to stuff the
ball down its throat. Purdue scored on
its first four and only possessions of the
first half, driving at will, doing
anything it wanted. It was like taking
candy from a baby.
THE WOLVERINE offense was no
better, racking up a measly 32 total first-
half yards. "They came out and they
were flat," described Purdue's nose
guard Brad Horner. "I don't know if
they had a bad plane ride or what. But
they didn't have the sharpness that we
had seen on film."
With Schembechler's squad mired in
at 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference,
the question arises: "Bo, which team
will we see next week? Will it be fired
up or flat?"
Following an exhilarating win over
Miami of Fla., to open their season, the
Wolverines were sloppy and unen-
thusiastic the next week and fell to
Washington.
THEN, AFTER escaping with wins
over Wisconsin and Indiana, Michigan
was humbled by Michigan State and
sported a record of 3-2.
New quarterback Russel Rein easily
guided Michigan past hapless North-
western. But two weeks ago, in Iowa
City, Rein and the Wolverines were
humiliated, 26-0.
Last week's 26-18 triumph over
Illinois afforded Bo's team a new lease
on life. A third quarterback, Chris Zur-
brugg, emerged wielding an unstop-
pable option offense. Then came
yesterday's first half, showcasing a sh-
ocking display of Wolverine ineptitude.
IN ALL FAIRNESS to Schembechler,
since his starting signalcaller, Jim
Harbaugh, went down against the Spar-
tans, Michigan has been operating at a
big disadvantage.
Coincidentally, it has been the second
game for each of Michigan's three

quarterbacks that has devastated the
Wolverines: Harbaugh against the
Huskies, Rein at Iowa, and yesterday,
Zurbrugg at West Lafayette.
Excuses aside, the 1984 Wolverines
have been sorely lacking in consisten-
cy.
SHOULD THE current pattern con-
tinue, and it's a good bet that it will,
Michigan will cruise to victory over
Minnesota next Saturday, only to travel
to Columbus two weeks from now to be
embarrassed by a sky-high Ohio State
team that expects a prestigious bowl
bid.
Every Big Ten coach has been quoted
ad nauseum this season about the
parity that has enveloped the conferen-
ce. Michigan has contributed more to
this notion of parity than any other
team. But is it parity or parody? Has
Michigan fallen backwards?
Last year the Wolverines creamed
both MSU and Purdue, 42-0 and 42-10
respectively and downed Iowa 16-13.
Have these teams improved so vastly in
just one season to inflict so much
damage on the Wolverines?
To Schembechler's credit, after each
loss he has promised, "We'll be back.
I'll guarantee you that. Michigan is not
dead." After the four losses the
Wolverines have certainly come back
strong, but they seem always to follow
up with another lackluster drubbing.
True, Michigan's pride was evident in
yesterday's second half, as the team
fought back from the 31-7 fourth quar-
ter blowout score. Zurbrugg completed
19 of 25 second half passes to rally the
squad in a decidedly un-Michigan-like
attack. None of this analysis matters,
though, because despite Purdue's
sterling performance, Schembechler
knows his team was easily capable of
stopping the Boilermakers. Wolverine
inconsistency keyed yesterday's
defeat, as it has flawed this entire '84
campaign.
Ouch!

Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Rick Rogers lunges for an extra yard during yesterday's game at Purdue. Despite a valiant fourth quarter rally, the Wolverines lost 31-29 and their
record dropped to 5-4.overall.


Bukck on the Draw
Bv i'AYIikVcraw.

Purdue little, Purdue late

Seeing is believing .
... Bo's boys lucky to be off TV
WEST LAFAYETTE
THE MOST unfortunate aspect of yesterday's game was that none of the
bowl scouts arrived late.
The reps of the Liberty, Peach, Citrus, Holiday, and Hall of Fame Bowls
were all here to watch a Michigan team that came out of the lockerroom as
flat as the Indiana countryside and trailed Purdue, 24-0 at halftime.
When you recall that the worst Wolverine defeat during the Bo Schem-
bechler era was 26-0 - two weeks ago against Iowa - you can imagine how
badly Michigan played to encounter a deficit that was growing as fast as
Ronald Reagan's.
The Wolverines were moving the ball after receiving the opening kickoff.
They reached the Boilermaker thirty nine, but when Eddie Garrett dropped
a sure first-down pass on a third-and-six, the onslaught began. From that
point on in the first half, Michigan was outgained 286 yards to -9.
Prime time promise
The bowl boys had to be enjoying it. Before them was a team with an ex-
citing offense, big-play potential, tough defense and all-black uniforms.
What better to attract a large Mizlou television audience come bowl day.
Possible consolation for Michigan could come thanks to its big scoring
flurry in the final minutes. Now some bowl big shots who skipped this game
might read the 31-29 final in today's paper and think, "Wow, that must have
been a great game.'
Well, at least it wasn't on national TV like the Washington and Iowa losses
were. Few people will really know how bad the Wolverines looked in the first
thirty minutes of play.
You've got to not like the post-season outlook for Michigan after this
weekend. This defeat, coupled with Wisconsin's tie of Iowa (on TV, no less),
has dropped the Wolverines into fifth in the Big Ten bowl-popularity stand-
ings behind Iowa, Ohio State, the Boilers and Badgers.
You've heard the phrase, "this game is like a bowl game for us" many
times from mediocre teams that are playing a big opponent and have little.
hope of a bowl invitation. Well that's the situation Michigan faces now, headed
for the Buckeye Bowl, November 17 in Columbus.
Pass the cranberries
Sure, Thanksgiving bowls don't carry quite the same prestige as the New
Year's ones, but you've got to take what you can get. And if a loss to Ohio
State is added to the Wolverines' record, not even the Cherry Bowl in Pon-
tiac is going to want them.
At least yesterday's game ended on a somewhat positive note *to carry
Michigan into the final two games of the season.
Once the players woke up at halftime, they came back strong. Chris Zur-
brugg looked great throwing for touchdown passes in the second half. They
should have done it all game though - 208 of the Michigan yards and 22 of its
(points came in the final seven minutes.
But that's been the story of the 1984 Wolverines - not quite good enough.
And they picked a season to have an off year when the Big Ten happened to
be especially strong.
Not just hoop-la
Look at Purdue. No one was expecting anything more than seventh place
for Leon Burtnett's team, but it's in second. Kind of reminiscent of last win-
ter's Boilermaker basketball squad - picked eighth, finished first.
In fact, after the football was over yesterday, the Purdue hoopsters
scrimmaged for the fans next door at Mackey Arena in an early preseason
warmup.
Hmmmmm. I'll bet a lot of Michigan sports fans will be thinking about
basketball this fall a lot earlier than they usually do.

SCORING
MICHIGAN ..................... 0 0 7 22-29
Purdue .......................... 7 .17 0 7-31
SCORING PLAYS
PU-. Berry two-yard pass from Everett (Rendina
kick)
PU-Jeff Price six-yard pass from Everett (Rendina
kick)
PU-Rendina 22-yard field goal
PU-Medlock one-yard run (Rendina kick)
MICH-Jokisch 1-yard pass from Zurbrugg (Ber-
geron kick)
PU-Carter 16-yard run (Rendina kick)
MICH-Markray 13-yard pass from Zurbrugg (Ber-
geron kick)
MICH-Bean 15-yard pass from Zurbrugg (Bean
pass from Zurbrugg)
MICH-Nelson six-yard pass from Zurbrugg
(Bergeron kick)

Passing (Att/
Comp/Int) ....
Total Yards .......
Fumbles (No/Lost)
Punts (No/Avg.) ..
Penalties (No/Yds)
Time of Possession

31/21/2
378
3/0
4/36.3
2/6
23:50

32/23/0
475
0/0
2/41.5
5/23
36:10

PASSING
MICHIGAN
Att Comp
Zurbrugg...........31 21

Int
2

Yds TD
259 4

PURDUE
No
Griffin..................... 6
Carter..................... 5
Price ...................... 4
Scott....................4
King ...................... 2
Brunner ................... 1
Beery ..................... 1
RETURNS
MICHIGAN
Punts
No/Yds

Yds
112
43
55
29
28
21
2

TD
0
0
1
0
0
0
1

PURDUE
Att Comp Int Yds
Everett ............. 32 23 0 290

RUSHING
MICHIGAN

TD
2

4

Rogers..........
Morris ............
Garrett.........
Perrymann ....
Zurbrugg ..........
Carter...........
King ...:........
Everett.........
Medlock.........

Att Yds
15 76
5 48
3 9
2 8
7 -22
PURDUE
Att Yds
27 89
14 82
4 13
2 1

Avg
5.1
9.6
3.0
4.0
-3.1

TD
0
0
0
0
0
TD
1
0
0
1

RECEIVING
MICHIGAN
No
Nelson .................... 6
Bean ...................... 4
G. Johnson ................ 4
Markray................. 3
Rogers...................2
Jokisch................... I
M orris .................... I

First downs .......
Rushing (Att/yds) .
N t Parin Yad d

MICH
22
32/119
259

PU
28
47/185
246

Avg
3.3
5.9
3.3
0.5

Yds
45
81
67
45
0
15
6

TD
1
0
0
1
0

Morris.......
White .......
G. Johnson ....
Carter.........
Cooper ......

1/3
PURDUE
Punts
No/Yds

Kickoffs
No/Yds
2/30
1/4
Kickoffs
No/Yds
1/14
1/6

Defense decays under air atack

17 first downs, contrasted to Michigan's 32 yards and
three first downs. Everett marched the Boilermakers
97 yards into the end zone on their initial possession,
setting the pace for the rest of the half. Purdue scored
on all four of its first half possessions.
ON THE OTHER SIDE, Michigan came out
meekly. A fired-up Purdue defense held Bo's running
attack to under one yard per carry (12 yards on 15 at-
tempts). The option, which was so effective against
Illinois, was irrelevant.
"They came out and they were flat," observed
Purdue nose guard Brad Horner. "I don't know if
they had a bad plane ride or what, but they didn't
have the sharpness that we had seen on film.
"In the second half, they came out high and were a
completely different team."
"OUR DEFENSE wasn't up," said Schembechler.
"This is the first time our defense has let us down all
season. . . We had too many points to make up."
Michigan made a gallant attempt to make up that
ground in the second half. On their first possession,.
the Wolverines moved 80 yards for their first score.
The drive was capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass
from Zurbrugg to split end Paul Jokisch, the first of
Jokisch's career.
The Wolverines were poised for another score early
in the fourth quarter, but an interception by safety
Rod Woodson on the two-yard line and a subsequent

Purdue TD made Michigan's frantic pursuit a moot
point. Zurbrugg threw touchdown passes to Triando
Markray, Vince Bean and Sim Nelson in the final 4:08
of the game. The pass to Nelson came with three
seconds left.
THE VICTORY completed Purdue's heralded
Triple Sweep. During the week, players wore t-shirts
with the words "First time ever: Notre Dame, Ohio
I don't know if they had a bad
plane- ride or what, but they
didn't have the sharpness that
we had seen on film.'
-Purdue Nose Guard
Brad Horner
State, Michigan" printed on them. This is the first
time Purdue has defeated that prestigious troika in
one season.
Although Everett said he doesn't like to compare
victories, history may have made yesterday's victory
the most savory of the three.
"It seems like every year they kind of ran the score
up on us," said Everett, referring to 52-21 and 42-10

Wolverine victories in the past two seasons. "That
hurt me. I don't like to see that from any team. So we
had a lot of debts to pay."
WITH ITS accounts squared up and its sweep of
traditional enemies completed, Purdue is enjoying
the intoxicating prospects of its bowl appearance sin
ce the 1980 Liberty Bowl.
For its part, Michigan faces a perilous struggle
against unfamiliar mediocrity. "We just have to play
together as a team for the rest of the season," said
Zurbrugg. "Winning is a tradition at Michigan and
it's just not right when you lose."
BIG TEN STANDINGS

Conference Overall

Iowa ............
Ohio State......
Purdue ........
Illinois........
MICHIGAN .....
Michigan State ..
Wisconsin .......
Minnesota .......
Northwestern ...
Indiana.........

W LT WL T
5 11 621
5 2 0 7 2 0
520 630
530 640
430 540
430 540
331 531
250 360
260 280
070 090

4

SCORES
Iowa 10, Wisconsin 10
Illinois 48, Minnesota 3
Ohio St. 50,Indiana 7
Michigan St. 27, Northwestern 10
Texas 13, Texas Tech 10
Kansas 28, Colorad 27
Oklahoma 49, Missouri 7
Brigham Young 42, Texas El Paso 9
Florida 24, Auburn 3
SMU 28, Texas A&M 20
Nebraska 44, Iowa St. 0
NotreDame 18, Navy 17
South Carolina 35, N. Carolina St. 28
Georgia 13, Memphis 3
Oklahoma St. 34, Kansas 6
USC 20, Stanford 11
Washington 44, California 14
Penn St. 37, Boston College 30
Virginia 27, W. virginia 7


Blue Banter

" Chris Zurbrugg's four touchdown passes ties the Michigan
single-game record, set by Steve Smith against Purdue last
via ,

" Once again turnovers were a big factor in the outcome.
Michigan had two turnovers, Purdue had none. In every
Miehiion anme this eaonn the team with fewer turnnvers

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